Wet Exit by Kern River Brewing Company (Kernville, CA) - IPA
Very fresh tasting WCIPA with more tropical notes than expected but those quite quickly get pushed into the piney and resinous flavor direction with a spicy kick. Dry, medium bitter finish.
Secret Secret by Wayfinder Beer (Portland, OR) - Dark Czech Lager
Excellent dark Czech lager with quite prominent roasted malts mixed with flavors of brown bread, figs, prunes and some toasted bread, sometimes even light hints of coffee. Dry, low-to-medium bitter finish
Wiggle by Great Notion Brewing (Portland, OR) - NEIPA
Very drinkable and good NEIPA but at the same time also a bit “middle of the road” with a some “generic” flavors (fruity, stone fruit, citrus, piney, light dank, bready malts, lower bitterness finish) where nothing stands out.
Cynosure (Blackcurrant, Pineapple) by Homes Brewery (Ann Arbor, MI) - Sour IPA
Really nice sour IPA which finds a good balance between the tart component, some (but not overwhelming) sweetness from the pineapple and hoppiness from the hops. Works very well together and creates an unique flavor combination.
Parabolita by Firestone Walker Brewing Company (Paso Robles, CA) - Imperial Stout
Surprisingly thin imperial stout as it starts with roasted malts, molasses, malted chocolate and hints of coffee. As the caramel flavor gets a bit more prominent these other flavors disappear and the second half of the sip is mainly caramel with hints of vanilla and bourbon and a very long salty aftertaste. As the stout warms up the flavors start to work a bit better together but it still doesn’t feel really well balanced
@honkman what store do you normally buy your beers?
I have several local (Bay Area) shop where I trust they know how to handle and store beer and a few selected national shops where I pick stuff hard to get in SF. (I am also mainly interested in shops which sell single cans/bottles vs 4-packs as I am more interested to try out new stuff)
Local:
-Giant Liquor (Mountain View)
National:
It’a also surprising how good the selection is in some of the “regular” independent supermarkets in the Bay Area, so that it is always a good idea to check them out when exploring to areas
I miss being able to go down to my local bodega/corner store and get decent single bottles. Some of the Eastern European stores here carry them, but that limits you to beers from Germany/Russia/Poland/etc. And Total Wine is a bit of a shlep for me–I go there when I need several items.
