Tag: review

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Four Years of Past Anchor Christmas Beers

Time to snap our fingers and enter the Tardis to try (4) of Anchor Brewing’s past Merry Christmas Ales.

15

Lots of gunk at the bottom of the bottle. Has the makings of a little sour barleywine.  Cherry flavor note and a Port sorta nose to it make this interesting but it certainlyturneda corner into bad territory.  This is pretty close to just needing a few ounces to get the full picture. 

16

ABV jumps a full percentage point from 5.5% in 2015 to 6.5% this year. Poursa bit darker to me as well. Little more tree spice here that I am used to from this beer but I like it that way. The sour turn is beginning to show but this is a much more full beer caught in the nick of time. 

17

Nice woodsy aroma upon opening the bottle.  Faint hit of chocolate and spice in the first sip.  Nice amount of bitterness too. The espresso lacing on the side is quite pretty as well. Gettin a slight barleywine note in the background. 

18

Smoother. Less jagged edges to this year with the red banded label.  Malt lead close to a porter feel. Pours a garnet color. A little bit of a fruit taste. Leaning to cherry. Oddly this seems to have aged worse than the previous two years. Feeling like it is going to tip into sour soon. 

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Review – Two from The Crac Brewery

I scurried down to Carson to to-go some beers from one of the newest breweries in the L.A. area, Crac and brought back a pair to try and here’ve is my review…

AphrodisiCrac.  Smooth taste.  Has a touch of smoke, coffee and just the right amount of salinity.  All tied together into a beer ver I like what normally comes in 16ounce cans.

The Bollox. Very nice example of a barleywine.  Has a bit of floral aromatics but the cheek warming ABV and the nice punch of hops works really well together. A dash of caramel here too that ties it together. 

There were three other beers on offer and if these two are any indication, they will be pretty good.

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Featured Review – Curuba from Cerveceria del Pueblo

On Tibet the fourth and final CdP beer to be reviewed this month, and it is a tart fruited Ale, Curuba. This beer pour some a hazy IPA orange color. Tartness is at a really nice level. Nice zing but the fruit notes which are mostly berry, do not get overwhelmed. Balance is there. Getting strawberry, almost Starburst notes. Pretty close but this slides into a second place finish to the Gaviota coffee beer.

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Featured Review – Ambar Amber Ale from Cerveceria del Pueblo

How will the third CdP beer fare in the rankings? Let’s find out…

You just do not see amber ales out in the wild often, so I was anxious to try Ambar. Pours with a big fluffy head that disappears super quick to practically nothing. Nice golden orange color. I get a light toffee aroma from this one. First taste is sweet but the bubbles scrape some of that away to leave a pleasant malt flavor.

Ambar outpaces the pale but falls short to the coffee beer due to that sugar forward note.

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Up From the Cellar – Threes from Eagle Rock Brewery

This 3rd anniversary beer from Eagle Rock Brewery pours an opaque dark orange.  Not much head in the pour.  This Strong Ale has held up pretty well though for a seven year old beer.  The rye spice note is still there. A little caramel/ cola sweetness as well. There is a component here that may be a degradation of the beer, I think it may have been where the alcohol burn may have been, a woody bass line.  

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Review – Two from Party Beer Co.

There was a nice selection of beers from Lee Bakofsky to choose from at his new brewing adventure Party Beer Co. so I just chose the two with cats on the label.

Starting with Pizza Cat Pilsner. Pours a clear darker shade of yellow. Nice sharp taste. Good amount of carbonation for my palate. Also a healthy dollop of grain/toast taste here. Simple and well done.

Destroyer Of Worlds, the hazy IPA pours murky yellow and the aroma has that soft pineapple and tropicality that are hallmarks of the style. The taste is good but it lacks a little heft. There is a decent sized hop hit here but it recedes into pine. Is there such a thing as a session hazy?

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Featured Review – Black is Beautiful x3

I rounded up three of the local versions of the Weathered Souls Black is Beautiful beers to review in one big post. Smog City, Los Angeles Ale Works and Ogopogo.

Smog City
Pours s dark brown/ black mix. Big espresso head of foam. Burnt notes big here. Lowest abv of the trio. Chicory. Coffee. A bit watery but only just barely so. Direct and simple.

Los Angeles Ale Works
Pours a dark black. Coconut strong to start. Lovely aroma. Sorta like a salted caramel. Sweet and salt. Tilted a bit much to the salt side though in the end. Does not taste 10%.

Ogopogo
Cinnamon is the dominant flavor here. Alcohol more prevalent here too. Very smooth mouthfeel. Sorta like a fall coffee drink. Minor roast notes. Minor sweetness.

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Review – 2 Stellar Cellars

Here are my quick reviews of the Stellar Cellar experiment from MacLeod Ales and Cellador Ales. The base beer was the same and then each brewery did their spin. One Sour and one Unfiltered IPA…

Here is my quick take on this duo…

MacLeod – ‘tis a British take on IPA for sure. There is some fruit, pineapple, but it is a search to find it anywhere than in the aroma. I get mostly malt and an earthy, wet bitterness that lingers at a medium small level throughout. 
Cellador – this has a great aroma. All Brett with fruit notes lingering on the outside. This is a super dry beer.  Shock to the palate dry.  The pineapple comes through in a dried flavor. This is one to drink little sips of to savor.