The Casks are Battlin’ (again)

I missed the first battle of the casks that Smog City threw but the battle rages on!

Instead of a base porter style, this time around the Torrance brewery used “Amarilla Gorilla IPA Casks, all treated with a wide array of ingredients from fruit purees to tea and wine juice…”

Here is the list along with my quick thoughts…

Cask 1 – Orange Zest, Tangerine Zest, Coriander with Amarillo and Centennial hops
Strong taste of citrus zest. Quite sharp and aromatic. Hop taste is minimal.

Cask 2 – EXPLODED and out of the running with Panca Pepper, Vanilla bean and mango smoothie
My favorite of the day. Big pepper taste balanced equally by the vanilla. Slight citrus in the background.

Cask 3 – Merlot concentrate with Mosaic and Simcoe hops
The wine is there for sure but it was pretty tannic and bitter. First sip better than the last.

Cask 4 – Apricot puree with Amarillo and Sorachi Ace hops
There was trouble with this cask but the taste was fine. Apricot over everything else. Favorite with a few that spoke with.

Cask 5 – EXPLODED and out of the running with Lemon peel, lime peel, coconut extract, Pineapple/orange/banana juice with Amarillo and Simcoe hops
Passed on this one.

Cask 6 – Mango and Muscat Oolong tea, Peach puree and Simcoe hops
Probably the weakest of the group. No discernible tea notes. Mango was muted. More peach than anything.

BACK UP CASK – Juniper, Lemon peel and Sorachi Ace hops
This be the one that I voted for. Strong Juniper notes as well as barrel accents as well. Not nearly as good as the pepper/vanilla combo though.

And the popular vote winner? Chris Walowski won for the 2nd year in a row for his merlot accented IPA.