Ninkasi Brewing Company - Tricerahops Double IPA

Evening everyone! Hope you're having a good week. It's actually raining here in San Diego tonight. That has nothing to do with tonight's beer, I just figured it was somewhat newsworthy. It IS San Diego after all, the land of 75 and sunny year round. But enough bragging.

It's a new beer tonight for me. I've never had this one and I'm really looking forward to trying this one. Tonight I'm drinking Tricerahops from Ninkasi Brewing out of Eugene Oregon. Tricerahops is a Double IPA coming in at 8.8% abv. So pretty big DIPA and I'm quite all right with that. So let's get this one opened and I'll let you know my thoughts on the Tricerahops (awesome name btw).

Tricerahops pours out a beautiful golden color, slightly copper maybe with some hints of orange. This beer is crystal clear, no haze whatsoever. There's about a finger to maybe just a tad more than a finger of fluffy white head which dissipates very quickly. There's a nice web-like lacing left behind. A decent amount of carbonation streaming up from the bottom of the glass which is nice to see. Not sure when this was bottled but at least this tells me we're not looking at a flat beer. Always a plus! Let's get the nose.

Big fruit notes. Big pear, peaches, a bit of a sticky peach sweetness. Quite a bit of orange citrus, maybe even a mandarin orange going on here. There's a nice bit of floral shining through behind that initial blast of fruits. There's a good hop bitterness too, smells very fresh, slightly dank but not dank in the garlic/onion sense. Just a big hoppy, bitter beer. Smells wonderful. Let's see how Tricerahops tastes! 

Honestly this follows the nose very well. First thing I notice is a real nice bitter hop character, very floral and slightly earthy. That initial bitterness is followed up by a lot of those fruits; pears, peach, orange citrus, and surprisingly a bit of an apple. Not an overly sweet apple, slightly bitter. Sides of the palate you get the fruits and some sweet caramel kind of notes. Back end of this beer, this finishes incredibly dry. One of the more drying DIPA I can remember having in recent months. No alcohol from that 8.8% at all. Not even a warming sensation as it goes down. Really easy drinking DIPA. 

So overall, I'm really digging the Tricerahops. I went into this not expecting much but I'm definitely surprised by how good and balanced this beer is. It's not a big time hop bomb. The hops are certainly present but not kicking you in the teeth like a majority of DIPA are these days. I'd honestly have never guessed this was a DIPA. It's mellow but in a very pleasing way. I'd recommend this one for sure. Easy drinking, flavorful, reasonably priced. If I had to have a complaint I'd just say it's a little easy on the bitterness for a DIPA. I'm used to the big in your face palate destroyers and this is not one of them. So that's it. That's my only knock and it's minor at that.

Rating: A-

Here's a video of my wife trying Tricerahops. Requested by some of my friends. 

Left Coast Brewing Co - Hop Juice

Hey all! It's Tuesday night and I'm in the mood for something new. Well, I should rephrase that. This isn't exactly new. At least I don't think it is. I vaguely remember having this beer several years ago, back before I could appreciate good beer. I don't remember anything about this other than I've once tried it. 

What's that? What beer? Oh, tonight I'm drinking another beer from Left Coast Brewing out of San Clemente, CA. This is Hop Juice, a 9.7% abv Double IPA. Yep, still sticking with the hops here. C'mon, I'm in San Diego. Would you expect anything less?? 

So lets get the Hop Juice open and see if it's as good as I don't remember... 

Hop Juice pours out a really deep copper, rust, orange, amber color. Very much clear, not much haze at all. There was about a finger and a half of a very thick, fluffy looking white head. Lots of bubbles in here. The Hop Juice head doesn't linger around very long and leaves behind a very thick and sticky lacing. There's not a lot of carbonation streaming up from the bottom of the glass. I'm guessing just based on looks that this is going to be a thick, heavy DIPA. Let's get the nose. 

Tons of syrupy peach sweetness. I mean, TONS! I'm also getting some mandarin orange, mango, papaya like fruits. There's a lot of caramel and malt sweetness. Very potent. Honestly, the nose is pretty much what I was expecting just from looking at this beer in the glass. Surprisingly, I'm not picking up a lot of hop bitterness so this might not be the freshest of bottles. There is some grass like qualities in the nose, like a wet grass kind of scent. It's more back end then anything else but to me, it's there. I'm ready to see if Hop Juice is worth it. Let's drink up! 

First thing I get is a somewhat subdued hop bitterness. It does a nice job of driving everything else through the palate though. Middle of the tongue is where you get hit with a heavy dose of IBUs. Sides of the palate you get that peach sweetness, mango and papaya. Back end of this you do get more bitterness, some fresh hop characteristics. Actually that's probably the wet grass sort of note I was picking up on the nose. There is some subtle bitter citrus lingering on the palate as well. The caramel-like sweetness is definitely present throughout. 

So overall, Hop Juice isn't bad... but I don't think it's really that great. This has a nice mouth feel, definitely on the thicker side of things. But it's not exactly balanced. I was hoping for more of a balanced DIPA and ended up with the stickier, syrupy sort of sweet DIPA. Again, it's not bad but I wouldn't really go out of my way to pick this up again. Certainly wouldn't turn it down if offered but it's one that otherwise I'd say is a pass. 

Rating: C+

Drake's Brewing - Denogginizer

Hey gang! Time for another beer review. I picked this one up the other day and decided to crack it open and see if it's really worth it. So tonight I'm drinking Denogginizer from Drake's Brewing out of San Leandro, CA. 

Denogginizer is an 9.75% abv Imperial IPA. This one is hopped up with a ton of Simcoe, Columbus, Amarillo & Cascade hops. That's a lot of hops which are counter acted with some Munich and Crystal malts. Sounds like a pretty good, ramped up, DIPA. Let's see how this one looks.

The Denogginizer pours out a really nice copper color, bordering on a slightly rusty color. There's a real nice finger to maybe just a bit more than a finger, of a fluffy white head. Lots of bubbles on this one. Head has a decent retention time and leaves behind a fairly standard looking soapy-like lacing. There's a decent amount of carbonation in this one which is nice to see. Looks like a good one. Let's get the nose.

Wow, really interesting nose. Lots of sugary, caramel like sweetness. Doesn't immediately strike me as an IPA at all. There's an abundance of peach juice in this. Big sweet, overly ripe peaches. I'm picking up some nice Mandarin Orange like characters. Some nice sweet, bread or cake like body in the nose. Really not picking up a ton of bitterness in this because it's just so potent in the sweet malts. I'm intrigued. Time to do some drinking.

So first things first, there's a nice hop bitterness present right away at the front of the palate. But big surprise, this is immediately slammed to the ground by a ton of caramel sweetness. That paves the way for that hop bitterness to make it's way into the middle of the palate. Sides of the mouth you get that sugary sweetness, lots of peach syrup. Back end of this you get a lot of bitterness and some of that bready sort of cake like body. There's also more of that peach character, maybe even a bit of a rum-like flavor. For 9.5% you kind of get the alcohol but it's pretty well hidden. 

Overall, I'm liking the Denogginizer from Drake's. It's not like a typical DIPA I'm used to. Not much in the way of citrus. This is really more of a malty DIPA, big body, nice mouth feel. It's a little on the syrupy side for me though. I definitely am more in favor of the citrus bombs that lean more towards the juicy side of the spectrum. Despite that, I do like this and wouldn't say no to picking up more of this. I'll definitely pick up a few more Drake's in the future and see how the rest of their beers compare and stand up to this one.

Rating: B

Stone Brewing Co. - Götterdämmerung IPA (17th Anniversary IPA)

Hey guys. It's Sunday night and tonight's beer review is a little bittersweet. If you're a fan of craft beer then I'm sure you heard the news about the accident at Stone Brewing on Saturday 8/24. I thought it was only fitting to drink a Stone beer in honor of the Stone family member who lost their life.

So tonight I'm drinking the 17th Anniversary IPA from Stone, their Gotterdammerung IPA. This is a 9.5% abv DIPA that is brewed with German hops and Pilsner malt. Seems totally different than most the other hop bombs Stone is known for. So let's get this one opened and do some drinking.

The Gotterdammerung pours out a nice golden color. A bit darker than a Pilsner. Completely see through with a little bit of carbonation streaming up from the bottom of the glass. There was about a finger of a foamy white head. Good retention time and a nice frothy lacing left behind on the glass. This looks like a very refreshing IPA. Let's get the nose.

First thing I pick up is a nice earthy, floral hop bitterness. There's some hints of lemon peel, bitter grapefruit, pine and maybe some ripe peach like characters. I'm picking up some nice grassy notes. But really the floral notes are very much the highlight here. Big and in your face bitterness. Definitely not what I was expecting from this one after what I read about it. I was expecting more of those Pilsner characters. There's a sweet, almost caramel like sweetness lingering about. This is really just a great smelling IPA. Let's see how this one tastes.

Wow. First thing on the Gotterdammerung is a big citrus note. Big orange, tangerine like characters. That's immediately followed up by a big floral bitterness. Earthy, maybe slightly spicy. I swear there's almost like a rye spice in here. Sides of the palate there's that ripe peach juice that just floods the jowls. Back of the palate you get more of that citrus. Grapefruit, lemon bitterness. This beer finishes incredibly dry. For 9.5% there's next to no hint of alcohol. It is so well masked making this a very dangerously drinkable beer.

As the beer warms a bit you get more of the alcohol warmth down the chest. You also get more lemon and lemongrass notes. Very surprising beer and very good.

So overall, this is just an awesome beer. Great hops, great mouth feel. Everything about this beer is fantastic. Stone once again knocks this one out of the park. Get this if you can. It should be available but consider it very limited. Probably a good chance this is the only time we'll see it unless enough of us request it be put back into production.

Rating: A+

Cheers to Stone and cheers to the Stone family during this most difficult time.

Ballast Point Brewing Company - Dorado Double IPA

What's up my fellow beer drinkers? Happy Thursday! I don't know about you, but I'm totally stoked that it's almost time for the weekend. What's on tap? Good beers, good beers and.... probably more good beers. Honestly, probably a lot of relaxing.

So why not intro to the weekend with a new beer? Sounds like a great idea!

Tonight I'm drinking Dorado Double IPA from Ballast Point Brewing Company down in San Diego. This is a 10% abv DIPA. I've actually never had this beer so I'm totally going into it blind. I'm a big fan of Ballast Point. They make some great beers and I'm hoping that this beer is no different. So enough intro, let's get this poured and drink some Dorado!

Dorado pours out a beautiful golden color. Totally see through. There's a ton of carbonation streaming up from the bottom of the glass. I've had this beer for a while now so I'm happy to see this. There's about a two finger extremely fluffy white head. Tons of tiny white bubbles. Very nice retention time as well. As it starts to dissipate it's leaving behind a ton of sticky, thick lacing. This is a really nice looking DIPA. Let's get the nose on Dorado.

Big peach. First thing I'm hit with is a big blast of peach. Sugary, syrupy peach. There's a nice bit of citrus. It's not overpowering because the peach is just so prevalent. There's maybe a very slight lemon zest (to be more specific) here as well. There's a big sweet bread like character behind everything. Smells a lot like a sugar cookie. I'm getting some caramel sweetness as well. Not a lot of hop bitterness on the nose. Just sugary sweetness. For 10% I'd expect something a bit more aggressive on the nose but this is very mellow. Let's see how Dorado tastes.

Wow. First thing I get is a grassy kind of character. There's surprisingly almost no peach on the palate. There is a pear like sweetness with that grass initially. The pear and grass disappear pretty quickly and are washed away by an intense rush of bitterness. It cleans things out and doesn't really leave a lot behind in it's wake. Maybe some subtle sweet orange and tangerine like characteristics. Sides of the palate there's some hints of alcohol. Back end of this there's some syrupy sugar sweetness which immediately subsides to a very dry finish.

So overall, this is just so-so for me. The appearance and nose were really nice but to me, the taste of the beer just falls a little short. For 10% you do taste some of it on the sides of the palate but it doesn't really do much damage. Not warming going down either. Its pretty easy drinking for a DIPA. Aside from that, honestly, this is just sort of ok for me. A bit of a letdown considering BP is such a good brewery. It could be my bottle is a little too old. I am drinking it before the best by date, so we're good there. Maybe super fresh this is better. I'd imagine it is.

Rating: B-

Side note, here's a link to an Instagram Video of my wife trying this. Enjoy! 

Mother Earth Brew Co - Hop Diggity

So it's Friday and if you didn't blow up your hands with some firecrackers yesterday, you're probably hungover and not really wanting to drink some good beers. Well, SUCK IT UP! The weekend is here and if you don't want to drink something good, I'll review something that could potentially be good. That's right, I'm doing this for you!

Tonight I'm drinking local. No really, like legit local... as in this is brewed a block from my home. If you're in or around North County San Diego, you know these guys. Tonight I'm drinking Hop Diggity by my good friends at Mother Earth Brew Co. in Vista, California. This is a DIPA that comes in at 8.2% abv and from what it reads at the brewery itself, 130 IBU!!! So in other words, HOLY SHIT! Let's get this DIPA poured and see how it stands up.

The Hop Diggity pours out a pretty hazy golden color definitely bordering on a copper/orange. There's a nice amount of carbonation coming up from the bottom of the glass. There's a nice two finger fluffy white head very reminiscent of some beach foam or maybe even some clouds. The head is sticking around for a long time and leaves behind a really thick, sticky lacing. Definitely a nice looking DIPA. Let's get the nose.

First thing is some big hops. Not the big dank hops I was expecting though. Lots of citrus right away. Big grapefruit and fresh oranges. There's a lot of peach, like very ripe peaches. A bit of mango and maybe even some papaya. There's an underlying sugary sweetness here as well. Definitely more fruity and juicy than I was expecting on the nose. This is a really awesome smelling DIPA. Let's stop the bullshitting though. I'm ready to do some drinking.

Right away there's a nice punch of hop bitterness. For a DIPA it's not as powerful as I was expecting, but I kind of like that. That's immediately followed by some of that tropical fruits. A lot of mango and even some pineapple in the middle of the mouth. Sides of the palate I get that grapefruit and orange citrus. It helps to even out the bitterness of the hops. Back end of this beer I get some of that peach sugary syrup and a lot of hop bitterness. The finish is quite dry and I'm left with quite a lingering bit of bitterness. No hint of alcohol on this and honestly it drinks incredibly easy.

So overall, Hop Diggity from Mother Earth Brew Co is another winner. I'm not sure how fresh this bottle is but it still has all the components to make a good DIPA. With that said, coming in at 130 IBU I don't really get that level of bitterness. That's really my only complaint about this one. Otherwise, this is a solid beer and with the guys at Mother Earth if there's one thing they really nail, it's IPA. They make some of the best in the area. Check them out if you're in northern SD, hell, even in southern SD. It's only a quick drive up the freeway.

Rating: B+

AleSmith Brewing Company - Yule Smith Summer Holiday Ale

What's up gang? Back to back reviews? Holy shit! I know right! Pretty rare I manage to get reviews up in consecutive days, hell, sometimes consecutive weeks. But like I said previously, I've got some "new" beers in my fridge and I want to get to them sooner than later. So I figure I get to drink and you get to read about me drinking. It's win win really!

So today I'm drinking the Summer Yule Smith from Ale Smith. That's a lot of Smith's! This is an Imperial / Double IPA that comes in at 8.5% abv. Not too crazy like the RuinTen from last night, but this should pack a punch none the less. So let's get this thing poured cause it's hot and I'm in need of something good and cold to drink.

Yule Smith pours out a crystal clear golden color with some slight copper hues along the bottom curves of the glass. There's about a finger to just under a finger and a half of a foamy white head that is sticking around for quite a while. Lots of tiny white bubbles here too. There is a ton of carbonation streaming up from the bottom of the glass. This reminds me a lot of a sparkling wine actually. Really nice looking beer but doesn't scream DIPA. Let's get the nose.

This is one dank, resinous smelling DIPA. Lots of hops on the nose. Like, an overwhelming hop presence. Lots of dank onion and garlic. I can see how some would say this smells like weed. I mean, it's THAT resinous here. Beneath all that dankness there's a decent amount of grapefruit peel and zest. It's quite sweet but is really just beat down by that dank hop character. There's also a little bit of pine hiding out as well, like it's afraid of getting destroyed by the dankness. Really strong smelling beer. Let's see how dank this one tastes.

Massive amounts of hop bitterness right up front. Like, palate destruction 101. A good amount of carbonation sort of pushes that bitterness through the middle of the palate. There's a nice sweetness along the sides of the palate. I'll be honest, it's a welcome relief to the brutality from these hops. Grapefruit and maybe even some tangerine. Very refreshing. Back of the palate if you didn't know the hops were there, well guess what, they're here too. Good amount of pine needle chilling out back here as well. Incredibly dry finish and I'm left with a lingering bitterness. It's just refusing to go away and honestly, in a DIPA, that's how it fucking should be!

So overall, this is a fantastic beer from AleSmith. While it's an all out assault on the palate, it's nicely balanced. Not a juicy IPA by any means or is it overly citrusy. This is just a big, dank, in your face, DIPA. I'm not even drinking this very fresh. I think it was bottled towards end of May so over a month old. I know, fresh enough, but some would say it's past it's prime and to drain pour it (looking at Pliny fanboys and girls now). But seriously, no bullshit. This is another great beer from AleSmith. Pick this up. You won't be sorry.

Rating: A

Lagunitas Brewing Company - Lagunitas Sucks - Brown Shugga' Substitute Ale

What's up everyone? It's Wednesday night. My hockey team lost tonight. It's sort of a shitty day all around. I'm cheering myself up with a beer that I've had a couple times recently but I just haven't remembered to review it. So I figured tonight was a perfect night for that.

Tonight I'm drinking Lagunitas Sucks - Brown Shugga Substitute Ale by Lagunitas Brewing Company out of Petaluma, CA.

That name is way too long, so we're just going to say "Sucks" or "Lagunitas Sucks"... which for the record, they do not. They're an awesome brewery that pretty much can't be beat for the price to quality ratio. I might be saying that wrong, but you get the idea. So let's get the Sucks poured and see how it stands up to the other offerings from Lagunitas.

Sucks comes in at 7.85% abv and pours out a clear golden yellow. There was about a 2 finger foamy white head that stuck around for a bit leaving behind a semi decent sticky white foam like lacing. There's a semi decent cascade of carbonation bubbles streaming up from the bottom of the glass. Not a ton like some of the other Lagunitas beers, but I've found with a lot of the danker IPA, that cascade effect isn't as prevalent. This looks like a pretty standard DIPA. Let's get the nose.

First thing I get is big grapefruit. Just massive amounts of grapefruit juice and zest. Right behind that is a massive amount of the dank onion and garlic bitterness. I mean, this smells like a freshly chopped onion and some freshly peeled garlic. There's a slight bit of caramel sweetness as well that sort of sits in the background of all this dank hop smell. But yeah, I keep going back to try and get something else but I'm just blown away by that dank onion and garlic. It's completely overpowering that initial waft of grapefruit. Let's see if this tastes as dank as it smells.

Wow, sure enough I'm immediately picking up a grapefruit citrus character but that is immediately beat down by dank onion and garlic. It's really strong in this beer. Maybe stronger than I've experienced in a DIPA. It's super fresh tasting though which I think really makes it more enjoyable. If this were "old" I'd imagine the onion and garlic would be awful. As dank as those hops are, they don't linger like the smell. The dankness gets replaced in the middle/back end of mouth by a really nice citrus sweetness. Grapefruit and some tangerine characters with a bit of zest thrown in. It's very well balanced. Sucks finishes pretty dry and overall is just a really good tasting DIPA.

So overall, Sucks is a fantastic beer. It's incredibly balanced especially considering it goes from citrus to dank to citrus and really just flows perfectly. You get a nice variety of hop profile within a single sip of beer. Lagunitas really knows what they're doing with their beers. I've never had a bad Lagunitas beer. With that said, as dank as this is, I'm not a big fan of the dank hops. But, that's just me. This is a world class DIPA and should be enjoyed by anyone who enjoys hops.

Rating: A (very solid)

Stone Brewing Co - Enjoy By 04.01.13 IPA

Hey gang! Saturday Night here in San Diego after a really nice, warm day here. Spent a little time at a local brewery and then decided to stop by the liquor store for some evening provisions.

I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the most recent Stone Enjoy By IPA. I grabbed one right away and figured it would make a great review beer. So, surprise here we are. This is actually the first time I've seen one of the Enjoy By beers. I know they're incredibly popular so maybe they were on the shelves and I was too slow to get them? I don't know, but I do know I've finally found one.

So enough rambling, let's get this beer poured and Enjoy the Enjoy by!

Enjoy By pours out a really nice crystal clear golden yellow. Maybe there's a slight bit of orange in there too. It's definitely golden though. There is a nice finger's worth of a white head with some very tight white bubbles. It fades out pretty quickly and leaves behind a soapy looking film on the glass. Not much of a lace. Looks like a fairly standard DIPA.

The nose on Enjoy By is pretty nice. Right away big pine needle coming through. There's a big hop dankness as well. I'm getting a bit of a garlic and onion dankness as well. There's some of your typical grapefruit. Quite a bit of papaya and maybe some mango coming out as well. There's a slight malty character as well. It's fairly sweet and help cut some of that dankness that punches you in the nose immediately when you get that first whiff. There is no alcohol on the nose at all. Those hops and tropical fruits do a great job hiding the 9.4%.

Let's stop smelling this and start drinking!

Right away you get that dank bitterness. Big onions and some garlic. That makes it's way to the middle of the mouth where it fades a bit and some of those tropical fruits arrive. Papaya and Mango for sure. I'm not getting a ton of the tropical fruits though. The dank onion and garlic flavors are so strong in this beer. While there is a bit of that tropical fruit, it's very subtle. This beer finishes very dry, with a lot of lingering dankness....

Speaking of lingering... it's been a few minutes since my last sip and I feel like I've eaten onions. It's not horrible or anything, just very... dank. I can't really think of another word to describe it.

Overall, this beer is ok at best. It's not bad by any means. I've had fresher tasting IPA before. I like the idea of an "Enjoy By" beer. Stone is notorious for hoppy beers. This is certainly no different. Unfortunately I can't compare it to the other Enjoy By beers to see how they changed over the last 6 months or so. Stone makes incredible beers and compared to the Stone beers I've had, I'd say this drops the ball a bit.

Rating: C+ B-

Wife hated it. Not worst she's had but definitely up there.