So last year’s idea to publish a weekly recap of the new beers that I try didn’t work out so well. I am not sure why that is but I am going to give it a go this year. Maybe by using Untappd on my phone I can use that as a reminder instead of keeping a separate text list.
I’ll kick off the new year with what I had during my long weekend in Central California. I visited my parents & brother for a late Christmas and took a bottle of “You’ll Shoot Your Eye Out, Kid” with me. It’s a winter warmer (with the typical spices etc.) that is made with 20% by volume organic apple cider during the boil. It was quite interesting indeed but probably one of those brews that I am glad I tried once but will probably not revisit. This was brewed by Noble Ale Works and I’m surprised I hadn’t heard of them before as they are just up the road from me in Anaheim.
We went to the Firestone Walker taproom/restaurant for dinner so I started off with a taster of Unfiltered DBA. The normal DBA (Double Barrel Ale) is partially fermented in wood barrels but this version was 100% from barrels. I didn’t see a big difference in taste myself, it was good be just slightly different than the normal stuff.
My other taster was the Double DBA. This was a limited release back in July 2012 (3500 cases) and I picked up a bottle at that time. About a week later I couldn’t decide if I wanted to drink it then or cellar it. I decided to do both and went hunting for a second bottle but couldn’t find one. I decided to cellar it after all so it was a pleasant surprise to get a chance to try it on tap last week. It was really good and not boozy at all. I think I’ll break it out for its first birthday.
Lastly I had one of my favorite porters ever, Velvet Merlin, on nitro. It was even better that way with a super creamy head. I tried the 805 blonde for the first time and it was okay but I prefer brunettes over blondes in general. I ended up bringing some home since my parents didn’t want to finish off their case.
That all being said I’ll give it the old college try this year to post at least 2-3 times per month with my favorite new beers; if I get into the groove maybe I’ll get to the weekly updates of everything I’ve tried that week.
