review – Page 16 – Beer Search Party

July 23, 2015August 31, 2018

Featured Review – Good Juju from Left Hand

We have reached the JuJu portion of Left Hand Brewing review month.

Here is what the brewery has to say: “A little Juju voodoo – fresh ginger kisses the lithe malty body, copulating with the hop in this pale ale ancestor.”

Well, I agree with the kiss of ginger. This garnet hued beer has a nice touch in the nose and the taste is there too with the trademark bit of heat and spice to it. Then the beer plunges from view. There is a little tiny bit of toast flavor and then it’s just sort of watery. I have to disagree with the pale ale and malty body idea. Granted the ginger is left to be the star but it is a one person show to me.

July 15, 2015August 31, 2018

Featured Review – Introvert Session IPA from Left Hand Brewing

The Session IPA craze shows no sign of abating but at least the offering from Left Hand Brewing has a catchy name. Or at least catchy for an introvert like me.

Introvert Session IPA has a little bit of everything, hop wise. Pine notes mostly, followed by a bit of citrus and fruit. The body is nice and light and bears up the load of bitterness well but this could be easily labeled as a pale ale in my book.

My hallmark of the style is Ponto and/or Easy Jack. Lighter, fruitier options that are quite differentiated from their bigger brethren. Having Introvert before 400 Pound Monkey for the first time might skew me a bit but this seems too big a start.

That being said, the overall taste is great if you are looking for a bold Cascade-y type beer.

July 13, 2015August 31, 2018

Review – IPC from 101 Cider House

My jury is still out on hopped ciders. I haven’t (yet) run across one that has melded the right hop to the right apple. But as with Black IPA’s, I am still trying to find the perfect one.

The latest comes from 101 Cider House here in Los Angeles.

Here is the website description of their IPC, “A blend of american cider apples, and fragrant west coast quince. This cider is the product of a wild fermentation, without the addition of sulfites or other preservative methods. After several months of natural malolactic activity, this dry cider is then twice hopped. The primary hopping (a blend of Amarillo, Cascade, Nelson, and Simcoe hops) adds a rich earthy texture, followed by a secondary hopping of 100% Citra hops. Tart, fragrant, naturally sparkling, and explosive with citrus notes.”

The aroma is really vegetal. A little too off-putting for my nose. There is a sourness vying for attention with the grassy notes of the hops or maybe that is the Nelson contributing too much wine/grape. The cider pours a very, very light yellow. Nearer to hazy white. The taste is tart but not really bitter to my hop addled palate. Almost too sparkly too. Bit of an assault on the tongue. The apple is too dull and the hops just aren’t pulling this together. Thumbs down on the IPC but I will try the regular ciders in their rotation.

June 21, 2015August 31, 2018

Review – Session Gap (in bottles)

All Starburst rants aside, I was intrigued to see that MacLeod’s was bottling. Brewer Andy Black is protective of his beer and rightfully so because it really shines when presented right. That right being on cask at the right temperature.

But the attractive label lured me in and now it is time to see how the bottled version compares.
And there is quite a difference. There is zero lacing on this beer. Absolutely none. Plus it is many shades nuttier than what I remember. There is a nice hit of bitterness here that seems stronger than on cask as well. Sort of a tea/lemonade mix going on. Normally I would say this was a thin beer but because MacLeod Ales generally are on the less strident side, this isn’t much different to me.

I would hazard a guess that the darker, maltier beers like Jackie Tar would fare better with the bottle treatment.

May 21, 2015August 31, 2018

Featured Review – Summer Wheat from Anchor

For our next canned beer we head back to Anchor Brewing and their Summer Wheat. Which pours a little darker than I expected it to. More orange than the yellow that I was looking for.

The taste is also a bit heavier than my palate was ready for afte a day of work crunching numbers. There is a lime and bread mixture to the aroma which is more in line with my wheat beer definition. That lime note is the main push of this beer, flavor-wise as well. Like a laser of citrus that flares and dies.

It is not bad but it is more abrupt than I would like and doesn’t have some of the refreshing qualities of other lighter beers.

May 17, 2015August 31, 2018

Review – Ride On IPA from Golden Road

Another IPA from the blue building at Golden Road is in cans now, Ride On IPA at 6.4% ABV is supposed to have notes of melon and pine and be perfect for skateboarding. Will I find that, or something else?

Ride On pours a light yellow with a rocky head of foam. The aroma hits me as honeydew melon and spice. So, yeah. The description matches my tastebuds. Additionally there is a hit of grapefruit juice that is almost rubbing alcohol-esque. But that rises and fades pretty quickly. This IPA seems a little more viscous than biting on the tongue. Which is not what I was expecting at all. It is certainly an IPA that is less like most of the market for sure. I would label it as a change of pace IPA.

April 20, 2015August 31, 2018

Featured Review – Java Stout from Bell’s

Coffee beers are one of my favorites and to get a different taste of beans from Michigan is tempting.

Here is my review of Java Stout from Bell’s.

Java Stout is really strong on the Starbuck-ian very roasted bean side of the equation. Burnt notes with a bit of smoke are the dominate notes here. The base stout is overwhelmed in one sense but also holds the beer up. There is a load of bitter coffee acidity here as well. There are some fig and anise notes tucked into the beer as well. It is, in the end, well balanced despite the darkness of the roast.

I just wish the label weren’t some sort of Jigsaw meets coffee mug dementia.

April 13, 2015August 31, 2018

Review – Citraholic from Beachwood

I am late to the party. This is my first time tasting the famed Citraholic from Beachwood Brewery.

This West-Coast IPA pours a pretty orange color. The aroma is mostly spice with lemon peel backing that up. The taste reinforces that duo with the lemon taking more of a co-star role. It tastes strong and a bit heavy almost to DIPA territory for me. But the lemon notes that alternate between just cut and a lemon pledge really works. And in the end it has an almost emonade quality.

Plus, Bless Beachwood for date stamping too. This bottle was 5 days old when I cracked it open.

April 10, 2015August 31, 2018

Review – Expedition Stout from Bell’s

While the IPA obsessed on the West Coast were giddy about getting Two Hearted (and it is deserved giddiness). I was more excited about the stouts and porters. Ales made to warm on cold days. Cold days that L.A. brewers don’t normally experience. So let’s check out what the Expedition Stout from Bell’s is like.

It pours an inky black with some nice coffee colored foam that fades off but clings to the edges of the glass for a pretty picture of light and dark brown. Expedition is a really dark bitter roast. In line with a Starbucks coffee. There are also some burnt wood notes. This is a heavy, slightly viscous brew that lingers on the palate. Not much in the way of chocolate or fruit notes to balance out the near rauch character. Some balancing flavor or a rounding of the sharp edges would make this stout more tuned to my palate but it is a good late night beer.

March 23, 2015August 31, 2018

Review – Sweet Crude from Beach City

The second Huntington Beach brew to review is Sweet Crude Stout. And though I don’t like comparing beer to petroleum products, I am glad that Beach City bottles their scaled down or small version of their Imperial Stout.

Now, on to the review: Dark chocolate and a smokey roast greet the nose from the Sweet Crude. There is a sharp tinge with some metallic note to it that is the dominant take-away from the beer. Underneath is a coffee ground taste that would play well as a brunch beer if there wasn’t also a smoke note there as well. A well-carbonated rauch meets stout.

For me, there is too much of a spike to this beer where it needs to be velvety. Also the taste really sticks to the top of the palate and makes me want a drink of water to release it. Nothing technically wrong here, it just doesn’t have the flavors that I desire, in the right balance, for me to really enjoy it.