Mendocino Brewing Company Eye of the Hawk American Strong Ale

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

Tonight’s featured beer is Mendocino Brewing Company Eye of the Hawk American Strong Ale.  I’ve been drinking Mendocino Brewing Company beers for years and Eye of the Hawk is one that I tend to pick up regularly since at 8% ABV it is one of the most affordable higher ABV beers on the market (and I like it...alot).

From the Mendocino Brewing Company website:” Eye of the Hawk is an excellent, rich bodied ale that is brewed to perfection. "Eye" is coppery reddish-amber in color and its unique taste is the result of a judicious mix of caramel and pale malted barley, balanced with Cluster, Cascade and Saaz hops. This gives the Eye its luxurious flavor, substantial mouth-feel and that slightly dry finish. Eye of the Hawk has garnered a cult following that is enviable.”

Let’s get started!

Appearance: Pours a deep amber with a nice, full head and impressive lacing.

Aroma: Caramel and toasted malts, dark fruit, citrus and some hops.

Taste: Sweet, caramel and toasted malts, light citrus and pine hops and delicious!

Overall: Unbelievable drinkability, and EXTREMELY dangerous, Mendocino Brewing Company’s Eye of the Hawk American Strong Ale is extremely well balanced and with the alcohol content so well disguised you could find yourself knocking back several of these before you realize that you’re knocked back. As I said, at 8% ABV this is very affordable and well worth picking up.

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

Lagunitas Brewing Company Cappuccino Stout

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

Today’s featured beer is Lagunitas Brewing Company Cappuccino Stout.  I think I’ve made it clear my love of all beers Lagunitas brews, but I’ll keep singing their praises as long as they keep churning out beers that wow me.

From the Lagunitas Brewing Company website:” Big, Dark and Scary Imperial-esque Stout Brewed With Plenty of Dark Malts and Roast Barley And Loads of Sebastopol’s Hardcore Coffee for Deep Roasty Flavors and that Extra Krunk.”

Let’s get started!

Appearance: Pours a dark brown (nearly black) with amber hues with a nice tan head and good lacing.

Aroma: Coffee is the most prevalent scent with roasted and chocolate malts, caramel and vanilla bean.

Taste: Huge flavor! Coffee, dark chocolate, a little malt sweetness and slight hop presence.

Overall: Very tasty and BIG, Lagunitas Brewing Company’s Cappuccino Stout is very good and at 9.2% ABV very drinkable.  This is a perfect beer for cold weather drinking.  Pick some up and head outside!

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

High Water Brewing Pom Cherry Bomb Ale

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

Tonight’s featured beer is High Water Brewing Pom Cherry Bomb Ale.  I’m a big fan of High Water Brewing’s offerings so I thought I’d venture out into this one.

From the High Water Brewing website:” Pom Cherry Bomb is Belgian inspired specialty ale. Brewed as a golden ale with a blend of fresh pomegranate and Montmorency cherry juice. Fermented with a classic Belgian Abbey yeast. A tart refreshing seasonal ale.”

Let’s get started!

Appearance: Pours a hazy orange/red color with a tiny white head and solid lacing.

Aroma: Pomegranate, cherry, Belgian yeast, fruity esters, sweet malt and spice.

Taste: Tart and sweet with pomegranate and cherry flavors followed by sweet malts and Belgian yeast elements.  Very nice, not too sweet.

Overall: Very enjoyable, High Water Brewing’s Pom Cherry Bomb Ale is well balanced and well made.  It is hard to tell that this is 7% ABV, but it is quite drinkable nonetheless.

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

Palo Alto Brewing Company Barley Legal Coconut Porter

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

Tonight’s featured beer is Palo Alto Brewing Company Barley Legal Coconut Porter. You had me at coconut.  I’m a big fan of all things coconut and I don’t care who knows it.

 From the Palo Alto Brewing Co. website:” Barley Legal Coconut Porter is a traditional American-style porter with a decidedly untraditional addition of coconut. The addition of just the right amount of coconut gives this porter a velvety smooth mouth feel with just a bit of coconut flavor at the end. A full-bodied porter, Barley Legal pours nearly pitch black with strong aromas and flavors of roasted malt, coffee, dark chocolate and a slight hint of coconut milk. So drinkable it's barely legal.”

Let’s get started!

Appearance: Pours pitch black with a large beige head and good lacing.

Aroma: Roasted and chocolate malts, caramel, coffee and coconut.  Smells incredible!

Taste: Sweet and roasted malts, caramel, vanilla, chocolate, vanilla and a wonderful dose of coconut.  Delicious!

Overall: Smooth, creamy and incredibly drinkable Palo Alto Brewing Company’s Barley Legal Coconut Porter is a solid Porter worth checking out. At 6.5% ABV this offering is worth checking out again and again.

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

Session is in the eyes of the beholder

Greetings fellow beer lovers,

I recently got a couple of comments (I believe from the same anonymous individual) regarding my use of the word "sessionable".

"6.8% is sessionable now? Or is sessionable just a new word for fashionable? I think sessionable means go to the pub, drink 3, drive home legally."

OK, fair enough. So I cruised over to Beeradvocate and found their definition of a "session" (here).

And the definition: session beer n.

Any beer that contains no higher than 5 percent ABV, featuring a balance between malt and hop characters (ingredients) and, typically, a clean finish - a combination of which creates a beer with high drinkability. The purpose of a session beer is to allow a beer drinker to have multiple beers, within a reasonable time period or session, without overwhelming the senses or reaching inappropriate levels of intoxication. (Yes, you can drink and enjoy beer without getting drunk.)

Now, each person's body chemistry is different and each of us handle our beer (or liquor) differently.  A 6.8% ABV might be sessionable to me while to my wife, certainly not. I've been known to have three or four beers higher in alcohol content over a period of time and still be perfectly fine both at home and at a pub.

I appreciate the comment since it gives me a chance to discuss these things in open forum. Thank you "Anonymous" for your comment.

Just a friendly reminder - this blog is about positive beer drinking (read my post here), these are my opinions and a blog that I don't get paid for or compensated for in any way.  I'm just a humble home brewer who likes to drink beer and write so why not, right? I'm not always going to be right, but that's what's fun about this.

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

Heretic Brewing Company Evil Twin Blood Red West Coast Amber

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

Tonight’s featured beer is Heretic Brewing Company Evil Twin Blood Red West Coast Amber. After having my first taste of Evil Twin at Handles Gastropub I was eager to find this offering in bottles.  Once I found some I stocked up!

From the Heretic Brewing Company website: “This blood-red ale may not be what you might expect from a malty and hoppy craft beer. Evil Twin has a rich malt character, without being overly sweet. It has a huge hop character, without being overly bitter. It is a great example of a bold, rich, balanced craft beer, without being heavy and hard to drink in quantity. Our Evil Twin is only bad because it is too good to resist.”

Let’s get started!

Appearance: Pours a very dark amber with a nice off-white and thick head and excellent lacing.

Aroma: Citrus (grapefruit), tropical fruit and pine hops with sweet caramel, toffee and toasted malts.

Taste: Grapefruit, lemon, tangerine, pine with sweet malts, bread and toffee to perfectly balance this hoppy red.

Overall: Incredible balance, incredible drinkability and at 6.8% ABV Heretic Brewing Company Evil Twin Blood Red West Coast Amber is extremely drinkable. I highly recommend Evil Twin! I'm looking forward to seeing Heretic Brewing Company beers all over the Bay Area and beyond.  Beer this good MUST be shared!

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

Drake's Brewing Company Amber Ale

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

Tonight’s featured beer is Drake's Brewing Company Amber Ale.  As I’ve said multiple times I’m a huge fan of Drake’s and figure I need to make it through their entire line of beers (for review purposes mind you).  So tonight I give you their Amber Ale.

From the Drake's Brewing Company website:” An English-style Extra Special Bitter, or ESB. This deep copper brew has a pungent hop aroma from East Kent Golding, but delivers a distinctly malty flavor from Crystal and Chocolate specialty malts.”

Let’s get started!

Appearance: Pours a dark amber color with a medium tan colored head and thick lacing.

Aroma: Scents of roasted and caramel malts, toffee, citrus and pine.

Taste: Very malt forward – caramel, chocolate, toffee, biscuit with a nice fruit and floral hop finish. Tasty!

Overall: Balanced and very flavorful, Drake's Brewing Company Amber Ale is very easy to drink and at 5.9% ABV makes a great session beer. Another solid beer from Drake’s!

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

North Coast Brewing Company Old No. 38 Stout

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

Tonight’s featured beer is North Coast Brewing Company Old No. 38 Stout.  North Coast Brewing Company is one of my favorites and their beers are always pleasing and great to have around the house.  It had been some time since I cracked open an Old No. 38 and since I had yet to review it I thought this would be the right time to do so. Plus, I've been in a Stout drinkin' mood...

From the North Coast Brewing Company website: ” Named for a retired California Western Railroad steam engine on the Fort Bragg to Willits run through the Redwoods, Old No. 38 Stout is a smooth, firm-bodied stout with the toasted character and coffee notes of dark malts and roasted barley.”

Let’s get started!

Appearance: Pours a very dark brown, almost black with a nice tan head and good lacing.

Aroma: Chocolate and roasted malts and coffee.  Smells sweet and inviting.

Taste: Roasted malt flavors and coffee are at the forefront followed by bitter sweet chocolate and a very nice dry finish.

Overall: Balanced, drinkable and delicious, North Coast Brewing Company’s Old No. 38 Stout is a beer that I keep in my beer fridge year round.  Not too heavy and at 5.5% ABV I can easily session this beer.  If you’re in the mood for fantastic Stout…pick up a six of this.  You’ll be glad you did!

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

Port Brewing Company Santa's Little Helper Imperial Stout

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

Tonight’s featured beer is Port Brewing Company Santa's Little Helper Imperial Stout. With winter comes the desire to drink hefty Stouts…and this one is HEFTY!

From the Port Brewing Company website:” Each and every year, the Jolly Old Fatman sits down and compiles a list of who’s been naughty and nice. It’s curious that he never knows which list to put our brewers on as this is one naughty but incredibly nice beer.

Originally brewed at the Pizza Port in Solana Beach in November of 1997. As dark as the biggest lump of coal Santa can deliver, this beer has earned a dedicated following and is code named Satan’s Little Hangover by those who have indulged in a holiday like manner from time to time.

Originally shipped from London to the Czarist rulers of Russia, Imperial Stouts are stronger, richer and more robust versions of traditional stouts. The increase in alcohol content means that literally, many of these beers are a meal in a glass all on their own. Made from copious amounts of Roasted and Black Barleys, our stout invites you to share a silky black body with hints of freshly pulled espresso from the coffee house, melding with dark bitter sweet chocolate from a Belgian Chocolateer and the ash of a smoldering fire on a dark winter’s night.

Just remember that somewhere out there, the jolly old fat man is making a list and checking it twice. He knows who’s been naughty and nice… Might we suggest that you forgo the Milk with the cookies this year and leave him of bottle of something incredibly nice- Say like Santa’s Little Helper? Mrs. Claus would probably like some as well. That is if Rudolph doesn’t drink it all himself. Bad Reindeer.”

Let’s get started!

Appearance: Pours a jet black with a large cocoa brown head and nice lacing.

Aroma: Roasted and chocolate malts, coffee, toffee and booze.

Taste: Sweet roasted and chocolate malts, dark bitter chocolate, coffee and alcohol with a hint of hop spice.

Overall: This beer is HUGE! Port Brewing Company Santa's Little Helper Imperial Stout is an excellent holiday beer, smooth and easy to drink, but be warned, at 10.5% ABV it will get you if you’re not careful.

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

Happy New Year!

Greetings beer enthusiasts,

Just a quick note to wish you and yours a VERY Happy New Year!

2012 will be a great year.  I plan on moving to all grain brewing, more beer reviewing and more brewery visits.

Cheers!

Mark Harvey