Lost Coast Brewery, out of Eureka, California, is the maker of several great beers such as Downtown Brown, Great White Beer, and Alley Cat Amber. Tangerine Wheat is one of their two fruit beer offerings, the other being Raspberry Brown. Tangerine Wheat is a refereshing beer that is great for warm summer weather, BBQs, and easy drinking. Continue reading
I was shopping in on of the Japanese supermarket in San Mateo and spotted a brand I had never seen before, Coedo. Though a little pricey, I picked a few bottles of this brew which had a special label on it claiming to have won many awards. Coedo is a small brewery in Kawagoe, Saitama, Japan and produces mostly lager style beer but does have one wheat beer style. Continue reading
Deschutes Brewery of Bend, Oregon has a solid line of year round beers and many times an even better line-up of seasonal ans special release beer. The spring seasonal beer from Deschutes in 2010 is the Red Chair NWPA (Northwest Pale Ale). I thought it would be heard to beat Cinder Cone Red from 2009 but they did it. Continue reading
While I was on vacation in Belgium in August 2009, I was using the Good Beer Guide Belgium by Tim Webb to assist in my travels and beer drinking. After finding the Beer Temple in Brussel I cross referenced the beer in the store with beer in the guide with particular styles that I wanted. Of the saison beers that I selected this one came highly recommended and it turned out to be one of the best saison’s I’ve ever had. Continue reading
Devine Rebel is an “extreme” collaboration beer between Mikkeller (Mikkel Borg Bjergsø) of Denmark and BrewDog of Scotland. This is an interesting beer that where one-quarter of the beer has been aged in oak Seyside Scottish whiskey barrels. It was also brewed using a single hop variety and both an ale yeast and a champagne yeast, likely to boost the beer up to 12% alcohol by volume. Continue reading
Lakefront Brewery, located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, started in 1987 by Russ and Jim Klisch who started the brewing as home brewers competing over who could make the best beer. Although I am located in California, I was able to find a 6-pack of their IPA at a local store in San Mateo and I’m glad I did find this IPA. It has a great hoppy nose from the Cascage and Chinook hops but balanced by a generous malty sweetness.
Hitachino Nest Espresso Stout is the union of an imperial stout with coffee which produces a very interesting and tasty beer. It is produced by one of Japan’s first craft breweries, Kiuchi Brewery, who has been brewing beer in Naka-shi, Japan since 1996.
Bison Brewing is a small brewery, headquartered out of Berkeley, California that brews USDA certified organic beer and sells it to 12 states (as of writing). The history of the brewery was a little turbulent but the excellence of their product has prevailed as exemplified by beers such as Chocolate Stout, Honey Basil Ale, and, the beer we’re focusing on today, Gingerbread Ale.
Bison describes Gingerbread Ale on their website and on the bottle as follows:
Our Spiced holiday porter is brewed with ginger, nutmeg and a touch of cinnamon, yielding the aroma of fresh backed gingerbread men! The chewy dark malt flavors are sure to smooth out that dinner with the in-laws.
Date Reviewed. December 13, 2009
Where I Found It. City Beer Store in San Francisco.
Serving Type. Bottle to pint glass.
Appearance. Bison Gingerbread Ale is deep dark brown, nearly black, and opaque. You can see a little light through the corners of the glass, which gives the beer a deep dark red-brown glow. The head is cola-fizz color. Poured about 0.75 inch of head which did not last long. However, a nice thin layer of foam remained throughout consumption.
Smell. This beer has wonderful holiday spice bouquet of ginger and cinnamon and maybe some nutmeg. It also has the perception of cloves, even though cloves are not listed an ingredient. The spices do not overwhelm and contribute to a good balance of beer and spice. It also has a hint of brown sugar and a nice roasty malt aroma. The roasted and black malts contribute the a hint of coffee aroma.
Taste. Gingerbread Ale is balanced and not excessively sweet. It has a toasty and roasty malt taste with a dark sugar flavor lacking the bitterness of molasses. The dry sugar flavor combines well with the ginger and cinnamon to have just enough spice without being overwhelming. The spice is more subtle in the taste than the smell, which is good thing. This beer tastes better at cellar temperatures than ice cold.
Mouthfeel. Medium-light bodied and nicely carbonated. Like many porters this one has a ever so slightly chalky mouthfeel that smooths out at a warmer temperature.
Drinkability. As a holiday beer this is very tasty and, despite being a spiced beer, I could drink two of these in one session. This beer is great to sip and savor slowly.
Rating. My ratings below are on a five point scale with five being the best score.
On a recent trip to City Beer Store in San Francisco I was browsing the beer fridge, after having tried De Ranke’s Père Noel, trying to figure out what other winter season beer to try. As soon as I spotted 2 Turtle Doves by The Bruery, I grabbed a 750ml to try. I first heard about 2 Turtle Doves (or sometimes Two Turtle Doves) on twitter from @aircoleman who recommended it with this tweet: “2 Turtle Doves” is a Belgian-style Dark Ale brewed with cocoa nibs and toasted pecans. A very nice 12% winter beer!”
2 Turtle Doves is crafted by a brewery in Orange County, CA called The Bruery, who specialize mostly in Belgian-style ales found either in 750ml bottles or on tap. This beer is the second winter seasonal beer they have produced in their series of the “Twelve Beers of Christmas” with the first being “Partridge in a Pear Tree.”
This is truly a wonderful winter beer which I initially described on Twitter as “like chocolate syrup muddled with a sweet stout with a little cola, gourmet coffee, and spices.” These flavors are not on accident. The bottle caption describes 2 Turtle Doves as follows:
Belgian-Style Dark Ale Brewed with Cocoa Nibs & Toasted Pecans
The second verse of our “Twelves Beers of Christmas” saga begins with caramel and toasty, nutty malt with a luscious layer of chocolate. Happy Holidays!
Date Reviewed. December 11, 2009
Where I Found It. City Beer Store in San Francisco, CA
Serving Type. Served from a 750ml bottle into a tulip glass.
Appearance. 2 Turtle Doves has a dark black or very dark brown color with a pleasant mocha colored head. Head didn’t last to long in the tulip glass.
Smell. The aroma of this beer is heavily like dark chocolate syrup. It also has hints of cola, rum, with a dash of holiday spices like cloves or nutmeg. The spicy quality plus the cola undertones give it a smell like an artisan root beer or sassafras. The aroma also has hints of gourmet coffee. Finally, as the beer warms it reveals a bouquet of caramel, nutty pecans, and toasty malt.
Taste. I originally described 2 Turtle Doves on Twitter as follows, “it’s like chocolate syrup muddled with a sweet stout with a little cola, gourmet coffee, and spices.” The dark roasted malt flavor comes through like an iced coffee made with gourmet coffee and artisan dark chocolate bittersweet syrup. The sweetness and the alcohol come through like a 18-year aged rum while not being boozy. The hints of cola flavor complement all of the other flavors. Also picy cloves. Finally, the malt has a nice roasty and caramel flavor. 2 Turtles Does is a delectable dessert in a bottle.
Mouthfeel. This beer is full boded, thick, and smooth but there may be a few tannins, that come through, giving it a hint of chalkiness.
Drinkability. 2 Turtle Doves is pure liquid dessert, a treat, and delicious. Although it is 12% alcohol by volume, it drinks smoothly and easily.
Rating. My ratings below are on a five point scale with five being the best score.
AleSmith is an awarding winning brewery out of San Diego, CA where all of the employees are homebrewers. In fact, according to their website, the owner and the head brewer were both past presidents of their homebrew club.
AleSmith touts that, “every AleSmith ale is an all-natural, unpasteurized, handcrafted artisan product brewed using only premium domestic and imported malts and hops, precisely conditioned water and our quality yeast strains.” This quality craftsmanship is readily apparent when you try the AleSmith IPA, an IPA that has won numerous awards including Silver at the World Beer Championships and Bronze at the Great American Beer Festival. The brewery describes AleSmith IPA beer as follows:
Deep golden to light amber color, and a nice off-white head, with good retention when properly served. Starts off with pleasantly strong hop flavors, balanced by a firm malt backdrop, then fades to a dry finish with a lingering hoppiness.
Where I Found It. BevMo in La Quinta, CA.
Serving Type. 22 oz. bottle into a glass.
Date Reviewed. June 26, 2009.
Appearance. AleSmith IPA has a golden honey color with an orange hue. It is very clear as long as you don’t pout the yeast into your glass. This IPA has a foamy and frothy head that lingers for a very long time. It just doesn’t seem to go away; half-way done with the beer and there is still a thin layer of head on top.
Smell. This beer smells like hoppy goodness. The sweet maltiness combined with the fruity hops made me think of fresh plums while I was taking the photos. There is a hint of vanilla or caramel and the hops are clean and fresh. This IPA has a slight hint of cedar (instead of pine) and a slight hint of spice but also fruity like fresh pineapple. There was a slight bready yeast smell when I first opened the bottle but could not pick it up after that.
Taste. I tried AleSmith IPA closer to 50ºF on a hot evening in the desert and although it does not sound like ideal conditions, it was fantastic. This beer has a nice malt flavor with a hint of caramel and vanilla sweetness. The maltiness is topped by a generous dose of hops. The hop flavor is like white pepper spice, grapefruit citrus, and for the first few sips I tasted fresh plum.
Mouthfeel. This is a big IPA and has a smooth silky nature to help glide the strong flavors through your palate. It is a full bodied beer that is almost creamy in texture and well carbonated.
Drinkability. This is a smoother IPA that has a nice balance between smooth bitterness and spicy bitterness with a bite.
Rating. My ratings below are on a five point scale with five being the best score.
The following caption appears on the back of a 22 oz. bottle of AleSmith IPA:
I prefer AleSmith it’s pretty awesome. That’s what our People’s Choice Award says to us. Each year at the San Diego Real Ale Festival , everyone is asked to vote for their favorite beer. In 2001, they chose AleSmith IPA over all the others. If you like your beer hoppy, you’re gonna love this one.
AleSmith IPA is brewed using only premium-quality malts, along with pounds and pounds of the freshest hops and our championship yeast strain. Even the water we use is precisely conditioned to make sure everything is just right for the best possible product. The results is a hoppy, malty hand-forged American-style IPA with a tantalizing aroma and a flavor that’ll have your taste buds in ecstasy!
The brewer’s yeast at the bottom of the bottle is living proof that this is a top-quality bottle-conditioned beer. Conditioning in the bottle gives the beer a lush, velvety texture that you just can’t get with force-carbonating. The bubbles are smaller, giving your taste buds a lot more surface are to grab onto, and the difference shows from the first sip to the last.
To serve, chill to approximately 45-50º and pour gently into an AleSmith pint glass, leaving the yeast in the bottle. To learn more about AleSmith Brewing Company and our many other premium products, please visit our website.
Beer 47 in a Tumblr
