I had a thoroughly ok pilsener in Cuenca Ecuador yesterday. Approprriately enough, it is called Cervesa Pilsener. A little smooth with a touch more malt than i like, but it was served muy frio (very cold) with a very nice Picante Salsa with garlic bread. The sea bass and langostino with olives and wine were rather good.
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I am having a rather nice Reventador IPA at Latitud Cero, an aptly named brewpub in Cuenca Ecuador. Friendly crowd, nearly every seat filled. Next to beautiful Parque Calderon.
Life is good.
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Ok, canelazo is not beer but it is ridiculously good! Ecuador has a hot drink made of cinnamon and fruit juice heated together and then adding a tiny bit of aguardiente or rum at the end. They use it as a kind of apertif before a meal or so it seems. Tasty, sweet and fun.
And small.
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Shockwaves by Stellwagen Beer Company (Marshfield, MA) - hazy DIPA
Thick, creamy mouthfeel with complex mixture of tropical, citrus, berry and some lighter floral notes upfront and later some moderate dank tastes with an unexpected nearly tobacco-like flavor. Relatively moderately bitter finish. Overall quite complex, interesting hazy DIPA
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Trends - Orange ‘Mello by Barrel Brothers Brewing Company (Windsor, CA) - Pastry Sour
Split is a very popular ice cream bar in Germany with a vanilla core and thick covering of orange sorbet - this sour is a nearly perfect replica of the flavor with some added moderate tartness - Split is very popular in the summer - as shod be this beer.
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Ripe by Great Notion Brewing (Portland, OR) - Hazy IPA
As the name indicates - tons of ripe fruits (mango, papaya, orange, peach, guava) followed by piney and malty notes. Long lasting medium bitter finish. Classical example of a hazy IPA - there seems to no bad beer made by Great Notion.
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Really like this one too, had a glass of it a little while ago but I guess I didn’t post it. It lives up to its name.
1 Like
You should also try Overripe which amps it up even more.
Perfectly Peached by S27 Ales (San Jose, CA) - Smoothie Sour
This smoothie sour might have pushed it too far. Tons of peach flavor and vanilla the balance of the tartness from the sour is nearly missing and just very faintly in the background. It’s a smoothie but mostly missing the sour part.
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Will keep a look out for it!
Juice Bumps by Alvarado Street Brewery (Monterey, CA) - DIPA
Beginning is expected juicy with notes of orange and peach but then it turns very fast to an unexpected highly dank mix of hops, piney resins, spices, herbal and even musty notes and finished with a dry, medium bitter finish. Interesting, intense DIPA.
3 Likes
Went back to Nao brewery on my last Friday on the island and couldn’t stop drinking their fresh IPA.
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But I had to get back to the bus station to catch a bus back to the north. If I missed my bus I would have to wait another 2 hours for the next departure. Plus 1 hour on the bus. A little problem staying in a non touristy part of the island.
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Chatted with a pair of British pensioners who were having a little tasting of their own. The man is a craft brewer himself. Gave me their email and invited me to visit their pub and village in the UK. Would be nice.
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A supermarket in the capital stocks some craft beers from other places. This IPA comes from Valencia.
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From Lanzarote. I can find 3 of their beers in some shops. Creamy and smooth bock. Not very sweet. Pretty nice.
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Now back at home…
Drop by Drop - NEIPA - Stamm Brewing - Moscow, Russia. 6,5%
Mosaic, Nelson Sauvin, Sabro.
Bought it without knowing a thing about it and zero info to be found online.
Smooth and juicy (green grapes, coconut). Mildly hoppy. Dry and creamy. Not a fan of Nelson Sauvin. Would be great if they omit that and double the mosaic. Still a solid NEIPA nonetheless.
3 Likes
Vice Passionfruit, Cactus, Dragonfruit by Wild Barrel Brewing (San Marcos, CA) - Fruited Sour
Classical sour from the Vice series with an overall good balance between the tartness and some mild sweetness of the fruits. Only passionfruit was clearly recognizable and so perhaps not as good as some of the others in this series.
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Rally by Austin Street Brewery (Portland, ME) - Session IPA
Not surprisingly a relatively light beer with some notes of orange and peach, followed by some moderate hoppy bitterness. A good starter beer if somebody wants to get used to IPAs
1 Like
Ambitious fruit combo. Passion and cactus are sour, especially passion… sharp tartness. Dragon fruit is sweet and has a delicate taste but not too pronounced.
I ate cactus a couple of times in Mexico. Sour and slimy.
Inspector Norse - Kveik Imperial IPA - Van Moll (NL) / Haandbryggeriet (NO) Collab. 8%
Kweik is a Norwegian farmhouse yeast. I have had this beer on tap several times and even got a box of 24 at another time. This is my last bottle.
Yeasty and “funky”. Dried orange peels, “spicy”? I think more like peppery (the Kweik yeast is working its magic here). Sweetish but there’s also a light sourness mixed in. Not your typical (D)IPA. Tasty and interesting.
Any American brewery uses Kveik yeast?
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I’m probably one of the few people who still have this beer, but bottled in 2004? Not very many.
Still tart after all these years but mellower and deeper. Still very bubbly. Cantillon gets all the hype (well deserved in most cases) but Boon is very competent and respectable. Price-quality ratio, minus the hype means Boon stuff is easier to obtain. Win-win.
My fishmonger no longer has boxes of 12 oysters, only 25. I ate half today.
3 Likes
The link below is to a sour that I WISH I could find again. There used to be one place in the Mosaic District that stocked it, then they stopped and that was it. I know there have to be other places with Hanssen’s Oude Gueuze but did not find them before I left the States. My first taste of this beer was a revelation. I had never had a sour that tasted balanced, not too tart, not too fruity.
This is my all time favorite sour and possibly my all time favorite beer. And I have only had 4 or 5 bottles.
Or, perhaps, it is my favorite BECAUSE I have only had 4 or 5 bottles…
But I did not drink it today, or recently.
3 Likes
After much searching, I finally found the elusive Baltika #6 Porter at one of the local Eastern European groceries a few months ago. We had it last night, at room temperature (it was a last-minute “let’s have beer” decision). Mild and sweet on the finish, and seemed much stronger than 7% ABV. I liked it and would like to try it chilled at some point.
3 Likes
