Firestone Walker Brewing Company: Double Barrel Ale

It’s been a long time since I have posted anything but I have found time to continue on my blog. The beer that I will be reviewing today is The DBA by Firestone Walker Brewing Company. This beer is considered to be a Bristish Pale Ale and that is fermented in oak barrels.

Since this beer is fermented in those oak barrels you will get a hint of oak in the aroma and the flavor of this beer. When drinking this beer you will get a variety of other flavor as well . Those other flavors consist of caramel and toffee. Depending on your taste you may taste a hint of chocolate but it will be minimum. There is a bit of bitterness from the hops that are in this beer as well but the bitterness is also very minimal.

So what is in this beer? This beer consist of a variety of malts and hops. The malts that are in this beer the base malt that is the two row, caramel malt, chocolate malt, Munich and Maris otter pale malts. These are what give the beer the caramel and toffee flavors. The hops that are in this beer are as follows; Magnum, Styrian Golding and East Kent Golding.

I’m not the only one that thinks this beer is a great beer. Ever since this beer has been brewed it has been winning gold and silver medals. So if you love great beer as I do, I encourage you to try this one

Coronado Brewing Co: Stupid Stout

So once again I would like to thank Coronado Brewing Co. for sending me some samples for me to review in this blog. I just finished a review on their Islander IPA and highly suggest everyone try that one and the following. The other beer that they sent me was there Stupid Stout.

The Stupid Stout is considered to be an American Imperial Stout. This beer is the total opposite of the Islander IPA that I previously reviewed. Instead of being loaded with hops, this beer is loaded with malts with only a slight hint of hoppiness to it. This beer is brewed with many different style of malts which include; 2-row, ESB, aromatic,chocolate, roasted barley,c-120, brown, and black malts. I’m not sure if everyone knows the differences between all of those malts, so lets take a look at them.

2-row malt is one of the most common malts and is found in a whole variety of beers. Due to the fact that it’s a nuetral malt, it makes for a great base malt.

Chocolate Malt: Chocolate Malt is used for a variety of reasons, and gives a beer a variety of different characteristics. Depending on how much you use in the brewing process can determine color and taste that accompany it. The more you use, the darker the beer will be and the more of a cocoa or coffee flavor you will get. When you use less you may get a nutty flavor with a amber color. So with the Stupid Stout,  you can tell that it is brewed with more of the chocolate malt since  the color of this beer is almost black and there is a distinct cocoa taste in this beer.

Roasted Barley: This is often used in conjunction with the Chocolate Malts. Roasted Barely is unmalted and with that said is used to give that beer a sweet chocolate flavor to the beer. It can also be used to add color to the beer and will be used to give your beer a red to dark brown color.

Aromatic Malt: This is a malt that does as its name says. This malt will leave the beer with a distinguishable malty aroma to the beer.

C120: This malt is also known as Crystal Malt/Caramel Malt.  This type of malt will give a beer a Caramel flavor and aroma.

Now that we have gone through what this beer is made with, we can get to the good part, trying the beer!!

As you will see in the picture below this beer will pour to an almost black color, and will have a perfect head  that has no trouble maintaining itself. As soon as you pour this beer into you favorite glass the aroma’s hit you and you will notice the aroma’s of the different malts that are in this beer. I happened to notice a strong chocolate aroma, along with an aroma of some coffee in there as well.  With this beer havinig C120 malt in it you might expect that it have some sort of Caramel Aroma, but I feel that the chocolate and coffee were the main aroma’s along with malt aroma given off by the aromatic malt.  Also mixed in was a sense of spiciness that is given off by the few hops that are in this beer as well.

After you have taken in the aroma’s of this beer, go ahead and take your first sip. This is where you get all the greatness of this beer. The first taste that I had hit my palette was chocolate. For me it was a mix between a dark chocolate bar and cocoa. Kind of mixed in with the taste of chocolate and cocoa, there was a hint of nuttiness in this beer, which gave this beer a pleasent twist.  The next distiguishable taste that I noticed was a kind of toffee taste. This would be due to the mixture of all malts in this beer. You combine the C120 with the chocolate malt , and it produces the toffee taste that is in this beer. At the end of the beer and what I was left with at the end of the sip was the taste of the sweet caramel. The few hops, in this beer give this beer a sense of bitterness, but it is very mild, but thats clearly how this beer was designed to be.

Another aspect I would like you to look at with this beer is pairing it with different foods. This beer can go with just about any part of your meal. If you want to have it with your main dish, look at pairing it with dishes that have meats, poultry or cheeses. I would recommend pairing it with some sort of steak such as a Rib Eye.  If you were pairing it with an appetizer , look at different cheeses which can include Feta or Blue Cheese.  This beer can also be paired with a desert. Ice cream goes very well with this beer, as does chocolate cake, and any type of cheese cake.  I encourage you all to try it with different meals.

Once again Coronado Brewing Co. hit it out of the park

Cheers!!

Coronado Brewing Co: Islander IPA

So as I continue to post about different beers, I continue to get sent beer from different breweries that may want to get there name mentioned more. Last week I recieved a package and was unsure of what it was until I opened the package up. Much to my surprise and enjoyment, the package contained two beers from Coronado Brewing Company in San Diego,Ca. One of the beers was the Stupid Stout which I will review after this one and the other beer is the one I will discuss in this post, which is Islander IPA.

So lets get started. This beer is brewed with a variety of hops and malts. The hops are the Chinook, Centennial, and the Columbus hops. The Columbus hop is a bittering hop that often gives the beer a hint of citrus. This is a big comparison to the Chinook hop. The chinook hop is one that gives the beer an aroma and palette of pine. This piney taste is often very distinguished in the beer that have the Chinook hop. The last hop that this beer is brewed with is the Centennial hop. The Centennial and Columbus hops are pretty similar. As the Centennial hop also gives the beer a citrusy aspect to the beer.

Even though the hops are the main feature of an IPA, that is not all that it is brewed with. There are also malts in this beer and the types of malts are 2-Row, Cara, and Munich. These are all very popular types of malts. These will add the bit of sweetness to the beer. They are more apparent in other types of beers. However, those are the ones that are used in this beer.

Now lets get down to the tasting of this beer and the characteristics that you will notice when drinking this beer.This beer pours to a golden orange color and has a medium head that will leave great lacing. When you first open this beer you will notice the hops immediately. The first thing that I noticed was that this beer had the piney aroma of the Chinook hop.  There are also the citrus aroma’s from the other hops but to me they came after the piney aroma.  The hops are in the forefront when you take you first sip. The piney aroma also translate the palette. However, when taking your first sip you will notice the citrus a lot more than the aroma would have made you thought. In my opinion those citrus notes consisted of grapefruit and orange. The grapefruit being the easier citrus to notice.  The malts in this beer will give this beer a bit of a sweetness at the beginning of this beer. But that sweetness is short lived as the bitterness is what is the main point in this beer. A couple of things I noticed is that when this beer starts to warm up, the piney aroma and taster become a little stronger and this beer is also a very crisp beer that I feel is great for drinking year round but would be great during the hot summers that you may experience where you live.

This beer is one that every IPA lover should try. If your not a big fan of IPA’S you should try it and this one may immediately make you a fan, go to your local beer supplier and get this one if it’s available.

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Angel City Brewing: Eureka Wit

As you all know, I go to the local Bevmo on a regular basis in search of great beer to try. However,  often my trips there lead me to the same brewers. In search of other great brewers,  I reached out to a few different breweries. A few of them responded to my emails and a few didn’t. The few that didn’t probably should have because they would be getting free publicity, but good on the ones that did. They get an extra shout out!!

One of the breweries that I reached out to was Angel City Brewery, which is located in Los Angeles, CA.  This brewery was founded in 1997.  As most breweries do, they started out as a small brewery. However, since then they have been rapidly expanding. Included in that expansion they happen to acquire  Alchemy and Science, which is a craftbeer partnership or collaboration.  They now brew and distribute more beer than they ever have.   Because of their expansion, in 2010 they moved to a new facility in the Los Angeles Arts District. That is where they currently reside.For this and other information go to www.angelcitybrewery.com

Now lets get down to the nitty gritty of this beer!!!

The Eureka Wit is consider to be a Belgian White Ale. If you are familiar with belgian beers and wittbiers you have an idea what ingredients are in them. However, each has its own unique twist on it. This one is no different. The unique twist that I noticed was the addition of Nelson Sauvin Hops. I have not noticed very many beers that have this style of hops.  What does this type of hop do for the beer? Well, what the Nelson Sauvin Hop is, is a hop that was developed in New Zealand and is actually named after grapes. That’s right Grapes!!, which is not something you normally associate with beer. However, its adds a wonderful aroma and taste to this beer.  It will give the beer an aroma of fruits which also will be noticed when this beer hits your palette. It is also a bittering hop, but nothing that is going to make your beer difficult to drink. It’s actually a very smooth bitter.

Nelson Sauvin Hops is not the only thing this beer is brewed with. This beer also contains a variety of malts such as Europils, flaked oats, and the wheat you expect in a wit. Also common to the wit’s or belgian style beers are the coriander and orange peel.

I know you guys are inching to try this beer so lets go ahead and pour this beer into your favorite glass. When you first pour this beer into your favorite glass you will notice that it pours to a hazy pale golden/yellow color.  Take the glass to your nose and inhale deeply. When you do this you will notice a variety of different aroma’s but the orange peel will definitely be more noticeable than the others. But that is definitely not the only aroma’s that you will notice. You will notice a variety of different fruits, which are created by the hops in this beer.  Depending on your senses you may smell the grapes, grapefruit, or even passion fruit. No matter what you sense I have no doubt it will be delightful.

I know you can’t wait any longer so go ahead and take that first sip. When you take that first sip your palette will be overwhelmed just like your nostrils were when smelling the beer for the first time. For me when I first took the sip of this beer, I was surprised. Due to the aroma of orange peel, I thought there would be a big presence of orange peel in the beer. However, its not overwhelming, its a hint which is perfect because you get the full effect of the other fruit flavors that are created by the hops. At the end of the beer you are left with a slight bitter and coriander. In my opinion the coriander is the lasting taste.

When thinking about choosing a beer to go with your meal, you need to take this one into consideration. This beer goes very well with a variety of different cheeses such as Pepper Jack or Feta. It also will go very well with a variety of meats and fish.  I would recommend drinking this beer chilled, I would say that 50 degrees Fahrenheit would be an ideal temperature to drink this beer.

This beer  is a great beer with its own distinct additions to it. Those unique additions are what make this beer a one of a kind and a must have. If you haven’t tried this beer, you should go out and get one ASAP!!!

 

 

Ommegang Brewery: Hennepin

Since I live in California there isn’t many times that I find a beer that is brewed on the east coast. However, as I was walking around the local Bevmo, I happened to stumble upon this one.  It is called the “Hennepin”and it is brewed by the Ommegang Brewery in New York.

This beer is considered to be a unique style of Farmhouse Ale known to some as a Belgian Saison. In the past this type of beer was brewed during the winter months and stored for consumptions during the summer months when the migrant workers were on the farm. The migrant workers were known as “les saisonniers,” which plays into the type of beer that this is.

So lets get into the ingredients of this beer. When I first poured this beer and then tasted it,  I was reminded of a wheat beer or heffeweizen. A lot of the ingredients in this beer are similar or the same as those of a wheat style beer. This beer is brewed with ingredients such as orange peel, ginger, grains of paradise and coriander.

When you pour this beer it will pour to a straw yellow or a  pale gold and will have a lot of carbonation that float to the top of this beer that allow the head to maintain itself and leave a great trace.  When you smell this beer you will get a great sense of the orange peel and the spice of the coriander, which are both very noticeable. Along with those aroma’s you get the sweet smell of the malts that this beer is brewed with, which are the Pilsner and the Pale malts. The pilsner malt is a very common malt in many European and American style beers.  The Pale malt in this beer will give this beer more color and will also add to the dryness of this beer. You will notice that this beer will have a dryness to it at the end of each sip.  Now that we went over the aroma’s of the beer, lets get into that first sip. When you take that first sip you will be immediately hit with the sweetness of the malts that are in this beer. If you let that sip, rest on your palette for a few seconds you will really start to notice all of the other flavors that this beer has in it. You will notice the orange the most, I think this is the most distinguishable flavor this beer has, followed  by the coriander that you are left with after you swallow that first sip. However, in between the two you will get a slight hint of the ginger, trust me, its very mild and probably not noticeable to many.  You will also get a hint of the yeast that is in this beer and this flavor is also very common in Belgian style beers as well. As you finish your sip you will notice a slight bitterness to this beer, it is very mild but it is created by the Styrian Golding and the Spalter Select hops. The Styrian Golden hops is a hop that is often found in Austria. It does contribute to the mild bitterness of this beer but it is often used in beer because of its aroma. I would not consider this type of hop to be of the bittering type. The Spalter Select hops is another of the aromatic variety but it also helps give this beer a sense of spiciness to it.  With all of these different aspects put together in one beer, you can expect a lot. And a lot is what you get. All of these aspects come together and make a great beer.

I was very glad when I found a beer from somewhere other than California. I will definitely have to try more from this brewer. In the mean time, I hope that all of you search this beer out and give it a try. I’m sure you will love it just as much as I did. This is truly a beer that everyone can enjoy.

Until later,

Cheers!!!

Firestone Walker Brewing Co: Wookey Jack

There are times that because of my job I have to travel out of town. Well, a couple of weeks ago I had to travel to Atascadero, CA.  This is where I discovered the Firestone Walker Brewing Company. They were doing a beer tasting at the hotel I was staying at, and needless to say I discovered a great beer that everyone needs to try.

The beer that I had tried is called the “Wookey Jack,” and it is considered a Black Rye IPA. I’m not the only one that seems to love this beer. In 2012 it won a gold medal at the Great American Beer Festival. Also in 2012 it was named a top 25 beer by Draft Magazine. So you not only have my opinion, you have awards to go by.

This is a beer that is brewed with a variety of hops and malts. Some of the malts in this beer are of the Pale Malt, Malted Rye, Dash of Cara-Rye, Midnight Wheat , De-Bittered Black Malt and a  Dash of Wookey dust. As you can see its quite a variety as is the same with the hops which include; German Magnum , Citra & Amarillo hops. All of the malts and hops in this beer give it a variety of flavors and aromas . All of which are pretty distinct.

When you first open this beer and pour it into your favorite glass you will notice that it pours to a dark mahogany and has a beautiful head that will sustain itself.  You will also notice the aromas of citrus with a little bit of pine in their, both which are created by the hops that are in this beer. Then you take your first sip and notice a mouthful of different flavors. The first one that you will notice is the caramel and chocolate flavors of the malts. Another flavor that is very noticeable is the Rye that this beer is brewed with.  In between all of  that you may notice that there are some nutty, earthy flavors as an added bonus.

This beer is a must try as with all of the others on this blog

Cheers!!!