review – Page 20 – Beer Search Party

March 13, 2014September 5, 2018

Review: Freigeist Geisterzug Gose

Love the old time feel of the black and white photo on the label of this Spruce infused Gose from Freigeist. Pours a hazy light yellow color. This is one of my favorite styles that I first encountered by accident when I visited Leipzig (briefly) in 2006. It has a light tart note in the aroma along with a slight woodsy tinge to it. Sweet tart is what first comes to my mind because the taste is light lemonade. There is an acidic burst that flames out but is quite nice. The bottle was gone very, very fast. I will have to look for this the next time that I am in Europe so that I can compare a fresher version to the older, bottled type.

March 9, 2014September 5, 2018

Review: Maduro Brown ale from Cigar City

From the can from Cigar City. Love to see more cans because I feel a bit better carbon footprint wise. Checking in on Ratebeer I see that Damn, there are a lot of different versions of this base beer. And I am just now trying it. Back to focusing on the shadowy figure on the can. A definite milk chocolate aroma on this one. The taste has both a nice carbonated zing to it and some creaminess as well. More milk chocolate taste here. Followed by a touch of caramel. It is more on the thin side but that doesn’t stop this beer from being complex and a really nice sipping beer.

March 3, 2014September 5, 2018

Review – Tree Hugger from Terrapin

Later this month, I will (video) review two stouts from Terrapin Beer Company. But to kick things off, I will tackle the Tree Hugger Ale. Which is labeled as an “Altcentric” ale. Proceeds from this beer also help the Dogwood Alliance which works to save Southern forests. This is one of my first Terrapin beers in a while. Not much Georgia beers make it to LA which is fine. Makes each one more of a special event. Something to look forward to. Tree Hugger pours a garnet color. Quite pretty and opaque. The taste is a duo of mineral and nutty notes which is different from the slightly sweet caramel notes in the aroma. Some toast and malt notes round out the flavor. It’s fairly thin but it isn’t insubstantial at all.

February 23, 2014September 5, 2018

Up From the Cellar – North the 5th from Fort George

cellar

This bottle is from quite a few years back. I was out beer shopping with my patient parents while I would trek from place to place looking for seasonals and other beers that I couldn’t get in SoCal. If I remember correctly, we were at Woodstock Deli when I picked out this winter release from Fort George. So a raise of the glass to my Dad who is probably scouring all the bakeries in heaven and to my mom who still takes me out beer shopping when I return home.

We have a gusher! Quick action saved pretty much the whole bottle but boy does that get the heart rate up. “North” pours a dark orange color. The first aroma that I get is an oak wood barrel note. I am also getting a little of the promised fruitcake. Mostly citrus and a touch of pineapple. First on the palate are notes of caramel and cola but what really amazes is how bubbly it is. Very bright for such an old beer. Then I get a bit of dark chocolate covered orange and more of the oak mix together pleasantly. And believe it or not, I think I am getting some hoppy bitterness at the very back end of the beer.

Verdict – I should have brought this up a couple Christmas’s ago. I believe that I would have gotten a bigger hit of fruit notes and more of that hoppy spice would have tied this together into more of a holiday fruitcake seasonal. But it did hold up incredibly well for a beer that was only 7.5%

February 23, 2014September 5, 2018

Review – Mean Old Tom from Maine Beer

MOT

2014 has been filled (already) with firsts. Me getting to try my first beers from breweries new and old. And another brewery etches its name on the list. Maine Beer Co. from Freeport. Here is my review of their Stout aged on Vanilla beans, Mean Old Tom.

First off (sorry about that), love the simplicity of the label. Believe it or not that does send a message almost as powerful as the aroma of a beer. “Do What’s Right” really resonates with me. The initial aroma isn’t as vanilla forward as I thought it would be. Beneath the espresso/latte foam lies a smooth mellow and persistent hit of milk chocolate. Some bitter coffee notes linger just out of reach as well.

Flavor wise, again it hits the milk chocolate. Maybe that is the subtle mixture of chocolate malt with the vanilla beans that creates that. The taste is really nice though. And I get a hint of cola flavor as well. And while it isn’t velvety smooth, Mean Old Tom isn’t thin on the palate either. It is riding the line in between which is rare these days. Same for the ABV. This is light but deep.

February 21, 2014September 5, 2018

Review – Nelson Showers from Noble Ale Works

Unfortunately I missed the Citra version of Noble’s DIPA 2014 series. Part of the peril of not chasing after every beer. I just wasn’t in the right place at the right time. But I grabbed a bottle of the second in the series at Sunset Beer Co.. It pours a light orange to the point of yellow. There is a big aroma here. Spice hits the nose first. Cooking spice. The taste has that same bold spice note that is subdued by a touch of fruit. Mostly grape but that fades right back to spice. Strong and delicious.

Happy 3rd Anniversary by the way!

February 3, 2014September 5, 2018

Review – Next Adventure Black IPA from Fort George

This stranger than usual collaboration between Fort George and Next Adventure is a Black IPA. Why strange? I don’t know of any other beers done in concert with a new and used outdoor equipment store. Do you?

It pours a dark black and if you like your black IPA’s to be 50/50 between roast and hops. (Like I do). Then this will not be that one. Not to say it isn’t a good beer. It is. But from the aroma to the flavor and the aftertaste, this beer is more roasty. Loads of coffee ground bitterness in the aroma. Same with the initial flavor notes. There is also a floral/spruce/pine note of bitterness floating around as well which does tie the beer up into a nice bow. The coffee taste wins me over in the end.

I still won’t buy any camping gear though.

February 2, 2014September 5, 2018

Review – Ambra Rossa di Treviso from San Gabriel

This chicory amber from Italy and San Gabriel pours a grainy and hazy dark orange. Really looks light if appearance is correct. Foamy a bit but looks watery as the lacing recedes down the glass. Aroma is a malty vegetal mix that sounds better than those words denote. The label did promise raddicchio though so at least there is truth in label advertising. The taste has a vegetal bitterness. Fairly thin with a concord grape like note at the back. Quite a mixture of flavors but in the end it is just too thin at both the tip of the tongue and in the aftertaste. Maybe it is the American in me but the malt base needed to be heftier which would mean amping the other ingredients a few notches as well to compensate.

All in all at the price point it is a good intro to the crazy ingredients that you will see in other Italian beers that may be sitting on the shelf for too long because of their price.

January 30, 2014September 5, 2018

Review – Humulo Nimbus from Sound Brewery

I first encountered Sound Brewery at the Great American Beer Festival. Even got a chance to talk to them for a bit which is always cool for a beer geek. And thanks to a gift card for Christmas, I was able to re-acquaint myself with the Poulsbo, Washington brewery. Here are my brief thoughts on Humulo Nimbus.

Pours a dark orange. Nice bubbly head to this one and right after popping the cap, I literally got a blast of grapefruit. One of the stronger aromas that has hit me in recent times. That initial hit faded considerably after and what remained was a really, really strong Double IPA. I know some lighter in color and malt bill are triples so I would have to re-classify this one as an Imperial IPA. Some pith citrus notes remain but as the beer warms in the glass more caramel notes and more of a pine bitterness take center stage. As if the grapefruit was the opening act and then the caramel is the main attraction.

They also brew a Belgian DIPA which I hope to one day compare and contrast with this one.

January 27, 2014September 5, 2018

Review – Shegoat from The Bruery

It has been awhile since I have had a beer from the Bruery. Don’t know why that is, just happened. Time to remedy that with a new Germanic offering that I found for under $10 at Trader Joe’s of all places.

The beer pours a brownish/red color. Cool to see the Bruery folks going back to their homebrew roots for this one. And good to see that it is a straight up German weizenbock (ish) beer. Aroma is a bit milk chocolate covered raisin with some alcohol heat in there. The taste is pretty sweet. Getting some caramel notes here. Sort of bready and pudding tasting to me. The sweetness that I initially tasted fades away as a it drys out on the palate. Certainly a departure for the brewery but I like the adventure in this.