Beer Profile: Wiseacre’s Migration of the Taco Raptor
Profiled by Ken Carman
I had to take a leap on this one. It is really enjoyable, HOWEVER there’s a strong pepper sense. I found nothing that indicated Jasmine Rice would give a pepper sense, or Hallertau Blanc hops. Now Hallertau hops are described as “spicy:” non specific. Also if you’re looking for a pilsner, lager, sense, forget it. This is more ale-like.
But it’s so damn good!
The pepper sense seems to fit perfectly, and quite intentional. This would make a great Belgian Pale or Saison in THAT sense, though the fruity hops would be inappropriate. Perhaps a Belgian IPA, though that kind of bitter is missing. Experimental?
Finishes somewhat dry. The balance is perfect: pepper, malt, fruit.
But I can’t know for sure it’s not intentional and part of the profile of Jasmine Rice, or Blanc, or…
Otherwise the aroma is very passion fruit, with orange/lemon undertones. Just a little caramel to a very firm malt base that seems more pale than pils.
The head holds long and is an off white foam. The color is a hazy gold that can barely be seen through. That may be chill haze, especially since it was quickly cooled down in a freezer.
The body is low side of medium and the fruit lingers. It’s a hint carbonic and well carbonated: medium range, but the carbonation does not hold well in solution. Drink quickly if you have to have a more firm carbonation sense.
I have no choice. Yes, the pepper would normally knock it off more points than I am giving, but the quality, the tastiness, simply can’t be ignored. But I can’t go above 4 which I would have if I knew for sure it was appropriate.
Where the name comes from, who knows. Taco???
BA 3.8/RB Untappd total 187, Uniques 171, Monthly 27
4.0
Welcome to the PGA beer rating system: one beer “Don’t bother.” Two: Eh, if someone gives it to you, drink. Three: very good, go ahead and seek it out, but be aware there is at least one problem. Four: seek it out. Five: pretty much “perfecto.”
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Altamont Beer Works: Love Your LiverMore
I have to confess that, until our trip to the East Bay area (we stayed in Dublin, CA), all I knew about Altamont Beer Works was that they had recently collaborated with Boneyard Beer on – what else? – a big IPA called “Lupulin Advisoryâ€. (Altamont brewmaster/owner Stephen Sartori actually worked at Boneyard, for a time)
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Beer Profile: Saranac’s Blueberry Blonde
Profiled by Ken Carman
Very white head with frothy foam and small bubbles. Holds a long time. Slight haze in a very yellow quaff. Slight bubble rise in the quaff.
The aroma is the light sense of walking past a field of blueberries. Way behind that pale malt. No off fermentation sensed. No hops sensed. Smells slightly sweet, fruit sweetness not sugar or anything else.
The balance is slightly towards the malt. Finishes slightly dry. The malt has a hint of cracker to it, no caramel. The blueberry is almost an afterthought, and I sense some skin: pectin-like. Not enough to be problematic, just enough to set it aside from other Blondes.
Carbonation is tad low and has a carbonic tang to it. It makes the body: high side of light, seem low side moderate. No astringency.
Let me be honest here. I’ve had some of the classics of the style according to BJCP 2015, like Kona Big Wave, and I am not a fan. There’s not a hell of a lot to it. However that doesn’t matter. This is well made and has enough of a distinct difference to make it a worthy quaff for those who do care for the style. I would order a pint and move on, but for those who like the style this is immensely quaffable. It’s also lawnmower-ish, though I never recommend mowing laws and drinking.
If you like the style you’ll love this.
3.4BA… most reviews first page positive, rest no explanation. RB 21/39 style… what happened there? “Faint vomit?” Someone got a bad bottle. Also got sense many didn’t know the style.
4.4
Welcome to the PGA beer rating system: one beer “Don’t bother.” Two: Eh, if someone gives it to you, drink. Three: very good, go ahead and seek it out, but be aware there is at least one problem. Four: seek it out. Five: pretty much “perfecto.”
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Pyramid “Outburst†Berry Tart IPA: A Tart Apart
In the burgeoning universe of sour beers, there are some that just suggest sour and some that are almost indistinguishable from those odd drinking vinegars that have been nibbling around the edges of our beverage consciousness for the past five years or so. Breweries have tended to blur the lines between these styles a bit, as their stylistic aesthetics dictate but, in general, beer fans are becoming savvy enough about Euro styles to appreciate that a Gose or a Berlinerweisse are going to land on the tart end of the scale and present less of a challenge for sour beer newbies. But, past that, navigating the murky waters of what may actually be too sour for your tastes is a crapshoot, at best.
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HERE
Maria Devan Reviews Bronx Brewery Kolsch Golden Ale
Episode 66 – Flash Frozen Homebrew
Sit back and relax, it’s getting frosty in here! On this episode of the podcast, we breakdown the results of our Cryo/T-90 experiment. And since the results were so “weird” – we brought in some extra help in the form of some of the IGORs who helped with the podcast including Brad Macleod, Eric Pierce and Miguel Loza Brown. Together we talk what went right (and sometimes what went wrong with the brew days) and what we all thought of the Cryo beers (including some numbers courtesy of White Labs).
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HERE
Addressing the Question: Are Kids Welcome in Breweries?
It was early on a snowy Sunday afternoon at Modist Brewing Co. in Minneapolis, Minnesota. A historic winter storm had dumped 20 inches onto the city, clearing out grocery stores and closing some businesses. The roads were passable, however, so while flurries blew around outside, inside the brewery things were hopping.
Among the clinking of glasses and adult conversation, a bulldog and a terrier-mix sniffed introductions to each other while along the street-facing windows, a few toddlers were sitting in a circle playing with blocks and a ball. The place had a jovial mood as parents, happy to be released from the confines of the house, sipped on pastry stouts and lagers, and kids explored new terrain.
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HERE
Beer Profile: Westbrook’s Mexican Cake Imperial Stout
Profiled by Ken Carman
I love it when a beer’s name evokes memories that stimulate the palate. This one does but…
Where’s the cake?
Aroma: Sweet chocolate, hint molasses, aroma. No hops. Great complex malt bill with some focus on a dark chocolate sense.
Appearance: black as all hell. Head big but fades into nothing. What there was pure foam. Head that fadedc fast is damn near as dark as the quaff. More brown than black.
Flavor: dark chocolate, very sweet, finishes tad dry to medium. The balance is towards the malt: deep, dark, delicious. Slightest bitter, no hop flavor.
Mouthfeel: light side of heavy, malt with some bitter lingers on the roof of the palate. Dark chocolate hangs the heaviest on the palate.
Overall: Where’s the cake? This mostly tastes like a great RIS with maybe a hint of cake like sweetness, at best. The balance is malt specific and the bitter does balance it well, but it should at least softly say, “Mexican cake!” I do think there’s just a hint astringency lingering in the background as if I’m eating baker’s chocolate in otherwise an excellent RIS.
I admit it is incredibly enticing, quite good. But the Mexican cake I have had is actually fairly delicate. RIS and delicate are not synonyms. Felt like I was chewing on baker’s chocolate is the worst aspect.
4.4 BA.
100% RB.
3.9
Welcome to the PGA beer rating system: one beer “Don’t bother.” Two: Eh, if someone gives it to you, drink. Three: very good, go ahead and seek it out, but be aware there is at least one problem. Four: seek it out. Five: pretty much “perfecto.”
_______________Beer HERE
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Deschutes “Twilight†and Passion Fruit IPA: One Birth, One Resurrection
The thing that has – for the entire twenty-eight years I’ve lived here in the uber-verdant Pacific Northwest – made Deschutes Brewery my favorite maker of beers that I can just sit, sip ‘n’ savor is their relentless experimentation.
I get bored easily – very easily – and especially with beer. I try, really hard, never to drink the same beer any more than once in any thirty-day period, the sole exception being when we buy a growler of something and have a finite window for draining it. But if it’s in bottles or cans, it’s in a large rotation and is gonna sit for a while.
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