BONE HAUS BREWING ENGLEMANN’S ELIXIR PRICKLY PEAR PALE ALE – A review.

 

By Daver

Alright, let’s get local again. Bone Haus Brewing, over in Fountain Hills, has the kind of décor a little nerd goblin like myself truly appreciates. The whole brewery is done up like a haunted mine, with coffins and skeletons and bone piles all over. Not just for Halloween, it’s year round! The beer list is worth sampling, the last time I was there. Now due to the emergency brakes getting thrown on the world for a whole year, the beer list has no doubt changed. I recalled there was a prickly pear sour some time ago, rich and tangy sweet and reddish if my memory serves. Unfortunately, I have no photos, nothing written, and a failed Google search, so maybe I imagined it. Nevertheless, I felt like a prickly pear ale was in order. I went to the nearest Total Wine and picked up this brew, Englemann’s Elixer Prickly Pear Pale Ale. Sounds like fairly easy drinking for a hot summer day, doesn’t it?

The can label has its own narrative for the origin of this brew: “Dusty has a talent for discovering opportunity wherever it may lie. When he learned of the powerful properties of the prickly pear fruit from the botantist (that’s their typo, not mine) Dr. Englemann, by sheer happenstance, he concocted a plan to fund our continuing search for my lost uncle. He learned how to turn this widespread fruit into an elixir, one he could sel to townsfolk for their clear benefit. The good doctor advised against it, but Dusty is… persuasive.” What did Dusty do? What happened next will surprise you!

And the surprise is, this is not like any pale ale that I’ve drank before. This tastes more like a lager, something mild and easy to drink. At first it feels like you’re drinking a domestic beer, light flavor, wheat-y, crisp in the beginning. What I don’t taste is hops. That's a relief, many pale ales I've found can be overly generous with the quantity of hop in their brewing. Then, you get the essence of prickly pear, only not to obnoxious extremes. Here's the thing about most prickly pear products you may encounter from Arizona tourist spots: they're heavily sweetened. But this ale is hardly sweet at all, not till it reaches the back of your tongue as you swallow. Same goes for the bouquet, you can detect prickly pear but it’s not overwhelming. It’s perfume-y, but not cloying.

It’s not a bad summertime beer. But there’s not much else I can say about it. The body’s a cloudy yellow, foamy at first pour, 5% ABV. It’s alright, Bone Haus produced another quality brew, no question. It’s also boring. It’s a safe, inoffensive beer. I don’t regret picking this up, but it doesn’t stand out.

CORONADO BREWING COMPANY BIGGER BOAT HAZY IPA - A Review

By Daver.

Look at that can, just look at it! I love sharks, JAWS is one of my favorite movies, read the book over and over, and I enjoy a lot of Coronado Brewing’s brews, so grabbing this beer was inevitable. The can describes this brew: “Hazy IPA brewed with raspberries, blueberries, vanilla and lactose.” Sounds like it’d be like a breakfast yogurt, doesn’t it? I like yogurt. I like creamy beers. 7% ABV, that’s appealing. Imagine a yogurt with 7% alcohol per volume. That’s a good morning! Here’s hoping I didn’t make a mistake out of fanboy enthusiasm by choosing this hazy IPA.


(drinks) 

Hope is stupid.

This IPA, it’s not creamy. It’s not creamy at all. It’s quite tangy, not just from hops but also the berries. The raspberries, blackberries, easy to taste like you picked them fresh from the vine. Only without any sweetness. You don’t detect any vanilla till the end. I’m not thrilled about the color of the body, it’s an unhealthy, thick, cloudy orange. That’s fitting, because it has an after taste like an orange rind. Not zest, the rind. You can smell a little citrus from this too, and the missing sweetness of the berries. Not gone, just redirected from gustatory to olfactory senses. Overall, it’s all just shy of bitter, thankfully. The foaminess is light, so pouring it won’t generally force you to pause and resume.


Funnily enough, letting it warm up a little mellows it out to an easier drinking 
beer. The rind becomes zest, and it gets much further from bitter. It feels creamier, even. The lactose and vanilla finally become more, I don’t know, visible? Upfront? Anyway, you get my meaning. Hell, it almost becomes a different beer that I’m drinking. Or the 7% ABV is kicking in. I’ll lean into the former, some beers just are better when warm.


As a rule, I prefer my beer to be cold. I pull these cans and bottles out of the fridge and pour them cold. And on a hot summer day, I desperately need my beer to be cold. I wish this beer were as good cold as it is warmed up some. Maybe that means it’s a good beer for the beach when the ice is low, or for the winter when you’re already cold everywhere else and would like something that’s not cold. Whatever you choose, as long as you drink responsibly while choosing.


OK, hope isn’t stupid.


I don’t regret picking up the shark beer. It’s not what I thought it would be, but it’s not so bad when that happens. Especially with 7% ABV!

WILD BARREL BREWING COMPANY – VICE BLACK CURRANT SOUR BERLINER WEISSE STYLE

 

A Review

By Daver!

Here’s the thing about sours for me. There’s an equal number of “hits” as there are “misses” when it comes to drinking a sour more than once. I’m always willing to try a sour, because the “hits” are amazing, refreshing and flavorful. Will this sour, from Wild Barrel Brewing Company, fill me with delicious sour ale or regret and misery? Let’s find out.  

 I had to try the Vice Black Currant Sour when I first saw it. I’ve never tasted black currant, and honestly I don’t think I’ve ever seen any food or beverage with black currant in its ingredients. Had never heard of Wild Barrel Brewing, they’re based out of San Marcos so I can’t say I’ve ever seen them in person. Their website shows they also have a location in Temecula, I’d say they’re doing fairly well. Check out their website, www.wildbarrelbrewing.com.

The first thing I thought on first pour of this sour was “oooh pretty!” The head is thick and resembles a strawberry sherbet. You’d almost want to dip your fingertip to get a taste. The body looks like wine, it’s a dark burgundy violet shade as rich as pie filling. Imagine making this into a pie. Imagine brewing this from a pie. Flavorwise, it’s absolutely on the “hit” side of my sour ale samplings. It’s got that tingle in the back of the tongue that you get from eating a good dill pickle, but it’s not overly sour. It’s more tangy. It’s not too sweet either; yes, there's sours that are sweeter than sour. I don’t like most beers that are like treacle on principle. 

There's a lot of flavor to this, more than just the one on the label. Blackberry, cherry, a little citrus zest, it's there as well with the black currant. It's hard not to notice, in fact. This really is like a pie without the crust, by my reckoning at least. It gets a little sweeter the longer it sits and warms up, and it also feels warmer down the throat like the harder liquors. Unlike the harder stuff, I don’t feel more than a mild buzz. It’s got an ABV of 5.6%, it wouldn’t have any stronger effect on me unless I drank it on an empty stomach. That’s no excuse to be irresponsible while drinking this sour, though.

Is it good? Hell yes, it’s a delicious sour ale going into summer, reasonably easy to drink while cold. Would I buy it regularly? Uh… no. I found this priced at about $7 a pint can, in my opinion that’s too rich for me to drink casually. Give it a shot if you have a special occasion, or want to impress a date, or if it’s on draft.

CORONADO BREWING COMPANY PINEAPPLE FARM HAZY IPA - a review

 

by Daver, I'm very sorry

If I see a beer that has lactose in the ingredients, I have to try it. The beer's a little sweeter, a little smoother, rounding off the corners for a more enjoyable experience. I'm glad that so far I'm not lactose intolerant. Y'see, it's actually lactose sugar that is included in the brew. During fermentation, most sugars convert into alcohol, but lactose does not. If it's in there, it stays in there, and if someone's lactose intolerant then this would give them a bad time, no matter how responsibly you're drinking. When you're drinking a Coronado Brewing Company brew, you should enjoy it! And their Pineapple Farm Hazy IPA is a joy to imbibe.

The can label is informative, listing Simcoe, Azacca, and Amarillo hops as well as pineapple and lactose. Its blurb reads, "One thing is clear, this hazy IPA stands out from the crowd. Brewed with a blend of New World hops and fresh pineapple for a tropical twist, Pineapple Farm is a juicy, island vacation in a can." All things considered, it's also the closest I'll get to having an actual vacation. And I do love pineapple.

Once again, I'm tasting this from my only proper pint glass in the house, ye old Yazoo Brewing Company glass.

On first pour you get a cloudy, dark yellow body with a thick foamy head. The head thins out pretty quick, till only a thin gauzy film lays on top of the brew. There's also sediment, unfiltered Nordic yeast, that floats around the lower half of the glass and eventually settles at the bottom. The bouquet is a fruity sour, you can immediately tell there's pineapple. Its tang balances well with the mild bitterness of the hops of the IPA. The flavors are rich, perfumy, and creamier than your average hazy IPA. Thank you, lactose! It hardly feels like a beer with an IBU of 55. The lactose also helps to bring out the pineapple in the body. A little like yogurt with fruit at the bottom, actually. And if you let the beer warm up to room temperature in the glass, it becomes sweeter.

I'd almost say this is a winter beverage, more enjoyable warmed up than cold in the summer time. That's up to personal preference though, it's something to enjoy year round. It's rich, it's flavorful, and the ABV is slightly above average at 6.8%. The only thing that might put off the average beer drinker is the sediment, but if you swish the beer around a bit and chug it back, you don't even notice. Thankfully for me, it's one of Coronado's regulars and not a specialty batch, so they ship it all the time. I would keep a four pack of these pints in the fridge as often as possible.

DARK SKY BREWING COMPANY CAMINO DURO VIENNA STYLE LAGER - a review

 

by Daver as it was, as it will be

Dark Sky Brewing Company is my favorite brewery, there's no debate of that. Their menu is broad, and recipes quite unconventional. Even something as basic as their Camino Duro Vienna Style Lager was pleasantly surprising in how that simplicity wound up so damned complex.

In a departure from earlier Dark Sky beers, the label for
Camino Duro only reads "Clean, malty, & crispy" Keeps things simple, and leaves more room for the can art. Very retro. But we're not here for an art critique, let's check out the beer. Once again, using the Yazoo Brewing pint glass for the tasting.

On first pour, you get a clear amber body with heavy head, thick like sea foam,

regardless whether you pour it slowly or quick. The head fades away after a couple minutes, leaving splatters of foam clinging to the glass. The malt is strong in the bouquet. It smells kind of sweet, kind of syrupy, with a tang somewhere between grapefruit and a blended scotch. The IBU is low at 18, and the flavor itself is pretty simple, just malt, barley, water, easy. It does finish crisp and clean, but it's a little too clean with a mild tingling on the back of the tongue as it finishes. The aftertaste is grainy and tangy, and it lingers in the mouth. Weirdly, the aftertaste fades faster with every drink, so by the time you finish it there's practically no aftertaste. Also, if you let it warm to room temperature in your glass, the finish is less tangy, and mellows into a comfortably crisp and clean finish. But in my opinion, the best way to drink this is cold and straight from the can. When you do, almost no tang is present, and it finishes clean and refreshing, perfectly balanced.

I have to be clear, Dark Sky has a great many beers I enjoy better than others they brew. This beer was not one of them. That's not to say it was bad, not at all. It's an easy beer to drink responsibly, at 5% ABV. It's strange, I conclude this beer was not meant to be poured, only drank. It's exactly the kind of beer you can properly enjoy out of an ice chest. I just wouldn't stock it in my ice chest.

CORONADO BREWING COMPANY SHAKA BERRY PASTRY STOUT - a review

 

by Daver, this time.

I've actually been to this brewery, Coronado Brewing Company on Coronado Island. It's next to the beach, and you can sit out on the patio with an Orange Ave Wit and hear the waves crest on the shore. Very chill place, and hopefully it'll still be there the next time I can go to California. Thankfully they have cans and bottles that I can find here as well. Take for instance this here beverage, the Shaka Berry Pastry Stout.

The label reads, "Shaka Berry blends tart boysenberries and blackberries with rich cocoa and vanilla bean for waves of flavor in this decadent pastrystout. Hang loose and enjoy the ride! #staycoastal." The ingredients list includes boysenberry, blackberry, vanilla, cocoa, and lactose. Lactose, that's a deal maker for me. Many beers I've tried solely because lactose was an ingredient, and I've never regretted it. But boysenberry, I have to confess no idea how those taste. To put it simply, the Shaka Berry Pastry Stout is a complex brew. Once more, I'll be drinking this from my Yazoo Brewing pint glass with the curved sides. I do that a lot, but just to assure, when the beer requires a certain shaped glass to fully appreciate the experience then I shall bring that glass out of the collection.

The bouquet is rich with berry essence, I sensed cherry, raspberry, and blackberry notes with a subtle undercurrent of French roast coffee. With the body, the coffee is replaced with a strong chocolate flavor. The berries are a constant, and drinking this is like eating chocolate covered cherries. If you let it warm up, you taste less chocolate and more the ABV. Smooth, tangy, but not creamy. Honestly this feels more like a porter than a stout. I'm used to stouts with some measure of creaminess, and it's not there with this one. The fruitiness, the way it burns going down? Porter. Interestingly enough, if you let it warm up some in your glass, the body feels thicker, so that's in line with a stout. There's a lot to discover with the Shaka Berry with how you drink it, even when you drink it. It's less a beverage, and more an expedition.

I get what they were trying to do, make a beer that was like drinking a fruit pie. But for the life of me, I can't imagine how you'd replicate the crust flavor in beer form. Kudos to Coronado for crafting something with such depth to the drinking experience. Personally, I wouldn't keep this for casual drinking. With so much going for it, and an ABV of 10.5%, it will knock you on your ass if you're not drinking responsibly. I would absolutely suggest it for sharing at a tasting.

BELCHING BEAVER BREWERY ¡VIVA LA BEAVER! MEXICAN CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER STOUT - a review

by Daver, I guess

Here's something you should know about San Diego, they are fond of the Mexican chocolate. You'll find it at every coffee shop, which is something else I deeply miss about San Diego. At home, I have to buy my own supply to add to my morning java. Or would, if I remembered to look for Mexican chocolate. Belching Beaver Brewery remembered, and made a variant of their Peanut Butter Milk Stout with Mexican chocolate. Behold, ¡Viva La Beaver! Mexican Chocolate Peanut Butter Stout!

The can's label reads, "Viva La Beaver is loaded with notes of creamy peanut butter, cinnamon and coffee. The decadent milk stout is the perfect dessert beer to finish off your meal, and is our highest rated beer, receiving Gold and Silver medals. Sink your teeth into this liquid chocolate treat. Cheers, Tom."

To elaborate, the awards Viva La Beaver earned included 2nd Place at the California State Fair's beer competition in 2016, and gold medals at San Diego International Beer Competition for 2016, 2018, and 2019. They were well-earned.

As with the Peanut Butter Milk Stout, I'm using my curvy Yazoo Brewing glass for tasting. When pouring, the head is this velvety smooth film that just lives on top of a pitch black body. The foam doesn't fade, it doesn't move, it just sits there, patiently, for me to lift this glass to my lips. The bouquet is much more subdued, mild notes of cocoa and condensed milk and vanilla wafting your nose. Chocolate and cinnamon dominate the flavor, with hints of peanut butter and graham cracker all throughout. It's quite like drinking a peanut butter cup, or a chocolate chip peanut butter cookie. They're not kidding when they call this a dessert beer. There's a syrup-y vanilla note at the very end, but when you drink from a glass there's this delightful warm tingle as it goes down the throat. That warmth is the 7.5% ABV announcing it has entered the building. Strangely, it's just not there when you drink it straight from the can. But the coffee notes are much more pronounced out of the can.

It's funny how the drinking method changes the experience for certain beverages. Wine afficionados will know what I'm talking about, the flavor, the aroma, the whole package can change whether you're drinking from one glass shape or another, or just straight from the bottle. It's special when you can get a different, but no less satisfying, result from the can and the pint glass. This is a beer I would happily keep stocked in my beer fridge, even though the ABV would be a powerful reason not to drink this so casually. Drink this brew responsibly, or it'll knock you on your ass. It's a little harder to find than a Bud Light, but if I see it I grab a four pack. Try it, you'll understand as well.