Style: Barleywine
Menu description: Caramel malts, piney hops, dark fruit.
ABV: 9.6%
Tasting notes: A bitter taste like you’d expect from a darker beer, but still characteristic of a pale ale. Quality!
Rating: 4/5
Tag Archives: CA
Beer Review #61: Firestone Union Jack IPA
Style: American IPA
Menu description: Lots of sweet fruits, mainly grapefruit, hint of almonds. Typical IPA bitterness.
ABV: 7.5%
Tasting notes: Moderate scent with hoppy floral notes. Much lighter body than is typical of an IPA, which immediately grabs your attention. It’s a very dry beer. Good, but pretty basic. This is a little too bland for my tastes and the dryness doesn’t help.
Rating: 3/5
Beer Review #60: Anderson Valley Hop Ottin’ IPA
Style: American IPA
Menu description: Grapefruit, citrus, roses. Interesting flavor, not like anything I’ve tried before.
ABV: 7%
Tasting notes: It starts out sort of sweet, but that taste vanishes so quickly, you’re not sure if you imagined it. Couple that with the fact that you no longer notice it after maybe a fourth of the bottle and it makes for a strange experience. It’s noticeably more bitter than my eternal standby, Sierra Nevada, which I’m OK with. A bit of variety is always nice. There’s almost a sort of spiciness to it as well, which makes it stand out from other IPAs.
Rating: 3.5/5
Beer Review #55: Firestone Double Jack
Style: American Imperial IPA
Menu description: Tangerine & grapefruit lead to an earthy malt finish.
ABV: 9.5%
Tasting notes: This is one of those beers where the description us spot on. I taste everything in the order listed! It’s pretty good. The malt back end adds a nice tartness to the fruits and makes this something that can be enjoyed either by itself or with a meal.
Rating: 4/5
Beer Review #51: 21st Amendment Monk’s Blood
Style: Belgian style dark ale
Menu description: Hint of oak & red wine, malty, flavors of dark fruits.
ABV: 8.3%
Tasting notes: Quite malty, but decent. Tastes kinda chocolatey on my second go around. I approve!
Rating: 3.5/5
Beer Review #36: Knee Deep Follow the Liter!
Style: Imperial IPA.
ABV: 8%
My thoughts: Smells like a sickly sweet mess. It tastes… I dunno. Like an IPA but it’s gone bad. The flavor is like a typical mildly hoppy IPA with something sweet mixed in, but that sweet thing was maybe sitting in the sun too long and has maybe turned a bit. Strong carbonation, medium body, and a mild finish can’t save what’s fundamentally a bad beer.
Rating: 2/5
Brewery website: Knee Deep Brewing
Beer Review #33: Ballast Point Coconut Victory at Sea
Style: Imperial Porter
ABV: 10%
My thoughts: Super strong coconut scent. Pretty strong coconut flavor as well. There’s some coffee underneath and I feel like I’m getting a hint of chocolate. The finish is bitter coffee and it lingers a bit. Full body, low carbonation, and smooth.
Rating: 4/5
Brewery website: Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits
Beer Review #32: Bear Republic Big Bear Black Stout
Bottle description: Big Bear, as the name implies, is a hefty black stout. This stout boasts a rich, caramel sweetness lavished by a robust deep roasted heartiness you can really sink your teeth into.
ABV: 8.1.%
My thoughts: There’s a strong aroma here that seems to me to be a blend of malt and caramel. While the ABV isn’t super high, I am able to pick up an undertone of alcohol odor in the aroma. The flavor is pretty interesting. The description claims a “rich, caramel sweetness,” but I have to disagree somewhat. Its got some sweetness, but it takes a seat in the back… way back. Imagine the flavor of caramel, but without 90% of the sweetness. That makes up the main part of the flavor. As I said, there is some sweetness in there, but it’s minimized. This is in no way a sweet beer. Mixed in somewhere with that caramel is a smoky sort of flavor. It provides a good counterpoint to the caramel and balances the overall smooth feel of the beer with a bit of a rough edge. It’s not all that carbonated, which I find pretty commonly with the stouts I’ve tried. It leaves a bit of a tart smoke aftertaste, which I rather enjoy. I almost never do this, but I’m gonna recommend a food pairing! I feel like this would pair well with cheese or something similarly rich and salty. Overall, I’m pretty pleased with this beer, and not just because its going to my head!
Number of times I’ve had it: 1 (22 ounce bottle)
Rating: 4/5
Location: Got this as a birthday gift and drank it at home.
Beer Review #24: Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA
Website description: Torpedo Extra IPA is an aggressive yet balanced beer with massive hop aromas of citrus, pine, and tropical fruit.
ABV: 7.2%
My thoughts: This is a pretty solid IPA. It’s got a nice, mildly hoppy aroma. It’s a beautiful and somewhat dark amber color. There’s a hint of something slightly sweet and floral that I can’t quite put my finger on. It’s pretty smooth with the typical IPA bite at the end. There’s not much more to say. Its a bit above average with a good hop flavor and won’t let you down, but it’s not one of those beers that really wows you.
Number of times I’ve had it: 1
Rating: 3.5/5
Location:
Downtown Rookies Sports Bar & Grill
Visalia, CA
Beer Review #23: Ace Perry Hard Cider
Website description: It’s made from delicious apple and pear juices. We use champagne yeast in all our ciders and ferment for them 10-14 days. We then cold-filter 4 times and carbonate them before bottling or kegging. It is 5% alcohol by volume with a lovely pear nose and a smooth semi-sweet mouth feel with a dry finish.
ABV: 5%
My thoughts: This has a weird scent. It’s sort of a sickly sweet scent that almost smells like fruit at the very edge of ripeness. This is only the 2nd pear cider I’ve had and it couldn’t be more different. It’s got the perfect level of sweetness. The pear flavor is super strong! It’s not very carbonated and has a moderately clean finish. Pretty solid if you’re into ciders, but its not gonna win any converts if you aren’t a cider fan.
Number of times I’ve had it: 1
Rating: 3.5/5
Location: My friend Russell’s house
