Tag: review

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Home Brew Review – Spruce Ale

So, the backstory. A dear friend has been home brewing all of last year and (hopefully into) 2015. For Christmas, I received bottle after bottle. OK, five all told. It was an awesome gift.  I highly recommend giving that gift to me even if you don’t know me.

I will be reviewing all of them this month and first on the docket is the Spruce Ale.

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The label is a bit smudged but believe me, it is a spruce beer. The beer is a hazy orange/red mixture with a big ol’ head of foam on it. The smell is a bit too sweet. Almost like a cough syrup. Any spruce notes have to be waited on but really only emerge a skosh in the taste. The taste is sweet as well even after warming. Not quite cherry but maybe spiced holiday cherry flavor. Little bit of fruitcake notes as well.

Overall, it needs more spruce and the sugar is too high. A little recalibration and further taste testing are in order.

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Review – Deception from Black Market Brewing

OK.  This beer has both coconut and lime.  On top of the relatively weak base of a blonde ale.  Can Black Market pull this off?

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Deception pours a murky orange color. I get more lime than coconut on the aroma and I get more tropical than coconut. The taste is very subdued. Coconut can be overpowering but it is barely hinted at here. I get just at the back before I take the next sip. The lime juice is more prominent but isn’t big on that citric note.

Overall, I found this beer to be too watery to me which I found disappointing. More lime zest and maybe some toasted coconut would improve it to me.

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Review – Northern Hemisphere Harvest Wet Hop IPA

The name tells you all you need to know.  Which is why it is so long.  This is the 4th of a 5 beer series from Sierra Nevada.  This and the Wild Hop beer being the ones that caught my attention.

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What I liked about the Wet Hop is the simplicity of the ingredients:

  • Bittering Hops Wet Centennial
  • Finishing Hops Wet Cascade, Centennial

That is it.  And boy does it impart flavor.  This IPA is half danky earth and the other half is straight up Orange juice.  It really struck me at first the power of the flavors.  The aroma is reminiscent to me of orange juice that is sitting on the table with breakfast.  I know it sounds weird but that is what was triggered in my mind.

This is a super bitter beer too.  From first sip to aftertaste, there is a vegetal earthiness that just sticks to the palate and will not let go.  This from a beer that was bottled at the end of September.  I can’t imagine the IBU punch on a fresh bottle!  But as much as it is bitter that juice note doesn’t give up either.  I would probably call this a Double IPA taste wise even though the ABV is only at 6.7%

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Review – Double IPA from Strike Brewing Co.

I am not one for baseball but even the faux baseball stitching on the can of Double IPA from Strike Brewing of San Jose, did not deter me from picking up a can.  I have heard about this brewery but as with many new, smaller brewers not in LA, their beer had not reached us.  Now we have one to base a summary judgement on.

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This DIPA clocks in at 93 IBU’s.  Quite the fastball that is.  The aroma is very spicy and pepper filled and the taste that follows is nice and strong.  After a pair of herbaceous fresh hop ales it is nice to get back to a truly bitter beer that has a nice balance of carbonation.  It is sprightly and I am glad it is in the 8% realm of ABV.  I am torn as to whether I like the aroma or flavor better.  Leaning towards the aroma though.  I would have liked to try their other baseball themed XPA, Chin Music to see how they work hops at the lighter end of the spectrum.  But this beer was brewed with a deft touch and for a first beer tried, is a really strong start.

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Review – Chico King from 3 Floyds & Sierra Nevada

As threatened at the start of the month, I will be reviewing ALL 13 of the special Sierra Nevada Beer Camp collaborations in August.  I had my non-drinking wife randomly select the order and we start here with 3 Floyds and the Chico King.

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“Chico King is a mash-up of our mutual passion for hoppy pale ales and combines a uniquely robust malt body with intense citrusy and fruity new school hop varietals.”

The King pours a dark but still luminous orange color with quite a bit of foam and lacing to it.  The aroma is split between a toasty malt note and grapefruit pith with the toast coming out more and more as you smell it.

The taste is bright and carbonated.  Lot of bubbles rising in the glass as you watch it.  Bitterness sticks everywhere and, for me, primarily on the front of the tongue.  I keep coming back to toast but this is almost like having good bread with a tart marmalade on it.  The peel note isn’t there but this has that type of flavor mix going on.  The beer tastes heavier than the 6.5% noted on the label.

I have not had a pale quite like this though I would guess you could call this an IPA without anyone batting an eye.  Good start to my randomized journey through Sierra Nevada’s Beer Camp.

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Review – Mexican Logger from Ska Brewing

Hot days in L.A. will be the norm and I am glad that I will have a supply of Mexican Logger from Ska Brewing to turn to in the heat.

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This Colorado brewed lager pours a very light yellow.  It is neither bubbly (on the tongue, certainly is in the picture) or creamy but in the middle of that spectrum.  It is very flavorful.  I get grapefruit pith, floral accents and a nice amount of cereal grain as well.  This is an impressive set of flavors for such a light beer and puts the Saaz hop right in the spotlight.  It certainly made me wish it was in a 16oz can instead of the 12.  And it once again disproves the lager is boring myth

The only downside being the design, which is certainly striking but not the type of artwork that I prefer on a can.  It does make me wonder if there is a differently hopped version out there.

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Review – Toasted Oak IPA from Innis and Gunn

First off,  I didn’t hold out much hope for this hoppy British beer.  Not because of fear of the Innis & Gunn brewery. But because the two previous IPA’s  that I had bought at Total Wine were old, old.  My fault for not checking the best buy date, but still you would expect a store to rotate the old beers off the shelves. And this beer was coming further than the other two.  And British IPA’s tend to be lightly hopped compared to American ones.

Anyhoo, this was the first I&G beer that I have had,  the marketing copy says, “Its fervent hoppy character hails from the unique addition of large quantities of hops at three separate points during brewing. The result is a beer that’s rounded yet refreshing, with delicate floral notes and oodles of zesty freshness.”

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And here is what I think, or what I would have thought if this beer hadn’t been light years from prime condition. Though it is difficult to tell without any bottled on date. Thus my Total Wine trip was a total IPA loss. This beer, in poor condition, is sickly sweet with a light bit of hops and metallic notes in the background. The toasted oak isn’t clearly coming through but if you swirl it around your mouth a faint bit of it appears. And that is disappointing because toast notes and hops could really work well together.

Maybe if I had cellared it, the sweetness would have diminished and it would be better. As it is, I have learned a lesson. Big Box stores make you do the legwork.

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Review – The Ogden from Goose Island

There is a very herbal nose on this new to L.A. bottled offering from Goose Island of Chicago. Getting notes of licorice and vanilla intermingling in this bright orange drink that bears the name Ogden in honor of hizzoner William Ogden, the first mayor in Chicago. (Are they called that in Chicago, or is that just a New York thing?)

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I am also getting some rye and citrus background flavors here as well as I take in all the details of the well-designed and classy label.  There is almost a creamsicle essence as well. This saison does show it’s 9% ABV on its sleeve but there is such a nice mix of flavors here that it doesn’t cause a detriment to drinking it. The licorice and orange + tropical particularly really work well together.

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Review – Dixon California Nugget Ale from Ruhstaller

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I love the design on the Ruhstaller beers.  They are playful and simple.  The neck is adorned with fabric and tape and though the graphic is busy, it isn’t annoying.  It is like a piece of art that some may like and others may not.  Plus their backstory on the beer is simple and straightforward as well. This hoppy beer made with hops grown in Dixon, California at the Ruhstaller farm. It is part of their Rapid Fire R&D series.

That bodes well but what about the beer itself? It pours a really dark reddish/brown.  Akin to an imperial red, hence the lack of an IPA moniker in the name.  The initial aroma has balsa wood notes and some caramel as well.  It is one of those beers with a low ABV that taste stronger.  The hop character is mostly woody and herbal and is pretty strong without being overwhelming.  Their website alludes to a licorice taste that I don’t quite pick up myself. But I do get some toast notes here that balances the affair out.

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