Category: Reviews

Left Coast Brewing Co. Hop Juice Double India Pale Ale at 9.7% ABV

Pours a murky orange amber with a short off-white head diminishing to a thin skim and patchy lacing. Nose is caramel malt, pine and citrus hoppiness. Taste is caramel malt followed by pine resin and mango. Mouth feel is medium-bodied with low carbonation and a slippery, buttery texture.

Too sweet for my taste – a DIPA (especially one called Hop Juice!) should be dominated by hops, not malt – yet I find that malt dominates in both the nose and the taste. No date code on the bottle, but I wonder if this one is past its prime?

6/10 #ryansbooze

Sin City Brewing Co. Sin City IPA IPA at 6% ABV

(On tap) Pours a cloudy orange with a fat finger of fluffy white head diminishing gradually to a thin skim, moderate patchy lacing. Nose is initially sharply hoppy – floral, citrus and mango – against a caramel malt background. Taste is sweet malt and floral, earthy hops. Medium-bodied and slightly chewy, with mild to moderate carbonation and a bitter finish.

Not bad, but not great. The nose developed a little cheese/vomit sourness as it warmed, and the flavour reflected that as well. Not to overstate it, but it’s definitely there.

6/10 #ryansbooze

Lagunitas Brewing Company Censored (The Kronik) American Amber Ale at 6.75% ABV

Pours a clear medium amber with one finger of frothy head diminishing gradually to half that, moderate lacing. Nose is sweet caramel malt, bread and yeast, with only faint hops. Taste is hoppier than the nose suggests, but still dominated by a rich, earthy sweet malt. Medium-bodied, with moderate persistent carbonation and a lingering bitter finish.

Not bad for an amber ale. I usually prefer hops to malt, but this makes for a nice change of pace. Not to mention, the hop bitterness does come through more in the flavour than you’d initially think based on the aroma. Quite pleasant.

8/10 #ryansbooze

Boston Beer Company Samuel Adams Rebel IPA American IPA at 6.5% ABV

(On tap) Pours a clear gold with a fluffy white two finger head diminishing gradually to a thin skim and spotty lacing. Nose is pleasantly hoppy, pine and citrus, with a mild malt background. Taste is similar, with decently balanced piney hops and biscuity malt, with a pleasantly peppery aftertaste. Mouth feel is medium-bodied, with mild persistent carbonation and a lingering bitter finish.

This is a pretty decent A/IPA. Restrained hoppiness, but also not too malt-forward. Nothing earth-shaking, but a very drinkable IPA.

7.5/10 #ryansbooze

Firestone Walker Brewing Co. Double Jack American DIPA at 9.5% ABV

Pours a clear amber gold with two fingers of fluffy white head diminishing gradually to a thin skim and limited spotty lacing. Nose is tropical fruits, piney hop resin, and sharp citrus. Taste is mango and papaya, pine and citrus, perfectly balanced with medium malt. Medium to heavy and chewy on the palate, with a lingering resiny bitterness.

Really, really good. Nose and taste are pretty much bang-on dead nuts perfect examples of the style, with neither hops nor malt overwhelming the palate or distracting from the other. My (very minor) objections are aesthetic: I’d’ve liked better retention in the head, more lacing, and more sustained carbonation to lighten the mouth feel.

9.5/10 #ryansbooze

Brooklyn Brewery Pennant Ale ’55 English Pale Ale at 5% ABV

Pours a clear medium copper with a short head diminishing rapidly to nothing, no lacing. Nose is caramel and biscuity malt, very faint hops, yeast. Taste is similar. Medium body, with low persistent carbonation and a mildly bitter finish.

A decent enough English Pale – nothing to distinguish it, but nothing offensive, either. I don’t regret trying it, but moving the remaining five out of my cellar might be a challenge.

6.5/10 #ryansbooze

Stone Brewing Co. Stone Ruination IPA American DIPA at 8.2% ABV

Poured into a DFH IPA glass, a slightly hazy bright orange with two fingers of frothy off-white head diminishing gradually to a thin cap and heavy, chunky lacing. Nose is emphatically hoppy, pine resin and grapefruity citrus, but fruit and malt lurk in the background. Taste starts out with sweet malt rapidly giving way to pine and grapefruit, grassy and earthy. Mouth feel is medium to heavy, slick and chewy, with an intensely bitter finish.

Damn, that’s good! It really is a palate wrecker, but there’s a tiny bit of bluntness to the flavour. Truth is, I’m halfway convinced there’s some hop degradation there. I want to try a fresher bottle in order to see if the hops are sharper, but it’s pretty damn great as it stands.

9.5/10 #ryansbooze #1001beers

Boston Beer Company Angry Orchard Crisp Apple Cider at 5% ABV

I don’t know how to rate this. It’s apple juice.

No, really. There’s absolutely nothing in the aroma or the flavour except apple juice. Flat as a board and zero alcohol. If it’s really 5%, it’s a 5% you could give your kids on the sly. I’m not exaggerating when I say it tastes like apple juice and nothing more or less. And I honestly can’t say whether that’s good or bad.

It’s sweet – really sweet – but not sickly, because (as I may have mentioned) it tastes like apple juice.

Hell if I know. It sure as hell ain’t “crisp”, but it ain’t bad, either.

6/10 #ryansbooze

Stone Brewing Co. Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale American Black IPA at 8.7% ABV

Pours a deep cola red with two fingers of persistent tan head, heavy lacing. Nose is piney and earthy hops with a hint of citrus, dark roasty malt, coffee and chocolate. Taste starts out with sweet malt but is quickly overtaken by astringent dry bitterness. Medium bodied and creamy, with a lingering bitter finish and gentle warming.

Wow – big and bombastic, sublimely self-righteous, indeed. Take all the best characteristics of stout and IPA, and combine. No caramel malt here, it’s all dark and roasty goodness. I don’t care if it makes me look like an amateur with the RateBeer crowd, I don’t see there’s any possible way to improve on this, and so don’t see how I can give this anything less than a perfect score.

10/10 #ryansbooze

Stone Brewing Co. Stochasticity Project Grapefruit Slam IPA American DIPA at 8.2% ABV

Pours a slightly cloudy golden amber with three fingers of loose frothy white head diminishing gradually to a thin skim and spotty lacing. Nose is strongly citrus, grapefruit and piney hops, slight green apple and faint caramel malt. Taste is intensely bitter, huge IBU’s – gotta be, what, a hundred plus? – with a distinct grapefruit peel astringency and yet a subtle malt sweetness. Medium body, with mild carbonation and a dry, bitter finish.

Helluva beer. Hops first, and the grapefruit really supports without overwhelming, with just enough malt to provide balance – my kind of beer. Some minor aesthetic quibbles regarding carbonation aside, there’s not much I’d change.

9.5/10 #ryansbooze