I recently moved to
Pacific Grove California where I have had the chance to try a few of the
somewhat local craft beers.
I say somewhat, only because I’m not too knowledgeable about
the geography of California but, what I have had so far isn’t too far from
here.
First off I had a few beers from Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing Company. One of their big selling points
is Organic Beer. Which, I’m not entirely sure I taste the difference to be
honest. It’s good, and the bottles are
quite large. I got a mixed six pack of 1pint 8ounce bottles for around 12
dollars. Not too bad of a deal really.
The pack I had contained an Amber Ale, which was a good
standalone beer, not too strong, very mild hoppy flavor with 5% ABV, A good
very drinkable beverage. It was probably my favorite of the three.
The second was an Organic IPA, another which wasn’t bad.
Quite hoppy, as to be expected, good finish fairly bitter, 7% ABV.
The last was called The Peoples Porter. Apparently it is
brewed with coffee and vanilla, both of which had very subtle hints. I was
drinking it cold, though I’m under the impression it might have been better at
room temperature. 5% ABV a hearty reasonably full bodied drink.
A few of the others I’ve had recently include a selection
from the Speakeasy Ales and Lagers from San Francisco: The Prohibition Ale, Big
Daddy IPA, and Tallulah IPA.
Prohibition Ale was pretty good. I had “Prohibition Style”
ale before and I was not impressed. I believe the one I did not like was Batch
19 (a sneaky Coors beer in disguise).
This one however was much better. Fairly bold taste, slight caramel
flavoring, a nice rich color. Not bad overall, very tasty.
Big Daddy IPA was pretty standard as IPA’s go. Not amazing,
drinkable, but I preferred the Prohibition Ale instead.
The last of the ones I tried from them was Tallulah Extra
Pale Ale, an interesting drink, starts with a slightly fruity note then leaves
off with the hoppy slightly dry finish, very flavorful, a pretty interesting
drink if you like pale ales.
From English Ales Brewing Company I had Dragon Slayer IPA
and 1066 Pale Ale. Both of which were good.
The Dragon Slayer was very dark; not such a high ABV only
5.2% but it had a lot of flavor. I had it with dinner one night; it was amazing
with a roast beef sandwich.
The 1066 pale ale was definitely what it said, a standard
pale ale, light taste, reasonably hoppy 6% ABV. I’m looking forward to trying
more of their brews soon.
The last drink of this update is Alley Cat amber ale from
Lost Coast Brewing Company. At 5.5% ABV
it is quite drinkable. Lots of flavor, good color and a reasonable price for a
six pack, something like 8 dollars. It has a slight caramel taste to it with a
mild hops aftertaste. Another company I
look forward to sampling more beverages from.
As a whole it has been fairly eventful. I recently met
another beer enthusiast locally, we plan on making a trip soon to get to a few
of these breweries. I’m very excited for
the new beverages to try on the west coast. Thanks for reading.
Cheers!