I recently sent some beers to Rick @ [BW] Beer Blog, and in exchange, he sent me a box of beer. A nice collection of Oregon and Washington beers, I was super excited to dive into them. Included were two beers from Laurelwood Brewing Company, their Green Elephant Organic IPA and Mother Lode Golden Ale.Of course knowing my love for organic and sustainable brewing practices, this was a great pick from Rick since Laurelwood has a number of organic beers, and from the looks of it, a number of organic/sustainable practices at their brewpub. But onto the beer:
My next beer is going to be an organic IPA, so I was very excited to crack open the Green Elephant Organic IPA first. It pours a nice golden orange with a thin white head. A wonderful aroma of sweet citrus and slight honey presence. Right away you taste a great citrus sweetness, along with some nice malty sweetness and a faint bitterness. Flavorful and hoppy, but smooth and easy drinking. A great IPA, and something I'd like my own organic IPA to resemble.
Mother Lode Golden Ale: This beer pours a straw golden color with a big three finger white head. A nice aroma of lemon and herbal notes, flowery and sweet. I didn't know what to excpect but was really pleasently suprised. A great aroma leads to a nice, light, balanced ale. Smooth with some sweet, lemony citrus notes. A great flowery hop presence, with a very sublte bitterness and dryness in the finish. I have to admit when I opened the box I wasn't as excited about this beer as some of the others. But sometimes those are the best surprises, this proved to be a very nice drinking golden ale with more complexity than expected and nice, soft flowery hops throughout the beer.
A brewery I'd love to get more beers from, these were both excellent, and based on what I read about their brewery, sounds like a place right up my alley. More reviews to come, as I have another IPA, a double IPA, and a stout left to consume. I'm excited Rick is back to his excellent reviews after his summer hiatus, and I'm curious on his thoughts on the beers I sent.
Salud!
Bearded Brewer
3 comments:
Last September I took a trip out to Oregon and went on a week-long beer tasting circuit. Of all the breweries I went to (around 10 or 12), Laurelwood was tied with Deschutes as my favorites of the trip.
All of Laurelwood's beers were so flavorful and fresh. None of them disappointed. My two favorites from the sampler were the Organic Free Range Red and the Boss IPA. Amazing beer they brew out there. Man, I miss it!
thanks for the comment. I need to get out there. Rick (who sent me the beer) is a big fan of Deschutes as well. The first box he sent me included their Green Lakes Organic Amber that was amazing.
I was in Oregon for the Brewers Fest in July and hit Laurelwood as well as a few other places. All of Laurelwood's beers are phenomenal. Workhorse IPA is a show stopper.
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