Beers In BC And So Cal

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HEFEWEIZEN - 5%, OG 1048 served on tap at 4C.
Served with a slice of lemon on the rim. No perceptible clove, but plenty of banana and some slight vanilla on the nose. Pale gold in colour, and quite hazy. Despite the banana being the dominant aroma, there is strangely almost no banana in the flavour, only clove. I took another few smells of the beer, and there is still no clove, just dominant banana and vanilla. How do they do that? Anywy, there is a mderate-medium bitterness, possibly even a little too much for the style, but it is still very easy drinking. Med-light body, and a high carbonation.
T.

Pic is of the dunkelweizen on the left, and the hefeweizen on the right

 

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DUNKELWEIZEN 5.5%, OG 1052
Colour is dark brown, very dark, but crystal clear, as if it had been filtered. Very light banana and clove aroma, almost buried by the choc malt. There is a very light bready element to the aroma aswell. The flavour is pretty much exactly as the aroma sounds, most of the flavours are muted by the chocolate malt, though they are there in the background. I think that they probably should have used some caramunich II or melanoidin malt to get the toastiness and colour rather than chocolate malt or choc wheat (which is what I assume they used). Moderate to medium bitterness, and equal parts banana and clove linger into the aftertaste. Not bad, but probably too choc like to be a great dunkelweizen, and probably needs to be left with all the yeast in the beer.
T.

 

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ICEBERG PALE ALE - 6%, OG 1050 served on tap at 4C
Apparently a late hopped NW pale ale, first served on May 15 (2006?) to celebrate both Spinnaker's 20th Anniversary, and the North American craft ber renaissance.
Anyway, I had the glass about 6" away from my face, and I could smell the citrusy, resiny hops that are the signature of the NW of the US. It smells like all cascade, though doubtless there is a bit of a mix in there. Pale amber in colour, very clear, topped by a dense white head. First sip is like BAM!!!, and I am almost positive it is all cascade. There is HEAPS of hop flavour, high hop bitterness, though, as with almost all classic APA's, it is a bit unbalanced in the sense that there is not quite enough malt to balance the bitterness, but it is still very very tasty. The bitterness and hop flavour linger looooong into the aftertaste, drying the finish out a bit. Very enjoyable beer, though it probably does your tasting palate no favours :beerbang:
Also available in bottles 650mL, $4.89

Pic is of the IPA (on the left) and the Iceberg Pale Ale on the right.

 

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Sorry about the delay in reviews, fella's, I have been fairly busy drinking a little too much! Only got another couple for canada, and then we are into US territory...

SPINNAKERS IPA - 7.1%, OG 1060
Moderate malt aroma, with a moderate english hop aroma, possibly EKG. Pale amber to gold in colour, with a nice white head. Medium body, med/high bitterness, with a medium english hop flavour. The malt is mnore prominent in this one, and it doesnt have the caramel/toffee expected (by me) in an english IPA, but it is very nice none the less.
After having some chips and a glass of water, I came back to this one, and it had quite a bit of fruity esters and plenty of english hop character. It was muted after the APA, but is quite a hoppy beer, and well balanced (that balance thing seems to be a bit of a theme in the canadian beer scene). It finishes malty, but the bitterness and hops seem to stand up well, I really liked this beer.
On the plus side also, a few local boys came in, and that is all they ordered, despite being chastised by one of the waitresses with "you have 2 weeks a year to drink our raspberry wheat, and all you want is IPA. Amazing".
Also available in bottles, $4.89 for a 650mL bottle.

 

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On the way ou tof spinnakers, I got to meet the Head Brewer Rob, and the assistant brewer Tommy, who were both really friendly and helpful, showed me round the brewhouse, and they even gave me a few more beers to sample.
Their raspberry wheat (which I didnt try in the bar) was a nice pink colour, and, much like the Phillips raspberry wheat, had a really good firm fruit presence, while not being tart, or overpowering, and still tasting remarkably fresh, like real, rather than fake, raspberries. Rob told me that they use 100lb of fresh picked raspberries in their 800L brew. Moderate bitterness, quite easy to drink, very nice.

He also gave me a smple straight out of the bright tank of their new beer, an apricot clove wheat beer, with a bollock load of apricot in it. Not sure if they were dried apricots, or freesh and crushed, but there was plenty of apricot pulp floating in the glass (that was going to get taken out by fining though, not filtering). The apricot was sufficiently prominent, quite smooth and refreshing, and the clove was just like in a hefeweizen. Tere was no detectable banana. I think they used some 3068 yeast to get the clove, it is basically an apricot hefeweizen without the banana, and it was very good. Would be an excellent summer drink, anybody in BC in the next few weeks, try some on tap, and see how it is (and if you do try it, please let us know how it turned out!)

Gotta run, only one more beer review from BC, but I m starving, and am about to head to Third Street Promenade to get a burger and shake at Fatburger - the best burgers on the planet!
All the best
Trent

Pics are just of the brewery fermenters and HLT etc...
In the second pic, the mash tun is in the far left corner, directly under the grain mill upstairs. You can see the funnel that directs the crushed malt in.

 

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UNIBROUE'S TROIS PISTOLES - 9%, $6 for a 750mL bottle.
I looked EVERYWHERE to try and get this beer, it was sold out in most shops, so I was very happy yo get my hands on a few bottles in the last shop in Victoria to have any in stock...
Poured pretty much black, with brown/ruby highlights, a massive rocky head, and a complex aroma of yeast, chocolate mlts, esters and phenolics, with a hint of metallic, but very Belgian. The flavour was of complex malt, prunes and raisins, medium bitterness, moderate alcohol warming and finished fairly dry. The flavour and complexity lingered long into the aftertaste, very good dark strong ale, that could also do very well to be aged for a few years. Them Frenchie's can really make a good belgian style beer.
T.


Pic 1 is of a solar powered compacting trash can that they have quite a few of along the Victoria foreshore. I thought it was a clanger, so had to take a photo of it. They are right into conservation and stuff over there.

Pic 2 is of the Trois Pistoles beer that I had at the family bbq, note the ridiculous rocky head on the thing.

Pic 3 is of the hot tub set up at the house where we had the bbq. Terry (the owner) reckons it is amazing to sit out there when there is snow (fairly rare on the island). I'd be a bit worried about the cougars and bears though!

 

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After our whirlwind trip to Canadialand, we jumped on the plane to LA, and were immediately reminded about the smog in the city by the large, strange shaped brown with red stripe clouds outside the city (and that was before we even got to the ground!)
Traffic was pretty bad, so it took us a while to get to me mates house in Santa Monica, but when we did, we ducked straight down to the nearest mexican hole in the wall for some cheap mexican food. How I have missed the $4 carne asada burrito's :super:
My mate has been good to me, stocked the fridge with good beer for us to get into, which we did when he got home from work. So, without firther ado, I can start on some of the Seppo beers


STONE'S 07/07/07 VERTICAL EPIC ALE - 8.4%, $5.30 / 650mL bottle (all prices from here in USD)
The blurb on the back says it has taken its inspiration from saisons, and golden tripels, plus been spiced with ginger, cardomom, and the peel of grapefruit, orange and lemons, and was bittered with Glacier and Crystal hops.
Deep orange in colour, with a low white head. Incredibly complex aroma of phenolics, esters and spices. There is no real way to pick out any single one spice, so they have done it correctly (IMO). The only one I can really pick out is what I think is cardomom, but I wouldnt have picked it if I hadnt read it on the bottle. Ginger and spritzy citrus in the mouth, low carbonation, and a malt complexity that finishes sweet, and the depth of flavour is added to the by the yeast. Moderate/low bitterness, I can see how they claim it to be inspired by 2 beers, it is neither a typical saison nor tripel, but has elements of both. As the beer warms, the ginger gets alot more dominant in the flavour, maybe even a little too much so, and there is a slight alcohol warming (to be expected in an 8.4% beer). I think that this beer will probably age exceptionally. If only I lived in North America somewhere, I would have the most amazing beer cellar! Only problem would be I wouldnt be living in Oz, but.
T.

 

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STONE'S 9TH ANNIVERSARY ALE 7.8%, somewhere around the $4.50 mark
This beer has been sitting in my mate Hoover's fridge since the week after I left here in 2005, cause they didnt release it until a few days after I left LA. So, considering it was a strong american wheat with all amarillo late, I wasnt expecting too much, but didnt wanna tell him that after he had resisted drinking it for all that time.
It poured a deep orange in colour, with a low head. Sadly, the oxidation aroma's and flavours were about all I could get, as it was well past it's prime. Hoover was quite prepared to drink it, but in the end I had to convince him to tip it out. Quite disappointing, but I could see it would have been a nice beer in its prime.
T.

 

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BIG SKY BREWING'S MOOSE DROOL BROWN ALE - 5.1% $6 a 6 pack(?)
Dark, dark brown in colour, crystal clear, filtered (no yeast sediment) and a low off white head. It was served too cold, but still had deep caramel and choc aromas with some low hop aroma. Flavour is almost a deeply scorched (but not burnt) toffee with a medium bitterness, medium hop flavour, and a reasonably sweet finish. As it warms, it tastes like there is maybe a touch too much crystal malts in there, but it really is a very nice, well balanced beer. Another excellent brown ale (to go with those from Canada)
Hoover picked it up while he was on a work assignment in Montana, I am not too sure what states it is available in, but we cnnot find it anywhere around Southern Cal. If you ever get a chance to try some, you will not be disappointed.
T.

 

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BIG SKY BREWING'S SCAPEGOAT PALE ALE - 4.7%
Malty aroma, with a wierd, lemony hop aroma, maybe glacier? There is an almost lemony flavour, with a moderate bitterness, moderate body, and nowheere near as good as Moose Drool. Given all the amazing pale ale's available over here, and the quality of moose droll, this is a disappointing attempt. Quite drinkable, but still disappointing.
T.

 

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Hoover got me all sorts of beer, including the Trader Joe's (a really cool supermarket chain) anniversary ale, 2006. 9%, dark strong ale, made by Unibroue in Canada. We popped the top, and guess what? After all that running around to get a bottle of Trois Pistoles in Canada, and Hoov had one sitting in the fridge for me in LA all along. Only cost him $5 but, Maybe that means that Woolies will bring out an anniversary american barleywine, and Coles will bring out an anniversary Imperial Stout? :lol:


SAM ADAMS SUMMER ALE - no alc content specified, $6 a 6 pack
Not too much aroma, light lemony citrus aroma, low bready wheat aroma aswell. Crystal clear, deep gold colour. Medium light body, some DMS or something, and a light zestiness. Moderate bitterness, easy to drink and quite inoffensive, should probably be drunk fairly cold though. Funny little aftertaste that could be from the grains of paradise?
FOOTNOTE - I went to the wedding rehearsal dinner last night at a very fancy Italian restaurant, right on the ocen in Santa Monica. They had a very ordinary beer list, but I went to the bar and asked to see all their beers (cause for some reason, waiteers only tell you about the bud/miller/coors/heiniken they have), and they had this beer. I drank it all night long as a session beer, and it was very enjoyable, and even cheaper than the corona/peroni/heiniken etc... and the same price as bud etc... at $4.50 a bottle.
T.
Gotta go get ready for the wedding, will write again tomorrow, if possible.

Pics are of the Sam Adams, and one of the view from my table at the rehearsal dinner. Thats Santa Monica pier in the back of the pic, with all the ferris wheel, roller coaster and shit lit up.

 

[Trent]

Wow
I have had SO MANY g ood beers blatelety that O can hardly remmebember, bu I just went to PIZaa port with my good mate blake, and I tried a dozen different beers, most over 8%, and up to 12.6%. SOOOOOOO pissed, will try and be smarter tomorrow.
Lotsa fun
T

 

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Hmmm,
That last post wasnt too cluey! There is a story that goes with that one, but that belongs with the Pizza Port section of reviews (if you will be able to call them that, cause I didnt really keep any notes there). BUT, the second day I went up to Whole foods and grabbed a few beers. They have a great selection of beers, I was trying to take the picture without the flash so I didnt get in trouble, so it is a little bit wonky, but you get the idea. They had 2 stands of "singles" (640mL-750mL bottles), then a whole aisle of 6 packs that I didnt photograph, and then a stand of belgian stubbies, which I didnt photograph either. There are alot of really good beers there, especially seeings as it is a grocery store!
The last pic is of the beers that I decided to buy, cause there were just too many.
Trent

 

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First cab off the rank for the night was the LAGUNITAS SONOMA FARMHOUSE SAISON STYLE ALE, which is a bloody mouthful of a name! It was 6% alc, and cost $3.79 for a 650mL bottle.
It was an orange/golden colour, with a sweet malt aroma, some DMS and quite oddly, the mistake of cigarette ash. My mate didnt get that aroma at all, Lara could a little, but it was quite clear to my nose. Anyway, the ashy/smoke flavour was very light up front, malt sweetness and some other flavours only describable as "barnyard" in the middle, and then a drying finish, thanks to the high carbonation. Moderate bitterness, and the sweetness lingers in the aftertaste despite the dry finish. Definitely different to saison dupont, but still very enjoyable.
There is some fruitiness as it warms, leaving definite pear in the aftertaste. Tasty.
T.

 

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After the saison, it was onto the bicycles for a peddle up to Father's Office, a little whole in the wall in the swanky part of Santa Monica. They have 40 something beers on tap, and about the same in bottles, some excellent beers, but being $8 for a pint (equal to an aussie schooner - 15oz), it was more expensive than buying a 22oz bottle from the supermarket, so we had a few that I couldnt really get elsewhere, then headed home to Hoover's for some more beers that I had already bought.
I would have put up pics of their beer taps, but they went cranky at me and told me it is company policy that nobody is allowed to take pics of the line-up. They had no probs with me taking pics of the beers I drank, but couldnt get the taps in the background

First one I had was one I have never even heard of, nor seen anywhere. It was called -
IBARAGI BREWING'S HITACHINO JAPANESE CLASSIC ALE - The menu called it a "classic IPA, aged in cedar casks - spicy, with hints of fenugreek." How could I resist that? 7% odd, $8 for the 330mL bottle poured into a glass (never got to see the bottle.)
Deep red/amber with a thick off white head, quite hazy, but possibly from bad pouring? There was a sweet piney aroma, that I am not sure if it is hops or cedar. After tasting, it is definitely an IPA, quuite bitter and malty, extremely spicy, which has to be the cedar. Not even sure how to describe this one, but I feel that the cedar has overpowered nearly everything in the beer, kinda like a badly spiced beer (as in you cannot taste the base beer clearly). As I made my way through it, it grew on me, and I actually got to enjoy it. It was good for a one off drink, I certainly wouldnt drink 2 glasses of it, but I think that ya probably would need to to really be able to get used to the flavour and get to really like it. Glad I did it, first Japanese IPA I have tried, just not sure I will go back and drink another, unless they tone down the cedar influence a touch.
T.

 

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The next 2 beers are ones that Hoover and I just shared, cause with a bowl of sweet potato fries, and 2 beers each (plus tip), we were in for almost $USD50! I didnt write too much about em, but the first pick is the Perdition, the second pic is the Tripel.

RUSSIAN RIVER'S PERDITION - Rum and raisin notes, like a good dubbel. Deep caramelly malt, with a dry-ish finish, medium bitterness, and a med-light body. Reddy/brown colour, and clear. It is like a smaller, more attenuated (as in dryer and lighter bodied) version of Chimay Red. Quite enjoyable and easy to drink. I think it is somewhere around the 7% mark? Just dont quote me on that one.

CRAFTSMAN'S WHITE SAGE TRIPEL 9% alc. - Spicy aroma of strong sage, almost woody. Orange in colour, and cloudy. It surprisingly tastes like ginger beer to me. Moderate bitterness, with a sweet finish. Not something you could drink all night, though my mate Hoover loved it. The bloke sitting next to me that was s elf professed expert in beer told me that craftsman always use way too many spices in their beers. This beer it seems he had them pegged, but he told me their hefeweizen tasted like there was clove used in it. I told him that clove belongs in a good hefeweizen, and he quitened down on it then. Apparently a fairly local microbrewery, that maybe should be sought out if in LA (as I dont think there are too many micros in LA)
Trent

 

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Rode our bikes back to Hoov's, and cracked open a bottle I have been anticipating
OMMEGANGS THREE PHILOSOPHERS - 9.8% alc, a quadrupel with 2% cherry lambic added. $8 for 750mL bottle.
You get the plum and raisins from the quadrupel, cherries, and a slightly sour, winey aroma. Colour is a deep reddy/brown, and there is a lovely thick rockey head on it. The flavour is very complex - sour cherries, winey, dry and malty all at the same time. Takes a little while to get used to, and I am not too sure that I like the cherry in beer even though it is quite common in Belgium (dont really like cherries in general). It is honestly probably a bit too young, I may try and age a bottle back at home and see how it tastes in a few years time. This one was the 2007 release.

 

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After the 3 philosophers, we cracked into a mixed 6 pack I had bought earlier, and I didnt take any notes or pics, bar a pic of one of the beers. I know that we had 3 Mendocino brewing beers, I believe a Pale Ale and an IPA, and then their Eye of the Hawk, according to the BJCP a "stock ale" like arrogant *******. The first 2 were decent beers, but not really that memorable, the other 2 beers out of that 5 were obviously even less memorable, cause I have no idea of their names!
Eye of the Hawk actually poured alot lighter than I was expecting, after having it lumped in with AB. It was filtered and force carbed, so crystal clear, but I remember it being quite malty and flavourful. One of my mates over there absolutely loves it, even more than Arrogant *******, so I was expecting big things, but as I was a little bit tipsy, cannot remember correctly, other than the fact I was quite impressed with it. If you are in the area and see it for sale somewhere, I say you will be very well served by tring it.
T.

 

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The BISON BREWING ORGANIC CHOCOLATE STOUT was quite a nice drop, but again, one that I didnt take notes on. It looked like a stout, though wasnt quite as chocolatey as I was expecting. It was a very nice drop, not quite as dry as a dry stout, nor really too sweet, but I recall it being very well balanced, and easy to drink. It was 5% odd, and cost $3.29 IIRC

OLD NICK BARLEYWINE was quite a dark looking beer, and Hoov said it was very "maloasses-ey", which is was to start with, but after a few sips, showed its true colours as a very well balanced english barleywine, from Young's obviously. It was quite drinkable with heaps of malt flavour, 7.2% alcohol, $3 odd, but ya can probably get it out here in Oz, so I wont go into it. No pics of that either!
T.

 

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Next night, after the rehearsal dinner, I had drank more than my fill of Sam Adams summer wheat, so dragged a good mate and his girly up to the Beanery, a bar on third street promenade, with something like 42 beers on tap. Not all are great, with some of the usual suspects like Bud Lite and crap on the menu, but it had some good German weizens, and some great American micro offerings. I had a pint of Arrogant ******* for old times sake (cause I used to start all my nights out when I lived here with an AB before heading onto SNPA for the rest of the night), and then HAD to follow it up with a SNPA. What a rough life, eh?

ANywya, the ARROGANT ******* was quite a deep brown, nice off white head, and the really strong hop aroma (smells like chinook) that I remember. The malt is also obvious. Taking a sip, it is actually a really well balanced ale, like a nice hoppy american brown, that has finished really high. The malt sweetness is there, but kept in check by a quite assertive bitterness, and plenty of hop flavour. They all play off each other, and I thought to myself that if it werent 7.2% alcohol, it would probably be quite an enjoyable session beer.

After that, I had a SIERRA NEVADA PALE ALE, which is a sensational beer in its own right, the archetypal American Pale Ale. It tasted a little muted after the AB, so I will recount the bottle I had the next night (after the wedding reception, still looking for something to drink with Hoover). Lovely full cascade aroma, nice clean gold-amber malt abd a wqhite head. Enough malt sweetness to keep the firm bitterness from being too much, and a gobful of lovely cascade hops. It is amazing that the APA style has gone so far away from this beer, because it is remarkably well balanced. I say that because alot of APA's now are super bitter and/or hoppy, with the malt barely noticeable. I was at the end of a night of drinking, and it still had that "wow" factor, while being easy to drink. If you are ever on the west coast of the US, and dont seek this beer out, you are doing yourself a massive disservice. 5.6% alc, and you can pick it up for $3 for a 650mL bottle just about anywhere, or around $7 for a 6 pack. Delicious.
T.