Thursday, September 12, 2013

Some beverages not so abroad...

Hello dear readers. Again sorry for the delay, I have some great drinks in store for you today.
 I recently moved to Pacific Grove California where I have had the chance to try a few of the somewhat local craft beers.  

I say somewhat, only because I’m not too knowledgeable about the geography of California but, what I have had so far isn’t too far from here.

First off I had a few beers from Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing Company.  One of their big selling points is Organic Beer. Which, I’m not entirely sure I taste the difference to be honest.  It’s good, and the bottles are quite large. I got a mixed six pack of 1pint 8ounce bottles for around 12 dollars. Not too bad of a deal really.

The pack I had contained an Amber Ale, which was a good standalone beer, not too strong, very mild hoppy flavor with 5% ABV, A good very drinkable beverage. It was probably my favorite of the three.

The second was an Organic IPA, another which wasn’t bad. Quite hoppy, as to be expected, good finish fairly bitter, 7% ABV.  

The last was called The Peoples Porter. Apparently it is brewed with coffee and vanilla, both of which had very subtle hints. I was drinking it cold, though I’m under the impression it might have been better at room temperature. 5% ABV a hearty reasonably full bodied drink.

A few of the others I’ve had recently include a selection from the Speakeasy Ales and Lagers from San Francisco: The Prohibition Ale, Big Daddy IPA, and Tallulah IPA.

Prohibition Ale was pretty good. I had “Prohibition Style” ale before and I was not impressed. I believe the one I did not like was Batch 19 (a sneaky Coors beer in disguise).  This one however was much better. Fairly bold taste, slight caramel flavoring, a nice rich color. Not bad overall, very tasty. 

Big Daddy IPA was pretty standard as IPA’s go. Not amazing, drinkable, but I preferred the Prohibition Ale instead.

The last of the ones I tried from them was Tallulah Extra Pale Ale, an interesting drink, starts with a slightly fruity note then leaves off with the hoppy slightly dry finish, very flavorful, a pretty interesting drink if you like pale ales.

From English Ales Brewing Company I had Dragon Slayer IPA and 1066 Pale Ale. Both of which were good.

The Dragon Slayer was very dark; not such a high ABV only 5.2% but it had a lot of flavor. I had it with dinner one night; it was amazing with a roast beef sandwich.

The 1066 pale ale was definitely what it said, a standard pale ale, light taste, reasonably hoppy 6% ABV. I’m looking forward to trying more of their brews soon.

The last drink of this update is Alley Cat amber ale from Lost Coast Brewing Company.  At 5.5% ABV it is quite drinkable. Lots of flavor, good color and a reasonable price for a six pack, something like 8 dollars. It has a slight caramel taste to it with a mild hops aftertaste.  Another company I look forward to sampling more beverages from.

As a whole it has been fairly eventful. I recently met another beer enthusiast locally, we plan on making a trip soon to get to a few of these breweries.  I’m very excited for the new beverages to try on the west coast. Thanks for reading.
Cheers!