Cadeau du Barrique and Baseball

Sometimes I get an idea for a post, but fail to see it through-this is one such entry from a year ago. In honor of the return of baseball season, I thought I’d float this photo out there today. Cadeau was one of Fall River’s experiments, I think, a Pino Noir barrel aged Saison ale. The result was a Complex, strawberry delicious Concoction that I wish I’d had the sense to review when it was in. Bring it back, guys! Baseball and beer make such great companions -so here’s to the return of the Season . Cheers!

Takeout Rye IPA

Takeout hails from Squatters Craft Beers, a Utah institution since 1989.  It brings a solid 6.25% ABV in a 12oz bottle.  The label bears an old photo of some curlers, I think, going nuts over a stone knocked out of place.  The ale itself is multi-toned, pale amber in the glass with a tall head that dissipates quickly.  It’s clear filtered with plenty of bubbles.

The ale smells faintly of toasted malt with heavy hop overtones.  I’m drinking this in the wrong venue, my sunny backyard.  The bottle suggests using it to stay warm in winter.  Yet, the smell is inviting…something of brown sugar.  In the mouth it’s light at first, but the rye and hops combine forces to clamp down on my whole tongue.  The rye is at once sweet and spicy.  Abundant hops waits around the edges, lengthening the pleasant bitterness while leaving room for the bite of rye in the middle.  It feels like a firecracker.  It grabs the tongue in a bitter, fiery vice that gives way to a comfortable numbness, begging for another sip.

Overall, the bottle is right.  This is a spicy adventure of a beer that warms the palate and bites-but bites with flavor, not alcohol.  The rye and hops battle for supremacy on the edges of the palate.  It’s a rich, comforting sort of bitter.  Like the old guy on the front, ribbing his companion every time the throw is off, and his outburst the one time the stones connect, it’s all in good fun – the whole experience leaves one completely satisfied.

329 Days of Sun Lager

So…I’ve had two reviews published at trektechblog.com.  This was the first, albeit edited from my original.  Here’s what I had to say:

This is the signature lager from Golden Road Brewing in Los Angeles, CA http://www.goldenroad.la/ .  They’re a relatively new brewery, founded in 2011, and greater LA is glad to have them.  Committed to sustainability, all of Golden Road’s core brews are distributed in cans.  The 329 packs an easy drinking 4.8% ABV and comes in a 12oz can…a gorgeous item with palm trees cast as black silhouettes against a bright red and orange sunset.  The digits 329 sit prominently on the front.  I didn’t pour it – the can was the perfect utility for my drinking venue.  It’s a lager.  How many ways can we say yellow?

The click, pop, and aspiration of opening a can speak volumes of refreshment and relaxation.  It smells like an April ballpark, like the faintest hint of apricot-a breeze of a nose.  Really though, it smells like beer. Onward, to the hot tub!  This beer’s taste is open, refreshing, light, and proudly unsophisticated.  With that much sunshine, it’s exactly what you want and is in keeping with the grand tradition of light lagers.  There’s a hint of mild, sweet malt at the end.  The mouth feel on this one was…cold.  I rushed home from having been handed these beers to sample, and threw the 329 in the freezer.  There’s little carbonation, more like the foam on an ocean wave than a real head…remember that’s just how it felt in the mouth…I probably should have poured out a little to see the color (and for my homies)…but I didn’t.

Overall, 329 Days of Sun feels refreshing and uncomplicated.  It’s perfect for a day at the beach, or tubing down the creek (hint: no glass…the beauty of cans is highlighted once again).  I’ve found Golden Road’s offerings to be quality across the board, and 329 lives up to those expectations.  LA has been missing a solid distributed craft brewery-San Diego is teeming with them-but, here, we’ve finally found a bright spot in the land of sunny beaches and packed freeways.

PS…my sample package had two of these, so I poured the second in a glass to see the color and head.  It’s yellow, Golden yellow.