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.

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.

DARK SKY BREWING CO. S.E.T.I. #1 EXPERIMENTAL HAZY IPA - a review

by Daver?

What happens when you take my favorite local craft brewary, discover they have a new hazy IPA, and that it was canned and shipped to a store a mile away? Damn right that I'll put a four pack in my beer fridge!

I'm not the most well-educated on the various strains of hops, so when the label exclaims that S.E.T.I. #1 is dryhopped with El Dorado and HBC431 hops, I have to judge whether those are good ingredients the old fashioned way. Once again, I'm tasting this with my Yazoo Brewing pint glass. It's really good as an all-purpose pint glass for getting the most out of the drink experience.

To the nose, there is a rich zesty grapefruit aroma that masks a bitter hoppiness. The body is an opaque, dark yellow. It's not a appetizing color, but you can't get freaked out by the way it looks. Don't judge a book by its cover, it's got so much you should see by the light of day, but by night it's one beer you can savor...  forgive the ersatz cult movie appropriation, some things can't be helped without stronger meds, but I digress. If poured slowly, the head is quick to dissipate, but the foam clings in a ring along the edges of the glass and leaves lacy patterns as it slides down. In fact, as you drink and the level lowers, the foam looks almost like Sanskrit, but that might be the ABV talking. At 7% ABV, a pint of S.E.T.I. #1 must be drank responsibly. But anyway, if you pour it quickly, the head is a little thicker, and it holds together much longer like a paper seal to pull off of the brew, and the foam clinging to the glass is like a shower curtain instead of lace. To the tongue, there's a highly refreshing surge of citrus essence, like pink grapefruit and blood orange notes, with a biting sweetness lying low. Unlike most other IPAs, with its 30 IBU, there's little hops bitterness at the end. No, S.E.T.I. #1 has a shockingly clean finish with a slightly sweet aftertaste.

I'll be upfront here, I think Dark Sky's experiment was a resounding success. I hope this hazy stays in their regular rotation, because it's a relaxing, refreshing summertime brew that I could drink all year round. For now, I hope it's still in production for a little longer because I've already finished my four pack for this review.

DARK SKY BREWING CO. MERCURY RETROGRADE SOUR - a review

by Daver?

One of my favorite local breweries, if not THE favorite, is this Flagstaff brewery,

Dark Sky Brewing Co. It's a couple hours' drive from me so it's an uncommon treat to enjoy one of their brews. That's a tragedy. Dark Sky's only been open since 2014, but they have an impressive array of brews on tap, regularly rotating and always interesting. 

Thankfully, they've been offering a select few of their brews in four-packs with limited distribution outside of Flagstaff. I can get a four-pack or two to enjoy while we're all sheltering inside, if I'm fast enough on the draw. Dark Sky beers tend to sell out pretty quickly south of their brewery.

But, luck and Untappd alerts were on my side, I was able to get a couple of their new brews to try. Today we have Dark Sky's Mercury Retrograde Sour, for serving I am pouring into my Yazoo Brewing pint glass. That glass is good for what ales me!

Anyway. The bouquet is cool and tangy, berry bountiful with the essence of raspberries and a tingly zestiness. Pouring slowly, you get hardly any foam at the top, at most the ring along the glass edges. Pouring too fast, and you get... also hardly any foam. Any way you pour, you get just a thin amount of pinkish red bubbles, forming a ring along the glass that sticks around longer than the foam on top of the beer. The body is a deep magenta, thick and opaque. If it sits still, you could mistake it for gelatine instead of a drink, it's so deep. The strawberry flavor is sneaky, you get notes of it as well as subtle bursts of sweetness at the beginning of your drink, especially if you let it linger on your tongue for a bit.  The strawberry really announces itself as it reaches the back of the mouth. The raspberries, on the other hand, are prevalent from start to finish, though not overwhelming. They're more the flavor vehicle, carrying the other essences along from the lips to the throat. The raspberry gives it a tingly mouthfeel, and overall you get this mildly bitter aftertaste like an orange zest, with an oddly warm sensation after swallowing. It's weird, I know, but it's quite interesting to get that much sensory stimulation.

I wouldn't say it's refreshing, it's certainly not clean or crisp like most warm weather brews. In fact, it's a little messy, but like a Jackson Pollock painting.  As sours go, it's easy to drink. At 4% ABV it's easier to drink responsibly with a pint of this, and an IBU of 3 means it won't bite back.  This brew has lots of flavor to attract a casual drinker. It would be well received cold, sitting around a campfire at night. Quite satisfying, I'm glad I picked it up, and you would be too.

HUSS BREWING CO. HOPALOOSA HAZY IPA - a review

by Daver?

I like IPAs. Not many of my friends like IPAs, but I do. First time I tried one, it was just so different than anything else I'd drank. The novelty, and the higher ABV, was endearing. When the most interesting beer you've tried before was a Michelob Amber Bach, the hoppy kick of an IPA was like a wake-up call. But after a while, it seems like every brewery producing IPAs tries to one-up each other with more and more hops. It gets to the point where every IPA tastes like I'm chewing Christmas tree bark soaked in Pine-Sol, and that's no fun regardless how strong the alcohol.

And then came the hazy IPAs, and all was well again. Cloudy as a heifeweisen, fruity as sours but minus their bitterness, and with the hoppiness muted into an easy drinking, satisfying brew. I think they're fun to drink, much more fun than regular IPAs. When one of my favorite local breweries starts producing hazies then I have to give it a go. Huss Brewing Company has its Hopaloosa Hazy IPA, on tap and in cans for home consumption during quarantine.

The can description reads, "our version of the hazy style IPA is double dry hopped with Falconer's Flight, Amarillo, and Citra hops. These hops bring aromatics of orange, tangerine, and pineapple accompanied by flavors of tangerine, grapefruit, guava, and pineapple! This delicious Hazy IPA is named for the strength, pride and majesty of the Native American Appaloosa horse." There's certainly a lot of citrus to this beer, both to the nose and tongue. For optimal tasting, I'll serve this in my Yazoo Brewery pint glass.

If poured right, you'll see a fast-fading thin foam head, resting on a cloudy yellow body. Pour it too fast, the head is much thicker and longer-lasting. The foam doesn't so much cling to the glass as it oozes with purpose down the side. The bouquet, yes, there is certainly orange notes as well as a zesty tingle reaching the nose, and also that deep woods pine aroma that can only come from a generous infusion of hops.  The thing to remember about hazies, is that the hoppy bitterness isn't so predominant on the tongue. In fact, with an IBU of 30, the bite is muzzled by a blend of, to me, tangelo and grapefruit notes. It has a crisp finish, though it's not so clean, and a little heavy at the back with an overall mouthfeel like a lager.

Hazy IPAs are just so much easier to drink than the standard India Pale Ale, and the broader flavor palette is inviting and refreshing. The ABV of 6.6% means it's not as strong as most IPAs, but has a little more kick than other summertime beers so it's essential to drink the Hopaloosa responsibly. You don't have to like IPAs to enjoy a hazy, and Huss Brewing made a highly enjoyable hazy just in time for summer. The Hopaloosa would easily be one of my go-to beers in the beverage aisle or on tap, that is if it's ever safe to go back out and have a beer on tap anyway. Give this a try if you're ever curious about the hazies.

Cartel Brewery Bière de Garde Farmhouse Ale

by Daver!

I'll be honest, I thought Cartel was just a coffee house.

Cartel comes in two forms, Cartel Coffee Lab and Cartel Brewery in Tempe, AZ. I've seen the coffee houses in a couple places around the Valley, the brewery escaped notice. I'll have to rectify that with a full out visit to the brewery, but that's for another time.

Cartel began its beer brewing in 2013 after already establishing its reputation for amazing caffeinated goodness in a college town. Fact is, the brewery is a couple doors down from their University Drive coffee house, on Ash Avenue. Hey, that's where my old comic book store was! Awww man, Ash Avenue Comics closed? Now I feel old. Anyway. Per their website at www.cartelbrewery.com they have several regular brews, but they do enjoy changing things up with a seasonal batch. Their wheat beer Bière de Garde is one such off-brand creation, available at establishments with an eye for quality on tap.

Pulled this off of Google Street, I had to make sure.
Man, I liked that comic book store too.

On this occasion, Bière de Garde was served me at Angel's Trumpet Ale House in downtown Phoenix. I consider it a great sign when the beer menu is on a huge slate board, constantly changing as the kegs run empty. Angel's Trumpet keeps theirs mounted over their line of taps, the very first thing you see on walking into the establishment.

The Bière de Garde is a French farmhouse ale, the name translates to "beer for keeping." Like a saison, it's brewed in the cooler months for summertime consumption. Traditionally, this was because in the years before refrigeration the cold would keep the batch from spoiling as it ferments. Now it's not yet really even spring, but in Arizona our late winters hit 80 degrees so there's not much cause to wait one season more.

At first glance you have a golden orange color to the body with a light foamy head. It's cloudy as well, from the yeast left over from fermentation. The foam clings to the edges as the head dissipates. The wheat-y bouquet is effervescent with notes of clove, citrus, bananas, and a light natural sweetness from the fresh malts used in the brew. The remnants of yeast gives it an almost nutty quality as well. On the tongue, that citrus is clearly grapefruit-y, and you have a more floral sensation as you roll it around. There's a slight hoppy bite as well, a bitter tingle. The brew has a 7.2% ABV, higher than most wheat beers but average for a farmhouse ale. That higher alcohol content gives you a warming sensation as it goes down, though the finish is not really clean or dry, in my opinion. And the taste lingers on the tongue, till the next drink. But would you want to take another drink?

Hark! A herald angel's wings! Glory to the beer and things!
Pulled from reviewthebrew.wordpress.com.

Yep! This Bière de Garde has a significant degree of depth to its consumption. It's stimulating and refreshing, starting off light but going down strong without being overwhelming. If you see this beer written on a chalkboard at the next bar you frequent, give it a try. Or better yet, head to Tempe for a flight of whatever they've got on tap. I know I will! I have to, to toast to the memory of my old comic book store.

San Tan Brewing Company - Part 1: On The Market

Hello my friends, it's your humble beer blogger Daver again, and today on tap we've got a, shall we say, reprint of a review? You see, for several months I was contributing content to an Arizona web-zine, but the site has since changed its focus from local events and reviews to a blog about the editor's friends' parties. Can't say I agree with the new direction, but it's not my webspace or my problem. But that means that everything I contributed? HOSED. Now, I just can't be having with informative beer reviews being lost, so I'm importing what I've backed up, starting with the San Tan Brewing Company.

Based in Chandler, AZ, San Tan opened in 2007 and has since earned name recognition around the Valley as one of the top breweries in Arizona. This brewery has created a diverse range of craft brews to offer at their microbrewery restaurant in Chandler's historic district, at bars around Arizona, and in grocery stores and liquor stores. They're popular enough that they've been working towards expanding their distribution to neighboring states for almost a year now. San Tan offers their four most popular brews in six packs of aluminum cans, and a rotating seasonal at their respective time of year.  

Wait, aluminum cans? Oh dear... as a beer snob, I'm prejudiced against anything aluminum smaller than a keg jacketing my beer. It just doesn't taste right to me! Nobody should have to drink from the can. But in the spirit of fairness, let's see how these cans stack up. We'll start with two of their year-round offerings, and one of their seasonals.

First we've got the Devil's Ale, their pale ale offering.  On first pour, the head is thin and fades out fast. It clings to the glass unevenly, and doesn't linger for long either. It's a clear amber colour. The bouquet is surprisingly strong with the malted hops, an almost pungent sweetness if you tilt the glass back a bit to increase the surface area of the top of the brew in the glass. OK, that might be a little more complicated than you should have to go for drinking any craft brew, but it works that way. Taste-wise, oh yes. Strong with the hops, it is. But not that strong. You really have to drink this in a glass to get the full experience. Straight out of the can (dear god I hate cans) it's almost watery with the body. Poured properly, you get the effervescence of the carbonation and a bit of bite. The carbonation fades out faster than usual, and the brew mellows out as it does to the point the hops become the finish instead of the body. There's almost none of the caramel-y sweetness you'd expect from a brew with malted hops. Seriously, drinking this out of the can and out of a glass is like night and day. Night. And. DAY. At first I thought it was a let-down even with an ABV of 5.5 because of the can, but I'm glad I went a little further.


Next is the Hop Shock IPA, and boy howdy the hops are strong with this one. On first pour, it's a clear amber with a porous head. The foam doesn't cling to the sides of the glass, but rather hangs and slips slowly into oblivion. I can taste the malt, and I can smell it in the bouquet, a sweet and slightly citrus-y aroma. The but the hops are extraordinarily bitter. The body feels a little syrup-y in the finish, and notes of tangerines come through. Carbonation seems to be a thing, San Tan brews lose their fizz fairly quickly. This doesn't hurt the brew, it's just interesting. And with an ABV of 7.1 that's a lot of interest. Again, pouring this in a glass makes a vast difference over drinking it out of the can.

Now, the seasonal selection for today is the Mr. Pineapple, a Pineapple Wheat Beer. Oh man, that would probably pair well with a krabby patty. How did they come up with this? That's not to say it's bad, it's quite refreshing, as expected from a spring wheat beer. On first pour you get a head of foam that pops and sizzles, and fades out completely with no lacing or drizzling along the glass. The color is a cloudy dark yellow, like the syrup from a can of sliced pineapples. It has similar notes of banana in the taste and bouquet as you'd find in the Hefeweizen, and floral notes and some coriander, even a hint of oregano if you can believe that, that pleases the nose. And with an ABV of 5.0, the alcohol content doesn't overpower the overall quality. You can easily taste the real pineapple juice balanced out with the banana, that citrus-y tang all the way to the finish. Unlike most of the others, the San Tan carbonation was modest and subtle, fading into the background with each sip without going flat. All told, for a funny concept, it works really damn well.


Check back in a little bit for Part 2, I'll be covering an amber, a wheat beer, and their seasonal porter. Fun times, my friends.

Barrio Brewing Company - Mocha Java Milk Stout

Hello, and welcome back to BB&B! I'm your sometimes-inebriated host, Daver, coming to you sober with my take on whatever interesting beer catches my fancy. Tonight I'm bringing to you a craft brew from a Tucson brewery and restaurant, the Barrio Brewing Company. I've been there before and sampled their brews in a very wide-ranging beer flight, but sadly this was before the blog began so I didn't take any notes...so I'll have to go back sometime for a more thorough write-up. Sigh, the sacrifices I must make.

I did have occasion to try again the Barrio Mocha Java Milk Stout, while hanging out this weekend with a friend at Old Tucson Studios. There is no bottle, Barrio's products are strictly on draft all over the city of Tucson. On first pour, it is a deep dark brown, with a tan head that isn't so much thick as it is firm. The bouquet is rich with coffee and cocoa tones, and hints of brown sugar. It's thick-bodied like you'd expect of a stout, and it's very smooth, but not that creamy like, say a Guinness. Dark chocolate tones come through the mild malted sweetness up till the finish, where it actually loses its smooth and semi-creamy texture.

Now, I have to make it clear that I liked it well enough, but neither I or my friend finished it completely satisfied. I thought it became a little powdery at the finish, easily missed while cold but the longer you drink and the warmer it gets, it became more chalky. My friend thought that it was too heavy, and that it was best served with a glass of water on the side.

It's not a bad brew, but it just didn't have enough for me to try it again. If I were you, I'd only order this in the colder months, and would not let it warm up or you might not want to finish it.  That's one down, lots to go!

Photo credits - Mocha Java Milk Stout, source: untappd.com, photographer: TheAbbabond.

Happy Hour at Monsterland

*watching Heinekin commercial*

Daniel Craig... WHY? Did Skyfall really need that advertising revenue? Was Eon Productions really that hard up for cash because of the recession?!

Ugh, not my problem, and not my first or fourth choice of beer. Anyway. Beer Blogger here, and if there's one thing I have a soft spot for, it's local craft brews. Arizona has a LOT of local brews, so I could easily dedicate a good couple months to reviewing them all, roadtripping statewide on my free time. Which actually isn't a bad idea...but I digress. What I'm really getting at is that Monsterland has a delightfully diverse display of brews from around Arizona on tap.

But what's Monsterland? It's a Halloween-themed restaurant located on Main Street in Mesa, originally opened in 2011 as a haunted house but was converted the following spring into a theme restaurant open year-round. It's a popular spot for the spooky decor, the animatronic beasties that activate without warning, and the wait staff often dressing up in costume like they're about to go trick or treating. The food's decent, but pricier than it's really worth during regular hours, but between the hours of 3pm to 6pm Wednesday thru Friday, the appetizers are $2 cheaper and the beers a dollar off.

And that's where I come in! My sistah-from-another-mistah (and movie co-reviewer) Kat was in town, and while searching Main Street for suitable craft-y souveniers we stopped in for lunch. Thus did the beer taps flow with the following brews.

SanTan Count Hopula - Seasonal IPA. Daaaaark, a deep red with a thick head. It had an intense hoppiness, and it was nearly as rich as a stout in flavor if not in thickness. I tasted some chocolate undertones, but that might be the malt coming through. If you like IPAs then by all means give it a try, it's got a lot to offer. But honestly, the strength of the hop might put off the casual drinker. Still, clever name.

SanTan Hefeweizen Wheat - This has a spiced, perfumey bouquet, it's a cloudy orange with thick head. It's very good, with a banana citris flavor that does not even require the usual lemon garnish. It's a veritable bouquet for the senses, you can taste everything right away. It's a surprise for the average beer drinker interested in trying something new, and I definitely recommend giving it a try. Unless you don't like bananas.

Sonoran Victorian IPA - I like that name. For an IPA, this has a rather light hoppy flavor. Golden amber in color with a light frothy head, it's really a good starter for this type of beer. I'd almost say it's double hopped from the flavor, but without the higher alcohol content. It's a nice casual beer, easy on the palette but with more than enough character to merit another pint. (Really wish I could show you a picture of it, but I didn't take any and couldn't find one that I was positive would permit its use here.)

Stay tuned, I'll be posting next about several seasonals that Kat and I tried...and THIS time there'll be pictures I don't have to pull from the web!
Photo Credits: Monsterland Interior, Source: The New Times, Author: Bella.
 SanTan Count Hopula and Heifeweizen Wheat, Source: SanTan Brewing Company.