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.

Abita Brewing Company - Peach Lager

by Daver!

Hey all, Daver here. I finally crawled out from under my rock and picked up the keyboard to tell you all about a new harvest (to me) beer. Sorry for the long gap between entries; that's the thing about blogging for fun, on one hand I have no deadlines, on the other hand no content to keep an audience. Let's fix that.

What do we have on tap today? Well, it's a summer harvest release from my favorite Louisiana based brewery, the Abita Brewing Company Peach Lager. Yes, summer release. Another advantage of doing this for fun, the sheer randomness of the selections!

On first pour, this beer has a mostly clear and golden color typical to most other lagers. The head is thin and quickly disperses, though it leaves a white ring clinging along the glass. The locally-grown peaches come through the bouquet with the subtlety of a chainsaw. How many peaches did they pick, a million? Millions of peaches, peaches for me (to drink). It's certainly peachy-keen, both in aroma and flavor. The sweetness is muted, but the overall fruit flavor remains with the pale malt of the brew lending a dry almost effervescent crispness in the finish. It's light on the tongue, strong with flavor without being sweet, and easy to drink. With an ABV of 4.5%, it's an excellent beer to relax with on a hot day. Or even a chilly evening, since we're well into fall as I write this.

Here's the thing, would I recommend it? Yes, but with a caveat. It's good, you won't be disappointed 

by trying this, and you won't get tired of drinking it. But personally, it's not the best peach beer I've ever had. I'll tell you more about that one another time. Till then, this is Daver, closing taps and signing off. 

Unita Brewery - Hop Nosh Tangerine IPA

by Daver!

Hidee-ho, beer campers. Yeah, long time no see, right?

As some of you may have noticed, summer is here. And that means swimming pools, popsicles, vacations and campouts to keep cool. And cold beer. The colder the better, especially here in Arizona. I have here a couple of beers with a strong citrus ingredient in their brewing, to make them more refreshing in these scorching months. Today, we have the Hop Nosh Tangerine IPA from Utah's Uinta Brewing Company, a citrus variant of their mainstay IPA.

Named for the Uinta mountains, this Utah-based brewery began brewing pale ales, porters and hefeweizens out of a former mechanics garage in 1993. They've expanded since then to add brown ales, barleywines and IPAs, selling 77,000 barrels as recently as 2014 with distribution to 32 states and the District of Columbia. Uinta stresses their green attitude, being the first Utah company to be 100% wind powered, adding solar power to their operations in 2011, and promoting on their website that "GREAT beer is brewed with environmental stewardship, support for community and a whole lot of passion."

But how's the beer?

Fun fact, the bottle's label suggests that this be served in a tulip glass. Luckily, I happened to have such a glass! For wine, but that's not my usual choice of beverage. On first pour, the head is pillowy but thin, and fades out fast while the remnants cling lace-like to the glass. The body crosses from the typical IPA amber straight on to a semi-clear orange color. The bouquet is clearly, obviously infused with citrus notes, with the pungent hops and sugary malt notes hovering in the background. The citrus is, for me, an exciting change from the usual caramel sweetness you find with most IPAs.

The tangerine flavors stand out, especially on the sides of the tongue, and overpowers the malt sweetness. The hops' bite is reduced, but kicks in to give this IPA a dry, pine-y, bitter finish. Overall, the mouthfeel is somewhat dry from both the acidity of the citrus and the bitterness of the hops.
Long story short, I liked it! It's more broadly drinkable IPA because of the citrus balancing out the hops, and the tangerine essence is especially refreshing when served cold. With an ABV of 7.3% it's not a beer to take lightly either. I would recommend it, but in moderation. The same easy drinkability makes it really easy to miss that higher ABV till it's too late.

That's all for today, next time I'll cover another citrus-brewed craft beer. Till then, this is your humble beer blogger signing off.

A Day at Mesa Beerfest!: Three Local Craft Brews

Desert Eagle Brewing Co.'s beer tent. You could wait in line, or walk down the block to the brewery.

I love beerfests. You get to sample a decent range of craft brews among a huge crowd of fellow beer aficionados for the whole day. Great way to chill! Unless some drunk fifty-something trips and spills his pint of dark ale down your back as you try to record your notes, I mean come the fuck on... but anyway. Mesa Beerfest just off of Main Street had a fair range of breweries out, including Desert Eagle Brewery which makes sense because it's also on Main. I'll be going into further detail about their brews later. Instead, let's sample a few that were new to me.

4216 N Brown Ave, Scottsdale AZ 85251

Based out of Scottsdale, Bad Water Brewery was established in 2012 with a farmhouse ale as its first batch on tap. They brought their inaugural ale to the beerfest, and I was happy to give it a chance. The body was a deep amber with thin foam that clung to the sides, even for a plastic cup. The body was cloudy with yeast, typical of a saison. Its bouquet was balanced with wheat and sugary floral notes, and a light fruity note like bananas. It reminded me of some hefeweizens, really. But the taste was definitely not that of a wheat beer, there was a mild hoppy bite that deepened the body through to the finish. It was crisp but not all that clean of a finish, with a nutty quality to it like that I've tasted in brown ales. It was good, and with an ABV of 6% it was overall a quality brew. But in all honesty there was very little to set it apart from saisons that I've tasted before.

1641 S Stapley Dr, Mesa AZ 85204

Next was the 480G IPA from the Beer Research Institute. Opened in 2014, this Mesa brewery specializes in Belgian-style ales and IPAs with a love for hops that borders on obsession. I myself have a passion for the hoppier brews, and with an ABV of 7.4% this one seemed to be the right choice. At first glance this "Best Coast"-style IPA had almost zero head on a semi-clear amber body, though the head may be due to BRI's keg running low by the time I reached them. The bouquet was clearly hoppy, with floral notes with a slightly sweet malt edge that's common to IPAs. The taste is incredibly hoppy, with woodsy notes like you'd find in a taste of scotch, and you can freely pick up notes of citrus zest in the finish. Several, ranging from orange to lemon to grapefruit. It's a broad range, circulating in sensation from the bitter hops to the sweeter malt and orange to the bitter grapefruit and back to hops. It's certainly unique in that regard from other IPAs, and had I gotten to it earlier in the event it would have been better, I'm sure. As it is, I can call it satisfying.

232 S Wall St, Chandler AZ 85225

And then we have The Perch Pub and Brewery, and their Uncommon Good Session IPA. While I do enjoy IPAs, sessions are the exception. They're lighter with the hops and the ABV, and frankly at that point I'd be better off with a simple lager. The Perch is based out of Chandler, and a glance at their beer menu will leave a beer drinker begging for flights. It's huge! Not only with their own brews, but also those from other breweries, totally over 40 at any given time, though at the time I'm posting this they do not have Uncommon Good on tap. The name of the pub comes from their hosting dozens of tropical rescue birds at their establishment. On first pour this IPA had a head that looked, well, so bubbly that it was more like a batch of fish eggs than a meringue. Again, this has to be because it was from a nearly-empty keg. The body was a cloudy amber, and the bouquet was hoppy but the malt makes it overall lighter and cleaner than with standard IPAs. The same goes for the taste, it's hoppy but much more modestly and with almost no bite in the finish. It's alright, and at a 4.9% ABV it's a little stronger than most other sessions. But it doesn't stand out enough to make me change my mind about choosing this over a summer ale or a true IPA.

All told, if you're inclined to try these yourself, you can't go wrong with a visit to these particular breweries around the East Valley. These brews are good quality, though they don't stand out as something to, say, request your local pub to stock in. There's a lot of craft brews out there, and they're all worth sampling, but it takes a little something special to go beyond sampling and into regular drinking. These three don't quite reach that level.

So many brewfests to come, so many new releases, and so many great beers out there to try out. More to come, my friends!

Uncle Bear's Grill &  Tap, from Chandler, was also serving, though I didn't get to sample from them this time.

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.