A Short Review of Beer: Golden Road Hefeweizen

It's that time of the month! Another trip to the gas station, another full growler of beer to try.

This trip's selection was from a Los Angeles-based brewery called Golden Road. I'd never heard of, much less had, a hefewizen (German for "half-white") brew before, so I picked it out while my husband fueled up the car outside.

A toast to the Creator

I had my first taste while observing the super blood moon lunar eclipse, and I will admit that I was not impressed with this Bavarian-style brew. It has an odd taste, almost like a chemical; not bitter, but definitely not sweet, maybe too heavy on the wheat?

The brewery's website says that "Golden Road Hefeweizen was brewed with a Californian twist — the addition of dried, locally grown, organic citrus to a Bavarian classic. After the initial banana and clove, expect tart citrus, a medium body and a dry finish that will leave you thinking about that next sip." My impression was "this tastes weird". Either my taste buds are not primed to detect such fruity subtleties or I do detect the additives and they register as terrible tasting. 

It looks kinda pissy, but this is as close as I can get to capturing the real color of the brew

I'll give the brewers credit, the hefeweizen looks and smells great. My cellphone camera does a pretty good job of capturing the golden yellow color, and the malts clearly are present. The alcohol content is pretty low too, only about 4.6%, so I wasn't buzzed.

Like Barrio Blonde, hefeweizen is a good starter beer for someone who's fresh off the mainstream beer boat in the new world of microbrewing. Because it's mild, this beer does go down easy. It's definitely a good summertime brew, and I'd suggest pairing this beer with a sandwich to at least deal with the odd taste. If you're not having hefeweizen with a meal, I do recommend adding some clamato (tomato-clam juice) or plain tomato juice to give it a palatable flavor. My husband added a splash of his favorite clamato and he said it took the odd taste of the hefeweizen away.

Overall, I didn't like this beer. I wouldn't buy it again after this tasting. 

For more on Golden Road Brewing, check out their website.

As always, please drink responsibly

A Short Review of Beer: Barrio IPA

Beer time! We returned from the gas station this past week with my growler full of a new beer to try: Barrio IPA

IPA stands for India Pale Ale, and this is another creation of the Barrio Brewing Company (see my reviews of some of their other beers here and here). Always happy to support a local business, the brewery's website describes their IPA as "[b]rewed just like the original from Burton upon Trent. This style calls for a high hop rate combined with an elevated alcohol content because it was brewed to survive the journey from England to Bombay as rations for British troops. Huge amounts of two row pale malt with an addition of a few specialty malts provide a nice mouth feel buried under copious additions of Columbus hops. This beer is big but finishes clean."

Admittedly, I'm not much of an ale fan. I find them to be too bitter for my taste (the bitterness of hops are what turned me off of beer for a long time). But, I will drink ales to try them since I'm seeking to expand my beer palate and learn what brews work with what foods. A good IPA is something I've been on a quest to try and find ever since a former blogging buddy recommended them as his favorite beer a few years ago (he was actually a home brewer on the side).

A steaming bowl of Emile Zatarain's Dirty Rice for dinner seemed like a good occasion to try this new brew, so my hubby put our beer mugs to use.

As expected, this is a bitter brew. You can really taste the hops in this IPA, as the aftertaste is sharp. It has a nice smell though, and a head that is just the right consistency. This IPA is a nut-brown color, which is actually darker than a proper IPA (those are just a tad lighter). Since ales have a higher alcohol content than my preferred lagers, there is a slight buzz after consuming (ABV is somewhere between 5-6%). But true to it's description, there's not much of an aftertaste that lingers in your mouth. It does finish clean.

IPA+sandwich with WTF cut bread=SCREW YOU, PINTEREST, WITH YOUR UBER-PERFECTIONIST FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY!

As for what foods pair well with Barrio IPA, fish seemed to work well (catfish, in particular), as well as anything acidic, like pickles (which I discovered actually takes the bitterness out of the ale pretty well!). The Dirty Rice we had with the initial tasting, not so much.

One interesting side effect of the IPA-my milk production ratcheted up noticeably. When she wakes up for her morning feed, the baby certainly appreciates the beer I had with dinner after she went to bed (by morning, the alcohol has completely metabolized so it's not in the milk to present a threat to her). Nursing mommies, take note!

For more on the Barrio Brewing Company, check out their website.

As always, please enjoy responsibly.

A Short Review of Beer: Barrio Rojo

Another two weeks passed, another trip to the gas station to fill up the growler. After surviving a root beer explosion, I was in need of some liquid cereal to keep the hubby out of mischief.

There was a surprisingly long line at the draft counter, but when our turn came, we selected the next tap up the line from last trip's selection, Barrio Blonde. This time, we got Barrio Rojo.

Another creation of the local Barrio Brewing Company, Rojo (Spanish for "red") bills itself as a Scottish-style ale with less hops and more malt in the brew. According to the brewery's website, "[w]e took our time to caramelize the brewing sugars to create a low bitterness, sweet beer with notes of caramel brown sugar and cinnamon." Intrigued by this description, I had to try some.

True to its name, the beer that came out of the growler was a deep red, almost brown color. It reminded me strongly of a stout. There was also a gorgeous head on the beer too, which I have to thank the attendant at the gas station for since she actually sealed the growler's cap with electrical tape just after she filled it up. I knew it was gonna be heady too as I was watching the foam pour out all over the counter as she filled the growler up.

I tried to get a picture of the color, but my flash is too bright to do it justice

My hubby's beer. A better shot of the color, but still not as good as in real life

As for the taste, I was pleased to note that it was not terribly bitter. It definitely had more body quality than the Blonde, but I would not call it sweet. It's malty, but not something sugary. In fact, I couldn't detect any of the brown sugar and cinnamon advertised in the description. The Goose Island Summertime Ale I'd had a few weeks back was sweeter than this brew. I wouldn't go so far as to call it false advertising, but I guess my tastebuds aren't primed for subtlety. Like most beers, it has an alcohol level of around 5%, so the buzz is very minimal.

My husband, on the other hand, was very pleased with the quality of the beer, going so far as to call the Blonde we had last time "pisswater". He even put away the Clamato he'd planned to add as a flavor enhancer. Despite it's stouty appearance, the mash for Rojo was not toasted and for that I am grateful.

Since we had ribs for dinner, I found that the beer actually worked nicely with the tangy BBQ sauce they'd been slathered in. The flavors complemented each other well. Down in the pork layer of the ribs, past the sauce, the beer cut down on the natural saltiness of pork. It's a good pork beer, I'll give the brewers credit for that.

Overall, I guess I'm pretty disappointed by Rojo. I was expecting something sweet, and it let me down.

As always, please enjoy all adult beverages responsibly.

A Short Review of Beer: Barrio Blonde

After a recent excursion to church, I stopped by my favorite gas station to refill my growler and try something new. The last time we were there, I'd picked out Goose Island's Summertime Ale. This time, my husband got to pick the beer. He picked out Barrio Blonde, which was something he wanted to try the last time we were there.

Barrio Brewing Company is a local, Tucson-based brewery. Appropriately enough, "barrio" means "neighborhood" in Spanish. Blonde is just one of the 12 beers served at its flagship restaurant on 16th St. and Toole Ave, with the brewery's website describing it as "A good starter beer for those who have only tried the mass-produced suds. The blonde is a light, crisp beer with a slight malt flavor and just enough Czechoslovakian Saaz hops to balance the malt sweetness."

My favorite beer mug, with Blonde

Upon opening the growler and pouring myself a glass, the first thing that stood out was how much "blonde" was an appropriate name for this sort of beer. It has a beautiful golden color and not much of a head either, which was kinda funny cuz when the attendant at the gas station was filling up the growler, the head bubbled out of the growler and all over the counter. Guess it must have lost some carbonation since this attendant didn't tape the cap to seal the growler like the last one did...

Taste wise, it's alot closer to a more typical beer as opposed to the fruity, citrusy Summertime Ale. Thanks to my priming with Steel Reserve, I tasted the malt right off and was pleased with the quality of the hops. True to its description, it's reminiscent of some of the more mainstream brews, but less pissy tasting. It's not a bad light beer. The alcohol content is pretty low too, around 5% or so. I found it paired well with chili and pork, but I can see it going alright with a salad. Something with spinach, in particular.

Same glass and beer, different lighting and angle. Still pretty pale

For more information about Barrio Brewing Company, check out their website here. As always, please enjoy responsibly