^^ They even gave the monk KISS/metal makeup and hairdo. Cool that they remembered these iconic details.
Well, I forgot to transfer more beer photos to this laptop so only 1 beer today.
Barrel Aged CBS - Founders (Mahou San Miguel)
Imperial Stout brewed with Chocolate and Coffee, aged in Maple Syrup-Bourbon Barrels 11.3% . ?IBU?
Pitch black with creamy tan head. Boozy. Feels warm right away as you take each sip. Really sweet. Dry and full mouthfeel. Smells nice, roasty, light smokey, vanilla, chocolate, coffee. Dry and sweet finish, but the sweet aftertaste just lingers and lingers. I started to struggle half way through. I like maple syrup but it’s in-your-face maple syrupy sweet. This overpowering sweetness ultimately ruins it for me. 99,9% of people seem to love the beer so it comes down to me, who has a very low sugar threshold.
Founders CBS is interesting as some people tend to age it and compare the different years but as you said it tends to be very highly rated on BA or Untappd.
Three Whaze by Del Cielo (Martinez, CA) - Fruited Sour
Very refreshing sour with tropical passionfruit and boysenberry and a well balanced kettle sour flavor. Wish it would be “classical” sour to have more complex tart balance - kettle sour tend to be too one-dimensional tart. But still very enjoyable sour overall.
Anchor Brewing, San Francisco, CA
Tropical Hazy IPA
Lighter style hazy IPA, not bad, not offensive. But maybe I’m old school and kind of nostalgic for Anchor when they stuck to their unique styles and weren’t in the IPA game.
Savage Sour Apricot Milkshake by Lead Dog Brewery (Reno, NV) - Fruited Sour
Well balanced kettle sour with a good, non artificial apricot flavor which blends in nicely with the tartness of the beer and adds a little bit of sweetness without derailing the balance. Could be nice on a hot day.
Kokonati by Shadow Puppet Brewing Company (Livermore, CA) - Baltic Porter
Baltic porter with surprising subdued “classic” porter flavors like malts, toffee, coffee and chocolate but with a too strong coconut flavor. Normally a good combination but here too overwhelming and also quite artificially tasting.
^^ To me, anything “coconut flavoured” is very artificial tasting. I think they probably just use some chemical essence stuff. The real coconut milk or cream is violently rejected by my system. It can’t digest the oil. That’s why the artificial coconut flavour doesn’t make me retch but the real thing does.
Couldn’t go far yesterday, my first day in the Oaxacan capital, due to jet lag and besides, craft beer places are all located in another neighbourhood. I would rather get some sleep to recover but did manage to pick up some standard swill to cool down. It’s a bit warm in my hotel room without AC, only a fan.
I’ve drank many a Behemia on the previous Mexico trip but not this Dos Equis Lager Especial. Tastes better than the Vienna, which is much too sweet.
Today we tried to look for some beer spots on my list but they were either open in the evening or wrong addresses. Finally found one that was open, a very small place with only 3 own beers on taps. The 2 we tried were very good indeed.
The place has 3 tables and a small counter. We sat at the far end. Fridge above us is where they keep the kegs cold. Nice to see other female craft beer drinkers there besides myself.
The craft beer scene is growing in Mexico and is getting better and has some interesting beers. The “regular” beers like Dos Equis, Bohemia, Corona are as disappointing like many large scale beers around the world and at least for us not worth the calories (and it didn’t help the quality that they are part of Heineken - the “low leveler” in the beer world)
Hinterland IPA by Hinterland Brewery (Green Bay, WI) - IPA
Some weak roasted malt notes upfront with some floral, slightly citrusy, grapefruit aroma. Followed by some earthiness combined with pine notes. Relatively long, medium bitter finish.
Calicraft Cool Kidz juicy IPA, Walnut Creek, CA
Kind of watery, not so juicy. Maybe this is mediocre or maybe my tolerance for IPAs is waning. Probably a combination of the two.
Banana Colada Melted Sno Cone by Southern Grist Brewing Company (Nashville, TN) - Smoothie Sour
Quite thick and viscous beer with tons of tropical banana and coconut flavor and some sweetness from the pineapple. Sourness balances out the sweetness but could be a bit more pronounced. Still overall a fantastic smoothie sour and perfect for a beach day
The Joaquin Dead by Evans Brewing Company (Corona, CA) - Red Ale
Strong flavors of roasted malts, caramel and bread dominate this red ale which has also some characteristics of a lager. There are also some sweeter notes in the background but well balanced with roasted flavors. Medium bitter finish with lingering roasted notes.
Channel Marker by Islamorada Beer Company (Islamorada, FL) - IPA
Rather unremarkable IPA with very little hop flavor, hardly any bitterness and surprisingly roasted malt-forward. Flavor was actually somehow closer to a lager than IPA. More of an IPA for somebody who doesn’t like IPAs.
Sandbar Sunday by Islamorada Beer Company (Islamorada, FL) - Wheat Beer
Second beer from this brewery that tastes more like light lager even though it isn’t one. Flavors of malts, biscuit and bread but only very faint hints of wheat. A beer for those who don’t like beer.
Nice! I’m hoping to get to Fort Point at the Ferry Building to have their new Hazy IPA–if you try it during Beer Week, you get a free glass (first pour only). Meanwhile, I was at Drake’s Dealership in Oakland yesterday and had Death of the Sun, their bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout. For something that’s over 12% ABV, it surprisingly didn’t hit me too hard, and was very, very smooth. I bought a 375-mL bottle to take home and age for a few months.
