Jan. 27: Tonight’s Beer: Coalition Brewing’s: Two Dogs IPA:
I first went to Coalition in August 2012 (Aug. 16). I tried their Maple Porter
and one other, but only remember that the Porter was nice and dark with a deep
roasted flavor. It was very good, but I was unable to get a full description.
This is the first bottle I’ve been able to try from them. I like that they
invite guest brewers and home brewers as partners. This IPA is a nice pale
amber color with a floral yeasty scent and lacey head. The flavor is somewhat unusual but very
tasty. It has a bright sweet citrus flavor with a mildly earthy bitter finish.
It has a fruitiness to it – a hint of tart astringent bitterness – not quite
apricot, but in that family. It was brewed with whole cone hops and oats
(“golden naked oats” to be precise). So, there is a dryness to the beer from
the oats. I find I like the pale beers brewed with oats – Burnside Brewing has
a very good OPA. The flavoring hops used are nugget and Sterling, along with
aroma hops from Cascade and Simcoe (hence the citrus, floral, and fruit). 5.8%
ABV. 77 IBU.
Jan. 28: Tonight’s Beer: Full
Sail’s: LTD #6 Black Lager: This is part of their LTD Series of limited
releases. I like this approach as it allows great creativity in a pretty
structured kind of way. I’ve tried others but this is the first I’ve written
about. It is a very dark, smoky, espresso color and flavor. Very smooth with a
dark roasted sweetness. It is well balanced with limited hoppiness – just
enough to let you know they are there, but subdued enough to let the dark malts
shine. There is a very mild tart citrus note, but not as much as one would
experience with a porter. There is also a bitter chocolate taste. Excellent
black lager. Rivals Moonlight’s Death and Taxes. 7% ABV.
Jan. 29: Tonight’s Beer: Two Kilts
Brewing’s: Pale Ale: Honey gold color. Somewhat cloudy. Sweet and fruity scent.
The flavor is a bit fruity, somewhere in the peach/apricot family and is
balanced with a mild bitterness. Very
tasty pale. This is from a nano-brewery in Sherwood, Oregon. I came across it
at Belmont Station in Portland. One of the locals pointed it out to me as I was
staring at the massive selection at Belmont. 5.5% ABV
Jan. 30: Tonight’s Beer: Smooth
Ryed Ale: OK, I love rye beers, not only because they are tasty, but also
because they so easily lend themselves to bad puns. (e.g. Dechutes’ Ryeders on
the Storm). This one qualifies on both counts as well. It has a nice
honey-orange hue. Not quite an amber. It is an unusual color. The beer hits
with a similar bite as the IPA, but with the distinct savory nature of the rye.
It starts sweet and malty and yields to slightly citrus and morphs into a
mildly earthy, almost smoky flavor. I do like Bridgeport and am glad to see
them continuing to branch out and innovate. This is a keeper. 6.3% ABV.
Jan. 31: Tonight’s Beer: Lompoc
Brewing’s: Special Draft: The bottle describes the beer as using “smoked malt”
and being “generously hopped”. Good description – certainly enough to entice me
to purchase it. I got this at Belmont Station as part of my stop there in
January. I liked the Proletariat very much so was intrigued by this one. It is
a very dark beer, about the color of a porter – almost black, but lets enough
light through to see that it is in fact a very very dark brown. The scent is
sweet and slightly roasted. Nice creamy tan head. The flavor is quite
wonderful. The first sip is sweet and tart with a smoky-roasty maltiness that
takes command. It is a very rich, tasty, full flavored brew. They should just
have called it a porter and been done with it. It is an excellent porter. If
indeed that is what it is. And in my view, it is. That must count for
something. 6.9% ABV.
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