State Sponsored Juicing by Barrel Brothers Brewing Company (Windsor, CA) - IPA
Surprisingly little juiciness for an IPA with such a name - very faint hints of melon, mango and guava but very pronounced dank flavors with a lot of resiny tastes. Tastes like a very harsh west coast IPA with a lot of bitterness.
Raspberry Kettle Sour by Brau Brothers Brewing Company (Marshall, MN) - Sour
Perfect flavored sour for beginners with some decent sourness but also relatively strong, not too sweet, raspberry flavor. The raspberry flavor is borderline of being too artificial tasting. Very easily drinkable.
A-SLO-ha by SLO Brew (San Luis Obispo) - IPA
Sweet notes of guava, mango, pineapple with some grapefruit upfront, followed by some grassy, hoppy resin flavors and a very dry, short (nearly abrupt) finish with hardly any aftertaste.
Fest Bier by Brothers Craft Brewing (Harrisonburg, VA) - Maerzen
Flavor profile of a bit more robust lager with notes of caramel, toasted bread and some brown sugar. It has some sweet tones with creamy mouthfeel and some low-to-medium bitterness in the finish. Could use a bit less sweetness and more bitterness in the finish
Sheephead American Bitter by Brau Brothers Brewing Company (Marshall, MN) - Red IPA
Upfront heavy on roasted malts with caramel notes which changes in the middle to some spicy, herbal flavors with some hints of grapefruit in the back and an aggressively bitter finish. All three parts of a sip are fine but they don’t work well together and feel unbalanced.
Two Pitchers Brewing Nordic Jam Radler, Oakland, CA
New brewery in Oakland specializing in Radlers. A lot of Radler’s I’ve had skew too sweet for me, but I really enjoyed this one. Tart with real fruit flavors. [BTW auto correct REALLY does not want me to write “radler”, I’m getting sadler, raider, etc.]
Good to know - the next warm weather is coming hopefully soon. Where did you buy the radler ?
Hah good question - a friend brought a twelve pack over for NY’s Eve and left a six pack. I didn’t get around to trying one until today.
Vaporhaze by Long Beach Beer Lab (Long Beach, CA) - IPA
Hints of orange juice upfront but immediately followed by a lot of spices, piney, dank and a very bitter finish with some tart notes. Quite a rustic IPA which didn’t have much of a NEIPA character.
Booster Shot by Narrative Fermentations (San Jose, CA) - IPA
Mango, orange and lychee at the beginning and stays noticeable throughout much of a sip but gets countered by some balanced piney, spicy notes. Finished with a medium bitterness which lingers a bit.
Now that’s a topical name
I know - finally a booster shot to drink. I am pretty sure if they could formulate the current covid vaccine orally with beer flavor the US wouldn’t discuss low vaccination rates of ~60%
Banana Bread Mind over Matter by Magnify Brewing Company (Fairfield, NJ) - Imperial Stout
Strong chocolate flavor upfront followed by some spices (cinnamon, vanilla) and dark roasted aroma. Surprisingly little banana flavor at all (wouldn’t have guessed any if it wasn’t written on the can). Bitter finish with a lot of carbonation overall
No Worries by Belching Beaver Brewery (Oceanside, CA) - IPA
Nice example of a typical west coast IPA with some citrus notes upfront together with some earthy hoppiness, followed by some strong resiny, piney dank and a medium bitter, dry finish.
Amarilla Gorilla by Smog City Brewing Co (Torrance, CA) - IPA
Well balanced IPA for self described hop bomb - less tropical but more floral, slightly spicy notes with a hint of citrus juice in the background. Finished with medium bitterness.
Cerveza Hermanos by Brothers Craft Brewing (Harrisonburg, VA) - Lager
Surprisingly strong roasted malt flavors upfront which mellow out to a crisp, clean typical lager biscuity flavor with a dry and slightly bitter finish. Decent but a bit boring beer.
Coastal Sunrise (v5) by Humble Forager Brewery (Waunakee, WI) - Pastry Sour
The beer starts very promising with a fruity, not overly sweet mix of berry flavors with hints of vanilla but unfortunately the second half of a sip is completely overwhelmed by a strong, sweet maple syrup flavor and hardly any sourness. Like somebody accidentally added way too much maple syrup during the brewing process.
What…?! “Pastry sour” is the latest trend?
I haven’t had a beer since I got home from Madeira. Drank 3 times my capacity in 2 short weeks so now I have to let the liver recover a little. Here are the first couple of photos of the beers I drank during my holiday.
SuperMachines - Double NEIPA - Dois Corvos brewery - Lisbon, Portugal.
8.5%, 40 IBU
Hops: Citra, Vic Secret (for real?.. Who got to name this hop?), Galaxy.
Pronounced ripe pineapple smell, also other sweet tropical fruits but I don’t know which. Boozy, sharp alcoholic after taste. Medium bitterness.
Chihuahua - Mexican Hot Chocolate Imperial Stout - Dois Corvos brewery - Lisbon, Portugal. 10%, 35 IBU
Their own descriptions: "inspired by Mexican hot chocolate recipes. It was brewed with cocoa nibs and cinnamon along with Ancho, Guajillo, Chipotle and de Árbol chile additions. We’ve used different kinds of barley and wheat malts, oats and rye. This results in a rich creamy malty base - with chocolate, roasted and smoked flavors, with a punchy spicy long-last feel."
Hardly any head. Feels like drinking alcoholic chocolate milk with a mild spicy kick. I detect some salmiak (Finnish salted liquorice) flavour for sure. I’ve had more spicy beers brewed with Mexican chillies. This one barely produces a tingling feeling on the tongue. Tastes is much too sweet. I know, because my tongue hurts. But to be fair, I’m highly sensitive to (refined/unnatural) sugars so my sweet threshold is extremely low. Medium-bodied with lactose mouthfeel. Shame about the intense sweetness.
From before the holidays:
Hike My Beer (Pulfer brewery, Croatia): IPA 7.3%?
Quite smooth initially, but it does not take long to feel the alcohol. 50 IBU. Fruity and citrusy, also piney, clearly orange-y in taste and smell. Medium-bodied and bitterness. I detect some oat flavour, or is it yeast? Another nice brew from this micro brewery in Zagreb.
They are from the state of Victoria in Australia
