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.

Stone Brewing Company - R&R Coconut IPA

Happy IPA day!

Honestly though, aren't most days IPA days? Especially in the Summer time? I know for me this time of year is pretty much 100% IPA all the time. Oddly enough, it's been pretty mild here temperature wise so far this summer, so a nice porter or even stout is good... Ok, I'm rambing. Sorry.

Tonight I'm drinking the latest collaboration beer from Stone. This is R&R Coconut IPA which is brewed in partnership with maybe my favorite local brewery, Rip Current Brewing Company, and home brewers and winners of the most recent Stone home brew competition, Ryan and Robert (hence the R&R). This is a 7.7% abv IPA brewed with coconut. So without further stalling, let's get this one opened up and see how it tastes.

R&R pours out a very nice golden color, very much see through with some subtle carbonation streaming up from the bottom of the glass. There was about a finger of a foamy white head that really didn't stick around very long. The lacing isn't anything crazy. It's very soapy and thin. This looks like a pretty standard IPA. Nothing too crazy. Let's get the nose.

First thing I get is some big tropical fruits, pineapple, mango. A lot of melon, cantaloupe, water melon, honeydew. There's some really nice caramel like sweetness behind those initial fruits. There's some floral, earthy bitterness. I'm not picking up a lot of coconut on the nose. Next to none. The melon character is very much dominating everything else on this one. This is a very sweet smelling IPA. Not a lot of crazy bitterness which seems to reign supreme in Stone IPAs. Let's see if we can pick up some of that coconut once we get to drinking.

Right away you get the melon characters. Cantaloupe, water melon, honeydew, etc. It's very strong and really tastes like I just ate a piece of fruit. A little bit of the caramel sweetness we picked up on the nose. Sides of the palate there's a ton of bitterness. This is definitely a Stone IPA! Lingering flavors in the middle of the mouth, more of the melon character. Back end this finishes pretty try, very clean finish. As the beer warms slightly I actually do get a bit of Coconut but it's incredibly subtle. I mean, if this wasn't called Coconut IPA I wouldn't think it's there.

So overall, I'm kind of torn. I had this on draft at the Brewery and I thought it was fantastic. Lots of coconut, not much bitterness. Was definitely a step away from the usual Stone beer. With that being said, from the bottle I think this sort of falls short. There's next to no coconut in this from the bottle. The hop variety is excellent. I definitely enjoy this for that more than anything. I'd suggest getting this on draft if you can and then try the bottle, or try the bottle but if you don't like it, give draft a chance. On draft this was excellent. Bottle, it's just an ok IPA.

Rating: B

Here's my wife trying the R&R at Stone this past Monday. 

Mother Earth Brew Co - Auld Knucker

What's up everybody?! Been a while. I've been busy with work and drinking some random beers. Some of those will end up here on Tastes Like Beer and others will just be found over on Untappd. You can follow me there by clicking here.

So today I came home from work and found a big mess. Basically, my wife and her brother went and bought some insulation and insulated a bar cabinet we have here at our home. In other words? I've got an insulated cellar! It'll definitely be better than what I was using, which was nothing, but you get the point. Major thanks to them!

But enough about that, tonight I'm drinking another beer from my friends at Mother Earth Brew Co. Tonight I'm drinking Auld Knucker which is a 7% abv IPA. The back of the bottle says it's brewed with some honey and a citrusy hop variety. So, let's get this one poured and see how Auld Knucker stacks up to some of the other IPA I've had recently (and from Mother Earth Brew Co)

Auld Knucker pours out a really nice looking golden color with some orange hue to it. There's about a 2 finger fluffy white head that is sticking around for a long time. A nice amount of carbonation streaming up from the bottom of the glass. This isn't the freshest bottle so it's nice to see we've got some active carbonation. The head is leaving behind a really sticky and thick lacing. Very foamy. This looks like a really nice IPA. Let's get the nose.

Nice, right away, big grapefruit citrus. Like, very intense grapefruit. There's a nice bit of orange and tangerine behind that as well. Going back in for a 2nd opinion and I get some of that sweet honey. It's sugary, sticky, and definitely playing a big part in this beer. There's some peach in here as well. I'm getting a little bitterness as well but for the most part, this is a big grapefruit bomb. Lots of sugary sweetness. Let's do some drinking!

First thing is that bitter grapefruit. A lot like a grapefruit peel or zest. That bitterness drives through the entire palate paving the way for everything else. Orange, Tangerine, honey, sugar, sweet peaches. Just a really nice balance between everything. The hops really drive this beer. The honey is much more prominent via bottle than I ever remember it being on tap (surprise, I've had this one before!). Not a bad thing at all, just really a pleasant addition to an otherwise hoppy, citrus forward IPA.

So overall, Auld Knucker from MEBC is another home run. It's everything you want from an IPA; bitter, sweet, citrus, etc. Finishes nice and dry. MEBC does IPA better than most in the area (we've got a lot of breweries) and this one is no exception. Just another fantastic beer from MEBC. Readily available in the area and potentially available outside the area depending on where you're at. Check this one out!

Rating: A

Boulevard Brewing Company - Double-Wide IPA

Hope you're all enjoying your Sunday. Just finished cleaning up after dinner and decided to crack open something new in the fridge. Actually forgot I had this one in my fridge door so I figured it's probably a good time to see how it tastes.

So tonight I'm drinking another offering from Boulevard's Smokestack Series, their Double-Wide IPA. This one comes in at 8.5% abv and according to the label is twister proof! Ok, I sort of doubt that, but this does actually say it's twister proof. In fact, it says to relax! So, I'm going to relax and see how Double Wide compares to some of the other IPA I've been drinking recently. Let's get into this one.

I popped the cork on the Double Wide to a very loud pop and a lot of smoke coming from the glass. This poured out into a MASSIVE 4 finger, extremely fluffy and billowy, bright white head. There's a really nice amount of carbonation streaming up from the middle of the glass. The head sticks around for a very long time and once dissipated, leaves behind a very sticky, white wash looking lacing. Double Wide looks like a pretty standard IPA with the exception of that massive head. Let's get the nose.

First thing I get is a big waft of Peach. Just fresh peach, sticky peach, sugary peach syrup. Just peaches. There's a bit of a caramel note here and what I can only describe as a sugar cookie type of sweetness. I'm also getting some sweet grapefruit, maybe even some raisin like character. Definitely smells a bit different than any IPA I've had in a while. Not picking up a lot of bitterness. Just mostly sweet peach, caramel and just a hint of grapefruit.

Right away I'm picking up some of that caramel. It's very creamy, smooth, and like I got on the nose, very sweet. That's immediately followed by that peach sweetness. It's syrupy. Sides of the palate is more of that peach, a bit of that grapefruit. Interestingly enough, I'm getting quite a bit of plum in the middle of the mouth. Maybe even a green apple like character. It's not tart but surprisingly very sweet. Definitely an enjoyable change of pace. Back end Double-Wide is a little boozy. I'm picking up a hint of alcohol on the back of the palate. Doesn't really drink like an IPA honestly. Not much bitterness anywhere in the mouth.

Overall, this is a pretty decent beer. Definitely different than any of the other IPA I've had in the last month or two. To me, this doesn't drink like an IPA at all. I'm not really sure how to classify this. It's good but I was hoping for more bitterness. I don't think this is the freshest bottle so some of that hop bitterness most likely has faded away. I'd say this is worth a try if you can get it. Definitely a nice beer to relax to and sort of unwind after a busy day. 

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

Stone Brewing Co. - RuinTen IPA

What's up everybody?! It's the first of the month and I'm jumping into this month full steam ahead, hitting the ground running. What's that mean? Well, I've got a bunch of "new" beers in my fridge right now that I'm planning on reviewing for the blog. Hopefully you'll come along for the ride.

Tonight I'm drinking the latest release from Stone Brewing Co, this is their RuinTen which is their 10th anniversary salute to Stone Ruination. Originally released last year as sort of a one off kind of thing, Stone is planning to release this annually to the masses. They spoke and Stone listened. Kudos to Stone for making their fans happy (just like they did with Sublimely Self Righteous). So let's get into the beer and see how it holds up to the hype.

Ruinten pours out a very clear auburn/amber color. Maybe some golden hues on the sides of the glass but this is definitely a beautiful amber color. There is a ton of carbonation billowing up from the bottom of the glass. The pour left behind a real nice finger and a half of foamy, almost silky, white head. It sticks around for a little while and leaves behind a nice soapy white lacing. This looks like a really nice DIPA. Let's get the nose.

Right away, big dank hops. Just really aggressive and in your face hops. That's followed up by an immediate smack of citrus. Big grapefruit and tangerine. A lot of a syrupy kind of peach juice is right there with the citrus, holding hands while it pretty much uppercuts your sense of smell. There's some nice pine needle coming through to sort of clear out the remnants of your nostrils after the citrus and peach assault. You get some onion and garlic to coincide with the sweetness of the peaches. This just smells like a really awesome DIPA. I'm tired of typing. I'm drinking now. 

Yep. First thing you get is a MASSIVE amount of hop bitterness. This is a palate destroyer. No doubt about it. The bitterness just floods the mouth leaving everything else in it's wake. Sides of the palate you get the citrus. Big tangerine and orange. A nice grapefruit lingering as well. The peach syrupy sweetness sort of picks up where the hop assault left off. It does a nice job of kind of cleaning the palate out. Sort of like a street sweeper, just sweeping aside all that is not worthy. RuinTen finishes very dry and leaves behind more bitterness. This is one seriously heavy beer. Little bit of alcohol on the back end with a nice warming sensation down the chest. But just really great shit here from Stone.

So honestly, this might be my favorite hoppy beer from Stone. I'll admit, I'm not a big fan of their IPA and I'm so-so with regular Ruination. It's not that they aren't good, but just not my personal favorites. This however, is just fucking amazing. Honestly, this might be one of the most bitter, hop assaults I've had in recent memory. And while it's an all out assault on the tastebuds and nostrils, it really is well balanced. It's not just one dimensional like say an Arrogant Bastard. RuinTen is just incredible stuff and Stone absolutely fucking killed it with this beer. GET THIS IF YOU CAN.

Rating: A+

Black Market Brewing Co - Rye IPA

Hey guys! Hope everyone is enjoying their weeks. I know I am. Why you ask? Because it's time for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. For those of you in the dark about this, it's the playoffs for the NHL. You don't know what the NHL is? Please leave my page.

No really. Go ahead. I'll wait.

OK! Now that they're gone let's get into another beer review. Tonight I'm drinking Rye IPA by Black Market Brewing Co out of Temecula, CA. Where the hell is Temecula? It's about an hour north of where I'm located, about an hour and a half north of San Diego. So yeah, it's somewhat local. Let's get into this one guys (and gals)!

The Rye IPA is 7.5% abv and poured out a really nice copper/amber color. There was a real nice 3 fingers of a rocky/fluffy white head with a ton of tiny white bubbles. The head stuck around for a few minutes and left behind a so-so lacing on the glass. This looks like a pretty standard IPA. No complaints there. Let's get the nose on the Rye IPA.

First thing I get on the nose is citrus. I know that's vague. Specifically, smells a lot like a tangerine. It's very sweet smelling initially. I'm picking up some of the rye. It's a little spicy and plays off the citrus very nicely. I'm getting quite a bit of a sweet malt character. Some sweet breads as well. As I go back a couple more times I'm picking up more tropical fruits. Lots of pineapple, papaya and some Mango. This is a really nice smelling IPA and that Rye is really peaking my interest. Enough talk, let's do some drinking.

Right away I'm noticing quite a bit of carbonation. So at least we've got carbonation! Immediately I pick up the Rye character and a nice hop bitterness. The rye is massive in this beer. Makes sense though, it is called Rye IPA. I'm picking up a lot of sweet malt characters. Quite a bit of caramel in the middle of the mouth. Not getting as much of the citrus as I got on the nose. I am however, picking up a bit of a peach character towards the sides of the mouth into the back end. It's sticky and a bit sugary. This beer finishes nice and dry. The mouth feel is medium. It's just a solid IPA with a nice Rye character throughout.

So overall, I like this beer quite a bit. This is the 3rd beer I've had from Black Market and so far, I've yet to be let down. This is a really easy drinking IPA. The Rye is really nice in this beer playing off those citrus notes we picked up on the nose and the hop bitterness we got right away from the initial taste. I'd suggest giving this one a try. It's solid. It's not mind blowing or ground breaking but an easy drinking, very enjoyable IPA. Definitely not like the typical So. Cal hop bombs. A nice change of pace.

Rating: B, bordering B+

Rough Draft Brewing Company - Eraser IPA

It's Sunday. Day before Monday. Day before we have to go back to work and deal with bullshit. Am I right? So what better way to forget about that factoid then to crack open a new beer and get some drinking in?

I picked this up about a week ago and am just now finally getting to it. Today I'm drinking Eraser IPA by Rough Draft Brewing Company which, surprise surprise, is located in San Diego. I've heard some decent things about this brewery so when I saw it in the local liquor store I decided to pick this one up. Let's get this beer poured and see how it stands up to other SD brews.

Eraser IPA comes in at 7% abv and pours out a very clear golden yellow color. There was about a finger to a finger and a half of a foamy white head that doesn't stick around for very long. Once it dissipates back into itself there's a bit of a sticky lacing left behind. It's not overly impressive but it's there at least. There's quite a bit of carbonation coming up from the bottom of the glass as well. Overall, looks like a pretty standard IPA. Let's get the nose.

The first thing I get on the nose is a subtle, sweet orange character. There's a slight sweet malt coming through behind the orange. I'm picking up some citrus peel as well. Again, it's subtle. There's an earthy hop I'm picking up but like everything else, it's light. Overall, this beer doesn't have a lot going on in the aroma. Let's see if the taste offers more.

Right away there's a pretty weak rush of orange and citrus coming through. I'm getting a little bit of that sweet malt. I'm picking up what really tastes a lot like a pilsner malt. I don't get a lot of bitterness, not much of a hop character. Not much of anything. It just tastes like a bitter pilsner. It's really underwhelming. Back of the mouth there's a little bit of bitterness, a little more of that orange citrus character. But really, that's about it. 

So overall, Eraser IPA by Rough Draft Brewing Company is pretty sub par. When you are a brewery in San Diego, an area known for hop bombs, you should at least have your IPA have some hop characters. Eraser IPA really doesn't. If I had this on draft and didn't know what it was, I'd guess this was at most, a Pale Ale. Calling this an IPA seems wrong. This is really one of the weaker IPA I've had and honestly, one of the worst I've had in a while. 

Rating: D

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.

Green Flash - West Coast IPA

Hey everyone, thought I forgot about you? No way! I couldn't quit you... like every other blog I've started. Nope, not you. Having a little night cap and figured why not post up a review? A brilliant idea, I know!

Tonight I'm drinking Green Flash West Coast IPA. In other words, I'm drinking the flagship beer of one of the best San Diego breweries. This also happens to be the IPA that got me into the world of IPA. Yeah, I didn't start with some half-assed IPA, no sir, I jumped head first into IPA.

West Coast IPA comes in at 7.3% abv and according to the bottle is "extravagantly hopped". I think that means it's about 90-95 IBU. It's not just super hoppy, it's EXTRAVAGANTLY hoppy!!

Ok, enough bullshit.

West Coast pours out a beautiful golden color, bordering on a copper/rust orange. There was about a finger and a half to two fingers of white fluffy head that vanished fairly quickly, leaving behind a sticky webbed lacing. It's pretty much see through albeit slightly hazy. It's not preventing me from seeing my hand through the glass or the various things on my desk.

The nose on this beer is incredible. Tons of grapefruit and citrus fruits. Lots of that resinous pine and hoppy earth notes that you'd hope to find in an IPA. If an IPA lacks these qualities it's probably just a pale ale trying to puff it's chest out and hang with the big boys. I'm also getting a bit of an orange peel quality as well. Citrus tends to blend together a bit but the usual suspects of grapefruit and orange are here for sure. 

The taste on this beer is what an IPA should taste like. Right away you get that typical west coast hopped goodness. The IBU's sort of show up on your door step and just punch you square in the face, take your wallet, and walk away. Middle of the mouth you get a ton of grapefruit followed by a lot of orange zest/peel. It's like they're holding hands and skipping across the tongue. Have no fear though, they're being chased by the hop monster and it's leaving behind all sorts of good hoppy bitterness. West Coast finishes nice and dry and leaves behind a little more bitterness for your taste buds. Who doesn't like a little bit of cab fair after a nice evening out? I mean.... shit. Getting carried away here.

Overall, West Coast IPA is just a classic version of an IPA. It's not re-writing the book on IPA because it IS the book of IPA. I'll be completely honest for a moment. All bullshitting aside, if you've never had Pliny the Elder but you can easily get West Coast IPA and have made the right decision to buy and drink it, you're not missing anything. West Coast IPA should be the definition of a what an IPA is. If you can get this, do it. Don't ask questions. Don't second guess yourself. Just buy the beer. It's so worth it.

Rating: A+

And yes the wife simply says that West Coast IPA, tastes like beer.

Mother Earth Brew Co - Primordial Imperial IPA

Finally, it's Friday! Time to forget about the week, forget about work, forget about all the bullshit that goes on... it's time to unwind.

I wasn't going to do a review tonight but I said 'fuck it' and here we are. Tonight for Tastes Like Beer we're drinking another IPA from my friends at Mother Earth Brew Co. This is their super limited (7 kegs for the tap house, maybe a couple others for local bars, and bottles) Imperial IPA, this is Primordial.

Admittedly in the past, I wasn't a fan of this beer. I thought it was a little too unbalanced for my liking. Not enough going on. Just sort of a hop bomb. It wasn't terrible by any means, but it just lacked a bit of... something to really make it stand out.

This was until a couple of weeks ago when I got to try this on tap. HOLY SHIT. Best batch of Primordial to date. I've been drinking at MEBC for a couple of years now and this is by far the best batch of Primordial they've put out. So how does this really hold up in the bottle?

Primordial pours out an absolutely beautiful dark gold/dark orange color. There's a fluffy 2 fingers of white head that doesn't stick around too long, and leaves a really awesome sticky lacing on the glass. It's pretty clear, maybe just slightly hazy but that could just be my shitty lighting at my desk.

The nose on Primordial is absolutely wonderful. Big orange and papaya. Lots of grapefruit coming through too. There's a really nice sweetness that comes along almost a sticky sweetness. There's a very slight earthy hint as well, I'm guessing from the hops. But really, just a lot of citrus goodness. This really smells great.

Time to shut up and drink. Primordial's taste follows the nose. Hello Oranges! Big fresh orange coming through, or is it Tangerine? Hmmmm... reminds me a bit more of an Orange. Really fresh and sweet. There's some ripe papaya coming through maybe even a nice mango character as well. Not getting much other citrus than the Oranges but that's cool with me. Middle of the mouth you get a really gentle hop bitterness. It sort of tap dances on the tongue just to keep you honest. There's more of a sugary sweetness there in the middle of the mouth as well. Maybe some peach coming through? Back of the mouth there's a little bit of hop bitterness, some more orange, and that nice sugary... biscuit type of character. Reminds me a lot of a fresh orange scone actually.

Overall, Primordial is fucking awesome. Plain and simple. This is a fantastic Imperial IPA. It's not a hop explosion like a lot of Imperial IPA's out in the market. It's well balanced and really nice. Primordial comes in at 9% so it's not huge like some Imperial IPA's but it's definitely not going to let you off easy. You don't taste the 9% but I think after a couple this beer would come up and kick you in the teeth. This beer is super limited and brewed maybe twice a year if we're lucky. MEBC has a great lineup of IPA's and this might be my new favorite (Auld Knucker being my personal favorite for those who have been to MEBC.)

Rating: A

Wife absolutely hated this beer. Maybe hated it more than any other beer I've had her try. Oh well. More for  me!

Sorry for the poor photos/lack of photos. Having major lighting issues with the photo box.

Mother Earth Brew Co - Kismet IPA

Hey everyone! It's time for another beer review. Today's beer of choice is by my friends at Mother Earth Brew Co., and it's their Kismet IPA.

MEBC brews several IPA and I believe this is the first one they've bottled. They first bottled their Cali Creamin' ale and followed that up with one of my personal favorites, Pin Up Pale Ale. They actually just recently started bottling, so this being the 3rd beer to be bottled isn't exactly a surprise.

Kismet comes in at 7.2% abv and is brewed with New Zealand and Columbus hops. The beer pours out a real hazy golden color, almost bordering on copper and orange (it's orange in the picture but definitely a bit lighter in person). Can't see anything through the beer. There's about a finger maybe to a finger and a half of a bright white head. The head sticks around a bit and when finally dissipates leaves it's mark with some nice white lacing.

The initial aroma on this beer is fantastic. Big fruits. Papaya, a bit of Mango and some really nice Pineapple characters coming out. There's a piney scent, almost an earthy floral note that is coming through behind the fruits. Going back for a second opinion I get a bit of a Peach character, almost like the peaches you get in the snack cups with syrup. A bit sugary and sticky. Nothing wrong with that.

Finally deciding to stop drooling I take my first drink (of this bottle, I've had this before on tap). Immediate hop bitterness that is delicately cut by that fruit note - Papaya and Mango are immediate. Middle of the mouth there's more bitterness from the hops. Not a ton of bitterness, but just enough to keep your tongue tingling for a bit. Back of the mouth I get that sugary, syrupy peach flavor that I got on the nose. It's subtle and takes nothing away from the initial blast of hops and tropical fruits. Great carbonation on this beer with a perfect mouth feel for an IPA. It's a very good IPA all around from beginning to end.

Overall, this is very solid. Not overly bitter and not overly sweet. I'd say it's a very good blend of the bitter IPA and the more citrus/tropical IPA. As I continue to drink this I get a lot more of the hop bitterness in the back of the throat. It's pretty mellow and I like that. There's a time and place for the hop bombs and fortunately Kismet doesn't lose it's identity.

I recommend this beer for anyone who likes IPA. Kismet is a solid offering from MEBC. I highly recommend checking out MEBC if you're in San Diego especially up in North County where they're located (Vista to be exact). I give this beer a 7-7.5/10 for a solid B+/A-.

This isn't my favorite MEBC IPA but it's probably right up there. It's worth picking up if you see it in the stores or like I said, if you're in the area, it's worth getting if it's on tap. MEBC has a constant rotation of beers so hitting the tap house while Kismet is on isn't always a guarantee. Check out their website to see what's pouring. It's fairly accurate.

Rating: B+/A-

PS, my wife takes all the pictures for the blog. She's far better with a good camera than I am. I don't want to not give her credit but FFS, this blog is named after her opinion of beer... (which btw, Kismet tastes like beer)