Clown Shoes Beer Extremely Angry Beast Imperial Stout - Malt Beverage Aged in Bourbon and Rum Barrels

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

Tonight’s featured beer is Clown Shoes Beer Extremely Angry Beast Imperial Stout - Malt Beverage Aged in Bourbon and Rum Barrels.

From the is Clown Shoes Beer website: “How do you create an Extremely Angry Beast? Mix one part bourbon barrel aged Blaecorn Unidragon, one part bourbon barrel aged Undead Party Crasher, one part rum barrel aged Hammer of the Holy, then add a massive dose of incendiary rage.”

Let’s get started!

Appearance: Pours a dark brown, nearly black with a thin tan head leaving spotty lacing.

Aroma: Dark and milk chocolate, coffee, roasted malts, dark fruits, vanilla, light bourbon, rum and oak scents.

Taste: Sweet and dark chocolate flavors, roasted malt, vanilla, dark fruits, coconut, slightly rummy and bourbony with very little barrel character.

Overall: Big and rich, Clown Shoes Beer Extremely Angry Beast Imperial Stout - Malt Beverage Aged in Bourbon and Rum Barrels is a complex beverage.  This 12% ABV beast is pretty massive and I dig it.

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

If you haven’t already, please like the NorCal Beer Blog on Facebook (here)

Happy Thanksgiving from NorCal Beer Blog

May the good things of life
be yours in abundance
not only at Thanksgiving
but throughout the coming year.

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

If you haven’t already, please like the NorCal Beer Blog on Facebook (here)

Avery Brewing Company Liliko'i Kepolo - Belgian-Style White Ale Brewed With Spices & Passionfruit Added

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

Tonight’s featured beer is Avery Brewing Company Liliko'i Kepolo - Belgian-Style White Ale Brewed With Spices & Passionfruit Added.

Commercial description: “Adds a tropical island flair to a spicy traditional Witbier, erupting with monumental passionfruit aroma and acidity along with a sublimely succulent finish”

Let’s get started!

Appearance: Pours a cloudy yellowish orange with a large slightly off-white head and leaves nice lacing.

Aroma: Passionfruit, pineapple, mango, lemon, orange and wheat.  Has a tartness to it.

Taste: Sweet passionfruit and other tropical fruit flavors, sweet and bready malts, citrus, wheat, slight coriander and Belgian yeast notes and mildly tart.

Overall: Easy to drink and well balanced; Avery Brewing Company Liliko'i Kepolo is excellent. This 5.4% ABV offering is crisp, juicy and delicious.  Highly recommended!

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

If you haven’t already, please like the NorCal Beer Blog on Facebook (here)

Wicked Weed Brewing Nectarphilia - Farmhouse Ale With Peaches - Burial Beer

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

Tonight’s featured beer is Wicked Weed Brewing Nectarphilia - Farmhouse Ale With Peaches - Burial Beer.  I picked this bottle up at Stella Brew (here) in Winston-Salem, NC. They have an excellent selection and we’re very helpful helping me pick out some local “must have” beers to bring home.  If you find yourself in the area stop in, buy some beverages and tell them that Mark from NorCal Beer Blog sent you!

From the Wicked Weed Brewing website: “Brewed with Riverbend pilsner malt and raw wheat from Carolina Ground this neighborhood collaboration is hopped with Nelson Sauvin, Amarillo and Mandarina Bavaria. Aged on Carolina peaches, white blossoms, and hardwood from the heart of the tree, this farmhouse ale is finished with wild house culture. From our little city-block to your glass: cheers.”

Let’s get started!

Appearance: Pours a hazy golden orange color with the thinnest of thin white head that dissipates immediately leaving hardly any lacing.

Aroma: Peaches way up front, some apricot, funk, sweet malts, slight oak and lemon.

Taste: Sweet, tart and juicy peaches, biscuit and grainy malts, yeast funk, citrus, slight oak and earthy notes.

Overall: Smooth and refreshing, Wicked Weed Brewing Nectarphilia is a fantastic beverage.  This 7% ABV offering is a must try for fans of the style.

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

If you haven’t already, please like the NorCal Beer Blog on Facebook (here)

Altamont Beer Works Shot Away IPA

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

Tonight’s featured beer is Altamont Beer Works Shot Away IPA.

From the Altamont Beer Works website: “A true “West Coast” IPA, which is hope forward without the extreme hop bitterness. Light body and color; this beer is bursting with huge citrus and tropical aromas. The name comes from The Rolling Stone’s song “Gimme Shelter”, which is also the name of the movie that documents The Altamont concert of 1969.”

Let’s get started!

Appearance: Pours a clear golden orange color with a fluffy white head and leaves nice lacing.

Aroma: Citrus, floral and tropical hop scents, slight pine and malt sweetness as well.

Taste: Grapefruit and other citrus notes, tropical flavors – mango, maybe a hint of pineapple, stone fruit –peaches – pine and a sweet malt backend.

Overall: Crisp, clean and satisfying, Altamont Beer Works Shot Away IPA is delicious.  This 6.8% ABV offering is well balanced worth seeking out.  Another great beverage from Altamont Beer Works!

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

If you haven’t already, please like the NorCal Beer Blog on Facebook (here)

Lagunitas Brewing Company Doppel Sticky - A Double Alt Ale

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

Tonight’s featured beer is Lagunitas Brewing Company Doppel Sticky - A Double Alt Ale. I picked up a six pack of this gem at Santa Clara Liquors (here). If you get a chance, head in there and tell ‘em that Mark from NorCal Beer Blog sent you.  You’ll be glad you did – they have an incredible selection!

Commercial description: “This fruity, estery double altbier is brewed in the traditional-ish style of the Doppelsticke, which is the widely known secret Germanic-esque strong ale. Like it’s California Common counterpart, we fermented this ale at a lower temperature to pull out the sulphur-y bite from the yeast, then dry-hopped it with some dank, Sticky hops, including some brand-spankin’-new Enigma hops from the great Down Under!”

Let’s get started!

Appearance: Pours a cloudy gold color with a fluffy ivory colored head leaving excellent lacing.

Aroma: Citrus, pine, tropical and grassy hop scents with caramel, toasted and bready malt notes.

Taste: Sweet malts, grapefruit, orange peel, pineapple, grassy, slight stone fruit, cracker and grainy malts.

Overall: Sweet, fruity and hoppy, Lagunitas Brewing Company Doppel Sticky - A Double Alt Ale is delicious.  This 7.7% ABV offering is worth a try if you love Lagunitas (like I do).  I can taste the German influence, but the rest is classic Lagunitas.

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

If you haven’t already, please like the NorCal Beer Blog on Facebook (here)

21st Amendment Brewery Toaster Pastry India Red Ale

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

Tonight’s featured beer is 21^st Amendment Brewery Toaster Pastry India Red Ale. I picked this can up (along with the commemorative “tube” and a cool 21^st Amendment Brewery San Leandro flag) at the 21^st Amendment Brewery Grand Opening Party on August 29^th, 2015.  Although I drank this beer a while ago (and have purchased more since) I hadn’t gotten around to writing the review so here goes…

From the 21st Amendment Brewery website: “Our first beer out of our new brewery is an homage to its former life as a toaster pastry factory.

Biscuit malts give the beer a slightly nutty, crust-like flavor, while pale and dark Crystal malts create the mouthfeel and flavors reminiscent of strawberry jam. Calypso and other experimental hops give this ruby ale a welcome bite, plus a few more in the hop back for a toasty-sweet aroma.

* Toaster Pastry won a Silver medal in the Double Red Ale Category at the 2015 Great American Beer Festival®”

Let’s get started!

Appearance: Pours a dark copper color with a large ivory head and leaves excellent lacing.

Aroma: Fruity, citrus, pine and tropical hops, strawberry, caramel, bready, toasty and biscuit malts.

Taste: Grapefruit, lemon, pineapple, strawberry, mango, peach, pear, berries, pine…there’s a lot going on…toasted bread, caramel malt, toffee and crusty biscuits.

Overall: Juicy, hoppy and perfectly sweet, 21^st Amendment Brewery Toaster Pastry India Red Ale is solid.  This 7.6% ABV offering is excellent and a great example of the style.  A triumphant release from one of my favorite breweries!

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

If you haven’t already, please like the NorCal Beer Blog on Facebook (here)

Heavy Seas Beer The Greater Pumpkin - Imperial Ale brewed with Pumpkins and Spices aged in Bourbon Barrels

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

Tonight’s featured beer is Heavy Seas Beer The Greater Pumpkin - Imperial Ale brewed with Pumpkins and Spices aged in Bourbon Barrels. I picked this bottle up at Stella Brew (here) in Winston-Salem, NC. They have an excellent selection and we’re very helpful helping me pick out some local “must have” beers to bring home.  If you find yourself in the area stop in, buy some beverages and tell them that Mark from NorCal Beer Blog sent you!

From the Heavy Seas Beer website: “In the most worthy of pumpkin patches and during the silence of the midnight hour, the Great'er Pumpkin raises up and pours a rich deep and burnished orange color. Heady aromas of bourbon, cinnamon, ginger, allspice and clove linger seductively over the thick white head of this tremendous brew. Its love at first sip as the full malt body, dominated by British crystal malt, brown sugar and pumpkin, slowly washes over your tongue. Bourbon barrel aging rounds out the flavors with notes of oak, vanilla, and bourbon. Pairs well with crisp autumn weather, crunchy fallen leaves, and the knowledge that your kids will be asleep soon so you can raid their Halloween candy bags.”

Let’s get started!

Appearance: Pours a murky burnt orange color with an off-white head leaving little lacing.

Aroma: Bourbon, roasted pumpkin, caramel, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cloves and oak.

Taste: Sweet and boozy, cinnamon, allspice, caramel, pumpkin, cloves, ginger, slight bourbon, oak and vanilla.

Overall: Warming and tasty, Heavy Seas Beer The Greater Pumpkin - Imperial Ale brewed with Pumpkins and Spices aged in Bourbon Barrels is certainly worth trying.  Not as much bourbon as other barrel aged beverages this 10% ABV offering is delicious.

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

If you haven’t already, please like the NorCal Beer Blog on Facebook (here)