Tag: reviews

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Review – Livewire Cocktails

Time to check out a new to me, bartender focused canned cocktail brand, LiveWire.

I started with Golden God who looks like a Doctor Who villain and has apricot, green tea and elderflower on top of Rye Whiskey and Brandy. GG pours white with a hint of taupe to it. Sweetened green tea hits the nose first. Both sweet and tart in flavor. Apricot reigns supreme here which leads me to believe that the brandy is a bigger player than rye. The brandy does show up after the apricot plays out. Not bad if a touch too sweet.

Tropipop is big, big on that candied coconut flavor. The pineapple comes in behind but is a clear second fiddle to the coconut. Coming in third is the rum. Which makes sense when you find out that Casa Magdelena from Guatemala is a blanco / light rum. I might have added a third flavor to tone down the coconut.

The winner is Golden God but both were a little too light on the abv and too sweet overall.

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Double Double Review Day – Lizard’s Mouth and Hiker’s High from Figueroa Mountain

One day, four beers. Starting with the hoppy side of Figueroa Mountain and their hazy and double….

Hiker’s High – Pours a fairly hazy yellow/orange color. It has that soft but palate dusted with hops mouthfeel that I associate with the hazy style. Mostly pine and and earthiness to the flavor. The bitterness is pretty rugged overall and the beer finishes on the stronger side to me.

Lizard’s Mouth – Third time having this imperial IPA, and imperial it is. Aroma wise, this is pretty muted but this is a strong beer once you start sipping. Slick mouthfeel, a bit of a candy taste to it and with a bitterness that slopes of dramatically.

These are both old school IPA to me. HH is that first gen hazy and LM is that San Diego palate wrecker hit.

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April Fool’s Reviews

Classic April Fool’s jokes are rare, most bring only a double-take and a chuckle. Which is how I rate each one, on a scale of 1 to 5 Chuckles. Time to review the 2022 crop…

What makes this work is the accent on the letter E. Plus it is close to real so you can see be taken in. 4/5 Chuckles

Minus marks for the tired trope of “we made a food beer” jokes but plus for working with your beer style to make it funnily plausible. 3/5 Chuckles

I saw two versions of beer in a box but this one gets the mention because of the rhyme. Not really funny but the design is done well. 2/5 Chuckles

I don’t know if I just hang with the right people but vaping seems to have lost steam so this seems a bit too late to the party. 2/5 Chuckles

The classic H2O joke in seltzer format. Again, seems a year late for this though pairing with plain bread brings a wry smile. Get it? Wry. Bread. 2/5 Chuckles

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Beer Cage Match – Review # 2

We are onto review two from the City Beer Store of San Francisco beer purchase. By the end of the month, I will rank all six. Side Pull was a strong start, how will beer # 2 fare?

Lenticular Cap is labeled as a “Dry-Hopped Modern Pilsner” by this McMinnville, Oregon (Go Wildcats!) brewery.  ForeLand uses Michigan Copper and Meridian hops. Neither on the tip of the hop lovers tongue. LC pours a light and bright yellow.  The taste is just as bright.  Getting big amounts of bread and lemon.  As it warms, it takes on a more floral near to but not quite potpourri.  

I like the beer quite a bit but was expecting a little more hoppy bite to it so it ranks a skosh below.

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Review – CCBA Box # 2

The second pairing from the California Craft Brewers Association is another NorCal duo.

Bike Dog and Urban Roots from Sacramento bring us rainbows and poodles.

Starting with the Hazy Pale Ale – Guys, Gals and Non-Binary Pals which pours a haze lemonade color which is followed by a big lemon aroma. Guessing there is some Citra involved here. A bitter beginning melts into softness. Quite a yeasty filling character from this one.

Next is Make It Easy IPA from Bike Dog. This West Coast IPA pours bright yellow clear. Almost looks like a pilsner. A bit of cat pee on the aroma but that fades as you get a clean and crisp IPA.

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Featured Reviews – La Brea Stout and Pandora Wakes from Eureka Brewing

Two from Eureka Brewing to dig into today starting with a hazy pale using the Pink Boots hop blend.

Pandora Wakes pours a bright yellow with a top heavy haze to it. Crisp taste with a little watery edge to it. I know that is contradictory but this beer comes across more session/light. Some bitterness up front with a cherry note. Not what I would consider hazy though.

La Brea Stout promises chocolate and coconut. I get some of the former and none of the latter. It pours a nice dark color but no head to it. There is a soft roasty character that I like.

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Super Special Review – Utopias MMII from Sam Adams

Before I dive in to this 2002 first edition of Utopias, read on about the history of the beer from noted beer writer, Jay Brooks right HERE.

Reviewing a beer like this is hard. It is not a new release and more museum piece. New Utopias are not done in the same manner and barrel-aging is totally different now than in 2002. Even the naming convention was abandoned after this beer.

But, the beer was due to be opened after nearly twenty years and I need to talk about it. First off, the top is twist off and then there was a bottle cap as well. Was kinda of expecting cork but this was much easier. The first aroma was a bit on the soy sauce side which had me concerned but then wave after wave of maple started hitting the air. The kitchen smelled like a pancake breakfast.

The three main words I would use to describes Utopias is maple, sweet and viscous. At first you get a big hit of alcohol heat but that really fades as the beer warms up. I have had much more hot, cheek warming beers at lower ABV’s.

I gave samples to two other gutsy drinkers and got descriptions such as vanilla extract, molasses, syrupy and caramel.

I now want to compare a newer version to do the whole compare and contrast thing.

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Review – Stone Delicious IPA vs F+B

Tucked inside the 12 Days of IPAs variety box from Stone Brewing was the new Features+Benefits “healthy IPA”, so today, let’s taste that vs their Gluten-reduced IPA, Delicious and see which comes out on top…

Delicious– nice fruit aroma and taste.  Fruit punch comes to mind. Very crisp and bitey.  Some pine in here as well. 

F+B – Super light and bright yellow.  Pretty watery.  Has a big cat pee aroma to it. Has quite a bit of bitterness. Lemon notes as well.  

This is a no brainer to me. Delicious wins by a country mile. It maybe gluten reduced but it tastes like a full bodied session IPA.

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Review – CCBA Holiday Box

This is the second virtual festival assortment from the California Craft Brewers Association and with 10 beers total (I will touch on 6 of them) from up and down the state, let’s dive into some mini-reviews…

All Clouds Everything from New Glory – Super big pineapple notes. Like opening a can of sliced pineapple rings. Very soft texture but still holds a charge of bitterness.

831 from Sante Adairius – Not my favorite label design for sure. Quite dank with both pine and menthol notes shining through. One word review would be woodsy.

Today’s Forecast from Pizza Port – Another solid seasonal IPA from Pizza Port. High bitterness, Concord grape notes, toasty malt and nicely crisp.

Peanut Butter Cup Narwhal from Sierra Nevada – Just wow. They nailed the aroma and the flavor doesn’t strike you as sickly sweet. The light bourbon touch of this super rare beer takes it to a higher level.

Lazy Lasers from Three Weavers – Murderers Row of hops from El Dorado to Motueka to Citra and my new favorite Strata. Getting jasmine flowery perfume notes and as it warms more tangerine. Strong bitterness at first then earns into a softer texture.

Apricot Sournova from Almanac – Sour upon opening the can. Getting a little oak, a little apricot and zero vanilla bean. Gets more lemonade flavor as it warms. Thankfully not super sour but everything needs to be amped up.

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Cerveceria del Pueblo – Reviews

A few days ago, I showed a some photos from inside the CPB and now time to taste test the beers….

Kolsch – this is a tricky beer because it can drift closer to other styles that are close to it. I prefer it to be more akin to a blonde ale than pilsner and this beer does that. Though I do get a bit too much hefe to it. Some mineral notes to but overall I quite like it.

California Common – clocking in at 4.9% this is quite flavorful for such a low alcohol beer. Lots of malt taste mixed with a touch of sweetness. This one tastes a touch green to me and finishes a little too heavy on the mineral side.

Pilsner – if blindfolded, I would not have said pilsner. Much like the Kolsch, I am getting that hefe yeast note here. The snap and bubble that I expect is not there either. It even pours a little to dark yellow for my liking.

Wheat – perhaps a little tilted in the sour direction. Lots of wheat character here. Nice and light. Watery citrus note as well. Has a fluffy mouthfeel as well.

I would return for the Kolsch first of the four. There is some room to grow d I hope to taste some of the beers that explore the heritage of the brewer because I think some extra ingredients would bump up the ratings of these beers.