Left Coast Boardwalk Saison Ale Review

Left Coast Boardwalk Saison

Saison [Type 9] 7.8% ABV

An OK saison. Pretty musty, heavy, plenty of alcohol. Not the best I've ever had, but I'm not sorry I had one. Thanks Owen!

Rating

The pic is pretty fuzzy, I'm still working on this, and I forgot to color in the rating. I would give this one five beers.

Left Coast Boardwalk Rating

Beer Club November 2010

Brown Ales

November 2010 Lineup

Brown ales originate in England. The original brown ale style is made from 100% brown malt. There is some difference between American brown ales [Type 33] and English brown ales [Type 47], with the American styles tending to be drier and hoppier.

New Belgium La Folie

Although labeled by New Belgium as a Sour Brown, this beer is very much like the Flanders Red [Type 28], a sour, fruity beer. Nearly everyone did not like this beer, but I loved it. The intense sourness coated your tongue with an aftertaste of vinegar and sour cherries. A very unusual beer. 1 beer/6 beers. 6.0% ABV.

Boddington's Pub Ale

Not a brown ale, but an English Pale Ale, we used this to cleanse our palates after the Flanders Red.

Newcastle Brown Ale

Newcastle is one of the most widely distributed English Brown Ales. 4.7% ABV. A lighter brown ale, Newcastle is a sweet malty beer, easily drinkable and easy to find too. 3 beers.

Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar

The Magistra's favorite of the moment. Rogue's Hazelnut Brown is an intensely full, nutty beer. It has tastes of chocolate that make it taste like Rocky Road ice cream. Our host favored this beer as well. 6.2% ABV. 1 beer.

Nostradamus

This beer tasted like apples and malt. Very thick, much like a barleywine. This is a Belgian dark ale [Type 29]. 9.5% ABV. 1 beer. A host favorite.

Mountain Standard Reserve

Sweet and foamy with an intense burst of flavor as it hits your tongue. 8.5% ABV. Pretty expensive for the taste. 3 beers.

Saboteur 

Aged in oak barrels, this beer tastes like Kentucky bourbon. Not as popular due to the oakiness, but it has a sweet finish like pineapples. 3 beers. 10.0% ABV.

Humboldt Brown

A hippie beer brewed with hemp. This actually isn't that unusual, because hops are a member of the Cannabaceae family anyway. 5.7% ABV. Good flavor, but nothing special. 3 beers.

Session Black

A black lager or schwarzbier [Type 53], Session Black is a smooth dark beer with little hops and intense malty sweetness. 3 beers. 5.4% ABV

Moose Drool

A drier brown, with cocoa notes. 5.1% ABV

Bitch Creek

An ESB [Type 45], this beer starts bitter but finishes sweet. 6.0% ABV

Samuel Smith's Nut Brown Ale

5.0% ABV

Lost Coast Raspberry Brown

A rather weak tasting beer, the raspberry was not backed up by anything more substantial. 5 beers. 6.5% ABV

Abita Pecan Harvest

5.0% ABV. Another host favorite.

My other beer reviews

Beer Club September 2010

Amber and Red Ales

Amber ale is a variant of pale ale that uses crystal malts to achieve a slightly darker color. The ambers can range from copper to dark reddish brown. The malts tend to give the ambers a caramel flavor. Some beers referred to as amber are actually lagers with colored malts.

Fat Tire

One of my favorites, Fat Tire is the most popular beer from New Belgium brewery in Fort Collins. Fat Tire has a biscuity flavor, a bready taste with a bitter finish. 5.2% ABV. 2 beers.

Alaskan Amber

Not actually an amber, this is an Altbier [Type 61], from the German for old beer. A German brown ale, Alaskan Amber has a sweet bready taste with a mellow finish. 5.3% ABV 2 beers.

O'Hara's Irish Red

The Irish Red Ale tends to be sweeter than the American Amber, with dominant malts. The taste was smoky, it reminded me of a porter. 4.3% ABV. 2 beers.

Drop Top Amber

Drop Top's Amber tasted of melons, with a light finish. 5.0% ABV. 2 beers.

Full Sail Amber

The hops were strong enough to make me think of an IPA. 5.5% ABV. 5 beers.

Boont Amber

Also quite hoppy, but this was better balanced than the Full Sail with stronger malts. 5.8% ABV. 3 beers.

Old Scratch

An example of an amber lager. The term we settled on was 'fair-middlin'. This beer has little flavor, but it wasn't terrible. 5.5% ABV. 4 beers.

Bell's Amber

This beer was middlin. A bit more flavor than Old Scratch, 5.5% ABV. 3 beers.

American Amber Ale

From Rogue Brewery, I expected a lot of hops. Turns out, this one is moderately hopped, just enough to give the beer some character. The pine flavor of the hops obscured the amber malts, but I liked this beer quite a bit. 5.6% ABV. 2 beers.

Alleycat

Sweet and hefe like due to the German yeasts. 5.5% ABV. 2 beers.

Jumping Cow

A undistinguished beer. 5.5% ABV. 5 beers.

Sunset Amber

My favorite of the evening, this is a local beer from Grand Canyon Brewery. Lots of malt, caramel, and body. 5.4% ABV. 2 beers.

Red Bridge 

An amber with a twist, this is a beer brewed with sorghum so that it is gluten-free. Not bad for a gluten-free beer, a bit thin and fizzy, but a nice light lemony flavor. 4.8% ABV. 3 beers.

Dundee Irish Red

Sweet and malty, but no smoky flavor in this Irish Red. 5.5% ABV. 3 beers.

Wapiti

Another local beer, this one from Mogollon Brewery. My favorite of the Mogollon beers so far. Sweet and malty. 5.0% ABV.  3 beers.

My other beer reviews

Beer Club August 2010

Pale Ales

LineupPintThe pale ale isn't necessarily pale, it is called so in distinction with the porter, the other common style in England. The use of malts with less color makes the pale ale less dark than a porter, but usually darker than a pilsner.

As an ale, they are made with top-fermenting yeast. The style originated in Burton-upon-Trent, a city known for its hard water. The preeminent pale ale from Burton-upon-Trent is Bass. The minerals in the water gave the beer its flavor, and later a process known as Burtonization was developed to allow for the same flavors in beer brewed in other locations.

Oak Creek Pale Ale

An American Pale Ale [Type 17], which tends to be maltier and much hoppier than the English Pale Ales, Oak Creek Pale Ale is amber colored, with a significant piney hop taste. 5.5% ABV. 3 beers.

Reaper Deathly Pale Ale

Dark orange, and a little hazy. Has a sour, Belgian finish. Surprisingly sweet for a pale ale. 6.2% ABV. 4 beers.

Samuel Smith's Old Brewery Pale Ale

This is my favorite of the bunch. It is an old school English Pale Ale [Type 10], more like a porter because of the cocoa flavors from the malt. Very drinkable beer. 5.0% ABV, 2 beers.

Poleeko Gold Pale Ale

A California beer, it is strong on the hops, with a smell like stale beer. 5.5% ABV, 5 beers.

Four Peaks 8th Street Ale

An Arizona classic, 8th Street Ale is the flagship brew from Four Peaks. It is citrusy, something I had never noticed before. As a milder Pale Ale, it is considered an English [Type 10]. It has a bit of a soapy finish. 4.5% ABV, 3 beers.

Boddington's Pub Ale

Boddington's Pub AleA traditional pub ale, Boddington's is clear and smooth, the kind of beer you can just keep on drinking all day. We had the can with the nitrogen capsule, so it had a nice creamy head on it. Light in color and flavor, goes down easy. 4.7% ABV, 2 beers.

Mirror Pond Pale Ale

Another moderately hopped pale ale. 5.0% ABV

Nimbus Pale Ale

Nimbus is a very pale pale ale. Light on color and flavor. 5.5% ABV

Ballast Point Yellowtail Pale Ale

A bit of a blended style, Ballast Point Yellowtail is an ale that is lagered. It is a Kölsch [Type 55] more than a pale ale, but they label it as the latter. Very sweet, I don't think I could drink too many. 4.6% ABV, 5 beers.

Rogue Juniper Pale Ale

I couldn't really taste the juniper, but that may not be the beer's fault at this point in the evening.

Two Hearted Ale

A couple of IPAs snuck in at the end, which is okay since in this part of the queue you aren't all that selective anymore, and the IPA hops cannot affect the more delicate flavors of the earlier beers.

I reviewed Two Hearted Ale in January of 2010.

Modus Hoperandi

OMG! That is hoppy! This is a quote, and everyone insisted I write down what I said, so there it is. Modus Hoperandi is one of those punch you in the face kinds of IPAs. It has an intense hop aroma and equally intense flavor. 6.8% ABV, 4 beers.

My other beer reviews