Lost Coast Tangerine Wheat

Lost Coast Brewery. Eureka, California:
http://www.lostcoast.com/

BA Score 75: http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/256/31931

Description from the brewery: A refreshing citrus ale, Lost Coast Tangerine Wheat combines our Lost Coast Harvest Wheat with natural tangerine flavors. Brewed with a combination of wheat and crystal malts, and finished with Perle hops.

Side note: Fruit infused beer is nothing new. Raspberry lambic comes to my mind when we talk about these type of beer. Now brewers are expanding the flavor profile of these type of beer with other fruits like tangerine, orange, and grapefruit. I think brewers are definitely trying to get more females to join the beer lovers by making fruit infused beer which is usually a pale ale with light body and much sweeter flavor profile than your typical beer.

My take: You can smell the tangerine right from the start when you open the bottle and it pours in a hazy yellow straw color with a light head of foam. The initial sip is a carbonated rush of tangerine citrus sweetness with a mild spice tingling in the back end. The tangerine is front and center in this beer, Lost Coast definitely isn't being subtle here compared to the Dog Fish Head's Apricot IPA. It's a very drinkable beer as you taste very little hop and bitterness. I can see a lot of chicks digging this beer due to it's aroma and tangerine sweetness. Personally, I like my beer with a little more punch and the tangerine is a little too overpowering for my taste. Not a lot of depth either which might be what they are trying to go for with a clean simple fruit infused beer. Not something I would go out and buy a six pack any time soon...unless I am drinking with bunch of chicks I guess. Though I probably get the Triple Karmeliet which is super light and smooth for a beer with 8.4% ABV. Girls love it and wonder why they are tipsy drinking a light beer, LOL (j/p).

Chimay Tripel (White)

Chimay, Belgium: http://www.chimay.com/en/bieres-de-chimay.html?IDC=287

BA score 91: http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/215/1346

Description from the brewery: The Chimay Triple, last-born of the Abbey, is labelled "Cinq Cents" on the 750 ml bottle. Of a golden colour, the Trappist beer combines sweet and bitter in a rare balance. The beer's aroma felt in the mouth comes from the hops' perfumes: above all, they are fruity touches of Muscat grapes and raisins, even ripe apples. This traditional Belgian beer is best savoured fresh at a temperature of from 6 to 8°C.

Breaking down the label: Chimay is famous in the state and stands out mainly for being a "Trappist" beer. For those of you who don't know, it simply means that it is brewed within the walls of a Trappist monastery under the control and responsibility of the community of monks, and whose revenue is devoted to social service. There are only 6 active trappist brewery in Belgium so that's why we see so few beers with the "Trappist" label. Triple on the label means triple ale and is used by Belgian Trappist breweries to describe the strongest beer in their range. Typically 8 to 10% ABV.

My not so professional review: As you can see from the picture, Chimay Triple pours in a golden amber color with a nice size head of foam. As I bring the cup close to my nose, I can smell the Belgium yeast, sweet fruity notes and a hint of spice as well. Upon first sip, my immediate reaction is the heavy carbonation and crisp on the tongue then followed up with slightly citrus sweetness balanced with some spice in the middle. It rounds off with a not so subtle hop bitterness and is finished rather dry in the mouth. The fruity sweetness is balanced extremely well with the herbal spice, it doesn't overpower one another and since I like some hop in my beer, the hop bitterness in the end is a nice finish for me. It's light body though a little too much carbonation for my liking, but for a beer with an 8% ABV, it's a pretty refreshing beer and the spice and hop will definitely keep your attention.

Russian River Brewing, Pliny the Elder

 

Russian River Brewing, Santa Rosa, CA: http://russianriverbrewing.com/ 

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/863/7971   BA score:  100!!!

Description: Pliny the Elder is brewed with Amarillo, Centennial, CTZ, and Simcoe hops. It is well-balanced with malt, hops, and alcohol, slightly bitter with a fresh hop aroma of floral, citrus, and pine. Best enjoyed FRESH!

My take: Absolutely THE best IPA I ever had. Pour in a beautiful golden yellow color with a thick head of foam. You can smell the bright and fresh pine and the floral notes as you draw the glass in. First taste, hoppy beer but balanced perfectly with citrus sweetness which makes this such a drinkable IPA since the hop bitterness never overpowers the IPA while maintaining the hop and pine flavor throughout. It's just so smooth for an IPA with all the elements melting beautifully to enhance all the flavors in your taste buds. 

Hitachino Nest XH (Matured in Sake Casks)

 Kiuchi Brewery, Ibaraki, Japan: http://www.kodawari.cc/?en_home.html

Descriptions: Strong Belgian Brown Ale matured in distilled Sake barrels.the final Maturation takes place in Shochu casks {distilled sake} for 3 months.

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/697/7728    BA Score: 85

My thoughts: Well, I saw this at Whole Food the other day and being a huge fan of Hitachino Nest Pale Ale, I figured I give this special looking bottle a try, particularly intrigued by the idea that it was matured in sake casks. As you can see from the picture it pours in a murky dark brownish color with a small head of foam. The smell is rather complex, fruits, coffee notes, toasty, but didn't pick up the sake. First sip, wow, sharp malty bitterness and seemed stronger

than the 7% alcohol on the bottle. Picked up a lot of oak and woody notes and then I picked up something very pronounced in the back end. I am not sure what it is exactly but my guess it has to do with the sake casks, it's sour and funky that lingers in your mouth after drinking. Not exactly my type of beer, it's very complex but the sourness and the bitterness make this a difficult beer for me to consume. It's definitely not a beer for general public.

Iron Fist Brewing, Hired Hand Saison

Iron Fist Brewing Company, Vista, California: http://ironfistbrewing.com/main.html

Description:
Traditionally, this Belgian style farmhouse ale was brewed in the winter to be enjoyed in the summer. Well, us revolutionaries pay little heed to such silly traditions. We brew our Saison year round because, frankly, we don’t want to wait so long for such a delicious beer. Hired Hand perfectly blends malty and sour notes, with a refreshing dry finish. Enjoyed by laborers and leaders alike.
Alc – 6.5%

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/23641/63516   BA score: 89

My take: This is one of the 7 drafts we have on tap regularly at Plan Check Kitchen + Bar (I am part investor in). Saison isn't too well known but it's just another type of pale ale and traditionally brewed seasonally. It's a very refreshing ale and my top favorite saison right next with the Bruery Saison I reviewed not too long ago. It pours in a nice orange copper color with a good size foam head. First sip and you get a nice refreshing earthy note of malt, citrus and mild bread like sweetness. It's very easy to drink with a nice clean crisp finish. Didn't score too high on BA as I thought it would but for me, this is a great beer year round, definitely glad Iron Fist feels the same way.

Firestone Velvet Merlin Oatmeal Stout (Limited Release)

Firestone Walker Brewing Co, California:  http://www.firestonebeer.com/

Description: A decadent Oatmeal Stout brimming with cocoa and espresso aromas. Partially aged in bourbon barrels, this beer features a rich, dark chocolate and roasted coffee flavor with a creamy mouth feel and wonderfully dry finish. The addition of U.S. grown fuggles hops contributes the perfect amount of bitterness to this exceptionally balanced beer.

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/2210/45897   BA score: 90

My take: We just got this on draft for our restaurant/bar here at Plan Check. It pours in a deep black color with a nice floating head of foam. Smells great and once it hits your mouth, you can pick up that nutty toasty notes with a flavor profile of coffee, oatmeal, and unsweetened chocolate. It's a creamy texture, little bitter but well balanced and very smooth malty finish. Pretty damn good stout to have while eating a breakfast/brunch. Which is exactly when I sampled this delicious beer. Highly recommended.

West Coast Flight Tasting

Being the craft brew lover that I am, I went to check out this new joint opened near me which had a huge selection of craft brew beer including several different flight tasting sample. Just like wine tasting, except it's beer tasting and you don't feel like a little pussy ass bitch being dragged around by your nagging girlfriend and have to spit the wine out after to look cool.

Alright, back to the beer review. Let me list the beers I had from right to left (light to dark):
-Pyramid Hefe
-Ballast Point Big Eye IPA
-Arrogant Bastard
-Dechuttes Black Butter Porter
-Anderson Valley Oatmeal Stout

Pyramid Hefe, that's a fairly well known hefe and personally I am not big on hefe. This one tasted pretty flat and uninspired.

Ballast Point Big Eye IPA, I seen this beer before at some beer tasting festival but usually by the time I get to my 6th or 7th tasting, I am already half wasted and can't tell the difference. This is a very good IPA for me, it's hoppy but not overpowering and the bitterness is well balanced making this a very drinkable IPA.

Arrogant Bastard, malty hoppy goodness, lots of layers but all worked well together.

Dechuttes Black Butter Porter & Anderson Valley Otameal Stout. Well I put these two together cuz by the time I got to them, I already forgot all the rules of beer tasting, just literally drinking them in gulps. Port and stout arent really my thing though, and until I learn to appreciate them, you can read their review on beeradvoicate.com instead.

Scrimshaw Pilsner

North Coast Brewing Co, Fort Bragg, CA:  http://northcoastbrewing.com/home.htm

Description: Named for the delicate engravings popularized by 19th century seafarers, Scrimshaw is a fresh tasting Pilsner brewed in the finest European tradition using Munich malt and, Hallertauer and Tettnang hops. Scrimshaw has a subtle hop character, a crisp, clean palate, and a dry finish.  My take on this beer is that it's refreshing with lots of floral, lemon fruity notes. Extremely easy to drink, light hop and light bitterness. Definitely what a great Pilsner should taste like. Smooth all the way through.

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/112/409   BA Score: 84

Kigen Kawaba Sunrise Ale

Denen Plaza Kawaba Brewery, Gunma, Japan: http://www.denenplaza.co.jp/osake/beer.html (it's in Japanese)

Description: Since I cannot read Japanese, I am not able to give you the description of this beer from its brewery.

It is not rated on the beeradvocate.com website.

My take: This is mostly likely a red/brown Ale based on the color and its malty smell/taste with a medium body. Brown Ale is not one of my favorite beers so just based on personal preference alone, I am already a little biased. I was able to get my hand on this Japanese craft brew beer from the restaurant/bar I invested in when the manager told me he got a few samples and if I like to take them home to try. It pours in a reddish/dark brown color with a small head of foam. You can smell and taste the malty center, but it falls very flat right after. I let the beer sit for a little bit which did help the flavor to linger slightly longer. I took a few more sip and I can definitely pick up a hint of coffee and biscuit notes in the back end. My impression overall is that it's malty but lacks depth. I had Firestone DBA and even though brown Ale isn't my thing, I thought it had a lot of more complexity which at least made me want to keep drinking. This one just seems to fall short and flat for my taste bud. 

The Bruery Saison Rue

The Bruery. Orange County, CA: http://www.thebruery.com/index2.html

Description: Saison Rue is an unfiltered, 100% bottle conditioned, Belgian/French-style farmhouse ale. This is a beer of subtlety and complexity, with malted rye, spicy, fruity yeast notes, biscuit-like malt backbone, and a slight citrus hop character. With age, this beer will dry out and will become more complex with rustic notes of leather and earth from the contribution of a wild yeast strain. Being a Saison, Saison Rue is ambiguous unto itself as it is a different beer when fresh and when aged. We hope you enjoy it in all of its incarnations. (ABV: 8.5%, IBU: 30, SRM: 9, Release: All Seasons, Format: 750 mL bottles)

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/16866/42434 BA score : 91

My thoughts: The Bruery is a fairly new company but already it has set the bar as one of the best craft brew in the US. I was lucky enough to visit their tasting room and their Saison Rue is one of their many award winning beers. Saison Rue, for those who don't know, is a farmhouse ale and based on my none extensive research, in the past it was brewed by farmers as a very weak pale ale around 3% ABV, but things have obviously changed since. The beer pours in a nice golden color with a nice size white head of foam. You can definitely smell the earthy notes with a hint of that bready, biscuit like malt. It's a bit dry but it's balanced extremely well with a subtle hint of fruity sweetness. It's light and easy to drink yet there are a lot of characters you can pick up, everything balanced out nicely, from the rustic note to the citrus to the hop. Crisp and bubbly too. I can see why it won so many awards. Highly recommended if you willing to spend 10.00 on a wine size bottle beer. I shared it with a friend but after tasting it, pretty sure I can kill it myself since it's so drinkable.

Bear Republic Brewing Racer 5 India Pale Ale

Bear Republic Brewing Co. California: http://bearrepublic.com/home.php

Description: This hoppy American IPA is a full bodied beer brewed American pale and crystalmalts, and heavily hopped with Chinook, Cascade, Columbus and Centennial.

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/610/2751 BA score 94

My review: Racer 5 is one of the first IPA I had and a big reason why I like IPA so much and fired up my interest in craft brew beers. The Racer 5 is a great IPA, very balanced. It's hoppy and has a little spice and slight bitterness that lingers after sipping. There's also a sort of grassy and earthy note that I pick up on the more I drink. It's mild and really adds another layer to the IPA. All that different combo still makes this a very easy IPA to drink. Definitely one of my favorite IPAs.

Goose Island Beer Co Matilda

Goose Island Beer Co, Chicago: http://www.gooseisland.com/pages/home/56.php

Description: Wild in character, with a slightly fruity aroma and a spicy yeast flavor that is as unique as it is satisfying – Matilda is an intriguing choice for beer and wine lovers alike. Dry and quenching, it’s the perfect accompaniment at the dining table or for casually socializing at the bar.

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1549/4318 BA score: 89

My take: I always say you can't really drink beer and rate them objectively when you are already half faded. I was in Chicago for a wedding and went to a pub after already had plenty to drink and asked the bartender to bring me the best beer brewed in Chicago. He presented me with the Goose Island Matilda in the bottle. Beautiful packaged just like the photo above and poured into the glass for me in a nice deep orange color. I absolutely loved the beer and thought it was exceptional and extremely complex. Fast forward 3 months and I finally stumbled onto them at my local grocery store and immediately bought a 4 pack home to drink. To my surprise, it tasted very dry which isn't a character I normally like in my beer and the after taste is slightly off putting for me. It's still very complex though, in fact more so drinking it sober the 2nd time around. I don't hate it, but frankly not loving it as much as I did the first time...darn it.

Allagash White

Allagash Brewing Company. Portland, Maine: http://www.allagash.com/home

Description: Our interpretation of a traditional Belgian wheat beer. Brewed with a generous portion of wheat and spiced with coriander and Curacao orange peel, this beer is fruity, refreshing and slightly cloudy in appearance.

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/4/59 BA score 92

My opinion: Beligan style wheat beer. I prefer the Hoegaarden over the Allagash even though it has a lower BA score, just a personal preference. Still a great wheat beer. Very light and smooth and got a nice fruity after note.

Greenflash West Coast IPA

Greenflash Brewery: http://www.greenflashbrew.com/our-beers.php

Description: A menagerie of hops is layered throughout the brewing process: Simcoe for unique fruitiness and grapefruit zest, Columbus for strong hop pungency, Centennial for pine and citrus notes and Cascade for floral aroma. A multi-dimensional hop experience.

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/2743/22505 BA score 93

My opinion: IPA is one of my favorite type of beers. It's bitter and cuts through a lot of heavy food which makes this a great beer to drink when you having a nice juicy burger or bbq. I had lots of IPAs before, the Greenflash IPA is not bad, but definitely not as smooth as Russian River Blind Pig. It's bitter and lingers a bit longer than I prefer, definitely snappy and hoppy from start to finish. I give this a 6 or 7 out of 10. It's not bad but not sure if I did seek it out either.

Lost Coast Great White

Lost Coast Brewery. Eureka, California: http://www.lostcoast.com/

Description: Crisp beer with a hint of citrus, made with two-row malted barley, unmalted wheat, a secret blend of Humboldt herbs, crystal clear mountain water and ale yeast.

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/256/1669 BA score 77

My thoughts: It's a very refreshing beer, nice yellowish color and a thin layer of foam when poured. There's a hint of spice when the beer hits your tongue and a nice fruity smell to it. Easy to drink overall but does lack depth.

I Love Craft Brew

About a few years ago I started getting into craft brew beer because I realized just how complex beer can be when you get away from the mass produced crap like Budweiser. For fun, I am putting a log together of all the craft brew I had and links to their reviews including some opinion from a newbie like me. Hope you enjoy my little craft brew beer diary I suppose. Drink up friends!!!