Tag Archives: Saison

Tasting Room

Fieldwork Brewing – Berkeley California – A Fantastic Young Brewery Making Delicious IPAs and Stouts

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Only a few miles from The Rare Barrel is Fieldwork, another fairly new brewery in the area. Fieldwork is similar to Cellarmaker though they have a few different styles on tap that I didn’t see at Cellarmaker. Their hoppy beers are similar to Cellarmaker in that they are mostly low on the malts and focus on the hop aroma. They also serve a number of solid dark beers, and have a great atmosphere at the tasting room.

Fieldwork 01

Nice open space of the tasting room.
Nice open space of the tasting room.

I tasted a total of 10 beers while I was there. The first flight contained the Farmhouse Wheat, Citra Weisse, Hanging Valley grapefruit saison, Daypack Pale, Morning Time (on nitro), and Chocolate Milk. The second flight included the Burning Daylight IPA, Delta Hoppy Red, Misfit Stream IPA, and Storm Surge double IPA. There were a couple of beers I didn’t taste when I was there because the price of the taster was higher than I wanted to spend (the bourbon barrel aged imperial stout was $5 for a taster).

Full tap list when I visited.
Full tap list when I visited.

The Farmhouse Wheat was a crisp saison with belgian spices and a super light color and body. I found it had a strangely silky mouthfeel and was more thin than the average saison. It didn’t taste like any saison I’ve had before, though it was still a solid saison. By contrast the Citra Weisse berliner weisse had a seriously off-putting vinegar taste in the back end accompanied by a lemon kick from the hops and light amount of salt. Though this may be to style I had a hard time finishing the taster, though I did ultimately finish it. The grapefruit saison was thicker than the Farmhouse Wheat and had a nice grapefruit finish. Though I thought it was better than the first two, it had a bit of a soapy after taste/mouthfeel.

First flight of tasters.
First flight of tasters.

The Daypack Pale ale was a really nice low malt bill pale ale with a citrus/herbal hop character. It was so light that I might have confused it for one of the saisons if I wasn’t smelling the hops. This is a very solid pale ale and gave me a good taste for the delicious IPAs to come later. The Morning Time coffee stout on Nitro had a nice nutty coffee flavor, though slightly acidic. It was nice and light body and very smooth on nitro. This was a very nice beer though it got overshadowed by the Chocolate Milk. Chocolate Milk was a smooth brown ale with a delicious milk chocolate flavor and a light body. I loved how it wasn’t too sweet. I might have left with a liter growler of this one if I had an extra blank growler with me but I didn’t want to buy another screw top growler and that was all they offered.

Fieldwork 04

Close up on the first flight.
Close up on the first flight.

The Burning Daylight IPA was a light color IPA with a smooth citrus and herbal hop profile with a nice bready malt background. A nice solid IPA. The Delta hoppy red was an interesting mix between floral hops and coffee, with a medium bitterness and smooth caramel malts on the back end. Everything mixed together nicely and made for a solid red ale.

Second flight of tasters.
Second flight of tasters.

The Misfit Stream IPA was deliciously fruity with bright pineapple and juicy melon. This IPA was quite smooth and lightly sweet, one of my favorite of the bunch. I might have gotten a growler of this one as well, though I already filled my blank growler at Cellarmaker. I did end up getting a half pour of it though after I was done. The Storm Surge double IPA was quite resiny though initially I found that it was a bit too boozy/syrupy. It had a solid thick mouthfeel and the flavors got more complex as it warmed up, developing a nice citrus hop flavor. Though not as impressive as Dank Williams from Cellarmaker it was still quite good for the style.

Fieldwork 07

With the move towards lighter malt bills on hoppy beers, Fieldwork manages to give a unique spin on their IPAs when compared to Cellarmaker. They have some nice outdoor seating areas and plenty of seating inside, while the tasting room doesn’t echo so much that it is impossible to speak. I was surprised that they used larger glasses for their tasters, perhaps for giving people full amount of aroma. Even if you don’t like hoppy beers, it is worth heading out to Fieldwork to taste the Chocolate Milk, one of the most delicious brown ales I have tasted.

To draw a specific type of crowd they even have hangers on the wall for bikes.
To draw a specific type of crowd they even have hangers on the wall for bikes.

Top 3:
Misfit Stream IPA
Chocolate Milk
Burning Daylight 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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Craft Beer Bar

Icelandic Craft Beer in Reykjavik

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Before traveling to Iceland I had heard that the food and drinks were both quite expensive. One thing to keep in mind though is that they don’t expect you to tip so it is not too bad. One reason the craft beers are more expensive is the alcohol tax that is higher on higher alcohol beers. So the double ipa and imperial stout are served in 200 ml pours at most places.

Iceland - Craft Beer - 06

I visited all 3 bars on my list inside Reykjavik. Mikkeller was the most expensive as to be expected. Sometimes it was 1400ikr for a 200ml pour or about $12. Mikkeller does not serve local beers but Norwegian beers and other imports. The selection is nice and at least given the price they are used to giving you a splash to taste a few before buying. Ironically I ended up ordering a beer from the US because they had recently finished a tap takeover featuring breweries from the Midwest.

Iceland - Craft Beer - 05

Other bars serving local beers were more reasonable depending on what you bought. Two Reykjavik bars focus on serving the beers of two Icelandic craft breweries. So while you can’t visit the breweries directly you can order flights (though they are so expensive I would suggest sticking with the pints). Microbar primarily serves beers from Gaedingur brewing and they had a very delicious west coast style ipa that very much hit the spot. This one was 1200IKR for a pint, which is about $9.50

West Coast style IPA from Gaedingur. Really good example of the style.
West Coast style IPA from Gaedingur. Really good example of the style.

Just down the street is Skúli craft bar, another local bar, this one primarily serving beers from Borg but also offering other guest taps as well. When I visited there my husband and I together had a delicious imperial stout (brewed by Borg), milk stout (from Mikkeller), and saison (also from Borg). The saison was nice and crisp herbal and fruity with thyme added. It had a light honey flavor on the back. This reminded me of some of my favorite saisons brewed in the United States and really hit the spot. Prices here made me appreciate the prices at Mikkeller in Bangkok. Needless to say I didn’t drink a ton of beer while I was there because of the prices.

Look for this awesome sign outside when trying to find Skuli.
Look for this awesome sign outside when trying to find Skuli.
Tap list from when I visited Skuli Craft Bar.
Tap list from when I visited Skuli Craft Bar.
The delicious saison I had on tap.
The delicious saison I had on tap.

I would absolutely suggest anyone who visits Reykjavik go to both Microbar and Skúli craft depending on the style you like. They are both very close to each other. Google knows where Microbar is but gets the location of Skúli a bit wrong. The best way to get to Skúli from Microbar is to go out the south entrance and turn right, then look to your left for the Skúli sign. Visiting these bars is also the best way for someone to try some beers from the smaller breweries without leaving Reykjavik. Elsewhere you will find plenty of mass produced lagers and occasionally beers from Einstok, one of the larger Icelandic craft breweries, including their toasted porter, white ale, and pale ale. Ironically it is probably cheaper to buy Einstok beers in the stores in the US but it is still nice to order a few while in Iceland. The pale ale was nice and lightly bitter, featuring plenty of English style hops.

Einstok beers we ordered at a local cafe. Only the pale was on tap.
Einstok beers we ordered at a local cafe. Only the pale was on tap.

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

32 North Brewing – Miramar area San Diego Revisited

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32 North had a solid opening almost a year ago, with a great-looking tasting room and a good lineup of beers. Six months later, or soon after, their brewer quit, leaving them to scramble and basically start over. I visited them on October 15th, to see how things have developed, giving them a few months to get new brews ready with their new brewer and I am happy to report that they are back to the solid lineup they had going for them when they first opened. You can find my original post on them here. Some areas still need a little work but I am confident they will find a way to succeed going forward. I am writing this as if they were a completely new brewery because I expected that many of the beers I covered at the start would change drastically, and they did.

First set of tasters. Saison in the middle.
First set of tasters. Saison in the middle.

When I visited I tried the First Flight pale, Saison du Nord, Nautical Mile IPA, Pack Your Bags brown ale with cocoa nibs, Fly By Night milk stout on nitro, and Best Coast IPA. They also had a blonde, kolsch, and gose on tap and another pale ale. I went for the beers that I remembered as being the best previously as well as those that sounded the most interesting. My tasters were split into two flights and will be discussed in that order.

I started with the First Flight pale ale. It was mostly citrus with a mild spicy kick. Though it didn’t have any added peppers but it reminds me of beers with peppers. The beer has a nice golden color but I can’t help but feel the spicy kick kinda overpowers the rest, not a flavor that I expect from the hops. It was not too bitter and ends nicely with a floral hop kick. The beer was solid and drinkable but hopefully future versions will present the hops better. The Saison du Nord was a lightly fruity saison but nice and dry. It doesn’t have too much spice or pepper but enough to balance it out. A very impressive saison. It reminds me of the Collette from Great Divide.

Second set of tasters.
Second set of tasters.

The Nautical Mile IPA was a little bit stronger than the First Flight pale and still has that pepper kick but it is much milder and the flavor has more grapefruit up front. The beer has a beautiful orange color, and is quite smooth. No longer the tropical fruit flavor of the original. It is a solid IPA but the hop flavors are a bit different than I usually get from them. It has a medium bitterness on the back end. Like the First Flight this is solid but it feels like it could be better in future versions.

32 North Revisited 02

The Pack Your Bags brown ale with cocoa nibs was a very smooth brown ale with a mild bitter chocolate finish and a light body. Though I say bitter chocolate, this is not a bitter beer, but it isn’t a sweet beer either. This is closer to the Benchmark brewing style of brown than nut browns you see around town. The Fly By Night milk stout on nitro is no longer made with coffee. This is a super roasty stout with a mild sweetness from the lactose. Despite a 6.5% alcohol it is quite light body and nice caramel finish. It also has a bit of a roasted popcorn flavor on the end.

32 North Revisited 03

The Best Coast IPA seems to be the least hoppy of the bunch despite claiming to be the highest IBU of them all. Hops are very subdued and a bready malt seems to take over. Hops are very earthy and balance with the malts. The beer has a dark orange color. It is very different from the typical local but probably my favorite among the bunch of hoppy beers. The balance is its best positive.

The other thing they had at the opening that was quite popular was the peanut butter porter, which they will be bringing back for their one year anniversary coming up in a week (On October 22). Though it took them a while to get back to the promising start they had originally, I am now quite excited to see how they do in the coming year. I purposefully avoided the black cherry landfall because I have had enough of the gose in my previous visit but I will certainly keep an eye on the various options they have going forward.

Top 3 :
Saison,
Best Coast IPA
Fly By Night Milk Stout on Nitro

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

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

Dos Desperados Brewing Company – San Marcos CA

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I visited Dos Desperados after Stumblefoot Brewing Company on the same day. Thankfully my husband was driving so I was able to try everything I wanted to at the time. In total I tried the Fugitive farmhouse, Outlaw oatmeal stout, Jailbreak IPA, Habeerneos IPA, Pancho Villa double IPA, Brett double IPA, and ghost pepper stout.

The Fugitive farmhouse had a nice mild pepper pepper kick (hot pepper) that joins the usual saison taste. The pepper flavors balanced nice with the fruit and funk. Though it was very different from the usual saison, I quite liked it. The Outlaw oatmeal stout was a solid stout with a smooth flavor from the oatmeal. This was the only stout on the menu and it should satisfy those who don’t like hops.

Dos Desperados 03

The Jailbreak ipa starts off with some intense bitterness and a good citrus flavor. It is a solid IPA. It is used as the background for the Habanero version. Like the Ballast Point Habanero Sculpin, this one is quite hot and really burns going down leaving a big back of throat burn. I would have a hard time having more than a taster of this.

Main beer menu when I visited.
Main beer menu when I visited.

The Pancho Villa double IPA is a double IPA that focuses on tropical fruit and citrus flavors with some light mango flavor. It is very hop forward and tasty, a fantastic example of a double IPA. The Brett version was also quite tasty and if I hadn’t already had a full two sets of tasters I might have ordered more of it. The brett yeast adds some nice peach flavors and gives it a cloudy look. Finally, the ghost pepper stout was not as hot as the Habanero IPA. The heat hides in the background more and sneaks up on you because it is more balanced with the beer.

Specialty beer menu when I visited.
Specialty beer menu when I visited.

Overall I enjoyed what I had at Dos Desperados and liked to see the brett and other experimental beers they had on tap. The addition of spicy peppers seems to be done well like others locally though stay away if you don’t like hot. This is certainly a brewery geared more towards hops than a few of the others I tried in the area.

Top 3:
Pancho Villa Double IPA
Brett Double IPA
Jailbreak 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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