Rambling Reviews 11.17.2015: Sierra Nevada's Hop Harvest #3, Lucky Buddha, and Half Moon Bay's Calf-eine

One again, it's time to ramble on various beers I've had lately.

First up, none other than the 3rd batch of Sierra Nevada's Hop Harvest Series made with newly developed hops. In fact, they're so new, they're only known by the numbers 472, 05256, 431, and 06300. Hopefully someone will give these hops some sexy names, as they coalesce to create unique pear-like flavors, with some melon and pine for good measure. It's a wonderfully soft tasting IPA, which like others in this series, redefine what can be accomplished with hops.

This next review presents a serious challenge to maintaining my beer karma. It's Lucky Buddha, a beer from China (*) sold in cool looking green bottles shaped like the laughing Buddha. Only recently could you find this beer in the United States. The nice Lucky Buddha PR person offered me a sample for review and I said "yes". Without going into a long story, this remarkable persistent and determined PR person finally got a six-pack of Lucky Buddha delivered after weeks of effort and when anyone works that hard to get me some free beer, it would seriously damage my beer karma to say anything bad about the beer she represents.

But of course dear reader, it's also bad beer karma to going around saying great things about a beer just because someone gave me a free six-pack, hence the dilemma. Now it's a pretty safe bet the small segment of beer geekdom that reads this blog is probably not breathlessly awaiting the next lager from China sold in green bottles. And no, my expectations were not the greatest either. However, both my wife and I liked Lucky Buddha on it's own terms. Sneer all you want at the rice adjuncts, they gave the beer a clear freshness in between the initial light striked skunkiness and a slightly muddled grassy hop note at the finish. It's not one of those "nothing" lagers totally devoid of flavors, there's actually something going on in this brew. It's an easy drinking beer if I say so myself and works well with Asian food. OK, beer karma remains intact.

Finally, when it comes to beer karma, you can't go wrong drinking a beer that combats human trafficking. It's Calf-iene from Half Moon Bay Brewing, sales of which supports Not For Sale a charity fighting human trafficking. Calf-iene is a coffee, milk stout, that tastes like coffee and milk in a stout. Yes, that's the brilliant culinary commentary you've come to know and love from this blog. Seriously, the flavors really come together nicely, with a light sweetness and low level of carbonation. It's a little grainy going down with just a faint whisper of hops that stays out of the way of those wonderful roasty, creamy flavors. Packs a lot of flavors for just 6.3% abv. Just a really nifty sipping beer.

(*) OK, Lucky Buddha is actually brewed in Australia.

Scenes from in and around Half Moon Bay Brewing

I'd like to thank the folks at Half Moon Bay Brewing for inviting me to their brewpub last month. Brewmaster James Costa spent a few minutes to discuss brewing the Maverick's line of beers that I used in my last post about Mavericks.  General Manager Nate Rey gave me a personal tour of the brew house.  Afterwards, I took a walk around the bay before heading home.  Here are some pictures from that afternoon.

A Safe Haven from the Liquid Giants of Half Moon Bay

Half Moon Bay on the California coastline 20 miles south of San Francisco is a unique combination of a tourist town, farming village, and fishing port. North of the city, just off the Pacific Coast Highway next to a medium sized boat harbor, lies Half Moon Bay Brewing. I've been always meaning to got to this out of the way destination and so on an overcast Saturday, with few weekend visitors around, finally got the chance to check the place out.

As you might expect for a brew pub on the Pacific Coast, the menu was dominated by fresh seafood dishes. So it wasn't too surprising to find the beer brewed so it paired well with the local catches. For example, the Pillar Point Pale Ale had light nutty maltiness to go with its restrained leafy and herbal bitter hop finish. The Princeton-by-the-Sea IPA was your typical West Coast IPA, with just a whisper of malt to hold back the floral and grassy hop onslaught, except that hop character was decidedly less intense than one usually finds in California. Taking notes on the various brews I tasted, the words "light" and "slightly" come up a lot. My favorite selections with the sweet, milk chocolaty Paddle Out Stout, and Moonglow Barleywine, a highly malt-forward barley wine with plenty of sweet toffee flavors with slight citrus under tone.

The brewpub itself sits in an area protected by a long rocky jetty, creating a calm, almost serene ocean side setting. But venture out along the rocky coastline of nearby Pillar Point, beyond the jetty, and the atmosphere abruptly changes. Here is where the Pacific Ocean is at its most ferocious.

High winds, sea currents, and an ocean floor that rises quickly from great depths as it approaches the coast combine to create huge waves just beyond Pillar Point. Once a year if all the conditions are right, a bunch of big wave surfers gather together on 24 hours notice for famed Mavericks Surfing Contest, to see who's the best at riding waves the size of a small office buildings. The winner is often recognized as the best big wave surfer in the world, and simply just riding a few of these waves earns adulation within the tight-knit surfing community. Every so often, someone trying to tame these waves dies.

You need a jet-ski to get close these liquid giants, and not having one, or willing to risk the turbulent surf even if I did, got as close as possible on land before retreating back to the safety behind the rocky jetty to the quiescence of the inner shoreline.

This is not Obama's Beer: Obama Ale from Half Moon Bay Brewing

What can we do to support our President to heal our battered nation? We can go into the forests and rescue endangered species. We can volunteer to distribute medical supplies and care for those who have no health insurance. We can mentor orphan children. I have taken it upon myself to support the President in his quest, by doing something I do well. I will drink his beer.

It's an OK brew, but a nagging question tugs at me as I drink it. Does this brew resemble our President?

It's odd the first African-American President would be honored with such a pale looking beer. Well, our President looks good, and this brew looks good in my tulip. A golden yellow with a thick, foamy white head and plenty of lacing action on the glass.

I have never smelled the President. I suspect he does not smell of faint malt and a little grassy hops. As for how our President tastes, I'm not going to go there. This beer has a flavor has a flavor of light malt with slightly fruity and grassy hops. Well balanced, for sure, but the flavor was rather light. There was a little sweetness as the brew warmed. Does Obama gets sweeter as he warms up? Only the First Lady knows for sure.

Obama is a pretty smooth talker and operator, and this is a pretty smooth tasting brew. But for all the sweeping change Obama is calling for, and must make, this was one of the most straightforward, safe, and unoffensive brews I've ever had. Wouldn't a beer befitting of our President take some risks? Shake things up a bit? Challenge us in some way? This beer falls way short in that department. I'll be happy to toast our President, but I plan to do it with a beer more representative of his character, which this brew is not.