‘Nuf said.
Coconut Almond Macaron
An 8.2% IPA from Decadent Ales, inspired by the classic French dessert. Sweet nose of coconut and beer. Flavor is like a NE IPA with soft mouth-feel, but with notes of coconut. Mild bitterness on the finish. Not getting much almond. Surprisingly drinkable.
Elevator Stash IPA
A tasty 5.2% session IPA from the fine folks at Amplified.
Experimental Hazy IPA
Per Belly-Up beverage is a 6.3% IPA with soft mouthfeel, low bitterness and citrus notes. Could be more, but salsa may be ruining my tastebuds.
Struggle Bus XPA
Bagbt doesn’t make bad beer, this 4.5% ABV extra pale ale is no exception. Light pale malt body with pleasant hop flavors.
DDH Orderville
Tackling the big ol’ can (19.2 oz) of Modern Times double dry-hopped Orderville IPA that’s been in the fridge for a bit. Can dated 22 Jan 2020, so ain’t that old. Poured into a glass to avoid the potential swill of sludge that may be lurking at the bottom when drinking from the can. More […]
Topa Topa Chief Peak IPA
Yep…this’ll do.
Rouleur Endo IPA
Pleasantly surprised by this beer. We had cycled up to Carlsbad’s Rouleur Brewing Company when they opened in the North County Igniter site along with Wiseguys. I don’t recall enjoying any of their IPA selections as much as I’m liking this one. Drinking right out of the decanter. A fine example of a west coast […]
Afternoon Delite…
…for me and Chocodile Rock for the lady. Thought working just fine…the Delite keg, usually a clear session IPA, must have had some turbulence to be pouring like it is. The Chocodile Rock is an 8% ABV chocolate forward sweet stout collaboration with Thunderhawk Alements.
TJ’s 2019 Vintage Spiced Ale
Trader Joe’s 2019 Vintage Spiced Ale is just as I recall from a few years ago. It doesn’t really have the dark malty sweetness I would hope for. The finish is dry with more spice than I care for. I believe if finish was more sweet the spice may be more appealing.
Chaos Emeralds
A tasty 6.8% ABV hazy IPA from the fine folks at Fieldwork Brewing. Mango, melon, apricot and citrus prevail in this juicy IPA. Nice mouth feel, low bitterness with a finish of black pepper. Plenty of offerings at the last day of SD TapRoom 13th Anniversary celebration… though Younger was gone by the time we […]
Mayberry IPA
Enjoying a tasty 7.2% ABV west coast IPA from the fine folks at El Segundo Brewing right from the decanter. Piney and resinous, with dry finish and lingering bitterness. I like the cute squatty bottle too.
Woodcut No. 9
A 10.7% ABV oak aged imperial IPA from the fine folks at O’Dell Brewing. Malty sweetness with notes of toffee, vanilla, dark fruits, melon and oak. Finishes somewhat sweet with pleasant lingering hop bitterness.
Stratacaster IPA..
…for me and a Gold Record for the lady. Yumm.
BreweryX Chalkboard
Panda Pool Party — Super light lager. True to its name, it tastes like panda piss watered down by a whole swimming pool of water. Other than tasting clean and watery, I can’t recall anything else about it other than I didn’t like it and didn’t care enough to figure out why. From there, we […]
South Bird Beer Roadhouse IPA
A tasty 7.2% ABV collaboration beer from Figueroa Mountain Brewing and Bird Rock’s Wheat n Water, made in the West-coast style. Made even better at happy hour prices.
Happy Valentine’s Day DeuS with my Sweeheart.
A delish and effervescent 11.5% ABV Brut des Flanders from Brewery Bosteels. This triple fermented bottle conditioned Belgian golden strong ale has a sweet fruity nose and a wonderful balanced flavor with somewhat dry finish…very champagne like. Cheers
Campground IPA
A 7.2% ABV west-coast style IPA from Pizza Port Solana Beach. I’m told next in line for special release canning.
Los Locos
Los Locos is a simple, mexican style light lager. It says a hint of lime with sea salt, but the lime is chemical, sour, and overwhelming. A little tapatio and sea salt helped cut down on the sweet and sour. Imagine either pouring rose’s lime juice into a corona light or a little too much […]
Strata Blaster Triple IPA
Finding some treasures as I get toward the bottom of the beer drawer. Our last can of Amplified Ale Works delish 10% ABV hazy IPA.
Coconut Merlin
Firestone Walker’s 5.5% ABV milk stout made with coconut. Quite enjoyable. I get more chocolate and roasted malts with a light, somewhat sweet finish. No noticable coconut. I recall The Patsy, a rye coconut stout, and Death by Coconut having more coconut notes. The Patsy being less sweet and reminiscent of dark chocolate and coconut, […]
A Delicious Friday
Enjoying a Stone #deliciousipa in a can for the first time. Not bad. One of the better can IPAs.
40th Hoppy Anniversary Ale
Quite happy with this 6% ABV West-Coast IPA from Sierra Nevada. Nose is a nice balance of hops and malts. Has nice hop flavors over medium body base with no malty sweetness.
Righteous Son
No review yet, but I got the label to look scary.
10am Sunday Beer
Perfectly acceptable for breakfast on #superbowlsunday
Enjoy by 01-01-20
A tad late on this one…more dry than most January’s delayed consumption of a few. This 9.4% ABV unfiltered IPA sat a bit longer and poured quite clear. Notes of melon and citrus with pronounced lingering hop bitterness.
Scream, Citra, Scream!
Please do me a favor, if you ever hear the words “Dry January” escape my lips…talk me out of it. Ok…maybe this January hasn’t been totally dry…but definitely more dry than most Januarys. She’s stronger than me. Beer for me, OJ for her. The beer is more unfiltered west coast style with hoppy citrus nose […]
E-Vil Elephant IPA
A remake of the east village collaboration IPA between Amplified Ale Works and Melvin Brewing. A tasty west coast style with Citra and Simcoe, and a 7% ABV… what’s not to love.
Gordgeous
A 6.4% ABV pumpkin ale from Charlotte, NC, NoDa Brewing. Not a huge fan. A bit too much pumpkin spice, and the finish has a bitterness I didn’t care for.
Advent Beer Calendar 22, 23 and 24. Ho Ho Ho Merry X-Mas
After x-mas eve family thing back to the old homestead to get some last minute wrapping done, and catched-up on the last of the advent beer calendar beers. All three were decent I have no idea what the letter is between the “o” and the “b”…a “k” maybe? Schlokbräu Rheder. Light body clean finish. More […]
Bären Weisse Party Shirt
This 5.6% ABV malty sweet German beer reminded her of a beer with residual unfermented sugars, like unfinished. I didn’t get that, but still not something I wanted 500ml of. Sadly beer 21 in the advent beer calendar was dumped…. … but not Party Shirt IPA. Even upwards of 2- months after it’s canning, still […]
Loncium Biermanufaktur..
..maybe the name of the beer. Advent beer day 19 is…wait for it…a 5.1% ABV Vienna Style Lager. Truth be told, not a huge variety of flavor in this box of beers.
Hallertaner Hopfen-Cuvëe
Even with fancy umlaut…in my humble opinion…not a good beer. Maybe I was thirsty and hoping for something refreshing. Didn’t happen. Dry from first sip to fininsh. Bitterness a bit offsetting.
Urtyp Hell Edel Bayer
Advent beer calendar day-15 is another 5%-ish, 4.6% to be exact, ABV helles lager. Not bad, but nothing great. A hint of sweetness up front with a more dry finish.
American Beauty Hazy Ripple IPA
To me this juicy and fruity IPA from Dogfish Head is so much more enjoyable than the earlier German smoked lager…a world of difference. Virtually no bitterness, and it seems a tad on the sweet side (fruity sweet, not malty sweet…as if there’s a difference)… but that could be due to that last beer being […]
Zwönitzer Rauchbier
Not a fan of advent beer calendar day-14… but can’t think of a rauchbier I’ve liked. We dumped it.
Herrnbräu Jubiläums Sud
Advent beer calendar day-13 is a 5.4% Munich Dunkel, and damn if it don’t taste just like Modelo Negra.
Radio Haze
Fresh off the plane from Charlotte, North Carolina, where cans can be purchased from the NoDa Brewing Co airport tasting room and kitchen for a measly $11.50 a can. Light body with plenty of nice hop flavors, with a mildly bitter finish with notes of black pepper. Juicy? NoDa. Hazy? NoDa. IPA? NoDa. 6% ABV? […]
Ladenburger Weizenbock Hell
Day 8 is the strongest so far clocking in at 7.4% ABV. Other than the noticable alcohol on the nose, not a huge difference in other characteristics.
Perlenzauber
Day 7 is Perlenzauber. This 5.4% ABV German pale ale is different than most American or English pale ales ove tried. The malt body is lighter. No sweetness and no bitterness, with notes of citrus.
Erlkönig Hell
A few days of catch-up on the Advent beer calendar. Day 6 was another light body lager with a clean finish. Not bad, but not outstanding either.
Kress Bayrisch Zwickel
Advent Beer Calendar day-5 was a 5.4% German Zwickel with flavors of sweet malts with a touch of toastyness.
Memminger Gold Märzen
Decent, easy drinking with clean finish. Clocking in at 5.1% ABV, Beer Advent Calendar day-4 is brewed in Germany.
Schnaitl Bräu
German Beer Advent calendar day-3 is a somewhat bland 5.9% lager, with an unpleasant aftertaste, from Austria? Hmmm.
Blau Weisse
German Beer Advent Calendar day 2 was an enjoyable 5.6% ABV weisse beer. Light bodied with a touch of sweetness and clean finish. I have to admit that my expectations were pretty low going in, so pleasantly surprised.
Advent 1 German Beer
We found the Käuzle Helles Lager quite refreshing. Yeah…that was yesterday, but I still clearly remember that after 30+miles on a bicycle, multiple hydration stations, a well deserved snack and social beverage with friends, that while soaking up to my neck in hot water in the dark…ilI felt it replenished life sustaining nutrients.
Mmm..new batch of Electrocution (IPA)…
…for me, and a Gold Record, with a passion fruit Fruitful Endeavor sidecar, for the lady.
Thanksgiving begins Deliciously
Family in town for Thanksgiving, so I’m out enjoying a Stone Delicious.
Thanksgiving begins Deliciously
Family in town for Thanksgiving, so I’m out enjoying a Stone Delicious.
Celebrate Good Times…
…come on!, it’s a Celebration (fresh hop IPA). The most wonderful time of the year…fresh hop beer season.
Wet Hop Simcoe City DIPA
Goes down quite smooth for 8.5% ABV .
Wet Hop Pretty Bird IPA
Not much nose, but damn tasty. Nice balance with nice hop flavors/bitterness. No ABV indicated, but would guess 7%-ish. Jeez…Pizza Port Solana Beach is packed tonight. Order a beer and get back in line.
Brewery X DIPA By the Minute
My in-laws surprised me for my birthday w/ a massive 32oz can of 8%/111 IBU double IPA from the new local brewery. The world needs a new craft brewery and a new Double IPA like a hole in the head as there are so many of them out there, but this one did surprise. It’s […]
Dogleg Brewing Tasters
L to R is top to bottom with the scotch ale in Nevada. ESB was ok… had no interest in finishing the others.
DDH Goodbye Pluto…
…(a delish 7.1% ABV, more than hazy…,opaque, IPA made with Galaxy, Comet and Mosaic hops) for me and Velvet Stars (a refreshingly tart/sweet 5% ABV kombucha made with raspberries hibiscus and honey) for the lady.
Stratablaster
10% ABV hazy IIPA. Piney and resinous nose with subtle melon notes. Soft mouth feel, great hop flavors with little to no lingering hop bitterness. The 10% ABV is less apparent with each sip.
Bar Sin Nombre 2nd Anniversary
L to R – #17, #40 & #36. 20 miles in and 20 to go before our next beer stop. Some nice beers to be tapped later too.
Averbode Abbey Ale
Feeling monkish. Liquid pre-lunch snack. She chose the Deliria and it seems off compared to what we recall from last time. The abbey ale is quite nice. A somewhat sweet malt and yeast nose. Nice balance flavor and finish. Clocking in at 7.5% ABV.
Boo!
9.4% ABV Enjoy-By today IPA. Not quite as spooky when it’s still light out, but worked just fine.
Nug-O-War
Only info not in the pic…6.5% ABV and a collaboration with Burgeon Beer Co. Quite tasty.
Kensington Brewing Tasters
We had heard Kensington Brewing opened a tasting room in Kensington. Todays CicloSDias took us right by it so it seemed a good place to stop. R to L we tried the Belgian Golden, Nitro Cream Ale, Hempstead Hazy and the Session IPA. Hazy was the fav. More an unfiltered west coast than the NE-style.
Pie Hard 2 – Pie Harder
A 5.5% ABV lemon pie inspired beer from the fine folks at Alvarado Street Brewing. A kettle sour made with lemons, vanilla and lactose on nitro. Failed to shake before pouring, so poured a bit flat. I think they a fine job getting the lemon meringue pie filling flavor in the beer. Tasty but somewhat […]
Not too surprising…
…to find that Stone Brewings 23rd anniversary beer is an IPA. I’m sure the words on the back of the bottle would tell the story of the “uncanny anni”, but don’t want to dig into the recycle bin, and, truth be told…I don’t really care. The beer itself is ok. Resinous hoppy nose, malty base […]
Spooky Ghosts
Started with Ghost Mountain a hazy NE-style IPA, juicy with soft mouth-feel, from Modern Times Beer Next moved to Ghost Hammer IPA from Stone Brewing. More in the west-coast style and quite enjoyable. Piney and resinous, pleasant bitterness that lingers just long enough to make you want another sip. No problem finishing either sample.
Nelson & Nelson
An 8% double IPA from Port Brewing. Piney hop nose. Medium body with lingering bitterness. Yeah, this will work. Though not really getting some of the characteristics I would expect from Nelson (Sauvin) in both boil and dry hopping, I’m enjoying it more as I continue to sip. Whoa… it’s gone! Who stole my beer?
I Don’t Like Mondays
“The silicon chip inside her head gets switched to overload. And nobody’s gonna go to school today, She’s going to make them stay at home…” As I recall when she was asked why she did it, her answer was “I don’t like Mondays’. A 1979 piano ballad about actual event the same year when a […]
Permanent Marker Pen Disguises….
..for me, and a Cactus Passion Dragon Fruit San Diego Vice for the lady. A 7% ABV medium bodied juicy IPA, with soft mouthfeel and mild bitterness from Columbus, Ohio’s Hoof Hearted Brewing. Darn tasty. Oh… the Vice was pretty good too. More on par with the draft versions of ones we’ve liked and better […]
Solis 95
Whoa…another old can in the beer drawer. Canned in Mar of 2019. Damn, I really need to do a better job of rotating beers forward. Straight from da can.
Gentle Reminder IPA
Found this in the bottom of the beer drawer. Ouch…June 2019 canning date… so a bit late. Oh well. Right out of the can the nose was a mix of piney, resinous, sweet malts with notes of fruit. Medium bodied IPA with soft, pillowy mouthfeel and a balanced finish. Maybe less bitterness than balanced. “Exudes […]
Desert Haze IPA
Mmm…new 7% ABV hazy at Amplified. Earthy hoppy nose, medium body with soft mouthfeel and mild lingering bitterness.
San Franpsycho IPA
Smell was mix of fruity sweetness and resinous hops. Flavor was a mix of malty sweetness with noticable fruit flavors with pronounced and lingering hop bitterness. Might be something with this particular can, but had to dump it.
Carlsbad Collective IPA
Tried this beer last night at Culver Beer Co., and had to come back for more. Great hop flavors over a pale malt body with crisp finish and no residual malt sweetness. ABV not indicated, but guessing between 6% and 7%. From the minds of (7) San Diego Brewers Guild members with tasting rooms in […]
Digital Bath
Quite happy with Belching Beaver’s Deftones (band) collaboration. A 6.5% ABV New England-style hazy IPA. Citrusy and juicy, mild bitterness with soft-mouth feel.
Colombia Mexican Lager
Sitting at the Dog Haus in Vista beating the heat with some cool brews.
Hazy AF
Another tasty IPA from Pizza Port Solana Beach. 6.8% ABV made in the hazy style. Nose is citrus forward. Bitterness is mild. It seems there is a film, or residue, left in the mouth after I swallow and that is where I taste the hop bitterness, which is dry. Somewhat to be expected..as I just […]
Temescal Here and Now
7% ABV citrus forward hazy-ish IPA with notes of tropical fruits and mild bitterness. Working just fine on this warm day in the lower left. Base on the name alone I would have guess Temescal would be from Temecula – Lake Elsinore area…Temescal Canyon. Once again pulling info from my backside, I’m wrong. They hail […]
What What Double IPA
A big boy glass of 9.1% ABV double IPA from the fine folks at Nevada’s Revision Brewing. FullPriceFriday
Unsung Slagma Red IPA
The back the can says that “Slagma strikes with a sticky, piney, resinous hop-bite and doesn’t relent. With a strong malt backbone, this vindictive invertebrate will prove to be surprisingly easy to swallow.” I don’t know who writes their marketing, but there’s no piney, resin, or hard to swallow. There is lots of red-malt complexity, […]
Pat & Skip’s Excellent Adventure
Yup…yummy IPA for me… and she got a beer too. Lucky to grab seats, and found out why they were empty….sun coming in at multiple angles: sky and reflecting off white bar top.
SiamWeizen
Another attempt at a Belgian-style witt/wheat beer…and still not quite there. Not bad enough to pour out. 4.5% ABV, cold and safer to drink than tap water.
U Beer
A 4.5% larger brewed by Singha that I thought was too sweet. No worry about a hang over? Wonder how that works? Maybe cuz one won’t want to drink it…or is it more a guarantee you will get one. Like, don’t worry, you’ll get it. Hmmm.
“Pretty Much My Favorite Animal”
Liger is a mediocre 5% ABV dark larger from Cambodia. Found in a local market, consumed on the patio.
Belgian Beers in Thailand
Somewhat surprised, and pleased, to find Belgian beers in Krabi…and not outrageously priced either. Maybe $7.50 US/ $225 Thai baht. It is a bit much compared to the $90 Baht for 12oz of the local mass produced lagers (Chang, Singha, or Leo..etc.)…but quite enjoyable.
Eleventh Fort IPL..
..for me. Crisp lager with light malt body and hop notes like an English pale ale. Didn’t note the ABV, but expect it was in the 5% range. She chose.. Devanom Mead Sour Mocha, a 5% ABV session mead with notes of coffee and chocolate. Flavor was good, more sweet with slight tart note. We […]
Russian River Intinction 2nd Release
Russian River has been flooding my local store w/ uniuqe beers. I am a sucker as I’ll buy everything they release. This week is Intinction. It has a funny wine cover knife on the label which I think represents the pilsner ages in sauvignon blanc barrels and grapes. It tastes like a sour (which I […]
Stone Head Beers
Stumbled into Craft (Silom) which is mostly imported craft beers. San Diego is well represented with 1/5 of the draft list. They also have a few local drafts and bottles. Of the draft… L to R are Stone Head’s Smiling Evil pale ale, Gangore IPA and The Dark Side stout. Bottles next. Coconut Cream Ale […]
…Leo in an Alley
Ok…more a narrow one-way street than an alley. At 90+ degrees and 90+% relative humidity, these 5% lagers are quite nice. Drink fast, or the beer gets warm.
Love Juice
A juicy 5.5% ABV NE-Style IPA from Henderson, NV. Last of the cans we brought back from the road trip in March.
Swami’s IPA
Doing some at-home self realizing.
Check Your Hops
New batch of the 7% ABV hazy IPA.
Freaky Kveiky
A 6.5% ABV NE-IPA made with Norwegian yeast for me, and Monterey Rosé, a 5.9% ABV tart wheat ale aged on fruit lees, for the lady. At HopSaint in Torrance. Quite tasty… looking forward to my catfish PoBoy…mmm
32 North The Conqueror Pilsner
It’s hot, it’s July and I’m at a biergarten in Vista. The pils is perfect.
32 North The Conqueror Pilsner
It’s hot, it’s July and I’m at a biergarten in Vista. The pils is perfect.
Super Sticky
Mmmm…8.2% ABV of hazy IPA yumminess, at Rip Current Brewing tasting room North Park. Dank hop nose with a flavor that didn’t disappoint.
Bakers Dozen
I was impressed with this maple bourbon barrel-aged barleywine from Mason Ale Works. Strong toffee flavors over the chocolate and coffee…like a pastry stout, but a barleywine…mmm. Clocking in at 13% ABV doesn’t hurt…but it did a little this morning.
H24 Orange Wheat
I had this beer at Hanger 24s original brew house in Redlands a decade ago. It was great on that hot, smoggy day and it’s still really refreshing today. I’m going to have this one more often this summer.
Pan A Flores
A 7% ABV porter from South Norte. The nose reminded me of Chuao Chocolate’s Spicy Maya dark chocolate bar – sweet chocolate, cinnamon and chilies. I was pleasantly surprised it was not too coffee forward. Flavors of sweet chocolate with cinnamon and some underlying coffee. Though sweet, it’s not a pastry stout…and if comparing to […]
Rolling Rock
Been a long time since I had a beer from the glass lined tanks of old Latrobe. Tastes pretty much how I expected.
New Batch ‘O New Gen
Mmm….New Generation Hazy IPA is back on draft at Amplified Ale Works. Not an easy choice when there age so many tasty options.
Fuzz Pedal n & FIFA Finals
I’ve been reluctant to share postings of Amplified Ale Work recent batch Fuzz Pedal IPA, a 6% ABV hazy IPA, and collaboration with Crosby Hop Farms. So damn good. I’ve been told the hop bill from Crosby was not disclosed, but would guess predominantly Nelson. Citrus fruit nose with underlying pine. Flavor is not subtle; […]
