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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Samuel Smith: Oatmeal Stout

Over the time that I have been writing this blog I have tried many different styles of beer but I’m sure that I haven’t tried all of the different styles. The one that I am about to write about is one that I haven’t tried before.  This one is the Oatmeal Stout by Samuel Smith’s brewery in England. I found this one while browsing the selection of beers at the local Bevmo, which is a place that I go to often in search of great beers.

When we compare an Oatmeal Stout to any other stout we look at the addition of oatmeal to the brewing process. The oatmeal gives the beers a quality that a lot of people love and that is that it will give the beer an incredible smoothness to it.  Not only does the oatmeal give the beer an added smoothness to the beer, it also adds a little sweetness to the beer. So that is what the oatmeal aspect adds to the beer.

This particular Oatmeal Stout is brewed with water, malted barely, cane sugar, roasted malts, yeast, hops and oatmeal.

When you open this beer and pour it into your favorite glass, you will notice that this beer pours to an very dark/ almost black color with a great head. The aroma that comes from this beer consist of the sweetness of the roasted malts and chocolate.  These aromas are very noticeable and very pleasant to nose.

The taste is a little more in depth than the aroma’s would lead one. To start of with, you will get the sweetness from the roasted malts and the oatmeal.  That is not the full extent of the beer though, when drinking this beer you will also notice chocolate, toffee, and caramel hints. All of which really compliment each other. And as I said at the beginning the addition of oatmeal in this beer really makes this beer really smooth and easy to drink.  Even though there are some hops in this beer, they are not very noticeable at all. There is some bitterness to this beer but it is very limited, making this beer even easier to drink than other stouts.

This beer is only about 5% ABV, which is a little less that most stouts but also makes it easier to drink. So overall, if you are not a big fan of stouts, I think this one could possibly change your mind due to the fact that it is so smooth and easy to drink.

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!!!

 

 

Blue Moon: Short Straw Farmhouse Red Ale

Over the years I have known Blue Moon for only the blue moon that most people know. However, as with any of the other breweries they have more than one style of beer. With that said, Blue Moon has an extensive collection of beer, which a lot of people may not know about. The next beer that I’m going to review is part of the Expressionist Collection by Blue Moon. This beer is their ” Short Straw Farmhouse Red Ale.”

After having tried a lot of Blue Moon beers I have come to notice that they tend to use a variety of different spices in their beers, and this beer is no different.  This beer is brewed with a combination of multiple malts, multiple hops and a variety of spices. The malts in this beer are Caramel Malt, Pale Malt, European Abbey Malt, European Acidulated Malt, Chocolate Malt and Malted White Wheat. That is a lot of malts for one beer so don’t be surprised if this beer has a very maltey profile.  The hops in this beer are of the  Spalt Select and Czech Saaz variety.  Now like I said there is a variety of spices in this beer as well which includes white pepper, hibiscus and corriander.

When you open this beer and pour it into your favorite glass you will immediately notice the aroma of the malts in this beer, which isn’t a surprise. But hidden in the aroma is the aroma of the other spices and the hibiscus.  The aroma of the hops really aren’t noticeable at all in this beer which is pretty normal for beers from Blue Moon. 

When you take your first sip you will definitely notice the taste of the malts on your palette. The one type of malt that really stuck out to me were the Caramel and Chocolate Malts which really give the beer the Red Ale distinction. The other malts really combined to compliment those two but weren’t very distinct.  The beer starts of with the malts and ends with the spiciness of the pepper and corriander.  This beer is a very smooth beer. You will get a minimal amount of bitterness from the hops but not enough to be anything overpowering, but its a red ale so you wouldn’t expect that anyway.

When looking to pair this beer with a meal, try pairing it with a meat that has a bit of spiciness to it. 

I hope you all enjoy this beer as much as I did.

Cheers!

 

Wychwood Brewery: WychCraft

Wychwood Brewery is known for producing great beers and WychCraft did not let them down at all. This beer is a Golden Pale Ale and is brewed with a variety of hops and malts. The malts that this beer is brewed with are the Pale, Lager and Cara malts. Along with those three malts there are three types of hops in this beer and they are English Fuggles, Syrian Goldings and the Cascade hops. Both the malts and the hops play vital roles in giving the beer the distinct taste that it has. The malts will give the beer the dry, biscuit taste that you get at the beginning of the beer and the hops will give you the spiciness/zesty attributes at the end of the beer.

When you pour this beer you will notice it pours to a very beautiful golden color and has a pretty sustainable head. When I first went to smell this beer in an attempt to pick up the aroma’s I immediately was able to smell the citrus and floral of the hops. There was a hint of the malts but to me, the hops were more noticeable. Then when I went to take that first sip, that is when I notices the sweetness of the malts. That sweetness was followed by the biscuit on my palette. When I had finally fished the first sip I was let with what was a citrus yet dry after tone that stayed on my palette well after that first sip was finished.

If you are looking for a beer to pair with you meal, this one will make a great beer as it goes with many different things. Since this beer has a citrus tone to it, it will pair really with poultry, fish and some pasta dishes but is not limited to fish and white meat because taste of biscuit allow it to be paired with many different types of BBQ foods.  You will not get a strong taste of alcohol with this beer since it is only 4.5% ABV, so if you like this beer a lot don’t be afraid to have another.

 

Hangar 24: Chocolate Porter

Hangar 24 has a variety of really great beers and this is just one of them. This beer began as a Panamanian Porter in which banana was added to the brewing process. However,over the years, Hanger 24 has decided to eliminate the banana and stick to the Chocolate Porter.

This beer is brewed using two types of roasted malts along side of some cocoa nibs. After the initial fermentation process is complete Hangar 24 induces the brew with who Vanilla beans in order to give this beer an added dimension. When you pour this beer you will smell the chocolate of the roasted malts along with the bitterness and spiciness of the floral hops that this beer is brewed with. This beer will pour to a very dark brown with a beautiful khaki head. The head will slowly dissipate and leave tracing along the glass. When you take your first sip you will first notice the chocolate and toffee flavors which is then followed by a hint of the vanilla bean  that is added to the brew after fermentation. The beer finishes off with the bitterness of the hops that this beer is brewed with.The bitterness of this beer is very noticeable as it is around a 50 on the IBU. With this beer being  8% ABV you can get a hint of alcohol toward the end of the beer but its nothing to fret.  This beer will make for a great dessert beer as it will go with almost anything chocolate.  If you would rather have it with a main course this beer will pair well with steak, BBQ pulled pork and cheese such as Parmesan or Gouda. It is recommended that you drink this beer at a temperature around 55 degrees F. However, with most porters the warmer it gets, the better.

This is one of my favorites from Hangar 24 and I highly recommend everyone to try this. Don’t just take  my recommendation, take a look at some of the awards this beer has won:

SILVER – 2012 California State Fair
SILVER – 2012 Los Angeles International Commercial Beer Competition
SILVER – 2011 California State Fair
SILVER – 2010 Los Angeles International Commercial Beer Competition

 

 

 

 

Stone Brewing Company, Levitation Ale

Stone Brewing  Company is one of the best brewing companies based out of Southern California. Back in 1996 Greg Koch and Steve Wagner founded Stone Brewing Company and based it out of San Marcos, California. After being successful for a number of years they decided to move to their current location in Escondido, Ca. Even though they are based in Southern California, they distribute their brews to 36 different states. Back in 2008  and 2009 they were named All Time Top Brewery on Planet Earth by Beer Advocate Magazine.

So it comes as no surprise that their Levitation Ale was such a good beer. The  other night I had pizza for delivery and was trying to decide what  beer I wanted to try and I ended up picking the Stone Brewery’s Levitation Ale. If your looking for a beer that has sweet endings this is not for you. However, if your looking for an original beer that is full strictley barley and hops this beer is the beer for you. As you drink this beer you will smell the aroma which to me was a citrus/ piney aroma  The when you take your first sip you will taste the richness of the malts followed by all of that great hops that’s instilled in this beer. This beer doesn’t only use one type of hops but four types. Those variety are Columbus, Crystal, Simcoe and Amarillo. These put together give you the perfect amount of bitterness to a beer. Don’t just take my review, this beer was the 2007 Gold Medal Winner at the Great American Beer Festival.

This beer paired perfectly well with the BBQ Chicken Pizza that I had order for delivery. The BBQ sauce of the pizza balanced out the bitterness of the beer to make it go down really smooth. As with all of the beers I have previously wrote about, I highly recommend this beer.

Sierra Nevada Kellerweis

Sierra Nevada has a lot of great beers but his one has to be my favorite. This is no ordinary Hefenweizen. This beer goes through a rare and unique fermenting technique known as open fermenting. This technique is rarely used today, and consist of allowing the    alcohol to fermenting while being open to the air instead of in an enclosed environment. When you pour this beer there is little to no head on the pour. It pours to a hazy orangish color. This is due to banana and cloves that exist within this beer. When drinking this beer you will notice  that it is a family of the wheat ales and at first it has a hint of the cloves and then it ends with hint of the banana.  This beer like most wheat beer goes down really smooth and has just about no bitterness to it at all.  If your into drinking during breakfast this beer would most likely enhance any breakfast that you can think of due to the clove and banana tones.

Redhook pilsner

So as I had wrote in a previous post, pilsner is one of the most popular types of beers in the world. It is brewed with lightley malted barley and a variety of different hops can be added to give the beer the bitterness that you want. The Redhook Pilsner is a one that I picked up at the local supermarket and you can probably find it at yours. It is the newest beer of the Red Hook Brewing Company. When brewing this beer as usual they usual the lightley malted barley and they chose to use a type of hops called Saaz. The first thing I noticed when taking my first sip of the beer was the aroma coming from it. You can really smell the barley and the hops that are in this beer. Then I noticed that you get the slight sweetness followed by a hit of bitterness that is created by the Saaz hops. Overall, this beer goes down really smooth, and is also very clean, crisp and refreshing. This beer is more than just a regular pilsner. If you were wondering what the alcohol content is in this dish, its right around 5%.

Tonight I paired this beer with a mexican seafood dish called, Aguachiles. Its shrimp that is cooked by sitting in lime juice, and chiles. This beer was an excellent choice to pair with this meal because it cut right through the acidity of the lime juice and compliment the spicyness of the chiles. I highly recommend this beer, its great to drink alone or when paired with a spicy dish that you may make in the future.