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Tasting Room

Penrose Brewing Company – Geneva Illinois

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Penrose was quite the drive from an already out of the way sub-area of Chicago. Getting to Penrose from downtown Chicago would probably take at least an hour on a good day on the toll roads. Still, I saw a number of sours on their menu and heard some great things about their brews so we took the drive out there. While I was there I tried the white IPA, Belgian IPA, Mandarina sour, Deminus Roux sour, and Lemongrass saison.

Initial four tasters.
Initial four tasters.

The white IPA had a solid lemon and pine flavor from the hops with a medium amount of bitterness on the aftertaste. I was surprised that the Belgian yeast was not very prominent. Compared to the light golden white IPA the Belgian IPA was a darker more orange color with more resinous hop flavors and strong bitter aftertaste. Though I was surprised by how bitter this was it was nicely balanced in that the hops went well with the malts and yeast.

Chicago - Penrose 02

The Mandarina sour was very dry and highly carbonated with both a light golden color and a very light body fitting to its 4% alcohol. It was very medium sour and had a light citrus kick. Comparatively the Deminus Roux was a darker amber color and the flavor came through with very strong grapefruit and a heavy bitter aftertaste. This didn’t seem particularly sour either but was dominated by the grapefruit flavor that was very reminiscent of eating fresh grapefruit. All of the bitterness seemed like there was quite a bit of hops in there though it may have been from grapefruit rind. This was a favorite of one of the people I tasted with but the grapefruit was too much for me.

Chicago - Penrose 03

Before leaving I ordered a taster of the Lemongrass saison hoping that it would satisfy me in a way that I hadn’t yet been by the previous four tasters. I was quite glad when I took a sip because it had all of the delicious funk I expect from a proper saison with plenty of bright spice flavors and a light lemon kick on the back. This was also quite carbonated and some in my group who were not familiar with saisons were a bit surprised by the flavors. I savored this taster all to myself as the best from my visit. If I happen to visit them again I will certainly look for more saisons.

The place emptied out while we were there when most of the people went in for a tour. We enjoyed the quiet.
The place emptied out while we were there when most of the people went in for a tour. We enjoyed the quiet.

Top 2:
Lemongrass Saison
White IPA

Paul McGuire

Paul McGuire is a craft beer enthusiast. He likes to travel with his husband and enjoy the great outdoors. In his day job, Paul is a divorce attorney serving clients in San Diego California.

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Tasting Room

Magnetic Brewing Company – Kearney Mesa San DIego

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Magnetic Brewing is currently in their soft opening phase and when I visited had only been open for two weeks and had five beers on tap. The head brewer is said to have some 8 years of home brewing experience and it certainly shows in the beers that he is pouring. The brewery has also been in development for quite some time and many have been eagerly awaiting its debut. I had heard a lot of praise from the few people who visited earlier and overall I was not disappointed. They are certainly doing a great job for such a new brewery.

Magnetic Brewing 01

In total I tasted the brown ale (8%), wit beer (8%), Amber, IPA, and pale ale. I mention the ABV of the first two because they are a bit higher than typical for the styles and it will help explain some flavors I noticed in them. To start with the brown ale is a deliciously smooth and medium sweet beer brewed with brown sugar added. The malts give it a tasty caramel flavor that blends nicely with the sugar to give it just the right amount of sweetness while remaining drinkable. Considering its strength it had only a fairly minor alcohol bite at the back end.

Magnetic Brewing 02

The wit beer really let the added spices shine through its higher alcohol that smooths everything out and gives it a much more chewy body. It almost tasted like a cake with the combination of sweetness and spices. The alcohol doesn’t hide here much and it has a medium boozy finish but I still thought it was overall very tasty. The amber has much the same caramel flavor as the brown from the malts with some mild earthy hops. I thought the hops blended well with the rest of the beer but it got out-shined by the more flavorful earlier beers.

Taster flight at Magnetic.
Taster flight at Magnetic.

The IPA first hit me as being a bit too piney but as it warmed up and I got through the taster I found it to have a great balance with a light malt body and flavors of resin and pine. The IPA drinks really nice and probably would have made a great pint. Comparatively, the pale was a bit strange to me. It smelled like sharp aged cheese and the flavor was overly sweet with a lot of pineapple and mango flavor. It seemed like a solid recipe behind it but it didn’t come out right. I talked to some brewers later who suggested that the strange scent I noticed has to do with old hops.

The disappointing pale aside, I thought the lineup at Magnetic was quite good and they have some serious talent in the brewer that will go on to do great things. Fans of sweeter stouts and porters will certainly enjoy the brown and it will be hard for a hop head to not enjoy the IPA.  Because they only had five beers I will select a top 2 instead of the usual top 3.

Top two:
Brown Ale
IPA

Paul McGuire

Paul McGuire is a craft beer enthusiast. He likes to travel with his husband and enjoy the great outdoors. In his day job, Paul is a divorce attorney serving clients in San Diego California.

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Tasting Room

Mother Earth Brewing Company, Vista CA

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Mother Earth is one of those breweries that I heard a lot about but rarely tasted. Fairly recently I tried their Boo-Koo IPA for the first time and knew I should visit the tap room sometime soon. Located in the center of Vista, Mother Earth is thankfully close to the 78 freeway and easy to find. The tap room is large and has a good amount of seating and room for dogs. Aside from four core beers on tap they also had a few interesting special release beers available.

Mother Earth Brewing 01
I tried the Boo-Koo IPA, Roundabout Oatmeal Stout, Make up Your Mind IPA, Sin Tax peanut butter stout, and Quit Stalin bourbon barrel aged imperial stout. The Boo-Koo is a delicious light body and light colored IPA with lots of citrus and tropical fruit and medium bitterness. This one recently showed up in six-pack cans and is one of their best major beers.

Mother Earth Brewing 03
The Roundabout Oatmeal Stout was listed as a smaller specialty beer but it was so good I wouldn’t be surprised if it joins the main lineup at some point. The beer was dry and roasty with a nice bitter chocolate finish. Though it was a low 5.4% alcohol it was bursting with flavor. I liked it so much that I took home a crowler (32oz can they fill on the spot for you to take home). The Make Up Your Mind IPA was a delicious tropical fruit/juicy IPA also with the light color and medium bitterness. The biggest difference between this and the Boo-Koo is the sweeter hop flavors that dominate.

Mother Earth Brewing 02

The Sin Tax is a strong 8% peanut butter imperial stout with an intense and overpowering peanut butter flavor that adds a bit of sweetness and makes the beer seem a bit syrupy. The peanut butter flavor is similar to the Belching Beaver peanut butter milk stout. The underlying stout is a bit typical and tasty but I found this one too sweet. My husband liked it though. I ended with the Quit Stalin bourbon barrel aged imperial stout. This was very impressive, giving a strong stout background and plenty of sweet bourbon flavor. Everything balanced quite nicely, avoiding any strong boozy flavors.

Mother Earth Brewing 04
Mother Earth has two locations and I visited the Main Street location. Their web site says that this location tends to get a more wide selection of beers. There is also a home brew shop next door. Overall Mother Earth is a very impressive brewery giving the right focus on their core beers while also brewing some smaller batch stuff. I happened to visit them after Wavelength brewing next door and I found Mother Earth to be the more impressive of the two, though they are also much older and established.

Paul McGuire

Paul McGuire is a craft beer enthusiast. He likes to travel with his husband and enjoy the great outdoors. In his day job, Paul is a divorce attorney serving clients in San Diego California.

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Tasting Room

Wavelength Brewing Company – San Marcos CA

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Located walking distance from Mother Earth Brewing is a new brewery called Wavelength with a science-fiction theme and a nice open welcoming space. The day I stopped by they had a gaming day (board games) with a number of people gathered to play against each other while enjoying beers. They also like to project the live feed from the International Space Station on the wall. The beer selection was fairly large for what I expect to see for a young brewery. There were plenty of interesting additional ingredients used.

Wavelength Brewing 01

While I was there I tried the Halley’s IPA, an English style IPA, Grapefruit IPA, Guava IPA, Olympus Mons Rye IIPA, Red Shift hibiscus red ale, and Dos Attack IIPA. Halley’s IPA was a solid English style IPA with a good mix of apricot and tropical fruit flavors from the hops and a medium amount of bitterness.

Tasting flight at Wavelength.
Tasting flight at Wavelength.

The grapefruit IPA was much more intense on the grapefruit than most local offerings. The grapefruit flavors were so strong that I had a hard time detecting much from the underlying beer itself. It was pretty much like drinking grapefruit juice with a similar strong aftertaste to what you would expect. The guava was similarly fruit forward although I could taste a little more of the underlying IPA behind it. The citrus hops seemed to blend well with the guava. This one was a bit more crisp and less bitter than the grapefruit without any crazy aftertaste.

Wavelength Brewing 02

The Olympus Mons Rye IIPA was a combination of intense earthy flavors from the rye and an even more powerful smoke flavor from peat malt in the background. Any hop flavors got buried under the two strong flavors leaving a strong bitterness to round it out. I found this beer quite difficult to enjoy and did not end up finishing the taster. The Red Shift hibiscus red had a very nice combination of caramel and dark fruit flavors in the malts, making it similar to a porter at times. The hibiscus flavor did not come in the form of the usual sweet flavors but served as a bittering agent giving it a strong bitter after taste. To me the hibiscus clashed a little too much with an otherwise strong red ale.

Wavelength Brewing 03

Finally the Dos Attack IIPA was a mostly hop forward brew with bright flavors of guava and tropical fruit on the front end. Sadly, these flavors get overpowered by a soapy after taste at the back possibly caused by too much of one of the hops. Like the hibiscus red before it, the after taste took away from what seemed to be an otherwise solid beer. I did not finish this taster either.

Wavelength is barely six months old and many of the beers are still a work in progress. None of the beers I tasted jumped out at me in such a way that I would say you should try that one. I also did not try their lighter options so I don’t know if they are getting those right. Still, if you are in the mood for hops presented in a now common San Diego style you should head next door to Mother Earth instead.

Top 2:
Halley’s IPA
Grapefruit IPA

Paul McGuire

Paul McGuire is a craft beer enthusiast. He likes to travel with his husband and enjoy the great outdoors. In his day job, Paul is a divorce attorney serving clients in San Diego California.

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Tasting Room

Offbeat Brewing Company – Escondido CA

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Located just a stone’s throw from Stone Brewing Company’s main location in Escondido I wondered going in how Offbeat Brewing manages to compete with the giant brewery. After tasting things it was clear that they have a very different approach to their beers, especially the hoppy ones, and they fill a completely different niche than the aggressive hoppy beers from Stone. I’ve talked to people who normally don’t like West Coast style IPAs who like the beers here.

These guys are so off beat they have this bizarre yet awesome mural on the wall.
These guys are so off beat they have this bizarre yet awesome mural on the wall.

Though Offbeat has been open for nearly three years they don’t have the same level of experimentation you see at other breweries. Instead they have a core set of five beers that they typically have on tap that all have a similar mellow English hop flavor going. I tried the Session Pale, Brown, ESB, IPA, and Sagecat IPA while I was there.

Offbeat brewing company taster flight.
Taster flight when I visited.

The Session Pale was a light golden color beer with a good fruity flavor from the hops. This is an interesting comparison to the typical bitter citrus-forward San Diego session IPAs. The brown ale was a bit more dark and roasty than the average local brown. Both color wise and flavor wise it is closer to a porter than a brown. The roast flavors are balanced nicely by some mild earthy hops.

Offbeat brewing beer list.
Beer list when I visited.

The ESB was surprisingly flavorful for a 3.4% beer with lots of earthy and fruity flavors from the English hops. The IPA is 7.7% but isn’t very bitter and tends to be more apricot flavor with a smooth malt background. The flavors balance very nicely and there is very little of the signature west coast hop bitterness. Considering the mellow flavor, it was a perfect choice to add the peppercorns for the Sagecat IPA. Peppercorns add a nice mild spice kick and a sweetness in the aftertaste.

Offbeat Brewing 03

With a limited lineup and a very different selection than its neighbors it is easy to stop by Offbeat on your way to your favorite brewery in the area for a taster or two. If you haven’t yet explored the English style of IPA this is a great place to do it.

Offbeat Brewing 01

Top 2:
Brown Ale
IPA

Paul McGuire

Paul McGuire is a craft beer enthusiast. He likes to travel with his husband and enjoy the great outdoors. In his day job, Paul is a divorce attorney serving clients in San Diego California.

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