West Coast Tiny Bottles

So I found two beers in the stash from California and both are in little stubby bottles! Match made in heaven?  ...good enough to drink tonight at least!

Nectar Ales - Humboldt Brown.  Nectar strives to be a sustainable brewery, recycling into various products what other brewers would consider waste, using all natural/organic ingredients where available.  This brew right here is made with all natural hemp..  what?  Hemp beer?  YEP  5.7% ABV and 32 IBUs.  A nice rich brown pour with a faint head..the usual brown notes..some malts, faint molasses, some chocolate and spices and a touch of hops.  A super light body for a brown, crisp actually.  Toasted nutty malts dominant with some chocolate and coffee flavors and a decent hop profile.. a bit floral, a little citrus.  Not sure where the hemp plays in.. there is some herb/spicey notes with a little sour taste on the finish.  Confusing about the hops, but a great take on a Brown Ale!

Finally tasting the legend..  Green Flash - West Coast IPA.  Have heard the lore about this brew and finally landed some thanks to some awesome people at the coolest packie in MA!  7.3% ABV and a face-melting 95 IBUs..  holy hops, Batman!!  A great hazy light copper pour with a super thick head that just don't quit.  Before I even pour the hops kick you square in the yapper.  HUGE hop profile, wickedly floral and piney.. some spice, a touch of honey and a little bit of light malts round out this massive nose.  The taste..yep, fully West Coast style IPA...  similar underlying tastes to a Stone or Lagunitas brew..  The taste is all hops with just enough sweetness from some lightly toasted/caramel malts.  A little bit of an oily feeling through the middle hints at the slightly high ABV.. The hops give a huge bitter bite, while not overpowering.  The bitterness works perfectly and leaves a lingering spicy/pepper taste.  It's dry and refreshing, bitter and sweet at the same time..  simply wonderful.  Wanna drink one of these and watch the green flash one day!

BONUS BEER!

Stone - San Diego County Session Ale with Ballast Point and North Park breweries

A collaboration brew between Ballast Point and Stone AND a homebrewer, Kelsey McNair (North Park?) that clocks in as a session brew at 4.2% ABV.  Have heard this is a mix of an American-style bitter with a session IPA and Pale Ale.  A weird nose to this one, some floral hops, some peach/apricot type fruits, a little sour note, some orange and a rich, albeit very faint, raisin sweetness.  This may be a little old, but the flavors are a bit muted...a slightly sour fruity taste dominates with the west coast hop profile underlying.  A heavily carbonated brew, perhaps a bit much, especially for a 'session.'  A pretty light brew, session worthly, but somewhat convoluted in it's taste and, although already decently aged in terms of type of beer (9+ months) already tastes somewhat aged, a little sour...   A nice beer, probably way better fresh.  I bought this cause the guy told me it was the Stone Saison du BUFF, as well as the sign saying so.. looked like the bottle, and didn't realize it til now.  A nice session, even if the tastes are a little tough to figure out.