I had the opportunity to try two beers made in collaboration with Royal Coffee/The Crown out of Oakland: Barebottle Brewings’s Unground Gems Coffee Amber Ale and Mindscape Fermentations’ White Coffee Stout. Both included the same light roast Ethiopian coffee, and both are aiming to avoid the usual dark roasted stout/porter profile. The amber ale is good if you like a richer, not overly hoppy version of an IPA; the “white stout” has some vanilla in it, making it sweeter (it would be great in a beer float).
Unfortunately, Mindscape is relatively new and isn’t bottling or canning their beers just yet; you’ll have to go to their taproom in Rocklin to try them.
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Peanut Brother by Great Notion Brewing (Portland, OR) - Imperial Milk Stout
Starts out with some chocolate sweetness but quite fast turns into some more dark chocolate bitterness with notes of coffee and the peanut flavor slowly roles in. Stronger roasted malt flavors towards the end with some tart notes. Good, complex peanut stout with a thick, creamy mouthfeel.
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Oro de Calabaza by Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales (Dexter, MI) - Belgian Strong Golden Ale
Nice example of a complex Belgian golden ale - starts with a spicy bite upfront, followed by lemony notes which give room to a lot of funky flavors before it finishes with a dry, quite tart note. Broad spectrum of distinct flavors but well balanced.
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The house beer here at chez Meekah is Flying Dog’s Raging Bitch IPA, because I love a beer named after me. 
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Imperial Passion fruit Kettle Sour, Morgan Territory Brewing, Tracy, CA.
8% ABV.
Really nicely balanced, sour/tart with touch of sweetness but not overpowering passionfruit. Doesn’t taste like 8% alcohol at all. I’ll have to see if I can find this again.
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Desire Ale #8 by Prison Pals Brewing Company (Doral, FL) - Smoothie Sour
Really nice smoothie sour with pronounced but balanced fruitiness (first guava, then orange hits with strawberry more in the back) but when it starts to get too sweet the tartness of the sour counterbalances it. Too easy to drink and very refreshing.
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Koelsch by Seven Stills Brewery & Distillery (San Francisco, CA) - Koelsch
It starts out with a very short burst of unusual sweetness but very fast gets some mild hoppiness with added notes of bread, biscuit and malts. Towards the dry finish there is also a spicy bite and some good bitterness. A koelsch which grows and improves over time.
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It’s SF Beer Week! Which means it’s time for the annual Pliny the Younger.
And also a XXX OJ from Slice brewery out of Lincoln, CA. It lives up to its name, a very juicy triple hazy IPA.
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Gravastar by Eciliptic Brewing (Portland, OR) - Oatmeal Stout
Notes of roasted coffee, toffee, dark chocolate, dark malts and some vanilla dominate this beer. The “promised” peanut butter is quite faint and very much in the background. Surprisingly watery mouthfeel for a stout brewed with oats. Not bad but could be a bit more pronounced flavored.
Nice consistency in your reporting. You’ve got very eclectic beers I never see anywhere else. where do you get them ? The one from Amherst for example? Mail order subscription stuff ?
Have you ever tried these on for size ?
It’s mix of finding over time here in the Bay Area some shops with very good beer selection (often some nondescript places with sometimes small but unique selections - and I am willing to drive around for food and drinks) and getting a bimonthly “care package” from my favorite beer shop in Boston which we used a lot when we lived there - Craft Beer Cellar in Belmont (the other Craft Beer Cellars are nothing special)
The Amherst for example came from such a shipment
I haven’t been to Horus (too many breweries when we visit our old home in San Diego) but aged beers are very much in trend everywhere
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Good stuff. Cheers and enjoy!
Forgot to add that 1-3 times a year Todd Alstroem from BeerAdvocate puts together some really nice special beer boxes - the last one was just in January with 12 Big Stouts
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It’s a fun hobby to try so many.
Good tips.
I’ve lived in CA for 3 decades now but I’m from western mass so I enjoyed seeing your Amherst beer. I try to scoop up some of the tree house brewery beer when I’m back there and some of the other great ones over the border in VT. I’d love to find those out our way. You’ve given me some good leads. Thanks !
@chienrouge I’m a member at Horus if you’re interested in trying any of their stouts. I have many many bottles in my cellar.
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Full Clip by Stoneface Brewing Company (Newington, NH) - NEIPA
Very citrus (tangerine and grapefruit) heavy upfront with some sweetness but well balanced with grassy, piney flavors and a dry, medium bitter finish. Quite creamy mouthfeel and overall a good example of an easily drinkable NEIPA
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Hazy Honk (hazy IPA brewed with citra, mosaic, el dorado, galaxy, mosaic cryo and dry hopped with citra cryo - nice fruitiness (orange, papaya) upfront with some grassy, piney notes and a dry, medium bitter finish)
First try into brewing beer myself.
I can really highly recommend taking a course with Jason (formerly head brewer of Devil’s Canyon Brewing and soon opening his own place with Mercurius Brewing) if you are living in the Bay Area. https://brewityourselfsf.com/
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Flux by Barclay Brewing Company (North Haven, CT) - Russian Imperial Stout
Great sipping stout with quite intense flavors of darkest chocolate, burnt caramel, dark coffee with hints of sweetness and vanilla and some cinnamon. Very viscous consistency and a faint alcohol burn at 14% ABV.
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Feierabend by Mast Landing Brewing Company (Westbrook, ME) - Festbier
Very easy drinkable festbier with a flavor profile close to a classical lager but a bit more pronounced malt backbone (with a slightly more sweetness) and a stronger herbal bite. Dry, low bitterness finish and quite “creamy” mouthfeel
3 Likes
