Scrimshaw Pilsner

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Scrimshaw-brand-2012Pilsner, North Coast Brewing Co, CA, USA, 4.4% ABV

A first from this brewery and yet another from California.

The bottle look magnificent – almost a retro, dumpy little stubby shape with a great label that, I think, has a picture of a sperm whale engraved onto a sperm whales tooth. Make sense? Anyway, it looks good.

Appearance: pours a lovely clear, straw colour with a 1 finger head.

Aroma: this smells wonderful. Lemongrass, a little apple, a little wonderful perfumey hop with some cereal grains. Really good.

Taste: oh wow, I’m enjoying this. Some really good mild bitterness from the noble mops intertwined with some wonderful grainy malt. Some fruit notes poke through – apple, maybe some pear. A little honey sweetness at the end. Very crisp, very clean, very good.

I find pilsners can be very hit or miss but I loved this from the first mouthful right through to the final mouthful. An excellent pilsner, an excellent beer and at 4.4% one of the best American session beers I’ve had. And it turns out it’s won a slew of awards. I will have to find more beers from this brewery…

Score: 9/10

New Dogtown Pale Ale

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LagunitasPaleAleTapLogo_revAmerican Pale Ale, Lagunitas Brewing Company, CA, USA, 6.2% ABV

A beer from the sunny west coast! And I sit here as the temparature approaches near freezing again…

A straighforward label with a picture of a dogs head poking up from the bottom and these words: “Beer Speaks. People Mumble”. Someone will have to explain that to me.

Aroma: oooh, lots of fruit, some tropical fruit,citrus, banana, grassy hops, a little floral, some herbs. Wow! A lot going on here. Amazing.

Taste: Oh this is good. Lots going on. Grapefruit and lemon salvo upfront, a little pinapple andf mango, with ample lashings of pine for good measure. The mouth puckers and just as I’m thinking WTF the malt surges forward – caramel like, flexing their guns and saving the day. Yay – go malt!  A spicey, dry finish.

This is almost an IPA in my books as there’s a lot of hop action going on. But it’s good, damn good. Not quite as good as the aroma suggested but a very fine brew indeed. If you’re looking for a more balanced pale ale then this might not be for you.

Score: 8.5/10

Strangers Pale Ale

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stranger_bottle_and_glass_486024641American Pale Ale, Left Hand Brewing Company, CO, USA, 5.00% ABV

This one from a brewery that’s had a lot of good press recently regarding a milk stout…

Odd label; a silhouette of a man against a backdrop of a crowd of people.

Appearance: A nice golden colour, a light haziness? Two finger head.

Aroma:  pine, grassy hops present – not much but it’s there. Quite a lot of pale malts, cereal graininess. Quite bright and citrus.  Smells good.

Taste: hmm, something missing here. Another mouthful. The taste is very nice initially; citrus flavors along with some pine and grass with some light bread flavors. The flavors are very light though and the finish… The finish is extremely harsh – almost a peppery, rye, extremely dry finish that doesn’t sit too well in the mouth.

A very one dimensional pale ale until the finish where it really falls flat. Unfortunately it smells better than it tastes.

Score: 6.5/10

Heavy Handed IPA

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150.1-two-brothers-ipa

Another from the Two Brothers Brewing Company. Usually good things come from this brew house.

Aroma: very sweet, lots of floral, a little citrus fruit. There’s dome herbs.  Not very aromatic

Appearance: Very cloudy, almost burnt copper colour with an ample two-finger head.

Taste: the hops are very subdued for an American IPA. The malts shine upfront, particularly sweet, with caramel and honey in the mix. Some fruit comes through when the hops start to take over, some citrus, a touch of grapefruit and plenty of pine. However the hops are not at all powerful and have a moderate bitterness with a somewhat herby, spicy finish.

This is a very understated American IPA; the hops are happy to share the stage with the malts but, for a beer of this genre, there is no boldness or any characteristics that stand out, and then there’s the missing zing that puckers the mouth which makes you believe you’ve had an an American IPA. This is more like an an American pale ale in my opinion. Easy to drink but there are a lot of better options on the shelves; all in all, I’m a tad underwhelmed.

Score: 7/10

Green Flash West Coast IPA

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West Coast IPAAmerican IPA, Green Flash Brewing Co, CA, USA, 7.3% ABV

This beer I’ve seen many times and it has a very good reputation (very good) amongst those who appreciate good beer. I’ve never had it. Or any other ales from this brewery. Why? I have no idea. Let’s make amends shall we?

The label is dire – perhaps this is why I’ve never grabbed one before.

Appearance: A very bright amber, slightly hazy with a very large sticky head.

Aroma: incredible. Lots of pine, lots of floral, lots of tropical fruit, citrus.

Taste: wow; a sublime hop explosion in my mouth – lots of grapefruit immediately punches against the back of the throat, with a healthy dollop of herbs, ample pine and grass, and, also, a little mint? Very slick, very bitter with an oily bitter finish.  However it’s the juicy, sweet, citrus middle section of the beer that is so very, very good. The malts are bready and almost have a toasted feel to them,  a hint of brown sugar; they’re damn tasty and manage to balance the beer quite nicely. The finish is looooooong but not overly bitter.

The aroma is superb, one of the most aromatic beers I’ve cone across. Although the brew has, obviously, masses of hops it really isn’t too overwhelming. Yes it’s bitter, but the malts do a wonderful job in keeping the whole thing together. Full bodied and just a great IPA. The only downside is the alcohol percentage. Given that its 7.5% ABV it’s very easy to drink with very little sign of the alcohol lurking within the brew.

Score: 9.5/10

Avery IPA

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ipa_badge350American IPA, Avery Brewing Company, USA, CO, 6.5% ABV

Very first beer from this brewery – seen it before a few times but never plumped for it.

Another great label with a 19th century map showing the overseas voyage from Britain to India marked by a red line. Indiana Jones style. You know, when, in the films, he goes buccaneering across the world and THAT music plays while a map is displayed with a moving red line criss-crossing across the globe. Although he probably came a bit later than the era this map on the label depicts, and would have traveled via a Nazi submarine, not a ship. After sneaking on board, whacking a Nazi over head, then stealing his uniform. Anyway, thumbs up for the label.

Aroma: good, very good. Sweet, fruity sweet, a little pineapple and some passion fruit. Lots of pine, with some pale malts. Can’t wait…

Taste: wowzers, the bitterness up front immediately smacks against the mouth, very, very full on. Everything else jostles for a look-in as the bitterness lasts throughout and into a very long finish. After the initial bitter roundhouse kick to my taste buds the tropical fruits that were present in the nose manage to butt in, give a quick flash of their fruity goodness then bugger off to be replaced by some, I think, pale malts, yep, pale malts indeed and these manage to stay around longer as the beer loses its chill. There’s a herby, almost floral like finish that lead into a looooooong dry, bitter finish.

Yep, this is an American IPA, and ticks all the right boxes that you’d expect it to. It’s definitely one for the hopheads and very bitter, not at all a well rounded beer, but you know what, it doesn’t really matter in this case as its a damn good IPA.

Score: 8.5/10

400 Pound Monkey

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left-hand-400_lb_monkeyEnglish IPA, Left Hand Brewing Company, CO, USA, 6.8% ABV

Wow, awesome label – lots of British / Indian monkey characters with swords, umbrellas, bowler hats, lotus flowers, jewels, all obviously a nod to the origins of the IPA

Appearance: quite a pale amber colour with a sticky three finger head.

Aroma: hmm, not a lot here, a little herby, maybe some patter, some bready malt and a hint of fruit. All very subtle though.

Taste: A very strong malt present, a bready flavor that has a lot of depth and is rather nice.  The hops have a moderate bitterness, but not  all too harsh and balance  quite nicely with the malt. Herbal notes are strong towards the end with a semi-dry finish with some biscuity malts sploshing around. In fact, the biscuit malt gets stronger as the beer loses its chill. Alcohol esters are definitely present int the mix giving a nice warming feel.

I’ve had plenty of English IPA’s, obviously, and this one does a fine job in keeping that tradition going in the USA (where American IPA’s are far more aggressive, almost certainly closer to the original English IPA). I like this, I wasn’t blown away, but it was in the next tier down – the tier that says ‘go on, I’m not the best looking beer on town but you know you’ll enjoy me, wink wink’.

Score: 8.5/10