Green Flash West Coast IPA drops hops like a B-52 Bomber

At The Other Room with Tara, Ellie and David and meeting up with Joey who's a big hop head. Ellie and Tara are pretty stoked to be part of the beereveryday tasting experience (first timers!) and I'm looking forward to trying the well regarded Green Flash West Coast IPA. Win, Win...will there be another Win with the IPA?

Get this:

"Hops used include Simcoe for a unique fruitiness and grapefruit zest, Columbus for strong hop pungency, Centennial for pine and citrus notes and Cascade for floral aroma."

That's crazy time to the 10th degree. I don't know what the IBU's are but they have to be astronomic; the first three hops mentioned are THE strongest hops available. I used only four ounces total split between of Simcoe, Centennial and Cascade for my Belgian IPA, and that was over 80 IBU's. Your average IPA has between between 50 and 70 IBU.

Tara and Ellie aren't fans in the slightest. This beer is overwhelmingly bitter and an aftertaste that doesn't fade away. They had both tried my Belgian Red IPA earlier and like it much more. Victory is mine!

For me, this is a hop heads beer. The bitterness is truly overwhelming. As I drink my palate is carpet bombed by hops but oddly enough, the beer becomes easier to drink. I'm impressed and immensely appreciate their bitter boldness, but it's not something I want to drink for pleasure. TRANSFORMERS rating - but consider yourself warned.

Green Flash Double Stout goes big and doesn't go home

With David, Karl, Tiff and Tierney gathered at The Other Room after work, I feel like it's going to be a big night. Tiffany is drinking Chimay for the first time (big step! Chimay is many peoples' 'gateway' or 'enlightenment beer), Karl is being bold with the Oaked Arrogant Bastard and David and I are going big with a Double Stout (8.8% alcohol). Green Flash is well known for their IPA's, but I know nothing about the rest of their game.

This stout is liquid dessert! A heavy chocolate aroma and flavor profile. It's dank, very rich but nicely balanced. 

Midway through the pint, the chocolate is a little overwhelming but it's still enjoyable. This would be AMAZING as a beer float. Amazing. THE ROCK rating.

While I've been typing this out, the conversation has turned to bulldykes for some reason. Time to wrap this post up and focus on what's important....


POST SCRIPT - After The Other Room, Karl had a hankering to buy some Pranqster at Whole Foods and eat it with a burger at their bar. Unfortunately, Whole Foods thwarted our plans by revealing a brand new rule that forbids customers from buying a bottle of beer and bringing it to their bar (which only has 4 beers on tap). Karl is ingenious and he grabbed a bottle and 5 seafood chowder cups. Before long we were drinking the delicious golden nectar in my car in the parking lot, like we were back in high school. Actually, I never drank in high school so I suppose the experience is long overdue (we also paid a neighborhood street urchin to keep a lookout for the Fuzz, obvi). Soon after we were diving into enchiladas and $2 Dos Equis at La Cabana. And just like Keyser Soze, my one drink-a-night streak was gone. The streak lasted 10 days. It's far longer than I would've given myself though, HA. Baby steps Walker, baby steps.

Tiff and Tierney enjoy Pranqster a la Chowder

Highway 78 Scotch Ale collaboration is the Brandon Flowers of side projects

I love me some Modern Family. It's consistently hilarious and one of the smartest comedies on TV. Tonight's episode, as do many others, focus on the parental relationships - specifically, how relationships are a give and take of two people who are totally in love but also have distinctly different personalities. Making it work is a real collaboration. Which is perfect because I bought three different collaboration beers to have while David is off watching space shuttles launch. I only wish all relationships troubles could be as funny as Modern Family and as delicious as this Stone, Green Flash Brewing and Pizza Port collaboration.

Collaborations are all the rage this year and I had two big collaborations over Christmas (Weihenstephan Samuel Adams collaboration & Brookly Schneider collaboration) which were very interesting beers. I love that craft brewers are celebrating their...craft....(cheese) instead of being agro and aggressively competitive. Everyone just wants to make delicious beer! Team America....F-yeah.


It's a dank 8.8% (yepee). It's super malty, with hints of chocolate and dark, rich roasted barley and caramel. This is the beer I want to drink driving night time driving across an empty desert road with the windows down...riding in the passenger seat, duh. Still not legal but who's gonna stop me in the desert? An ACME anvil? Pff, I'm not chasing the Road Runner.


What's interesting about these three breweries gathering to brew - as they note on back of the bottle - is they hail from the San Diego region and are all known for being hop-centric breweries. So what did they decide to brew when they came together?  To create one of least hoppiest beer styles around, a Scotch Ale. 


So I am surprised that hop heads made this. These guys are obviously pros who are passionate for all styles of beer, but after allowing the beer to help marinate the ideas floating in my gray matter, I realized the great opportunity this collaboration afforded the three brewers. 

Like any business, each brewery builds up a brand. Stone for example, once you get to know their beer, has a very unique set of hop expectations. This collaboration provides an opportunity for the brewers to to flex their creative muscles and create a beer outside of their established hop heavy brands. This is their side project! Take The Killers for example; they are a pop driven band channeling heavy weights like Joy Division, Morrissey, Springsteen (etc).  Brandon Flowers wanted to create a particular sound that he was passionate about but that is smaller and more focused than what The Killer stand for, so he created a solo project and produced an album 'Flamingo' that he channeled his Vegas-Country voice. It's completely different from The Killer's catalog but is still fantastic and stands distinctly on its' own. 

The actual State Highway 78 is a highway that runs from Oceanside (near San Diego) to Blythe (Central Cali). The Scotch Ale 78 is their solo project, and it's delicious. I might even pickup another one at Whole Foods, because who knows if they'll make another one like this. THE ROCK rating.

Green Flash Double Stout could probably hit a Randy Johnson fastball

At the Daily Pint, again. This time with Nick G, waiting for Beth to meet us and head to a work party. Zachtoberfest? We will see.

Almost made the mistake of getting Le Freak, which they were out of, but realized that we already had that back in August. Will need to be more aware of the beer list going forward, close call.

The Double Stout is good, Nick also approves. Good toasty malt and the typical chocolate/coffee thing happening. Alcohol seems a bit higher than usual, there's a residual bite from the alcohol that sticks around after the dankness wears off. This can be Kirby Puckett. While this beer might not ever show up in a hall of fame, it's worthy of some sort of appreciation. Miss you Kirby Puckett, you were the man.

UPDATE: Zacktoberfest was cool.

Green Flash Brewing Grand Cru Steals Fire from the Gods

Green Flash Brewery I'm becoming impressed with. It's one of those very small breweries that I can't help but admire because they are Promethean. Their Double IPA is wild. Le Freak combines an Imperial IPA with a Belgian Tripel and tastes fantastic. They brew types which are out of the box and in doing so have won me over. I love a beer that's especially unique. Wednesday we tasted Grand Cru.

So um, where can I steal a Green Flash glass from?

It pours dark with limited head and has a rich chocolate and nutty aroma. It's a dark ale but made with Belgian and American yeasts, so it's sweet but less like caramel and more like ice cream. There is a strong presence of malt and the beer finishes quickly thanks to it's 9.1% alcohol content. It's fairly balanced and not too filling.

This is an HB Toss Pass (any NCAA football gamers out there?). You are sucked into this beer's standard dark ale aroma and appearance but as the HB (halfback) swings around the end he doesn't keep running. Oh damn. He falls back and heaves the ball downfield. The safety has bit on the running action and scrambles to recover but it's too late. Boom shaka laka, it's sweet and finishes quickly.

Grand Cru, you're a solid trick play and I plan on drinking you at THE ROCK.

Green Flash (AHahhhhh!) Grand Cru

I have never seen the "green flash" following a sunset, but I suppose it exists. I have also not seen "Flash" the superhero, though that stands to reason. This beer isn't as extraordinary as either of these things, but neither of them can get you sloshed, so maybe the Grand Cru isn't so bad after all.

I didn't expect the intensity of the darker malts in this, but they do well to balance the alcohol. There's a good deal of chocolate and a secondary coffee bean aftertaste, though neither are overwhelming. It's kind of like a strong brown. Carbonation is regular enough, though I prefer Grand Crus with a bit more similarity to Golden Strongs. I may find a reason to drink this again, maybe at the Green Flash Brewery near SD sometime soon?

This beer is Elizabeth Whatley. Loves chocolate, coffee, an occasional spot of alcohol and at certain times can definitely be regarded as Grand Cru. She's of mixed domestic and foreign origin, and for some people, entirely unpleasant in large doses.

Green Flash Brewing Le Freak is Freaky Delicious

When I say 'freaky,' let me place it in context; not freaky like a Barnum & Bailey sideshow or like the creepy clowns that run around at Knott's Berry Farm in October or HIPSTERS, but freaky like Victor Frankenstein's Monster - a freak of science. Green Flash Brewery out of San Diego made Le Freak a Belgian Style Imperial IPA.  That's a mouthful (of decliciousness).

It's a crossbreed, like a Labradoodle or Sharktopus. Hoppy and zesty like an IPA, sweet and full bodied like a Belgian. First sip really surprised me and each sip thereafter I enjoyed even more. I would love this at a dive bar with college buddies or relaxing next to a fire after a day of bombing down ski slopes. This beer is ambidextrous and one to experiment with different food and unusual settings. I'm looking forward to my next Le Freak. This is one of the BAD BOYS.