A visual tribute to beer and the people who love it.
After leaving to open Artifex Brewing up in Orange County, Chris has returned as head brewer of Backstreet, Vista. Celebrating his return, he brewed up a delicious IPA he calls (fittingly) “Round 2.” At 7.6% abv, two rounds is probably all I will be able to handle.
Preferred the draft version to the bottle. Preferred the dry hopped version to the regular version…or what I recall out being like…as it’s been a while.
Nothing outstanding, but not bad either. Pale ale-ish wheat beer.
Uh Oh Ho Ho…a tad late on this one. Lucky the Stone Police didn’t come take it from the fridge drawer.
Ho Ho Ho..
Tasty..
At Wheat & Water.
Had tasted some of their offerings earlier this year in Denver, and decided to stop by while in the area. L to R, Charles de Mar (saison), Slow Riser 2.0 (red ale with coffee), Personal Agenda (pale ale) and DIPL(OMACY) (double India Pale Lager). All clean and tasty..
Pleasantly surprised with this 7.2% Citra and Simcoe IPA from OC’s Valiant Brewing. No malty sweetness with juicy hop flavors of pine and citrus peel…
Enjoyable, but I tasted more vanilla than I did watermelon in this 4.8% ABV wheat beer from The Phoenix Ale Brewery. The label mentions “…hint of watermelon to balance the tart, citrus flavors of the wheat.” I didn’t get any tartness either. Is it true that we drank on 8 Dec 16, where the […]
At Russian River having a pint before dinner. Row 2 Hill 56, a hoppy delicious pale ale.
By Indian style I thought they meant IPA and not necessarily a dark, flavored, spicy curry. I can’t tell yet if it actually is curry, but it’s got an amazingly unique nose and a spicy afterbite that’s warm, calm, and re-assuring. This one’s worth a try, but completely 180 degrees from what I was expecting. […]
Very happy with this 6% ABV barrel-aged mildly tart ale made with peaches.
No ABV listed on the can. Decent, but nothing great. I’ve liked some of Tin Can Brewing’s other offering better.
Things have grown for Red River Brewing since our first visit a couple years ago. Back then they were operating out of a small brick building, had no tasting room, and working long hours to keep up with the requests for the one beer they were making at the time; Hay Ryed. Today […]
A work associate, well acquainted my affliction for good craft beer, surprised me with a growler from something just outside my radar. Humble Farmer Brewing Company, in Holtville, just outside of El Centro, is brewing up fresh suds. Word has it they are willing to share, for a small fee, to whoever stops by and […]
Enjoying a 10-year old bottle of DeuS for our 7th anniversary. Seems more boozy than the 11.5% ABV that the label indicates, with pleasant flavors of dried dark fruit, mild sweetness up front with dryer Belgian yeast finish. Very good, but different from what I recall from later/ younger versions we enjoyed.
…was one of the few beers I tried, but ended up with the Just Outstanding, from Kern River Brewing. Many great beers on draft around town post SD Beer Week.
The date stamp was not clear, but guessing 2010 vintage. It’s held up nicely. Some fruity notes that weren’t there before.
…per the tap handle and beertender, from Alpine Beer Co. Tasty.
6.5% ABV American Strong Pale Ale.
Back in manhattan, KS so naturally I hadon’t to.drop in to Little Apple Brewing Co. surprisingly warm for mid-November here. Mid 70’s. Cold beer is just the ticket.
Enjoying an IPA at the Belfry in KCMO.
Working in KCMO has its perks. Great BBQ and Boulevard Beer from the source
A new wet hop IPA on draft for Amplified Ale Works 4th anniversary party, along with 21 other Amplified offerings.
My Coors Light neighbor had a gathering this weekend and the few beers not meeting his palate were left untouched. He called them “brown bottle beer” and grouped them with the like of Pacifico, and Stella.. I don’t recall having a Rough Draft beer since we stopped by their brewery opening day. Pleasantly surprise with […]
San Diego’s newest craft brewery. All low IBU options. My fav was the blonde, while Michele preferred the Berliner Weisse.
An annual treat from the fine folks at Sierra Nevada Brewing Company.
Tasters in Montreal!
Decent, but not as good as some of the previous Fruitlands. 4.8% ABV
Celebrating a warm Saturday at Surfside Tap Room in Oceanside. I’m enjoying a refreshing South Island Pils while the Mrs. nurses a Black Marlin Mocha Porter from Ballast Point.
Enjoying yet another wet hop beer — this one from @artifexbrewing in San Clemente, CA. Clean, fresh and juicy. So much so that there’s a bee (upper left) hanging out hoping for a little nectar for her own purposes. #wethop #ipa #its90degreesinsandiegotoday
A nice czech pilsner from Fall Brewing Company, which I have yet to visit. Perfect beer for a 90 degree October day. Yeah, I know, it’s in a Belching Beaver glass.
Very happy with the 9% ABV double IPA Use These Hops Up!
Delicious DIPA from Back Street Vista. Simcoe, Columbus and Centennial hops with a surprisingly well-balanced malt profile. 8% ABV but you’d swear it was no more than 5%. Deceitful indeed.
An enjoyable 11% ABV bourbon barrel-aged stout from New Holland Brewing. I thought the beer was a good balance of all the flavors…though I would have preferred flavors to linger a bit longer after swallowing.
Was sitting on the patio and enjoying this @dogfishhead seasonal so much that I almost forgot to get a photo. Every year is just a little bit different and yet always delicious.
Elysian is my new favorite brewer. Elysian Avatar Jasmine IPA is not. It’s more saccharin than a vanilla at sea on nitrogen. It’s drinkable, but so is Stella when you need to.
Lots of good, and very little bad, packed into this tiny bottle of bitter beer. I feel that with every sip I’m reducing my chances of getting scurvy.
Continuing my fresh hop IPA journey in Bend, I am currently enjoying an Idahop. 6.8% ABV and 75 IBUs.
One of the best offering I’ve had from Lagunitas. 6.5% wet hop IPA. Going for another.
Yep. That’s all that’s left of a very delicious wet hop IPA from Cascade Lakes Brewing in Bend, OR
Enjoying an IPL and Pond Monkey Pale at Craft Kitchen on the Deschutes River in Bend, OR.
An offering from Anchor I had not tried. I like it better than the regular steam beer.
I have a lot of go-to beers. Sculpin IPA is one as long as there’s no fruit in it. Coronado Idiot is just one of my all time favorites. San Clemente Left Coast’s beer is just the right beer at the right time. It’s better than Pizza Port’s Kook, 6.5% by volume. Some nice crisp […]
A hoppy brown ale, with a hop bitterness on top of the roasted malt bitterness, all the way from Austin, Texas. Not really my style, but that didn’t stop me from finishing it.
Amplified Ale Works wet hopped IPA.
I had the draft version of this beer at Bressi Ranch some weeks back, and very much enjoyed it. This 6.2% “San Diego” pale ale was made with Mosaic and a mix of Australian hops, and would be considered an IPA in other parts. Though it’s supposed to be stocked at each of their […]
The flavor is remenisent of a Tootsie-Roll dissolved in large quantity of soda water…more watery than Tootsie-Roll. As one might imagine, it’s not very good. Not sure how much better it would have been if we had fresh, whenever that would have been. Couldn’t fine a date on the bottle, but snowflakes make me think […]
A 7% ABV collaboration IPA…from Mohawk, Tony’s Darts Away and Bagby Beer. I’m told Mohawk and Tony’s Darts Away are owned by the folks from Golden Road. I was pleased with it…went well with vegan happy hour foods.
The $4 pint for the night at Diablo Taco, from Baja Brewing. It worked for me. The day is looking up.
A newer offering at Amplified Ale Works. 6% ABV, well balanced…get while you can cuz I doubt it will last long.
A 6% ABV from Figueroa Mountain Brewing. Maybe the same as the Fig Mtn Mosaic I had elsewhere, indicating 5.5%..but with someone typing or writing it out on the beer menu, I’m not so sure. Enjoyed both.
I’m get zero fruit flavors or smell from this 6.5% ABV IPA that Michele smuggled back from her recent trip to Hungary. Maybe it has no fruit but thought it needed it. A somewhat dry bitter finish, that reminds me of grapefruit peel, overpowers any malty sweetness. I’m enjoying it, though I think more […]
A “Slovenian” pale ale from Pizza Port Bressi. Crisp and clean 4.8% abv. I didn’t even know there were Slovenian pale ales.
Found this little gem in the beer cellar while doing a little re-arranging the other day. What carbonation there was is gone, but the tart raisin, cherry and malt remains. Pretty solid for an 8 year old.
Michele’s colorful name for this American amber ale, dry hopped with Mosaic, and made at do-it-yourself brewery, Citizen Brewers, during a party celebrating a good friend’s birthday, was sadly not selected as the official name for the beer. I’d like think it was only because we did not make the label required for the group […]
..Brand Beer. A 5.5% ABV pre-prohibition pilsner from Indiana’s Upland Brewing. Not really my favorite style of beer, but decent enough..I ain’t pouring it out. Also not wasting time with a glass…drinking right out of the can. Oddly the pale malt, or so I assume cuz the can is opaque, reminds me of unsalted oyster […]
I’m pleasantly surprised by this 7.7% ABV American-style IPA that Michele smuggled back from her recent trip to Budapest. Balanced with pleasant hop flavors that linger slightly on the palate, and no malty sweet aftertaste.
Piney, resinous and 8.5% ABV. Not sure I can make it will last until my slice arrives…
The 12.3% ABV triple IPA from Hess Brewing is quite nice. No underlying sweetness in the base, just great hop flavors..which only linger on the pallet a short time urging you to take another sip. I had a bottle couple months ago and enjoyed, but I think I like this bottle that’s been on […]
Stone’s 20th Anniversary beer has resinous and dank hop flavors with lingering bitterness long after you’ve swallowed, or spit it out… if’n that’s your thing. No malty sweetness that you can find in some higher gravity IPA. This one’s clocking in at a respectable 9% ABV. It’s working for me at the moment.
One thing I do like about the craft beer revolution is that you can get a good beer in Utah. On a Sunday.
I’m like’n this 6.6% ABV Belgian-style ale. Somewhat sweet up front, mild bitterness on the finish, and overall refreshing. A new offering from our friends at Amplified Ale Works.
Enjoyed this 5.8% ABV hoppy pale ale from Modern Times Beer Company. Not sure if it is pronounced wăn-ee-tah, or won-ee-dah, or oh-nee-dah…
At JFK Admiral Lounge.
We found an alley with plenty of shadow, a nice breeze and the local brewery’s beer on draft. The draft version is much better than the bottle of the same beer we tried earlier. The bottle was flat and too sweet..almost syrupy. On draft it’s still malty, but in addition to the better mouth feel […]
Another in a long list of IPAS from Back Street brewing in Vista. 6.6% abv, bright, fresh and crisp with just a little maltiness. Perfect for an ungodly hot day.
Decent, but not my fav. Malty base is a bit too sweet to me.
The 5.4% ABV American-style wheat beer generously hopped with Mosaic is one of the best Croatian beer we’ve had so far. With the light /pale malt body and pleasant bitter finish it was very refreshing. It’s made on the island of Hvar just a 5 minute bike ride from Hvar town center (maybe a 20 […]
Our first Croatian craft beers. Both were clean, balanced and true to style. Both seemed more American-style and less similar to their European counterparts. The 5.3% ABV Pale Ale ale was refreshing and had a mildly hopped finish. The 6.5% ABV Porter was smooth and roasty with with no unpleasant bitterness.
Točeno on draft for me and the bottle of Tomislav for the lady. The 7.3% ABV Tomislav Croatian made dunkel was the better of the two. The Slovenia made pale lager on draft was just…not my style.
Eighteen (18) delicious ciders from local apples
Nothing like a big, hoppy DIPA to take the edge off a hot summer afternoon.
Seeing Adam’s Betty in a can, I got jealous and had to go get my own. This is one of those I prefer in a bottle.
I’m enjoying it. An 8.1% ABV hoppy strong golden..what’s not to like?
Quaint location inland a bit, and full of locals. Wide variety of tasty beers. My fav was the Golden Sabbath. Lunch was great, too.
A brief break from cider.
A delicious blend of cider and peach wine. Pleasantly tart with a more dry finish, and 8% ABV. Really quite good.
Straight out of da can.
A pale ale with mild bitterness and nice funky brettanomyces characteristics.
Fresh off the plane Vári Nővérek ’16, from Hungary’s Szent András Sőrfőzde, is like a hoppy American-style session pale ale. It remind me of a northern east coast IPA or pale ale, with some rye with the malt. No citrus or pine notes, but a distinct dry bitter finish.
I like watermelon. I also like Dorado, Ballast Point’s 10% ABV double IPA. I don’t think I would have thought to mix the two…but why not give it a try. When first poured, the nose is sweet watermelon and very little hop character. Taste is not sweet but hop bitterness over the malt base, with […]
Untappd tells me I tried 15 new beers while in Hungary. Some big commercial yellow beers and a few craft beers. I can’t spell their names, but could look them up if I had to…
My fav of the many brews we tasted at last week’s International Beer Festival at the Del Mar Fair. A pleasantly tart wine-barrel-aged, dry-hopped saison. 6.5% ABV and 15-IBU. From Sudwerk Brewing, Davis, CA. Quite nice. Hmm..or was that last, last week? Time flys when you’re…busy…doin’..stuff.
A 9% ABV gruit from Italy made with chestnuts. Malty sweetness and alcohol, like a boozy mild English brown ale but with a Belgian – like yeast..maybe. Interesting. I couldn’t tell you there were any kind of nut in the beer based on flavor…but I suppose without the chestnuts it would have been imported Italian […]
A hoppy Belgain style collaboration ale from The Bruery and Maine Beer Company. 6.something% ABV hops more fruity, with pleasant bitterness.
By Beachwood Blendery… Nice mellow tart funky sour.
An exclusive from Left Coast Brewing for Islands restaurant. Light bodied and citrusy. Perfect for a warm day in late spring
At the Petrol Station #wheninhouston #drinklocal #worktrip
Pineapple not evident at first taste..mostly just tart and wet. But I get hints of pineapple after I swallow a sip and exhale through my nose.
I remember the Greeter at the pottery shop used to wave at everybody driving through town. 3 or 4 decades later, they are using his likeness on their label. Malty, drinkable, though it reminds me of a fresh harvest hopped beer. 34 IBUs, 6.3%
At Legends Craft Brewery, Anaheim.
Quite possibly the best MillerCoors beer I’ve tasted. Still got that 9% ABV thing going for it and only 6 bucks at Price Club.
Very nice, and it’s got that 7%ABV thing going for it too.
A damn good Belgian-style strong golden ale from Amplified Ale Works. …and more drunk for your buck at $3.50 each…almost half price….for another six minutes.
In a world of popular session IPAs this is a real IPA, thank goodness someone brewed a complex IPA which as rich as you can get. It’s got all the taste of a West coast DIPA, but the smoothness of a regular IPA with some bite of citrus and pine. This beer is so rich […]
A little young, sour and yeasty, but a great golden Belgian ale. A little malt and maturity would make this one go a long way. It’s got a unique dryness that makes it worth drinking. I bought it at OC wine mart in YL for $7.99 so worth the price.
