I know I haven’t updated in a while, I promise to now! Go ahead and read my other reviews of beer and stories of life written by me, the illiterate man that looks like a Geiko caveman!
[The Blab]
My wife made me stop by Trader Joe’s on Sunday after I left church to pick up some fresh veggies. Typically TJ’s has a sub par beer selection, but during Christmas they carry their Vintage Ale. The past 2 years it wasn’t a bad beer, especially for 5 bucks. I had to grab a few bottles this year to see how it held up to it’s predecessors. I mean, come on, a Unibroue beer in California for 5 bucks! That’s kind of unheard of!
[The Beer]
Trader Joe’s 2009 Vintage Ale
Dubbel
9% ABV
The bottle is bland. As it is every year. ‘Nuff said here!
I poured this beer into my Bruery Tulip and I got a TON of head on it. Once again my retardation in pouring a beer properly shows through! It poured a dark brown color with a white loose and fluffy head (looked like suds from waves at the beach almost).
The smell of it was that of a Belgian (no way, Unibroue having a beer smell like it’s using Belgian yeasts? SHOCKING!) and some fruitiness. Not much of an alcohol smell for a beer of 9% though.
The mouthfeel of it was light and carbonated. Not over the top carbonation but a bit more than I was expecting I think. It was nothing special in this department, maybe a bit more carbonated that I would’ve liked.
The taste was pretty nice. Had a slight bready taste, but not as much as expected. A bit of malt, chocolate, fruit and sugar. Not much alcohol taste to it as well, although you can feel it. There’s also a bit of a woody taste, but nothing that stands out too much. The flavor of the beer is nice and mild, I was expecting more from such a dark beer and especially for a beer from Unibroue, but it wasn’t terrible.
[The Rating]
All in all, it was a nice beer. Easy to drink on your own, but with the alcohol content you might want to share it (depending on how much you can handle). I look forward to seeing how this tastes next year when I open the other bottle, maybe a bit more of the fruit will shine.
19.5/25 (this seems low, but I’m just doing a point scale of 5 for each aspect of the beer and slight adjustments on the final overall review of it.)
[The Blab]
I got off work pretty late and stopped by the highly touted Lone Hill Liquors to see what they had. I walked in and some Eastern European dude was at the counter. I said to him “I have 3 bottles on hold and Stan said he’d have them for me tonight.” His response was simply incomprehensible. Not because in the USSR, where I’m sure he grew up, he didn’t get a decent socialist brainwashing. It was mostly because of his accent! This was strange for me because I work for a phone company and am in all kinds of ethnic houses while at work; I can usually understand them quite easily. Anyways, I just asked for Stan and I think he said that Stan would be back in about 2 minutes.
While waiting for Stan I walked around looking at the 14 or so windows with all sorts of craft beer and imports. They had some beers I’ve never seen before in Southern California. Brews from 3 Floyds, Bell’s Brewery, Russian River, Founders, a lot of Belgian and Trappist breweries that are few and far between in our sprawling metropolis.
Stan finally came in, shook my hand and introduced himself and I told him what I was looking for, he pulled out the 3 bottles of a beer that’s discontinued from The Bruery and I asked him what else he recommended. He showed me around to some of the hard to find stuff and pointed out a La Chouffe N’ice Chouffe and so I grabbed that. I then asked for something that wouldn’t need to be shared to drink when I got home. 3 Floyds, Dogfish Head and Bell’s. I thought a Cream Stout sounded nice for the cold night. So Bell’s it was! This was also my first from them!
After chatting with Stan for what seemed like an hour I was heading home with 3 nice finds. Got home, hugged my wife and hung out with her a bit and then warmed up my dinner and poured the Bell’s.
[The Beer]
Bell’s Brewery’s Special Double Cream Stout
Milk/Sweet Stout
6.10% ABV
The beer came in a 12 oz bottle and had a nice simple label, something I appreciate a lot! I poured it into my Bruery Tulip (as recommended by Alex Davis) and the color was a nice dark brown nearly black body with the tan head floating to the top as if it were a waterfall the didn’t understand the concept of gravity. I can’t explain how much I love this look! The head was tan and about an inch high and had left a nice tan lace.
The scent was like any good stout. Bitter maltyness, coffee, a bit of chocolate maybe.
The mouthfeel was nice and thick. It had a very slight carbonation to it but was essentially almost like a nice thick chocolate milk. It was something that really hit the spot on the cold night that we had (30 F or so!).
The first drink gives you a big hit of coffee up front and then tones down to a nice malty flavor. It had some slight hints of chocolate and molasses as well. The coffee flavor never goes completely away, but it mellows out a bit and creates a nice drinkable stout, pretty uncomplicated and mild… But enjoyable nonetheless.
[The Review]
A great cream stout for a cool night. I begged the wife to take a sip, which she finally did after much enticing, and she actually took a second sip before making a sour face and handing it back. She said it wasn’t bad, but still tasted like beer. I asked her if she tasted the coffee or chocolate and she said she definitely tasted the coffee. This was a nice step for her in my quest to make her a seasoned beer drinker! I hope to be able to find a bigger bottle than 12 ounces to share with some friends!
[The Rating]
21/25
[The Beer]
The Bruery’s Melange No. 3
American Strong Ale
17% ABV (as listed at the Tasting Room)
The beer poured a very dark, nearly black, with a very thin tan head. The head kind of left a bit of lacing on the glass as well.
The smell of this was very interesting, I wasn’t sure what to expect as I didn’t read about it before hand. It had a lot of sweet candy scents like brown sugar, caramel, some vanilla and many other sweet smells. It had a bourbon smells as well, when I can smell the alcohol I automatically assume there is a lot of alcohol in it. This is when I noticed it was 17% ABV.
The mouthfeel was nice, it was almost like a port. For such a thick beer it had a nice light feel to it. The feel of it could also cause a lot of damage to ones liver if not careful. At 17% you’d say it’s a sipper, but this could totally be more than that if not careful.
I always complain about beers being too sweet and this was VERY sweet. But, I wouldn’t say it’s TOO sweet by any means. It was beautiful! My taste buds have never been so happy from drinking beer. Lots of sweet candy flavors; brown sugar, toffee, caramel, vanilla. But lots of other interesting flavors that balance the sweetness such as Oak, bourbon, maybe a slight maple and even chocolate undertones. There’s definitely something in there that was balancing the candy flavors and balancing them very well! The booze is very present in this and welcomed. Due to so many things going on the alcohol didn’t overwhelm the brew! I don’t think I tasted any malts or the typical “beer” flavors you’d associate with… Well… Beer!
[The Rating]
This had to be one of the best beers that have ever graced my taste buds. And this is coming from someone that 6 months ago wouldn’t step foot near a sweet beer! I can’t wait to get my bottle of this in January!
Average Guys Rating: 29/30 (only leaving 1 off because I’ve yet had Black Tuesday by itself and not in a blend! =)
[The Blab]
I leave the blab for the end since I drank the Melange No. 3 right after I had the 2 Turtle Doves w/ Vanilla Beans. So, I ended up talking to that guy from PA and a couple from Orange County. We blabbed for about 30 minutes and swapped information and I bolted out at about 7:30 to get to the Mission Inn in time to hang out with some of my friends. The 30 minute drive ended up being about an hour since the 91 freeway was backed up (as always!).
Side note: The Mission Inn has a well known Christmas Light show every year and it gets very crowded due to this.
I got the Mission Inn at about 8:45 or so and it was packed… VERY PACKED! Ran up to door that I usually enter on West side of the hotel and some employees of the hotel told me I couldn’t get it that way. I begged and they finally let me walk through. I then continued to walk to the Presidential Lounge to get a Firestone/Walker Mission Inn Ale and they told me it was too crowded in there to go in, so once again I begged. The employees finally said it was fine and I went and got my beer, which only took about a minute or so.
The next step in a Mission Inn night is to walk up to the 2nd floor balcony that looks over the little restaurant on the first floor. They have about 4 or 5 tables with chairs around them and we hang out, drink a few beers, smoke and talk… Weekly! I mean every on Friday, sometimes more than that! So, I walk to the spiral staircase that goes to the 2nd floor and a guy tells me “I’m not allowed up unless I’m a guest.” I continue to tell him that I am a guest! He says “show me your card to your room.” My response to this was, “I’m holding a beer I bought at your bar, I come here weekly and spend money and there are about 7 of my friends who also come every week and that they’re upstairs on the balcony drinking beers they bought from the bar as we speak.” His response was, “you’re not allowed upstairs.”
I walked over to the front desk and asked the head of the Lobby if I can go upstairs and enjoy my beer with my friends. He says, “not unless you’re a guest.” My frustrated response to this comment was, “dude, I see you here every week and you know we come weekly and spend money here, can’t I get up there?” He stops, looks at me and says, “yeah, you come with that group of guys and a few of them used to work as valet drivers here, right?” “YES!” I say, “that’s us!” He smiles and says, “yeah, we can’t let you up there unless you’re a guest and we’re going to tell your friends that they have to come downstairs now too!” *sigh* I FAILED!
Finally, all my buddies come downstairs and we drive over to a small English Pub called The Royal Falconer, as we walk in the music was blaring. My buddies all sat down and I walked out. I wasn’t going to deal with listening to Lady Gaga blowing out of the speakers while I try to enjoy a beer. Finally, all my friends walked out and a few of us went over to our buddies house to finally enjoy the night. Picked up a six pack of something (I can’t remember right now) and hung out on a swing chair… Ahh, I can finally relax. The night went from great with The Bruery Tasting Room to terrible with The Mission Inn and The Falconer to pretty good at Scotty’s house. All in all, not too shabby of a night (mostly because of the Melange No. 3!)
PS: Just found out that this weekend THe Tasting Room at The Bruery tapped out the Melange No. 3. No more is left!
[The Blab]
Friday a few of my friends were going to get together and drink some brews. I had recommended we go down to The Bruery to try the Firkin of the 2 Turtle Doves Barrel Aged with Vanilla Beans or visit Hangar 24 for four special brews they were tasting. Through the glory of technology I asked for advice on the life or death decision I had to make. Two people on Twitter said I cannot pass up on Melange No. 3, so I decided on The Bruery.
Halfway through the day a few of my buddies said they didn’t wanna go to Placentia and that they were just going to go to The Mission Inn and drink and smoke up on the balcony (I’ll explain this ordeal that took place after I was done at The Bruery in the next review). I said “screw that, I’ll fly solo to The Bruery and then go to the Mission Inn after”.
I got to The Bruery at about 5:00 PM and it was pretty empty. I jumped straight to the Firkin of the 2 Turtle Doves w/ Vanilla Beans. After standing around all by my lonesome looking like a complete loser, a seat opened up at the bar so I sat down and started talking to this dude who flew out here from PA to go to the Strong Ale Fest, but left early to come to The Bruery and try the Melange No. 3. We talked for quite a while and both signed up for the Reserve Society at the same time, although it wasn’t that big of a deal for him, just me! $195 dollars is pretty brutal for me to give up. So, I will first review the 2TD (as we call it on Twitter) and Melange No. 3 after.
[The Beer]
The Bruery’s 2 Turtle Doves w/ Vanilla Beans (Firkin)
Belgian Strong Dark Ale
12% ABV
The Tasting Room at The Bruery served the beer directly from the Firkin. Served in a tulip glass of course! Just as the normal 2 Turtle Doves it was a dark brown it had thin tan head that never dissipated.
The smell was almost exactly as the 2 Turtle Doves from the bottle that I’ve had, just a slight tinge of vanilla, but very mild. It might have smelled a bit more malty, but I didn’t have them sitting side by side to check this.
The mouthfeel was a little bit more dry than what I remembered from the normal 2 Turtle Doves. Although, it was just about as thick as the originally and possibly less carbonated.
The taste was almost exactly the same as the original, maybe a little drier taste, a small bit of vanilla and a bit more maltiness. Chocolate, malts, slight hints of pecans and a bit of burn from the alcohol.
[The Rating]
All in all this was not as good as the original, but it was enjoyable nonetheless. Maybe the next Firkin will be something a bit more different. I enjoyed it quite a bit though.
Average Guy’s Rating: 22/25
[The Blab]
After I did the review on Sierra Nevada/Dogfish Head’s Life & Limb, someone over at Sierra Nevada responded to me via Twitter and thanked me for the review. I was pretty excited about that and was quite humbled by the experience. I later realized that I made my twitter update sound like I was forcing them to read it, so they did. Oh well! I still got a response from them and I’m thankful for that. It also made me realize that I can talk to these companies (whoever it may be updating their twitter accounts at least) fairly easily. So, I messaged Flying Dog Breweries on Twitter asking them what they recommend I try and review. Within a day they responded that I should try their award winning Gonzo Imperial Porter. Now I’ve never tried anything by Flying Dog as I’ve never been intrigued by their marketing (pretty lame, eh?). Their labels looked almost like they were a big companies try at a craft beer, but I was wrong as usual.
I finally went out and bought a four-pack of the Gonzo Imperial Porter (which is pretty accessible in Southern California, yet 10 dollars a pack) and really had no idea what to expect from it except some confusing and overwhelming art on the bottles. I guess if you’re into Hunter S. Thompson this art would totally appeal to you as Ralph Steadman does all the art (and he worked closely with the lunatic Gonzo journalist). Although I don’t like the art he does, I can appreciate it and understand it.
(image stolen from inbirrerya.com)
[The Beer]
Flying Dog Breweries Gonzo Imperial Porter
Baltic Porter
9.80% ABV
I poured the bottle into a pint glass and noticed it was pretty dark and had very little head, which is great for the pouring retarded such as myself. It had a bit of lace and stuck to the glass nicely, but I didn’t need to wait to let the head settle in order to drink.
The scent was pretty strong. I could smell alcohol, chocolate, malt and a bit of hops. I knew when it said Imperial it’d be stronger than most Porters and the scent was already proving this!
The mouthfeel was quite smooth and thick like a lot of stouts but with a bit of bite from the alcohol (it is 9.8% ABV). It coated the mouth quite nicely as any good motor oil stout would!
The flavor was pretty intense. Definitely had a boozy flavor to it, but not as much as you would expect from such high alcohol content. The chocolate was present as well, but the bitterness from the hops kind of tamed down the sweetness. The booze ended it off with a nice warmth at the end. You could say that it tasted like a pissed off Porter.
[The Rating]
Overall this was a nice tasty beer. Not for the weak! I would love to have this in my fridge often in order to drink on a cold night (yes, we get them occasionally out here in Southern California). It’ll fill ya up quickly though, so don’t expect to chug this guy!
One more bottle in the fridge and the next time my wife and I have some people over for some beer, food and bon fire, I’m going to crack this one open!
Average Guy’s Rating: 21/25
[The Blab]
Not much blab or life to go along with this beer, but I can setup the event which gave me the opportunity to drink (not that I always need a reason).
A few nights ago I decided I wanted to eat Langostino Taco’s and have my buddy Jerry come over to partake. But, I didn’t check on the amount of food I had to serve. I should probably think about checking if I have food before inviting people over to eat. Alas, one taco each due to not enough Langostino and not enough tortillas. *smacks head* At any rate, the taco’s were pretty tasty and I left the mess for the wife to clean up.
I still don’t have a camera either, so I stole this image of the brew from Beer and Microbrews without their consent (please don’t tell on me!).
[The Beer]
Ballast Point Brewing Company
San Diego, CA
Kölsch
4.6% ABV
The beer (as you can see in the stolen photograph) pours a hazy golden color. I drank it from a pint glass and paired it with the taco’s because I wanted to. I don’t know jack about pairing beers, but this seemed like it’d work and it did. It had a nice thick porous head on it and stuck to the glass quite well.
It’s scent had a very mild tone. It had some of typical Pale Ale smells such as bread, yeast and a slight smell of citrus from the hops.
The feel of the beer was light and mild. It didn’t have much character to it except for a bit of dryness.
The flavor was quite mild, yet enjoyable. It had a bit of bitterness and citrus from the hops and a mild sweet taste from the malt. Due to it’s low alcohol content, mild feel and citrus hints it seemed to me to be a nice summer beer while BBQing some kabobs in the backyard.
My buddy Brad grabbed a couple when he came over after dinner and really enjoyed it, probably a bit more than I did… Not that I didn’t enjoy this brew, he just really seemed to like it a lot!
(I’m going to try a rating system soon, I just gotta come up with it. So right now I’ll make one without any system.)
[The Rating]
A44^ (This means it’s a good beer)
[The Blab]
Thanksgiving is usually one of my favorite holiday’s here in the United States, as it usually means I get a four day weekend. This year was an exception, partly because of my own choice and partly because of the choice of the company I work for. But, I will digress before I start into that.
First, I’ll start off with why I don’t have any low quality photographs of the beers I drank this week like I usually do. My wife in her infinite beauty and lack of foresight washed my iPhone in the washing machine on Monday night. She was being a sweet wife and thought she’d wash the pants that I wore for a few hours that day. I had planned on wearing these jeans for work the next day, since they had not yet been soiled (in possibly more ways than one). But, due to my lack of foresight as well, I left them on the ground with my keys, wallet and phone still in the pockets. Therefor, no phone for low quality photos (my car also wouldn’t start the next day because of the wet electronic key).
Now onto why the weekend was not a four day weekend for the blue collar that I am. I looked at my work schedule and saw this year they had me scheduled to work on Saturday, but I had holiday time on Thursday and Friday. So, when they asked for volunteers to work on Friday I jumped at it. Two days off in a row are nice, don’t get me wrong, but they’re not as nice as four days off. So, I volunteered for Friday’s work. Mostly because I’ll get 8 hours of holiday pay and if I chose to work I’d get time and a half on top of that. So, essentially it works out to be double time and a half pay for working. Realizing I had a 400 dollar phone to replace, Christmas coming up and a mortgage I can’t take a break on for a few months, the money sounded nice. Alas, I still did get some good beers in on the weekend, at the risk of losing hours of sleep. A small price to pay for some enjoyable beverages. These beverages, which I wrote notes for all of, are The Bruery’s Saison Rue & Autumn Maple (Thanksgiving beers), Flying Dog’s Gonzo Imperial Porter (which the brewery recommended I try) and Ballast Point’s Yellow Tail Pale Ale (which I drank with some langostino taco’s on Friday night).
The first beers to review will be the Saison Rue and Autumn Maple. Both were tasty, although I don’t know if they paired as well as I had hoped with Thanksgiving dinner.
[The Beer Numero Uno]
The Bruery’s Saison Rue
Saison/Farmhouse Ale
8.5% ABV
Saison Rue was the first bottle opened and it poured a golden color, pretty clear with a big white fluffy head. Man that head was hard to get rid of, I had to let it sit for longer than I hoped. But, the beer was a pretty color, with a lot of little carbonation bubbles rising up.
It smelled of some fruitiness, spice and some different type of bread, not typical of most beers. Reading the bottle it was made of Rye, so that is probably the scent I was picking up. Some people say it has a bit of a funk from the Brett, but I didn’t notice it really.
The feel of this beer was nice, but this is why I probably wouldn’t pair it with Turkey again. Pretty high carbonation in it and light mouthfeel, so it reminds me of a good summer beer. The bubbles were dancing on my tongue as if I were drinking a well carbonated soda water. It’s consistency was almost that of a soda water as well.
The taste was a lot more mild than I remembered at the brewery just a week earlier. A bit of flavor from some fruits, a bit from the Rye, none from the Brett and a nice citrus blast from the hops. The hops also added a bit of bitterness to it, which is nice departure from a typical Saison (at least the 2 that I had tried before).
All in all, the beer was nice, my Father in Law (who doesn’t drink beer) thought it was pretty enjoyable, but I don’t know if it paired all that well with the dinner. It was my first time trying to pair with dinner and it wasn’t a complete failure, but it wasn’t a success either.
[The Beer Numero Dos]
The Bruery’s Autumn Maple
Belgian Strong Dark Ale
10.5% ABV
Now this one was a decent pairing, if I liked Pumpkin Pie. The Bruery says they brew this with yams, lots and lots of yams. As I’m not a fan of yams I was surprised I enjoyed this beer as much as I did.
It poured a nice dark brown almost orangish color. It was dark, but not dark enough for a bit of light to get through. Not much head on this one, so a complete change from the Saison.
The smell was pleasant as well, it had hints of molasses, spices and fruit. It actually smelled mostly like raisins, which I typically despise. Those suckers are ugly and I don’t like to put ugly things in my mouth. But, I guess I allow the flavor of them to be in my mouth as long as it’s in liquid form. It definitely has a that sort of scent you get from a good pumpkin ale, just without the pumpkin.
The feel of it isn’t too impressive, but it’s not bad. It feels a lot like a brown ale! Somewhat thick and a nice kick from the alcohol. So far it’s paired well with those that eat pumpkin pie, for me it paired well with no food at all.
The taste of this is what’s really appealing. It’s sweet, but because they use yams instead of pumpkin it’s not too overpowering. The spices in some of the fall flavored beers are often overpowering too, but The Bruery seemed to have a good balance on this as well. It’s got a bit of an alcohol kick to it too, which is great for a cool day in fall, it warmed me up quick. Due to the high alcohol content (10.5% ABV), I also felt like a nap would need to happen soon after drinking it. Or, maybe it was the tryptophan.
The Autumn Maple was a slam dunk and my Father in Law really enjoyed this one as well.
After dinner with the in-laws, my wife and I ran over to my parents house for dinner with them. One more bottle of each was taken to that house and consumed with a similar response.
PS: Pictures stolen from google images without consent. =)
[The Blab]
I have family from the South out this week, Conway, Arkansas to be exact, and they love themselves some beer. But, I come to find out my cousins husband doesn’t like beer that tastes like hops! What the crap! I guess that’s pretty damn mind numbing for a guy from Southern California. When I brought this up to my cousin, she just goes “he’s an idiot!” This is why I love my family from the South! Plus, they totally understand the concept of how airplanes only fly out of Arkansas and don’t fly in (unless returning people from the 3rd world country that it is). So they comprehend why it’s so difficult for me to go visit them in their culturally backwards country from the high class California where I reside.
One thing that has been fun about having them out was taking Matt, my cousins husband, to BevMo. His jaw dropped to the floor and had to be wired back into place when he saw the beer isle. Along with his jaw, he dropped a good chunk of change there as well (fine by me since I didn’t have to spend a dollar). 4 Chimay’s, Goose Island Bourbon County Stout, and Allagash Curieux. The last two were on my list of things to try. So, thanks to his dislike of hops, I got to try a few beers that were somewhat low on my list of “beers to buy.”
[The Review]
This beer poured the darkest black I’ve ever seen in my life. This was a total black out shade for a beer glass. The head was almost non-existent, just a thin tan film on top of the beer. When people say Guinness is dark, it’s because they’ve never poured a Bourbon County Stout.
The smell of the beer was insane, it had a strong smell of bourbon and oak (probably from the oak bourbon barrels, but what do I know) and also had smells of vanilla, chocolate, coffee and fruit. This is one of the most complex smelling beers I’ve had in a while.
The first sip hit me hard. It was possibly one of the stoutest stouts I’ve ever had, thick and dense. VERY THICK AND VERY DENSE. It’s also very smooth, a bit more carbonation than I thought, but still smooth. This stuff coats your mouth like wax and won’t go away. So, when I gave my wife a sip that lingered with her for a long while. The face she made was damn priceless too!
The flavors were pretty much that of a normal stout, just a lot more apparent. Coffee, chocolate, vanilla with a kick of smoky oak and bourbon. The bourbon also brings a little bit of heat to it as well, so if ya hate hard liquor it’s probably not a good stout for you.
My first thought after this brew was, why is it labeled just as a Stout and not a Imperial Stout. It’s more complex than a typical stout, it’s much higher alcohol (13% ABV) than a typical stout and it’s more expensive ($12) than a typical stout. I enjoyed this beer a lot, but it totally caught me off guard. So, this review probably isn’t that fair. What’s even less fair will be the Allagash review since Matt, in his backwards ways (keep in mind he’s from the South), opened the stout before he opened the tripel.
After my impatience waiting for the first beer of the night, I moved onto a lighter beer. I’ve been trying to balance out my beers in a night as recommended by the dude from La Bodega in Riverside. So, Lost Abbey’s Avant Garde sounded like a good idea. I’ve never had anything from Lost Abbey yet, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. But I do know they’re associated with Port Brewing, which I do enjoy.
I really enjoy the bottling that The Lost Abbey does, the cork, the design, all of it are fun to look at. It’s something I’d bring to a nice party instead of a bottle of wine (since we all know beer matches with food better than wine does).
I had to be much more delicate with the pouring of this one since the head grew very quickly, but I think I did alright. It poured a nice copper tone with a white frothy head. The head stuck to the glass very easily. There were also a lot of little carbonation bubbles running up the glass. It looked like a lot of the ‘Belgian’ style beers I’ve had lately.
The scent of this beer was quite bready, so I was a bit hesitant as I’m just starting to enjoy the ‘Belgian’ styles. I used to think they were far too sweet, but my palate is adjusting I guess, or maybe I’m just becoming a more pretentious “beer snob.” There were also a lot of fruity (especially apples) undertones and somewhat of a spice scent, but the bread definitely stuck out. It smelled like I was about to drink a cider style beer almost.
When the glass went to the lips I was kind of surprised at the light feel that it had. I thought it’d be a bit more thick than it was, but, beer always tends to surprise me like this. Carbonation was pretty moderate, with the frothy head I thought it’d be more carbonated than it was. I enjoyed the feel of the beer, it seemed like a beer that I could drink a few too many of.
Now, the flavor. Lets see. It wasn’t as bready as it smelled and was a lot fruitier than I expected. The fruits hit me like a ton of apples. The apple taste was very prevalent with a finishing touch of pears. The tartness and sour balanced out the sweetness, so it definitely wasn’t like a cider. It was kind of like a sour/lambic almost, but definitely not as tart as those usually are. It also was pretty dry on the palate. All in all, the taste was very nice, but I don’t know if I’d buy this very often.
This has definitely intrigued me to try other brews from The Lost Abbey, I now see that they brew very differently than Pizza Port. Next time I’m down at Pizza Port (Carlsbad is next since I’ve already done San Clemente), I’m going to try some more stuff from the Abbey.
