West Coast Ripe by Great Notion Brewing (Portland, OR) - IPA
Typical WC citrus flavors upfront with some mild bready sweetness from the malts before a surprisingly strong floral flavor takes over with some piney notes with hints of danknesx in the background. Dry, relatively strong bitterness in the finish. Overall a relatively hoppy WCIPA
Hard Nectar: POG by GOAL. Brewing (San Diego, CA) - Smoothie Sour
Classical POG flavor with enough balancing tartness from the sour. POG flavors got strong as the beer warmed up slightly that it got close to be too fruit dominant. A slightly bit more tartness would have benefited the sour.
Bug Farm by Jester King Brewery (Austin, TX) - Saison
Wonderful funky saison which really gets amped up in an interesting way by the addition of watermelon, rosemary and mint. The flavors go in multiple directions and even though on paper they might seem to clash they work really well together with the saison backbone which includes acidity, notes of bread, grass and yeast.
Northleft by Great Notion Brewing (Portland, OR) - Hazy IPA
Very hazy IPA with tons of tropical flavors covering mango, guava, passionfruit, honeydew, pineapple and orange. Relatively little grassiness and some light malt flavors before a low bitterness finish with still some tropical flavors in the background. Overall strong fruit bomb - perhaps not a beer to drink everyday but from time to time something very enjoyable
West Coast Haze by FiftyFifty Brewing (Truckee, CA) - NEIPA
Relatively middle-of-the-road hazy IPA with strong orange flavor with some tropical tastes in the background. A little bit of piney notes in the second half with a dry, low bitterness finish. Drinks easy but also a bit one dimensional and relatively thin mouthfeel
Aloha Vibes by Fieldwork Brewing Company (Berkeley, CA) - Fruited Sour
Nice to have a tropical sour without the typical POG flavor profile - here are more notes of pineapple, tangerine and hibiscus with a stronger coconut aftertaste. Relatively low sweetness but pronounced sourness which makes it overall a very nice tropical sour
Best Fiends by Cellarmaker Brewing Company (Oakland, CA) - Imperial Porter
Porter without any adjuncts and shows bittersweet chocolate, coffee, molasses, earthy notes with some slight hints of sweetness like from dried cherries and some graham cracker flavors. Long lasting, medium bitter finish with a thick, chewy mouthfeel. The different flavors are getting more pronounced as the beer warms up.
Love the glass! Did you happen to get it at the Exploratorium?
No, we got the glass when we lived in Boston but I can’t remember at which shop we bought it
Hopres Ski by Alvarado Street Brewery (Monterey, CA) - Hazy DIPA
Good example of a hazy IPA with citrus-forward fruitiness upfront (coupled with some lighter pineapple and mango notes) before piney and grassy flavors become more dominant. Relatively strong biscuit like malt flavor and a medium bitter finish which gets some slight sweetness in the end.
Lemongrass Witbier by Dokkaebier (Oakland, CA) - Witbier
Perfect match for Chinese dinner - great, refreshing flavor of lemongrass throughout the sip with a good malty backbone and some grassy wheat flavors in the background. Very light tickling of Szechuan peppercorns. Completely non-traditional but excellent beer
Rainbow Parfait by Fieldwork Brewing Company (Berkeley, CA) - Fruited Sour
If you let a mix of lemon and raspberry sorbets melt and mix it with a tart sour base you would get quite close to the flavor profile of this fruited sour. Luckily quite heavy on the tartness do that the sweetness is well balanced - great summer sour
Dreamland by Coronado Brewing Company (San Diego, CA) - Hazy DIPA
Hazy IPA with relatively close resemblance of a west coast IPA with mainly citrus flavors (with very slight flavors of mainly pineapple very much in the background) coupled with floral and dank notes. Not bad but also not really what one would expect from a hazy IPA.
Three Person Conga Line by WeldWerks Brewing Company (Greeley, CO) - Hazy TIPA
As expected from a TIPA very bold flavors with tons of juiciness upfront (mix of orange, guava, overripe pineapple and grape) followed by very herbal and dank notes. Dry and quite bitter finish with some slight astringency.
Westmore IPA by Fort George Brewery (Astoria, OR) - IPA
Very dry and crisp WCIPA - lemony start with very faint hints of melon in the background before it turns in a floral and piney direction with a quite strong malt backbone and some wheat notes. Very dry, low-medium bitter finish which lasted very short. WCIPA which sometimes has some unexpected pilsner resemblance
Sub Zero Full Nelson by Weldwerks Brewing Company (Greeley, CO) - Hazy DIPA
Unique flavored Nelson IPA with a short burst at the beginning of grapes and a bit of melon before it quite quickly turns to ton of piney, dank funk. Dry, medium to high bitter finish which lingers for a long time
Juiceship by Jester King Brewery (Austin, TX) - Farmhouse IPA
Very interesting farmhouse ipa which
has hoppy character but at the same time shows some malty breadiness and funk you would expect from a farmhouse ale. The addition of different fruits adds another layer. Complex flavor combination but also light and refreshing without overly fruit forward.
Come Play with Us by Great Notion Brewing (Portland, OR) - Imperial Pastry Stout
This imperial stout slowly grows on you as it warms up - it started as too harsh with the coffee bitterness clashing too much with the vanilla and maple syrup flavors but as it warms up the flavors harmonize much better and you a nice base of coffee flavors with its bitterness well balanced with some sweetness from the maple syrup. The vanilla helps to balance out things
10% ABV? In a tall can? Holy criminy!
The place I used to get DFH 90 Minute (9%) at served it in a 8 ounce snifter, and I was ok with that. If I drank a pint of 10% IPA I would be calling an UBER…
I am still kind of confused by the sheer number and variety of beers out there now. What a beautiful development over the past 40 years! I remember when Sierra Nevada and Sam Adams were cutting edge stuff.
Sorry for the OT post but this thread just hit me different today.
I pulled two of my “favorites” from western Montana out of the fridge. Dirt Church Hazy IPA from Bitter Root Brewing in Hamilton Montana is one of my all time favorite kick back brews and its brew pub is a great place to visit.
I have not tried Western Cider’s Sour Cherry Cider but it is indicative of another option here in Montana now. Multiple options for brews and ciders. In Montana. This is so cool.
We actually used to drink Hamms beer! Usually only once, rhough…
I have a number of beers in the beer fridge going towards >15% ABV . And yes, the variety of beers in the US (and more and more also outside of the US) is quite remarkable.
