Beers in Review: A pair from the West Coast

Hello, again, everyone. There will be a video review later this afternoon. But first, a quick jump into a couple of beers from the West Coast of the U.S.A.

Leading off is a beer from San Diego-headquartered Green Flash Brewing Company's Hop Odyssey series. The Styrian Golding Single Hop Pale Ale uses only the hop of the same name, Styrian Golding. Styrian Golding is an aromatic hop grown in Slovenia and Austria, and based on my research, is not used a lot in American beers. The beer pours a slightly hazy golden color, and is pretty well carbonated. The beer opens with bright citrus notes, and lots of earthiness. There was a building hop bitterness as I drank, and that bitterness lingered briefly after drinking, but quickly went away. The unique hop ingredient made for a somewhat different flavor profile than I am used to.

Next is Space Dust IPA from Elysian Brewing Company. The beer pours a rich, dark gold color that is perfectly see-through. A generally mild flavor profile brings some dank hop notes along with a hint of orange and possibly other citrus. Also present is a mild to moderate hop bitterness that ramps up as it warms. Pretty much a spot-on IPA.

Beers in Review: I don't have a witty title in me

We start off today's reviews with Sea to Sea Lager from Green Flash Brewing Company. It pours a pale gold, and features bready and crackery notes with just a hint of malty sweetness. I also got a slight amount of bitterness, and something soap-like. It's a pretty crisp beer, and is generally more flavorful than your standard lager. It makes for a decent summer beer.

Next up is Off Color Brewing's Sparkles Find Some Trouble Gose (a name that made me quite glad that I could simply order it as "number 4"). This gose pours a ruby red grapefruit, and has a ton going on. I'm not big on smell, but I could immediately detect some majorly funky aromas. Upon sipping, my first impression was more Belgian ale than gose, but this changed as my palate adapted. There are tons of light fruity and floral notes, as well as a bit of citrus acidity. The funky note translates into the taste, especially as it warms. I found some of the key gose components, sourness and saltiness, both to be pretty mild overall. Some surprises in this gose, but pretty enjoyable, overall.

Finally for today, the first of several beers from Saturday afternoon/evening's Craft and Draft bottle shop 2nd birthday party. It was a great party, with multiple unique beer offerings, live music, food trucks. This was a Craft and Draft collaboration with Thomas Creek Brewery, resulting in the Slapricot Session Ale. Complexities in the mouthfeel were notable, blending fruity juicyness with an effervescent carbonation. There was plenty of apricot flavor, but the ale wasn't too sweet. Combined with the mouthfeel, I got more an impression of a mild fruity Italian soda instead of a beer. A mild funky note also slyly creeped into this session ale, as well.