Barebottle Dank Dank Revolution Hazy IPA, which I may or may not have bought because of the name. Very good, dank and juicy.
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Hah… thanks. You win some, you lose some. Be open to the good and the bad, also when it comes to beer. Also, I don’t do sugar-coating, subtlety, or diplomacy. 
Systemelefant - DDH IPA - Sudden Death (Lübeck) & Blech Brut (Bamberg) Colab - 6,5%
Hops: Idaho7, Simcoe, Citra and Mosaic. Brewed at Frau Gruber Brewery in Gundelfingen an der Donau, Bavaria.
Creamy, bready, hoppy and very hazy. Smooth and fruity, sweet & sour mango and pineapple. Low bitterness with a dry finish. Creamy mouthfeel and full bodied. All sounds good, right? However, too soft and a bit unexciting for a DDH. Still tasty but there’s room for improvement. Needs to be bolder, like a proper DDH.
Hobo With a Hopgun - West Coast IPA - Van Moll, Netherlands. 7,2%
Juicy mango and citrus. Sweet but not unpleasantly. Could be a bit more bitter but it’s all right like this, too. Good enough that I drink it once in a while as it’s still readily available and not a soapy West Coast IPA.
From my stash, Cantillon Kriek 2008. One of the few traditional sour blenders and producers I respect and support. Cantillon is held in very high regard for a reason. I miss drinking different sours at their brewery bar in Brussels.
About this Lou Pepe Kriek:
https://www.lambic.info/Cantillon_Lou_Pepe_-_Kriek
I have been drinking AleSmith…
And again (though, not all at the same time!)
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Swami’s by Pizza Port Brewing Company (Carlsbad, CA) - IPA
If you have ever lived in the San Diego area than this is a classic west coast IPA from this region. Citrus notes with a lot of piney flavors and a long, quite bitter finish. Well balanced, timeless classic.
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I liked the beers from Pizza Port I got during the various pandemic virtual beer fests.
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Agreed - I just wished their pizza would be better when we lived in SD. There was always a discussion on Chowhound around the quality/style of their pizza - some liked them, some not but for me it reminded me too much on bar pizza in the New England which are for me on the same level as frozen pizza from the supermarket
Monstars by Imprint Beer Company (Hatfield, PA) - DIPA
Beginning of the sip is quite juicy with orange and apple but fast changes to an aggressive dank and piney flavor which dominates the IPA and a long lasting bitter finish. What sets the beer apart is its extremely smooth mouthfeel by the added protein malts. Bold and very good beer.
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Down in Monterey/Carmel or in SF ?
I’ve been to the Pizza Port in Carlsbad - great tap list but that pizza is atrocious. My cousin lives in Carlsbad and when I mentioned how terrible the pizza was he was shocked because his family likes it. To each his own.
This was in SF, at Toronado in the Lower Haight
Double Dank Shake by Alvarado Street Brewery (Monterey, CA) - Milkshake IPA
Seems to be trendy to you terpenes as they reinforce hoppiness and dank - quite fruit forward upfront with citrus and grassy notes and a quite bitter finish but which unfortunately turns too sweet at the end from the lactose. Very creamy mouthfeel.
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Easy like Sunday Morning by Great Notion Brewing (Portland, OR) - Fruited Sour
Perfect replication of a Sunday brunch mimosa - vibrant citrus and orange flavor nicely paired with some tartness (not unlike prosecco) from the sour ale. Impressive combination for a sour.
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Spellbound - DDH NEIPA - Seven Island Brewery - Corfu, Greece. (brewed by Frau Gruber brewery, in Gundelfingen a.d.Donau)
With Nectaron and Riwaka hops.
Looks like a proper DDH NEIPA and tastes like it, too. Smell sweet and perfume-y. Creamy and chewy. Hoppy and bitter level is perfect. Dry with a lingering sweetness. Full of super ripe mango and pineapple. Though, could be a tad less sweet.
Despite being a wine producing (and with high wine consumption) nation Greece has seen an astronomic rise in the craft beer scene in recent years. This is one of those countries you can’t say “stick to making wine!”. That is reserved for France.
Aprication - Melomel with Apricot & Cacao nibs - Mad Scientist, (Budapest) Hungary. 6,1%
Turns out it’s a mead drink. Very sweet, and also sour at the same time. No head at all. Apricot seems about to ferment being super ripe. I do taste the cacao nibs, slowly at first. Dry finish which I think the cacao nibs provides. Interesting enough but won’t be buying any melomel/mead again.
In my private Biergarten. (“DDR” bought in Berlin in 1997 from one of the many stalls right in front of the iconic Brandenburger Tor operated by former East Germans. “Biergarten” bought in Dinkelsbühl in 2013)
Risovyi (Rice) Samuray - Gose - Panzer Brewery - Moscow, Russia. 4,3% 12 IBU
No info in English besides “Gose” and name of brewery. First gose of the few I have been drinking lately that’s not intensely sour, but that’s the only good thing about this beer. Very fizzy, also on your tongue. Watery. A touch of salinity. Too much woody spices (probably coriander seeds). Calamansi/citrus. That’s all. Not much else to describe this beer.
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Temescal Brewery, Oakland CA
I had a Spring Fling (Belgian with rose, lavender and apricot; and Temescal Fruity - gose with pineapple and mango.
They seem to specialize in hazy IPAs but both of these were great, subtle fruit flavors, the gose was subtly salty, more sour than gose. Great outdoor space.
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I always like going to Temescal.
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Spawn of Yaga by Bear Republic Brewing Company (Rohnert Park, CA) - Russian Imperial Stout
Nice dominant flavors of dark chocolate, coffee, black molasses and roasted malts but surprisingly “thin” mouthfeel. The finish starts bitter but than the licorice unfortunately takes over and adds an unbalanced sweetness at the end. Quite “potent” at 12% ABV.
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GuavaNation by Tilted Mash Brewing (Elk Grove, CA) - Fruited Sour
If you like guava this sour is for you - guava-forward without overpowering or too sweet. Some additional “tiki” flavors from passionfruit in the background. Nicely balanced from the tart sour and very refreshing on a warm spring evening.
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Today is Ascension. Everyone has a day off regardless of one’s (lack of) faith.
Mosquito Killer - NEIPA - Pulfer brewery - Croatia.
Motueka, Azacca, Citra and Sultana hops.
Sour, a bit salty, super juicy, loaded with passion fruit and pineapple. Loaded with fresh fruit sediments. A nice surprise. Bitter and dry. Full bodied. Unlike any NEIPA I’ve ever had. Highly enjoyable.
Craft beer shop stores it in the fridge to keep it in optimal condition. Expensive, but it’s so delicious. I went back to the shop and bought the last 5 cans.
Thick as mud
The very last can. Btw, you might have noticed some of my photos -such as one below- look like they have some kind of effect applied to them, but they really don’t. This is an “effect” my Voigtländer Nokton lens produces at hair-thin aperatures (I only use f1.2 or f1.4). Voigtländer is known for making high quality manual lenses with unique characteristics, and with prices to match.
Another Pulfer beer.
Space Can - NEIPA - Pulfer brewery - Croatia.
High bitterness, unlike a typical low IBU NEIPA. Grapefruit. Creamy mouthfeel. Bready. Hardly “floral” in the first instance. Nice smell of hops is there but you have to inhale hard as you take a sip. They use lots of Ekuanot Citra in this. Also Strata and El Dorado. OK, but after the ones above Space Can is a very different kind of NEIPA.
I Heard You’ve Been Looking For Me Imperial Cookie Stout - Boundary Brewing - Belfast, Northern Ireland. 8%
Lots of chocolate. Only barely sweet, that means I can actually drink it. There’s a sour taste so I guess that’s blueberries. Don’t notice any vanilla. Fizzy and creamy mouthfeel. Usually it’s not both so it’s kind of an odd sensation. The flavour is not bold enough for an “imperial” stout. Very much just a normal stout, at least to me. Pours a nice tanned head but it disappears instantly. Imperial stouts usually have nice lacing after the head dissipates. Interesting “imperial” stout with blueberries. Like it OK.
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Just curious - how are beer shops in Europe tend to store their beer - rt vs fridge. And you wrote expensive- what are the (average$ prices on the cans and bottles you post ?
The Croatian beers with “fresh fruit pieces” in them are about €9 each. Some Brazilian beers cost even more, like €13. I recently got an AleSmith (imperial) stout that costs as much as some Brazilian beers!
Average price for domestic (NE)IPAs is between €3,50 - €5,00. Most imported beers, any style, are all above €5,00. IICR, the Alesmith IPA is €6 or €7. Not sure if it costs more if stored in fridge. I’ll ask next time. I’m talking about craft beer shops and not supermarket (where the standard craft beer range never change but the prices are a little lower).
Craft beer shops now have a couple of fridges for selected (NE)IPAs and fruited beers only. It’s a new thing. But almost everything else is still on the shelves.
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