Since I take a couple days off from alcohol and caffeine each week, I have needed a replacement drink. I have settled in on Trader Joe’s sparkling water. (grapefruit being a favorite) But I have dabbled in other sparklers so when I saw the Lagunitas Hop Water, I decided to give it a try. The drink pours a strange off white, ever so slightly green in color. Initial aroma is that of pear. Taste starts with citrus hops but quickly heads to sodaville. Has the sparkling water fizz to it. Tangerine at the end for me. Edging towards candy. If you tend to the soda side of sparkling water with a note of hops, then you will like this.
LABW11 Review – Echo Echo Echo from Smog City
This new sour from Smog City uses second run peaches with a touch of lavender. Pours a yellow/orange color. Peach skin lightly hits the nose. The taste is quite gentle with a peach flesh and close to pie spice mix but the sour really amps the total package up. The lavender is hitting from a different angle. As it warms, it takes on a lemonade quality. One of JP’s recent favorites and I can see why.
Review – Unity 2019
When I went to Sunset Beer to pick-up a 4-pack of the 2019 Unity, I saw an empty cooler where the beers should have been lined up. I turned to the helpful staff who pointed me where I needed to go in the store and off I went with my prize.
Truth be told, I was kinda hoping for something more strange this year. Maybe some fruit or herb that is local to the Claremont area where Claremont Craft Ales is located could have been added.
But the fact that the cans were in short supply must mean a level of popularity that the style still draws and economics does factor into the equation when selecting a beer style.
And yet, this beer, fine as it is, seemed like something down the middle. It is a bigger beer, north of 8% but other than that it was a DIPA. It lacked a certain spark in the aroma, flavor profile or bitterness. Park this beer amidst three or four other West Coast Old-School DIPA’s and I could not have picked it out or said, that it had an ingredient that screamed L.A.
I know that a Unity beer will evolve. It can’t always be strange beers and it does need to be of the moment. The moment now seems simple and businesslike
Featured Review – El Chingon IPA from Four Corners Brewing
I received a pair of media sample beers from Four Corners out of Texas so I started with their canned IPA.
Pours a clear orange color. Aroma is old school pine / grassy. Getting orange jello touch of sweet tart in the taste. This is very West Coast. Big malt presence balances out the action. To me this is pretty darn close to a red IPA which I would like to see more of.
Review – Komorebi from Three Weavers and Coedo
I hit up two beer spots to find and purchase this beer from Three Weavers collabing with Coedo, Komorebi.
Tart & Tropical pours a pretty orange pink color. Aroma pops as soon as the can opened. Super tropical. Almost tiki drink tropical. This is barely tart but the hops add in to make a good combo. Neither are duking it out. More mellow vibes from each. I would equate this with a popsicle as weird as that sounds.
Featured Review – Zero to Sexy from Figueroa Mountain
Our final featured Fig Mtn beer is their Golden Coffee ale, Zero to Sexy.
Pours a bright and beautiful garnet color. Big fluffy head. Lovely lacing on the side of the glass. Coffee and cream aroma hits the nose first. Almost has an ice cream quality to it. The coffee is the leading flavor component. Milk chocolate note is there in the back which supplies not a mocha but that milky tone. Lovely dessert beer. Good use of both their chocolate and coffee suppliers…
Featured Review – Mosaic Pale from Figueroa Mountain
Our second canned beer from FigMtn is their Mosaic Pale.
Pours a dark orange. Initial biscuity malt strikes me. Orange rind aroma. Orange and pine bitterness. Medium hoppy for this drinker. As it warms the pine needle taste takes the center stage. Tastes fuller than 5.5%. Almost like a Red IPA which is one of my favorite sub-styles because of the heightened interplay of malts and hops.
Featured Review – Point Conception from Figueroa Mountain
This month, the featured review spotlight is on Figueroa Mountain and we start with their newest IPA, Point Conception.
Point Conception pours a bright orange clear color. Jammy and spicy hop nose. First sip brings the West-Coast bitterness that is quite different from many IPA’s today. Pepper note constricts the mouth a bit. Grapefruit notes come in lightly. This is quite a wet beer despite the spice profile.
Rose v Rose
Rose styled beers are not one unified flavor profile. This point was vividly driven home by a recent side-by-side of two California regional breweries exploration of the style.
First up is Sparkale from 21st Amendment. This one boasts apples an cherries in the recipe and that is pounded home. This is what a Martinelli’s Sparkling cider would taste like, in beer form. Apple up front with cherry notes at the back. It pours a much darker red which puts it out of rose pink range.
Second is Rosalie, which I have effused about on this blog before. The difference in color is striking as is the flavor. This is a wine-beer hybrid. With a dry but effervescent character.
I have also tasted the Eagle Rock effort in this sub-style and found it in taster size, to be cloying with a lead note of sweetness.
Whether or not this category settles on a recipe or not, I believe the more sweet may rule but they are too close to juice boxes for me.
Flagship Beer Review # 2 – Lager from Brooklyn Brewery
Next up in my #FlagshipFebruary reviews is the newly released in L.A., Lager from Brooklyn Brewery.
Called Amber Lager on the 2019 collage designed label. Orange colored and clear as day. Initially sharp with minerality also quite bready. A very wet mouthfeel and also a touch viscous. Aroma is minimal but toasty comes through. This screams fall football on campus. Complement to BBQ.