Tengo Gatos in Mis Pantalones: San Jose, California

There was absolutely no reason for that title at all... I mean none.  I mean, other then the fact that the brewery I am talking about this week is called Los Gatos, but even that isn't an excuse.  A very real part of me that never matured past the age of about six demanded I commit that phrase to print.

Anyway, yes, this week it's Los Gatos Brewing Company in San Jose.

I wanted to talk about this place last week, but on the day I went to slip inside for a pint or two I found out that the bar was closed due to a company party... the entire bar.  That was probably a bad sign.

When I stopped by again, I was rather disappointed by their selection.  They only had four beers on tap, and I only had the urge to try three of them.  What can I say?  I doubt that this brewery, of all breweries is going to redefine the pilsner style for me.

Also there was the price.  This bar, she be pricy.  That, in and of itself is not unusual in the world of craft brewing; you get what you pay for after-all.  The beer here was good, but not that special and the food was sub-par for the price.

All in all, this is a place where people with big-important downtown jobs go after work to talk about how important their jobs are.  Not really my environ.

DunkleWeisen

Cats Meow Continental Ale: The term 'continental ale' was new to me as well.  The bartender gave me a long description of the style that basically boiled down to this:  The brewer got tired of calling it an octoberfest, so he calls it a 'continental ale.'
Okay to be fair, it's kind of an amber crossed with a pale.  The aroma was grassy and the flavor was dominated by a grassy, pine hop profile.  The beer finished very bitter.

DunkleWeisen:  I have notice that I have a love-hate relationship with this style.  Well, maybe not love-hate, per se.  It's more like a love-...meh, relationship. The aroma was wonderful, like a chocolate covered bananna.  The flavor is a bit of a let down as it lacks some of the intensity of the aroma.  But it does have a nice malty taste with just a hint of clove spice.

Wild Bay

Wild Bay Mild Ale:  This beer was available on tap or cask-conditioned, so I went with the latter.  It came out with a toasted, caramel aroma.  It was malty off the top with some woody oak or hickory flavors combined with a bit of leather.  It finished with a bite of bitter hops.






So, meh not really my top ten.  But lest this post come across as overly negative; one thing I did like was the men's bathroom door.  So... you know.  That's something.  Cheers!

Astride Beer Nation

Today's post is one of those where I take a bunch of random beers I've sampled in my travels and pack them into one post.  In this case, it is beer from literally all over the country.  There a some beers from Maine to California... and New York and Utah and Louisiana.  What I'm trying to say is I've got six random beers from five random states.

All five were from a couple of beer bars stuck here and there.  First, Lager's Ale House in New Orleans, which I have already spoken of.  The other was The Brit in San Jose.

A few words about that bar, overall it was a lot of fun.  The staff there was just fun.  Besides keeping the beer flowing they would hang around and bullshit, which was kind of cool given it was slow there.  They had a free beer tasting on the night I was there and a strange act where a guy drug his guitar onto the stage and invited patrons to sing karaoke-style while he played.  Ironically, less irritating then actual karaoke.  I think the thought of playing with actual musical accompaniment keeps the more tone-deaf away.

Anyway, beer!

Brooklyn Brewing Company, Brown Ale:  This beer has a malty caramel coffee aroma.  The flavors start off sweet with some light dark cherry flavors.  It finishes moderately dry with slightly bitter black coffee.

Abita Brewing, Raspberry Wheat: Pretty much as advertised, a very sweet, fruity beer.  That's about as simple as it gets.  This is the type of beer people talk about when they say, "I don't like fruit beer."

Firestone DBA

Firestone Walker Brewing, Firestone DBA (Double Barrel Ale):  This English bitter has really no aroma to speak of.  Flavor has just a hint of fruit sweetness before spicy, lemony hops dominate the flavor.  On the hoppier side of a session beer, but still a good choice to pour back a few.

Allahash White Ale: Tons of clove and banana in the aroma of this wheat beer.  I picked up a similar profile in the flavor with maybe a little bit of cider flavor added.  Finishes with floral hops.

Hermitage Hoptopia

Hermitage Brewery, Hoptopia IPA: Local selection while I was on the West Coast.  I got citrus and a hint of caramel on the aroma.   I got a hint of caramel and maybe peach off the top just before it was plowed the hell down by citrus hops and a whole lot of heavy bitter herbal, back of the throat flavor that was going to be there for a while.

Unita Brewing Company, Hop Notch:  Just a little bit of floral citrus aroma.  The flavor was a slightly different combination of hops then normal.  I got lots of light grassy flavors off the top followed by intense pine, medicinal flavors shortly after.  Not terribly good, but, like I said, different.

Back to more of the regular format next week for another report from San Jose.

Cheers!

Lala Land: Los Angeles California

Down in sunny Southern California which is cloudy and cold just to really annoy me. I've got a lot of friends in this area.  When I sat down and thought about it, I travel so much that I have more friends in this city then in the one I call home.  Anyway, knowing me like they do they took me out to a local brewery and didn't get annoyed when I started tapping out notes about the beer I was drinking mid-conversation.

 Redondo Beach Brewing Company is located in a marketplace district outside the tourist heavy spots making it a nice place to go and hide for a minute.  It's more or less your standard brewpub;  good eats, a small but fairly distinguished selection of beer on tap, all in all a fun place.   They had six beers on tap while I was there and got a sample of each.

Rat Beach Red: I suspect there might be a story behind the name of this beer, but bugger if anyone seems to know.  It has a very light aroma.   The flavor packs a lot of citrus and clove with a slightly roasted background.  Fairly nice lighter session beer.

Pale Ale: This became one of my favorites.  It has a fairly intense citrus and floral aroma.  Northwest citrus hops dominate the flavor, but do so without packing a huge load of back-of-the-throat bitterness.  It's smooth, easily drinkable and just slightly sweet enhancing the floral citrus flavors of the hops.

Blueberry Wheat:  The sample of this selection came out with about five or six little blueberries in the glass, but I'm not completely convinced they actually brew with blueberries at all.  No aroma and a light slightly sweet malty flavor.  There is some fruity flavors that might be blueberry, but it doesn't stand out at all.  It's just a very light wheat beer. 

Rodondo Beach Blonde:  Another very light ale.   The flavor is also just slightly sweet and malty but there's just not a lot to pick out.  Mostly likely a beer designed for the die-hard domestic fans.

Double IPA:  Heavy floral citrus aroma.   The flavor starts slightly sweet with a hint of light fruit before becoming dominated by bitter floral, citrus hops. The finish is very dry and bitter.

Double Dark IPA: I really really liked the aroma on this beer, it had lots of caramel, coffee and mocha in there.  The sweetness didn't show up in the flavor as much and was mostly  bitter coffee and unsweetened chocolate against some floral hops that lingered just in the background  It was kind of a strange combination but very effective overall.

Wandering around this state a little longer, back with reports from San Jose next week.
Cheers!

Me So Horny: Milwaukee Wisconsin

Contrary to what the title might suggest, no, I didn't accidentally post my adult dating site ad on my beer blog... WHICH I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT BEING HAPPILY MARRIED AS I AM!

No seriously, I deleted that thing years ago.

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Too much information?  Okay, let's talk beer.

Not exactly the sunniest place on Earth.

This weeks selection comes from brew city, Horny Goat Brewing Company.  Their beer is available in bottles all over the Wisconsin and the surrounding area.  In Milwaukee they have their brew pub, the Horny Goat Hideaway.  The brewpub consists of the main building and a series of open patios and a satellite bar that's little more then a shed that can be opened on warm, sunny days.  It struck me as a little weird since Wisconsin isn't know for having a lot of really nice weather, especially this time of year.  I'm sure this place is spectacular in the summer having a great deal of area to sit outside with a cold one, but when I was there... yeah even with gas-powered fires in the patio, it was the exclusive domain of the few smokers persistent enough to risk hypothermia for their fix. Everyone else crowded in the main bar with something strong and warming.

Horny Blonde Ale: Light ale with a faint lemony aroma.  It pack quite a bit of flavor for a traditionally light style.  It's flavor starts light and lemony goes to slightly heavier medicinal hops later.

Baby Got Bock: This is their spring seasonal. It seems a bit early, but spring probably can't come fast enough in this state.  It starts with a very light herbal aroma.  The flavor is also light with warm malty flavors, and lightly, grassy hops I'm tasting towards the end with a little bit of light peach fruit mixed in as well.

Hopped Up and Horny: Starts out with a light floral aroma. Bitter floral hops dominate the flavor profile here with a dry, bitter finish that really lingers on the palate.

Brownie Porter: A slightly different take on a very common style, the object of this creation was to end up with a freshly baked brownie in a glass.  Not normally the flavor one associates with beer, but the result was remarkably good.  There was a heavy cinnamon and nutmeg aroma. The flavor was much lighter.  I tasted brown sugar, cinnamon and spices.   The only downside is the bitter herbal aftertaste that just seems out of place in this beer.

Stacked Milk Stout and a pulled pork pizza.

Stacked Milk Stout:  This beer has a very light chocolate aroma. In the flavor, I got some vanilla, coffee and cream and dark malts.  Not overly complex, just enough to add a little depth to this perfect cold-weather beer.

Chocolate Cherry Stout:   No aroma to speak of here.   The flavor was not what I expected, I get the fruit off the top among the chocolate and coffee, but it finishes very dry and more than a little bitter.  This strikes me as good fruit beer for those that do not like fruit beers.

Double IPA: Heavy floral aroma here.  Huge hit of floral Cascade hops in the flavor.  It has some lighter malt to help with the balance, but this one borders on a hop bomb; not too intense, but getting pretty close.

That's all from the frozen wastes of Wisconsin for now.  Next week, I'm off to Southern California for a more hospitable climate and more beer.