Beer Review- West and Southwest Beers

My parents recently returned to the Midwest from their winter in Arizona and my dad brought back some beers for me that I don't have access to here in Minnesota. He brought back Santa Fe Brewing Company's Wheat, Stone Arrogant Bastard, Alaskan Brewing Company's Winter Ale, Bear Republic Hop Rod Rye, and Ballast Point Brewing Company's Callico Amber Ale. I had asked him to bring me some Stone, but was really excited about the collection he brought. I've reviewed Alaska's Winter Ale before, an excellent beer with a hint of spruce (and made me realize how bad my Frozen Beard spruce extract experiment really was!). So I'm going to review the other three beers he brought, which were all very good.

The first beer I sampled was Santa Fe Wheat, which was a big hit amongst my family. This was an outstanding beer, I imagine it would be great in the heat of New Mexico. It pours a cloudy light golden yellow with a thin white head. A nice aroma of clove and apple cider. There is kind of a cidery after taste, but its really a nice flavor that I wasn't expecting and it makes it unique from other wheats I've had. Crisp and light, with some nice soft sweetness, this beer was an excellent Bavarian wheat.
This is a beer that I could drink a lot of, especially on a hot day. I think wheats can be hit or miss, but this one is the former, a great drinking wheat with plenty of flavor and enough uniqueness to stand out.

My dad and I cracked open the bottle of Ballast Point's Calico Amber, a San Diego beer, that boasts several awards at the GABF. Amber ales are one of my favorite styles, as they can be a perfect balance of hoppiness, maltiness and biscuit flavors and we both thought that this didn't dissapoint. It pours a cloudy amber orange with a thin white head. Floral hop aroma with hints of citrus, biscuit and bread. There is a wonderful balance of biscuit, malty sweetness and some lingering hop bitterness. Nothing outstanding about this beer, just a really well balanced nice drinking amber ale.

Bear Republic Hop Rod Rye- This is a beer I'd had on a trip to Chicago and I'm happy to see that they distrubute in Wisconsin, so it might be a beer I can find on occasion. This beer was really good! It pours a dark brown with some ruby red hues and a big, two and 1/2 finger off white head. There is a wonderful hoppy aroma, piney, citrusy, and peppery. The rye gives it a nice spiciness, and the hops are bitter, but not overwhelming. It has some nice sweetness and just a wonderful combination of flavors. This beer could be a new favorite, I'm wishing I would have had more bottles of it to drink! A unique beer that is great mix of hops and malt. There is 8% alcohol, but it isn't noticeable amongst the great amount of flavor that is going on. A nice creamy mouthfeel makes this beer very drinkable and it gets better as it warms up. Great beer, and I didn't remember it being this good the last time I had it.

I have yet to drink the Arrogant Bastards he brought me, but was excited by these suprises. More to come.

Salud!

The Bearded Brewer