I was in the LA/Redondo Beach area for 4 of my 6 days out there, but spent most of my time with friends and exploring, so little time to stop and check the craft scene. I had a bunch of generic stuff, a lot of it free, all of it with great people over great times and conversation...can't complain! I kicked the craft binge into high gear once I got to San Diego. My friend from HS and her friend are fellow craft lovers and had beer-themed plans for me! YAY! Almost as soon as I got to her place, we went straight to San Diego Brewing Co for dinner and as much beer as I could handle!
First round of samplers...
Green Flash - le Freak.. Belgian IPA at 9.2% ABV and 101 IBUs.. supposed marriage of an Imperial IPA and Belgian Trippel. Belgian fruity esters..some piney hops, slight rich malts and a hint of maybe green tea? Some peppery spice, orange and lemon zest, some banana, giving way to a sticky sweet malt profile..some caramel, toasted bread with a Belgian-y yeast taste. Very light considering it's stats.. definitely try to find this one out here!
Port Brewing Company - Mongo.. a DoubleIPA with 8.5% ABV and 99 IBUs. a cool brewery that was able to expand thanks to Stone and helped spin off Lost Abbey. A bit more fruity notes to the nose, but still tons of grapefruit and citrus hops, some pine and a decent light caramel malt aroma. Just enough malts to keep this from being a bitter mess, dominant grapefruit hops with some underlying citrus and grassyness. Very bitter and a nice alcohol presence. Crazy west coast-style bitter DIPA.
Alpine Beer Company - Pure Hoppiness.. another DIPA at 8% ABV with 'classified' IBUs... oooohhh, sexy secrets! Piney citrus nose.. hints of lemon peel and faint lightly toasted malts. For a DIPA, not much malt..hints of graham cracker and lighter caramel.. but a total hop bomb here folks! Again, a ton of piney and citrus hops, faintly bitter on the finish with some dryness and lemon zest/grass. Definitely an outstanding DIPA.
Round two!
Bear Republic - Hop Rod Rye... 8% ABV and 80 IBU Rye IPA (imperial?) Fruity, spicy, citrusy nose, decent amount of rich malts come through. The rye portion of the beer gives a nice spice to the taste, but is balanced nicely by hearty citrus and piney hops, rich caramel malts and molasses.. fairly light but full. A somewhat bitter finish with a lingering brown sugar sweetness.. totally rounded, well-balanced, complex and great beer.
Firestone Walker - DBA... 5.0% ABV and 32 IBUs in this Double Barrel Ale.. an English Pale. Lightly malt-forward sweetness, crisp hops, some citrus.. not super complex but very appealing. Not much hops to the taste, super light, dry crisp. Very malt-forward again.. light toasted bread, lighter caramel and toffee, slightly nutty. Touted as barrel aged.. slightly creamy due to this, hints of oak and vanilla. Super drinkable.. I know for a fact you can find this around here.. hunt it down people!
Coronado Brewing Company - Orange Avenue Wit.. a 5.2% ABV witbier with Cali orange peel and local orange blossom honey. Typical wheat malt aroma, a little lemon, a little orange..nothing too strong. Sweet and tart all at once, definite orange presence, some lighter sweetness. A decent amount of spice present, not too strong.. maybe some ginger and coriander? A nice take on a witbier, slightly drier and less sweet than most, but super drinkable.
Went back to my friend's house and they had a ton of bombers waiting for me! That's what friends are for! But this is where the recollection of the beer starts going downhill.. so I'll be short, sweet and as honest as I can remember! Alpine - Nelson. a 7.1% ABV IPA brewed with Nelson something or other hops from New Zealand.. cool! Floral, grassy, grapefruit.. the hops run the gamut. Guess some rye was used as well maybe.. some spice noticeable. Not much by the way of malts.. some light toast, but that's all.. crazy hop-forward. Great citrus notes, grassy, floral.. again, hops all around with some tropical citrus fruits.. very nice and fairly unique
My friend had an Alpine - Willy.. a 4.9% ABV wheat ale. I only tried a sip.. but it was pretty darn nice. Crisp, light malts.. some orange zest. Total wheat malts here, not much hops, some lighter citrus fruits. Not bad for a wheat.. but place it on the counter randomly and it makes for a hell of a picture!
Next split a Green Flash Brewing Co - Hop Head Red Ale. 7.0% ABV and 70 IBU... everything Green Flash does is crazy hopped. They don't come through much on the nose, just hugely sweet, rich malts.. caramel, brown sugar, nutty. Very smooth beer, malts are prominent and follow the nose, but the hops back it up and provide the signature Green Flash/west coast hop taste. Another one available out here and well worth the effort to find!
Alpine - Mandarin Nectar.. 6.5% ABV and only 6 IBUs. Touted as an orange honey blossom ale.. definite fruity sweetness in both the nose and taste.. some light, yet sweet malts. The recollection starts getting hazy around this point. This was a nice fruit beer, subdued, however had a bit of a syrupy sweetness and faint tartness that didn't fit in too well. Not bad, but had some better Alpine's already at this point..
Finally the end of the night! Alpine - McIllhenney's Irish Red .. 6.0% ABV and 13 IBUs. For an Irish Red, a fairly complex nose. Orange, some vanilla, definite rich caramel, toffee and molasses.. maybe dark fruits? Smooth, rich, malty, nutty.. a slight bit of hops in the finish with a little roasted chocolate malts. A pretty good American interpretation of an Irish Red... after all of these I want to try and hunt down some Alpine out here! Who's in?!?
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