Victory Brewing - HopDevil Ale

Hop Devil is a 6.6% ABV IPA that is brewed year round in Pennsylvania. We get some Victory beers out here in California, including their fantastic Helios Ale (saison,) but I can't say I've seen the HopDevil (one word, I guess.) Therefore, as with so many other beers I've reviewed in the last several months, I got this bottle in a trade!

UPDATE: HopDevil has been sold in California, so I assume that it has been distributed here and perhaps continues to be distributed here, even if I haven't happened to spot it.

Appearance: This beer is a light amber that on first pour appeared to be cloudy and opaque, but actually became very clear as it warmed. As you can see from the photo, the head on this one isn't very thick, and it recedes down to about nothing and leaves very little on the sides of the glass.

Smell: This has a really nice hop-based aroma of pine, some citrus, and some definitely floral character. As it warms, bready sweet caramel malty notes become more apparent, but the hops still come first.

Taste: Mostly grassy and piney, with some hints of orange or grapefruit. The malt is a lot less apparent in the taste than it is in the nose, even when warm. The taste is all hop bitterness, with a tiny bit of heat from the alcohol, but nothing overwhelming.

Mouthfeel: On the lighter side of medium, this is a pleasant mouthfeel that isn't especially dry or sticky. I usually do like a more dry finish, but the overall lightness of this made a dry finish not quite as necessary.

Overall: This was a pretty solid IPA that had some great earthy flavor. It's not at the top of my list but I wouldn't mind drinking it again.

3.5/5

Founders - Red's Rye Pale Ale

This was another beer I got in a trade from a beer drinker in the Midwest, since we don't get Founders here in CA. Red's Rye is a year-round rye-based pale ale that clocks in at 6.6% ABV.

Appearance: This beer is a deep reddish amber in color, with a moderate amount of head that doesn't leave too much lacing on the sides of the glass.

Smell: A heavy aroma of caramel malt, spicy rye, dark berries. The hop aroma is fading, as this bottle is a few months old, but I still get faint traces of pine.

Taste: It's Similar to the smell, I taste bready grain and rye character, with some spice and grassy pine. The fruit character, though, is more citrusy than it is berry-like.

Mouthfeel: A great medium creamy body, with a nice dry finish. I definitely appreciate this mouthfeel, as it is at once rich, light, and effervescent.

Overall: I wish I could have tried a more fresh bottle. The rye and yeast characteristics were very nice here, but the hops were fading and outside of the pine notes I mostly just tasted the characteristic heavy maltiness that is signature for an older pale ale or IPA. Even so, this was not a bad beer and I really enjoyed the mouthfeel, so that helped my overall impression of it. My final score, with a grain of salt:

3.5/5

Birra Amracord - Nero’s Apecchio Red Ale

This is a red ale, imported from Italy, that you can find in your local Trader Joe's for $3! My motivation in picking this one up, truthfully, was partly to try the beer, and partly because it comes in a seriously handy 500ml Grolsch-style bottle. It's a red ale that is 6.5% ABV.

Appearance: The beer is very clear, with a pretty decent head (even in the pint) and a bright copper color.

Smell: Sweet toffee, caramel, bread. It's all very sweet.

Taste: It's mostly malty and estery (sweet fruit.) The same caramel and toffee notes are there, with hints of apple and biscuit. These notes don't jump out at you, though; they're kind of muddled and dull.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied overall, but sticky on the palate. Not very refreshing.

Overall: Not a bad beer, but an unremarkable one. I could do a lot worse for a $3 pint, but I wouldn't go out of my way to grab this again (unless, of course, I wanted another swingtop bottle.)

2.5/5

Bootlegger's Brewing - Rustic Rye

Rustic Rye IPA is a 6.2% ABV year-round treat from Bootlegger's in Fullerton, CA. I picked this bottle up from a local bottle shop here in LA around the winter. Even though this beer is produced year-round, I don't see it making its way up to LA on an extremely consistent basis, so if you're interested in trying it I would recommend grabbing it when you see it.

Appearance: A dull coppery red with a full thick head that recedes down to a minimal foam layer. There is lacing left on the sides of the glass. The beer is mostly opaque, with visible carbonation.

Smell: Rye notes come to the forefront here, there are also characteristics of sweet bread and a hint of spice. I don't get a lot of hop character here. The overall impression on the nose is warm and rich.

Taste: Rye is also the predominant taste characteristic, offering spice and earthy, sweet grain. The hops are much more present on the palate than on the nose: resin and pine pair nicely with the rye notes. There is a little bit of a buttery finish, but not in an infected way; it's just a side-quality of rich breadiness from the yeast.

Mouthfeel: The beer is medium-bodied, pleasant enough but somewhat unremarkable.

Overall: A nice, drinkable rye IPA. The flavors here were well balanced and tasty, but I was not too impressed with the nose and I wouldn't have minded a more dry, light finish on the tongue. This might be a nice beer for an IPA novice since the bitterness isn't overwhelming, and the rye and yeast character is pretty forward.

3.5/5

Three Floyds - Zombie Dust

Zombie Dust is a 6.5% ABV single-hop Pale Ale that's brewed several times a year. I'd guess the brewing schedule has a lot to do with the availability of Citra hops, which are the only hops used in this beer but are not always available in large quantities. So when it's brewed, it has pretty normal Three Floyds distribution, but the batches don't tend to stick around very long because people snatch them up. As with almost all midwest beers, I grabbed Zombie Dust in a trade.

Appearance: Hazy honey-orange, with a nice, full head that tops out at about three fingers in height. There is tons of sticky lacing left on the sides of the glass.

Smell: Amazing. This is one of the best-smelling beers I've ever had. Sweet citrus leaps to the nose -- grapefruit, pineapple, tangerine, and a bit of mango thrown in for good measure! And the notes here are not bitter or sharp at all, like rind; they are the sweet aromatic qualities of the fruits themselves.

Taste: It tastes how it smells, which is to say, fantastic. All of the citrus fruit flavors from the nose are there, plus some nice resin flavors on the backbone which keeps everything from being too fruity and sweet. Though all of these flavors are lent from the hops, there isn't any residual bitterness here at all. It's so tasty and drinkable.

Mouthfeel: Mostly light, a bit oily, but completely palatable.

Overall: This is one fantastic beer. I usually try to refrain from editorializing in the tasting notes, but you can probably tell I was ecstatic about this one. I love Citra hops, and this pale ale is a delicious ode to the possibilities.

5/5, and it's a new favorite going on the side of the blog.

Yards Brewing - IPA

Yards brewery is located in Philadelphia, and this is (from my understanding) their flagship IPA. It's 7% ABV, and a year-round brew. I received this bottle in a trade.

Appearance: The beer is slightly cloudy, with about one finger poured of foamy head. Color is dusky orange. Head retention is okay, with moderate lacing left behind on the glass.

Smell: Nice hop aroma -- citrusy, with a background of sweetness and grain. There are some nice floral notes, but interestingly, the longer I sit with this beer, the less I am able to smell the original notes that I did right off of the pour. I don't know if that's me, or the actual aroma dissipating, but either way it's sad because it smelled nice.

Taste: Pretty well balanced. Hop flavors are held up with a strong and noticeable malt backbone. The main flavors are orange, clover honey, grass, and a touch of pine.

Mouthfeel: It has a thick and bready quality that is in contrast to the subtle, balanced flavor. I may have preferred lighter body because it makes this beer more imposing than it needs to be.

Overall: This is definitely a milder, English-style IPA, which is not my favorite. As I said above, I think I would have liked it a lot better if it drank lighter; it could have been really refreshing and a great day drinker (if not sessionable.) As it is, however, the approximately 6 ounces I have already consumed are sitting pretty heavily in my stomach. I feel like I've already finished the bottle, fullness-wise, but I'm only halfway done. That's a point against it for me, since I didn't really get the kind of hop punch that would warrant the large stomach real estate I'm experiencing here.

3/5

Kern River Brewing Co - 5th Anniversary Ale

I have been lucky enough to try this beauty of a DIPA both on tap at Kern and in the bottle. It's 8% ABV, and though it began as a one-off beer for their 5th anniversary, the brewers up at Kern liked it so much that they started brewing it as a rotating limited release. I haven't seen bottles for sale outside of the brewery, but it's possible they may distribute it in the future if they're increasing production of it.

Pint shot from 'field research' at Kern! LOOK WHO IS FANCY NOW

Appearance: Light, clear straw color with minimal head that recedes at a moderate pace. Both from the tap and the bottle, there was decent lacing on the sides of the glass.

Smell: Spicy fruit, resin, grass. So much bold hop character just leaps off the nose. There is no sign of any malt or yeast aroma here at all.

Taste: There is fruit there, like orange and mango, but the predominant hop flavor that comes across here is pine and earthy resin. Drinking this beer just makes me want to go to the forest and sip it while basking under the foliage. The flavors are crisp, refreshing, and balanced. Despite the boldness of the notes here, it's never cloying or overwhelming.

Mouthfeel: Solid. Kern is so skillful at these hop-dominant brews. It's fairly full-bodied, but it still finishes dry and overall manages to be pretty refreshing and clean finishing.

Overall: This is a world-class DIPA that could stand with the best of them. If I had to choose, I still prefer Citra, but I'd be happy to get my hands on a bottle of this any day. Highly recommended for fans of the style.

5/5

Founders - All Day IPA

Founders calls this one a Session Ale, but also an IPA given the name of the thing. It clocks in at 4.7% ABV. My understanding is that this is available year-round in the normal Founders markets; I received this bottle in a trade.

Appearance: There is visible carbonation that crawls up the side of the glass, but the head is small, only about 1 finger in height, and there is no retention or lacing. Color is light amber with some red tones.

Smell: The smell is grassy and mild, very light. There is an underlying sweetness that rounds off the nose, but the whole effect is still rather subdued.

Taste: There is bright grapefruit and pineapple on the palate that isn't present in the smell. Grassy earth qualities also come through at the finish over a backbone of bready grain and malt. Like the smell, it's very light overall, and refreshing.

Mouthfeel: The body is also very light, though the finish isn't very dry. It's almost chuggable, between the light body, subtle flavor characteristics, and light carbonation.

Overall: For me, this isn't an IPA. It's a very tasty and well-balanced pale ale. Founders acknowledges that it's sessionable right there on the bottle, but it seems a little counter-intuitive to also call it an IPA. It just isn't robust enough. All that said, it's still a tasty beer, one that I would go for on a hot day, and one that I would recommend to friends -- especially those that aren't huge hopheads.

3/5