Saturday, May 31, 2014

Boulevard Brewing Company Bully! Porter

Hello beer lovers and welcome to another edition of the NorCal Beer Blog's brew review.

Tonight’s featured beer is Boulevard Brewing Company Bully! Porter. I picked up this bottle from the brewery on my visit to Kansas City.

From the Boulevard Brewing Company website: “The intense flavors of dark-roasted malt in Boulevard’s rendition of the classic English porter are perfectly balanced by a generous and complex hop character. Bully! Porter’s robust nature makes it the ideal companion to a variety of foods, from seafood to chocolate.”
Let’s get started!
Appearance: Pours dark brown with ruby highlights, a large tan colored head and leaves frothy lacing.
Aroma: Chocolate, coffee, roasted malts, caramel and slightly nutty.
Taste: Roasted malts, dark chocolate, bitter espresso and slightly nutty in the finish.
Overall: Easy to drink and very enjoyable, Boulevard Brewing Company Bully! Porter is tasty.  This smooth and creamy Porter weighs in at 6% ABV and is something I would gladly drink more of if it were available here in Northern California.  Well done!

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

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Friday, May 30, 2014

Oskar Blues Brewing Dale's Pale Ale

Hello beer lovers and welcome to another edition of the NorCal Beer Blog's brew review.

Tonight’s featured beer is Oskar Blues Brewing Dale's Pale Ale.

From the Oskar Blues Brewing website: “This voluminously hopped mutha delivers a hoppy nose and assertive-but-balanced flavors of pale malts and citrusy floral hops from start to finish. Oskar Blues launched its canning ops in 2002, brewing and hand-canning Dale’s Pale Ale in the Lyons, ColoRADo, brewpub. America’s first-craft-canned mountain Pale is a hearty, critically acclaimed trailblazer that changed the way craft beer fiends perceive portable beer (6.5 percent ABV and 65 IBUs).”
Let’s get started!
Appearance: Pours a light clear amber color with a large off-white head and nice lacing.
Aroma: Citrus, pine and floral hops balanced nicely with grainy and bready malts.
Taste: Pine and citrus hops blended with bready, biscuity and doughy malts.  Slight tropical hop flavor in the finish.
Overall: A very solid Pale Ale, Oskar Blues Brewing Dale's Pale Ale is a great tasting beer.  This 6.5% ABV offering is refreshing and easy drinking. I would certainly pick this up again.

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

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Thursday, May 29, 2014

Evil Twin Brewing Imperial Biscotti Break Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout

Hello beer lovers and welcome to another edition of the NorCal Beer Blog's brew review.

Tonight’s featured beer is Evil Twin Brewing Imperial Biscotti Break Bourbon Barrel Aged - Imperial Stout Brewed With Natural Flavors And Aged In Bourbon Barrels. I purchased this bottle at Royal Liquors (here) in San Jose. If you stop in there, please tell them that you heard about them from NorCal Beer Blog!

From the bottle: “Italy has a certain ‘je ne sais quoi’ – fab food culture, high decadent history of art and cool countryside. Some might argue the people are loud and flamboyant, they steal our women, the soccer players melodramatically flop on the pitch. Listen – that’s all part of the secret Italian ingredient – keeping it cool, confident, arrogant and extravagant. Forza Italia.”
Let’s get started!
Appearance: Pours black with a thin mocha colored head and leaves loads of lacing on the glass.
Aroma: Dark chocolate, vanilla, roasted almonds, coffee, caramel, bourbon and sweet.
Taste: Sweet, rich chocolate, nutty, caramel, roasted grains, bourbon, coffee, vanilla and a touch of spice.
Overall: Creamy, sweet and rich, Evil Twin Brewing Imperial Biscotti Break Bourbon Barrel Aged is outstanding.  At 11.5% ABV this isn’t super boozy and although you do want to sip it and savor it you will find it easy drinking.  This is decadent, balanced and phenomenal.  I can’t say enough about how enjoyable this was.  I plan to pick another up (even at the high price point) to savor. If you’re a fan of the style this is a DO NOT miss beverage!

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

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Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Almanac Beer Company Brandy Barrel Pêche

Hello beer lovers and welcome to another edition of the NorCal Beer Blog's brew review.

Tonight’s featured beer is Almanac Beer Company Brandy Barrel Pêche - Ale Brewed with Peaches and Aged in Used Brandy Barrels.

From the Almanac Beer Company website: “Historically, fruit-infused sour beers were a way of preserving the summer harvest. In that tradition, this blonde ale was added to brandy barrels with high-summer peaches, hand-picked by the Loewen family at Blossom Bluff Orchards in Reedley, California. We aged this liquid gold for six months until we needed a reminder that summer will come again. Pair with Prosciutto, crusty bread and fruit preserves.

Farm to Barrel

Our Farm to Barrel beers focus on the eons-old tradition of aging beers in oak barrels. This American wild ale was aged in used wine casks with our house “Dogpatch” sour culture, a cocktail of wild Belgian and American yeasts, including San Francisco sourdough starter. The yeasts slowly morph the beer from a traditional ale into something wild, creating a mild acidic bite as well as pulling oak and vanilla flavors from the barrel. After maturing, the barrels are blended together—creating a vinous, delicate beer that captures the essence of a particular harvest. Farm to Barrel Beers are alive in the bottle, and will continue to mature gracefully for several years.”
Let’s get started!
Appearance: Pours a hazy pale orange color with a foamy white head and light lacing.
Aroma: Tart, peaches, funky with a bit of oak and only the slight scent of brandy.
Taste: Tart and sour lemon, peach, vanilla, sweetness that seems to come from the malts used with a touch of oak and brandy in the finish.
Overall: Crisp, tart, sweet and refreshing Almanac Beer Company Brandy Barrel Pêche is terrific! This 7% ABV offering is totally enjoyable.  I tried this at the SF Beer Week Opening Gala (here) and loved it.

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

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Tuesday, May 27, 2014

The Commons Brewery 2013 Seasonal Bourbon Barrel Aged Little Brother Belgian Style Ale

Hello beer lovers and welcome to another edition of the NorCal Beer Blog's brew review.

Tonight’s featured beer is The Commons Brewery 2013 Seasonal Bourbon Barrel Aged Little Brother - Ale Aged in Bourbon Barrels - Bourbon Barrel Aged Belgian Style Ale. I picked up this bottle at Star Grocery in Berkeley (here).

From the Common Brewery website: “Little Brother is a Belgian Dark Strong Ale. By Northwest standards an 9% beer may not be considered strong, but it is currently one of the biggest beers we produce. It pours dark brown, with shades of ruby and a creamy tan head. The flavor is dominated by caramel and candy and offers a smooth finish. A portion of Little Brother is added to Heaven Hill bourbon barrels after primary fermentation where it picks up a rich, bourbon flavor. After a few months this is then blended back with a non-barrel aged version that had been cold conditioning.”
Let’s get started!
Appearance: Pours a murky chestnut brown color with a huge cream colored head and great lacing.
Aroma: Dark fruit, Belgian yeast and candi sugar, caramel and bready malts, some clove, vanilla, oak and bourbon.
Taste: Caramel, dark fruits, vanilla, Belgian yeast and candi sugar, a touch of chocolate, spice, oak and bourbon.
Overall: I liked The Commons Brewery 2013 Seasonal Bourbon Barrel Aged Little Brother that I went back to Star Grocery and bought three more.  This 10% ABV offering is tasty, easy to drink and incredibly enjoyable.  I’m looking forward to trying other beers from The Commons Brewery.

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

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Sunday, May 25, 2014

SanTan Brewing Company Mr. Pineapple Wheat Beer

Hello beer lovers and welcome to another edition of the NorCal Beer Blog's brew review.

Tonight’s featured beer is SanTan Brewing Company Mr. Pineapple Wheat Beer. I picked this beer up on a recent visit to Arizona.

From the SanTan Brewing Company website: “Winner of a silver medal at the 2011 Great American Beer Festival competition, Mr. Pineapple was originally conceived for SanTan Brewing Company’s annual Luau Day. Hazy straw gold in color, we add natural pineapple juice to a traditional wheat beer creating a refreshing tropical flavor. The pineapple is balanced with a firm malt character and a slight hint of clove. Mr. Pineapple is the perfect way to beat the heat on a warm summer day!”
Let’s get started!
Appearance: Pours a dark golden yellow with a nice white head and great lacing.
Aroma: Sweet wheat, banana, clove, pineapple, yeast and malt.
Taste: Sweet wheat and malt, pineapple, clove, citrus and a touch of banana and yeast.
Overall: A solid Hefeweizen, SanTan Brewing Company Mr. Pineapple Wheat Beer is tasty.  This 5% ABV offering is something I’d enjoy having on hand to go along with the Hawaiian food I enjoy making. The pineapple flavor isn’t over the top, but balanced nicely.  Very refreshing, smooth and easy drinking. Really enjoyed this one!

Cheers!

Mark Harvey


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Friday, May 23, 2014

Ale Industries Uncle Jesse West Coast Session Ale

Hello beer lovers and welcome to another edition of the NorCal Beer Blog's brew review.

Tonight’s featured beer is Ale Industries Uncle Jesse West Coast Session Ale.

From the Ale Industries website: “A hop forward Northern California Session IPA. Honey malts balance the massive Columbus/Centennial hop attack.”
Let’s get started!
Appearance: Pours clear golden amber color with a huge dense off-white head and sticky lacing.
Aroma: Pine, tropical and citrus hops, pale and caramel malts.
Taste: Citrus, pine, floral and tropical hops with a light pale and sweet caramel malt backbone.
Overall: Ale Industries Uncle Jesse West Coast Session Ale is a crisp and refreshing session ale.  At 4.75% ABV this is a nice go-to beer for summer drinking or when you want an afternoon beer break.

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

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Thursday, May 22, 2014

Boulevard Brewing Company 80-Acre Hoppy Wheat Beer

Hello beer lovers and welcome to another edition of the NorCal Beer Blog's brew review.

Tonight’s featured beer is Boulevard Brewing Company 80-Acre Hoppy Wheat Beer. I picked this one up at the brewery on a somewhat recent trip to Kansas City.

From the Boulevard Brewing Company website: “With roots in two of today's most popular brewing styles, 80-Acre Hoppy Wheat Beer is the result of careful cultivation by our brewers and cellarmen. Their efforts to craft a hybrid yielded a bumper crop of flavor; a delightfully distinctive ale with the aroma of an IPA and the refreshing taste of a wheat beer.”
Let’s get started!
Appearance: Pours a cloudy golden yellow with a large sudsy white head and excellent lacing.
Aroma: Lemon and other citrus notes, wheat, light malts and yeast.
Taste: Solid wheat flavors upfront, sweet with an excellent citrus hop blast mixed in.  A slight bit bready and yeasty thing going on as well.
Overall: I’m a fan of Boulevard Brewing Company 80-Acre Hoppy Wheat Beer and would keep this one around in my beer fridge if it were available locally.  Bursting with citrus flavors this 5.5% ABV offering is well worth trying if you find yourself in Boulevard country. 

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

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Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Ballast Point Brewing Company Calico Amber Ale

Hello beer lovers and welcome to another edition of the NorCal Beer Blog's brew review.

Tonight’s featured beer is Ballast Point Brewing Company Calico Amber Ale.

From the Ballast Point Brewing Company website: “A rich, copper ale with a case full of gold medals.

Our Calico Amber Ale takes its inspiration from traditional English ESBs. Four types of malts give it a bold complexity, and our proprietary yeast strain lends it a fruity, madeira-like richness. However, it’s the American hops that give this ale a distinct bite and floral aroma that have earned it just about every major beer medal.”
Let’s get started!
Appearance: Poured a clear copper with a nice off-white head and sticky lacing.
Aroma: Floral hops with sweet malt, caramel malt, biscuit, toasted sugar and candied dates.
Taste: Taste just like the aroma, citrus hop bitterness upfront with a lingering malt sweetness that keeps going on and on.
Overall: Ballast Point Brewing Company Calico Amber Ale is well worth trying. At 5.5% ABV this beer is exactly what fans of the style crave and is yet another stellar Ballast Point Brewing Company beverage.

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

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