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Monday, September 12, 2011

Orange you glad...

Last Christmas (2010) my ma and stepfather came out to San Diego. As per usual, we made a stop at a  local brewery. The chosen one this trip was Coronado Brewing Company. CBC is located off Orange Ave, in Coronado, CA, and make a large selection of craft brews. This was a new stop for all of us.



My ma tried the beer flight, and within those 7 tasty tasters was Coronado Orange Ave Wit. It was love at first sip for ma!


So, on ma's most recent visit she picked up her favorite wit in a six pack. It had been a l o n g while since I tried this brew so ma and I said cheers wit* a little wit.

I was drinking from the bottle, but poured a bit into a glass so I could see the color.
A light clean gold color, wit a small amount of white head. So clean in fact, if I had enough I would fill a plastic kids pool wit it and take a swim! Darn right! I know you were thinking the same thing.


The taste was definitely refreshing, a mellow orange taste wit slight coriander notes. The beer was light, citrusy, not too sweet, and very drinkable, in fact almost too drinkable.  (is that a bad thing?) ... ma sure didn't think so. At 5.2% ABV, it''s ok to have another.


The fabulous thing about this beer is it's available year round. It's true to California, because we all know the BEST oranges come from California (just like those happy cows).


wit = with (and I don't care if I over used my intellectually inspired pun)

Saturday, September 3, 2011

Escape from Britain

I really wanted my first conversation with you about beer to be a local San Diego brew, but when hubby came walking through the front door with Newcastle Werewolf, curiosity aled me.

Newcastle Werewolf  English Brown Ale ABV 5% 
Caledonian Brewery Company Ltd
What better way to toast the fall than to have a bottle of this formidable, dual character brew. At first smooth with mellow overtones of sweet berry fruit, a bite of bitterness suddenly cuts through, long, deep and lingering. Brewed with Rye Malt, it is naturally 'blood red' in colour. Unlike the mythical wolf-like creature said to roam the bleak moorland surrounding Newcastle, this is real, so consider yourself warned!


Hubby and I were having another couple over for drinks and desserts, so while setting up the cookie tray I popped open a bottle.

First sip, I was a bit turned off by the metallic rush that took over my mouth. I decided to pour the remainder of the beer into a glass, seeing that's how I like to drink my beer.



It indeed had a better taste in the glass (better, not amazing) and this way I cold see the color that claimed "blood red ale".
The color was more of an amber brown, just a shade lighter than their brown ale.

The taste was smooth with a bit of malty tang that lingers on the tongue. Slightly bitter finish with a harvest of roasted dried fruit undertone. Drinkable, but not too likable in my opinion.

I am glad the hubby brought this beer home to try, however, I won't go seeking out the stores for this one.


Side note: drinking this beer and cutting it with the cookies we served wasn't too bad. We purchased 3 different flavored IKEA cookies: orange, ginger, and cappuccino. The spice of these cookie crisps surprisingly paired well with The Werewolf.