The Two Minute Beer Review

Episode 81: Dustbowl Brewing’s Supine Mega IPA

It’s the Two Minute Beer Review!

I’m Andrew Burkum and it’s that time again where we take on that massive craft brew aisle to find the hidden treasures waiting for us there. Sorry I’ve been gone for a couple of weeks. Since the beginning of the global COVID-19 Pandemic I’ve had to adjust a lot of things about how I produce this and all of the podcasts on the Phoenix Podcast Network. Among other things, that included a two week unannounced hiatus for the show! Sorry—but I’m back and hopefully better than ever to bring the latest beer reviews safely to your home. In the weeks ahead I’ll be playing with the format of the show a bit—bringing in guests and experts to talk about their favorite beers or new discoveries, doing some live tastings and maybe even hosting some social-distancing friendly happy hours where we can all hang out and enjoy whatever we can get safely delivered to our home!

For this week, though, we’ll stick to a traditional review of Supine, a “Mega” IPA from Dust Bowl Brewing in Turlock, CA. Will this one leave us flat on our backs in a good way? Let’s find out!

Supine pours a coppery gold that trends more toward the orange than the yellow. The aroma is of grapefruit and pine with just a little bit of a butterscotch background.

But what about the taste? Supine bombards the mouth with flavor. It’s got a powerful citrusy sweetness that wraps around the tongue and lingers for a long time after the swallow. At the same time, this isn’t like a typical trendy juicy IPA. It’s much more rounded out by an all-over-the tongue bitterness. It’s that signature Dust Bowl balance that keeps me coming back to their IPAs over anyone else’s on the market for a daily drink.

If I had to sum up the taste of Supine in a single word I would say “concentrated.” You can taste the alcohol in the beer—and in most beers that would be unpleasant, but here it really works as a flavor component. It’s almost more of a spirit than a beer—it has that strength and power of the alcohol underneath all of the other wonderful things it does with its flavors. And I guess that’s no surprise, since it has a mighty 14.4% Alcohol by Volume! If you want to get a lot of alcohol into your system in a very pleasant way, this beer is the pick for you! And what better time to try it out? It’s not like you have anywhere to go at the moment, right? If you want to try this or any of Dust Bowl’s other incredible brews, their taproom is open for to-go orders only right now at 3000 Fulkerth Road in Turlock, CA. You can order ahead on their website or give them a call at 209-250-2043. They offer beer in growlers, crowlers, prepackaged cans and bottles as well as great food to go! If you’re in the area this would be a great time to support a local business!

Have you had a chance to try Supine Mega IPA? What did you think? You can let me know by emailing me at [email protected] (using the number 2), tweeting me @2minutebeer or responding on Facebook where you’ll find the live video of this episode. I want to hear what you have to say--and make sure to share the episode so others can weigh in as well! Oh and while you’re at it, for my rating on this and countless other beers—some of which we haven’t even featured on the show yet, be sure to follow me on Untappd, just search for me by name, that’s Andrew Burkum spelled BURKUM and send me a friend request!

That’s all for this week, but I hope you’ll join me next week as I take a look at Baltic Porter from East Brother Beer Company. Will this one take us to new depths of darkness? We’ll find out next week.

The Two Minute Beer Review is a part of the Phoenix Podcast Network and is brought to you by Zane-It, where you can find all the best costumes and makeup, Central Valley Youth Legal Services and Superfan Sandra Hay. If you’d like to support the show you can leave us a tip or sign up for a small monthly donation by clicking the link in the show notes or by supporting the Phoenix Creative Collective on Patreon. Our music is by Rialthos. You can find more at Rialthos.bandcamp.com.

That’s all for now but I’ll see you next week as we continue on our quest to taste all the beer!

Have you supported the Phoenix Creative Collective and the Phoenix Podcast Network through Patreon yet? It's easy, just click here

Send questions, comments and recommendations to [email protected]

Our theme music is by Rialthos! Find more at Rialthos.bandcamp.com.

Support The Two Minute Beer Review by donating to their Tip Jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/the-two-minute-beer-review

Find out more at https://the-two-minute-beer-review.pinecast.co

This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

Episode 81: Blaker Brewing’s Evergreen Spaces Hazy IPA

It’s the Two Minute Beer Review!

I’m Andrew Burkum and it’s that time again where we take on that massive craft brew aisle to find the hidden treasures waiting for us there.

This week we’re taking a look at Evergreen Spaces Hazy IPA by Blaker Brewing in Ceres, CA. Is this one worthy of the great outdoors? Let’s find out!

Evergreen Spaces is a milky straw yellow with a nice, creamy head. The scent is a lot of pine up front as you would expect based on the name with a little bit of fruit in the background.

But what about the taste? Evergreen spaces actually hits up front with a round citrus punch. But this resolves into a fabulous pine favor that sits back in the back of the mouth and under the bottom of the tongue. It’s got a nice all-over bitterness that really rounds out the fruitier aspects of the beer and keeps that evergreen in perspective. It’s full and creamy in the mouth and has a very smooth character on the tongue, which helps it go down nice and easy.

This beer is a very interesting marriage of a traditional “old school” pine-heavy IPA and one of the more modern hazy style IPAs. It succeeds in hitting both ends of the flavor palate and I think that whether you are more attracted to one end of that spectrum or the other you will still find something to love here. It’s got a 6.8% in the ABV category, which keeps it nice and drinkable in quantity as well. If you’re looking for something fun and just a little different from all the other IPAs that line those shelves, this is definitely one to try out!

Have you had a chance to try Evergreen Spaces? What did you think? You can let me know by emailing me at [email protected] (using the number 2), tweeting me @2minutebeer or responding on Facebook where you’ll find the live video of this episode. I want to hear what you have to say--and make sure to share the episode so others can weigh in as well! Oh and while you’re at it, for my rating on this and countless other beers—some of which we haven’t even featured on the show yet, be sure to follow me on Untappd, just search for me by name, that’s Andrew Burkum spelled BURKUM and send me a friend request!

That’s all for this week, but I hope you’ll join me next week as I take a look at Baltic Porter from East Brother Beer Company. Will this one take us to new depths of darkness? We’ll find out next week.

The Two Minute Beer Review is a part of the Phoenix Podcast Network and is brought to you by Zane-It, where you can find all the best costumes and makeup, Central Valley Youth Legal Services and Superfan Sandra Hay. If you’d like to support the show you can leave us a tip or sign up for a small monthly donation by clicking the link in the show notes or by supporting the Phoenix Creative Collective on Patreon. Our music is by Rialthos. You can find more at Rialthos.bandcamp.com.

That’s all for now but I’ll see you next week as we continue on our quest to taste all the beer!

Have you supported the Phoenix Creative Collective and the Phoenix Podcast Network through Patreon yet? It's easy, just click here

Send questions, comments and recommendations to [email protected]

Our theme music is by Rialthos! Find more at Rialthos.bandcamp.com.

Support The Two Minute Beer Review by donating to their Tip Jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/the-two-minute-beer-review

Find out more at https://the-two-minute-beer-review.pinecast.co

This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

Episode 80: Incinerati Brewing’s Caught in the Rain Milkshake IPA

It’s the Two Minute Beer Review!

I’m Andrew Burkum and it’s that time again where we take on that massive craft brew aisle to find the hidden treasures waiting for us there.

This week we’re taking a look at Caught in the Rain Milkshake IPA by Incinerati Brewing Company in Fresno, CA. Will we end this review with soggy shoes? Let’s find out!

Caught in the Rain is golden and slightly cloudy in the glass. It has the distinct scent of malted milk powder, sweet vanilla, pineapple and banana Laffy Taffy. It’s really quite a noseful!

But what about the taste? Sweet. Very, very sweet. There’s a lot of tropical fruit all over the palate with this one. A distinct flavor of powdered milk around the sides—no doubt that’s from the added lactose that gives it that milkshake quality that’s in the title. There’s no pine or hoppiness in the beer, which for me really calls into question its labeling as an IPA. In fact there are more flavors that you might find in a Belgian ale, for example, those really banana-y, bubble gum flavors are incredibly prominent here. Then at the very end, there’s a distinct cotton candy aftertaste.

The mouthfeel of this beer fits the milkshake title perfectly. It’s very creamy and very full. The Tasting Team decided that this is kind of the Italian Cream Soda of beers. As far as my opinion? It’s. . .interesting. If you want sweetness and fruit, this is definitely your beer. For me, it’s a bit heavy on both of those things—again, especially so for something that’s called an IPA. I’d just like to see a little more bitterness in there somewhere to balance out all that candy. But this just goes to show that there’s a beer out there for everyone—and this one might just be for you! It certainly generated a lot of conversation in the tasting room!

This beer was donated by our Superfan and sponsor, Sandra Hay. Thanks so much, Sandy! What do you guys out there think? Have you tried a Milkshake IPA yet? Are they your thing? I want to know what you think! You can let me know by emailing me at [email protected] (using the number 2), tweeting me @2minutebeer or responding on Facebook where you’ll find the live video of this episode. I want to hear what you have to say--and make sure to share the episode so others can weigh in as well! Oh and while you’re at it, for my rating on this and countless other beers—some of which we haven’t even featured on the show yet, be sure to follow me on Untappd, just search for me by name, that’s Andrew Burkum spelled BURKUM and send me a friend request!

That’s all for this week, but I hope you’ll join me next week as I take a look at Evergreen Spaces IPA by Blaker Brewing in Ceres, CA. Will this one conjure up a walk in the woods for us? We’ll find out next week.

The Two Minute Beer Review is a part of the Phoenix Podcast Network and is brought to you by Zane-It, where you can find all the best costumes and makeup, Central Valley Youth Legal Services and Superfan Sandra Hay. If you’d like to support the show you can leave us a tip or sign up for a small monthly donation by clicking the link in the show notes or by supporting the Phoenix Creative Collective on Patreon. Our music is by Rialthos. You can find more at Rialthos.bandcamp.com.

That’s all for now but I’ll see you next week as we continue on our quest to taste all the beer!

Have you supported the Phoenix Creative Collective and the Phoenix Podcast Network through Patreon yet? It's easy, just click here

Send questions, comments and recommendations to [email protected]

Our theme music is by Rialthos! Find more at Rialthos.bandcamp.com.

Support The Two Minute Beer Review by donating to their Tip Jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/the-two-minute-beer-review

Find out more at https://the-two-minute-beer-review.pinecast.co

This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

IN this very special episode, we join Colton Dennis, director of the MAC, for a discussion of local brewer, Jaymz Harkey's West Coast Session, which was brewed especially for the MAC and their Mardi Gras celebration! Regular shows resume next week--enjoy this live tasting in the meantime!

Have you supported the Phoenix Creative Collective and the Phoenix Podcast Network through Patreon yet? It's easy, just click here

Send questions, comments and recommendations to [email protected]

Our theme music is by Rialthos! Find more at Rialthos.bandcamp.com.

Support The Two Minute Beer Review by donating to their Tip Jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/the-two-minute-beer-review

Find out more at https://the-two-minute-beer-review.pinecast.co

This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

Episode 78: VIP Vanilla Imperial Porter by Great North Aleworks in Manchester, NH

It’s the Two Minute Beer Review!

I’m Andrew Burkum and it’s that time again where we take on that massive craft brew aisle to find the hidden treasures waiting for us there.

This week we’re taking a look at VIP Vanilla Imperial Porter by Great North Aleworks in Manchester, NH. Will this one take us on a limo ride to beer stardom? Let’s find out!

VIP pours nice and solid black with a pretty, creamy head capping it off. The scent is strong with this one. It’s full of malt, molasses with just a touch of freshly roasted coffee. Oddly enough, the team and I couldn’t detect any of the signature vanilla in the scent of the beer.

But what about the taste? This one hits nice and hard up front with coffee and cocoa really warming up and wrapping their way around the tongue. These flavors develop as the beer goes down into this really nice, smooth bitterness by the end of the swallow that resolves to balance the beer without punching you in the flavor face. And then, there it is! That vanilla that was promised. It’s sitting right there on top of the whole experience in the vapors that sink into your palate. It permeates the flavor in an extremely satisfying way and tie all of those flavors into a really nicely made package. The beer feels smooth and light but not so much so that it ever seems watery. It’s just a great example of a really clean drinking porter, not chewy but robust and full of flavor. The beer’s sweet, but not overly so at all.

This beer is an immaculate porter, and it’s really nice to see so many of these coming out when so much of the industry has shifted into heavy IPA production. It’s my first from the folks at Great North Aleworks, but it certainly won’t be my last. Thanks to Mike Hogan from Great North for the sample—we’re lucky Court from the tasting team ran into you! What about you folks out there? Have you tried this one? I want to know what you think! You can let me know by emailing me at [email protected] (using the number 2), tweeting me @2minutebeer or responding on Facebook where you’ll find the live video of this episode. I want to hear what you have to say--and make sure to share the episode so others can weigh in as well! Oh and while you’re at it, for my rating on this and countless other beers—some of which we haven’t even featured on the show yet, be sure to follow me on Untappd, just search for me by name, that’s Andrew Burkum spelled BURKUM and send me a friend request!

That’s all for this week, but I hope you’ll join me next week as I bring you a very special episode live from the Multicultural Arts Center in Merced where I’ll be covering their Mardi Gras celebration and some special beer surprises that they’ll have on tap there! Will we earn our beads this year? We’ll find out next week.

Look for links to this week’s beer and brewery in the show notes and don’t forget to subscribe to the show in your favorite podcast app and follow us on Facebook so you never miss an episode!

The Two Minute Beer Review is a part of the Phoenix Podcast Network and is brought to you by Zane-It, where you can find all the best costumes and makeup, Central Valley Youth Legal Services and Superfan Sandra Hay. If you’d like to support the show you can leave us a tip or sign up for a small monthly donation by clicking the link in the show notes or by supporting the Phoenix Creative Collective on Patreon. Our music is by Rialthos. You can find more at Rialthos.bandcamp.com. He also just launched a Kickstarter for his upcoming Lo-Fi Neo-Digital Jazz Compilation, entitled Repetition Legitimizes. Check the show notes for details on how you can contribute and get a copy!

That’s all for now but I’ll see you next week as we continue on our quest to taste all the beer!

Have you supported the Phoenix Creative Collective and the Phoenix Podcast Network through Patreon yet? It's easy, just click here

Send questions, comments and recommendations to [email protected]

Our theme music is by Rialthos! Find more at Rialthos.bandcamp.com.

Support The Two Minute Beer Review by donating to their Tip Jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/the-two-minute-beer-review

Find out more at https://the-two-minute-beer-review.pinecast.co

This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

Episode 77: Russian Imperial Stout by East Brother Beer Company in Richmond, CA

It’s the Two Minute Beer Review!

I’m Andrew Burkum and it’s that time again where we take on that massive craft brew aisle to find the hidden treasures waiting for us there.

This week we’re taking a look at Russian Imperial Stout by East Brother Beer Company in Richmond, CA. Is this one good enough to keep us warm during those long Siberian nights? Let’s find out!

By way of full disclosure up front, East Brother provided me with a sample of this beer as well as a few others that will be showing up on the show in the coming months. That won’t affect my reviews in any way, but a huge thanks to them for the samples! If you have a beer you’d like to see featured on the show be sure to drop me an email at [email protected] and I’ll let you know how you can submit it for tasting! Now on to the beer!

East Brother’s Russian Imperial is a no-nonsense beer in the glass. Just like it doesn’t need a fancy name to tell you what kind of beer it is, there’s no question about this one when you look at it. It’s as opaque as a starless night. Giving it a sniff I get all kinds of really awesome stuff. There’s baked bread in there, along with caramel, a little coffee and a touch of molasses. It smells deep and dark and warm and after the sensory overload I got here I couldn’t wait to get right into the tasting!

So what about the taste? This beer comes on strong and stays that way all the way to the end. There’s a powerful bitterness up front that is offset brilliantly by a molasses sweetness right around the back edges of my tongue. It’s thick and rich in the mouth and just drinks like an absolute dream. The balance of the flavors in East Brother’s Russian Imperial is top-notch. Because of the high ABV on this one I was expecting a strong flavor of alcohol but there’s absolutely none of that. It’s just a perfect balancing act of bitter and sweet from the beginning to the very end.

Final analysis? Give me some eggs, bacon and a glass of this beer to start my day and I’ll be ready for anything. This would also be an ideal beer to have out around the campfire with a nice cigar. It’s another Two Minute Beer Review recommendation from the folks at East Brother Beer Company. Have you tried it yet? I want to know what you think! You can let me know by emailing me at [email protected] (using the number 2), tweeting me @2minutebeer or responding on Facebook where you’ll find the live video of this episode. I want to hear what you have to say--and make sure to share the episode so others can weigh in as well!

Look for links to this week’s beer and brewery in the show notes and don’t forget to subscribe to the show in your favorite podcast app and follow us on Facebook so you never miss an episode!

The Two Minute Beer Review is a part of the Phoenix Podcast Network and is brought to you by Zane-It, where you can find all the best costumes and makeup, Central Valley Youth Legal Services and Superfan Sandra Hay. If you’d like to support the show you can leave us a tip or sign up for a small monthly donation by clicking the link in the show notes or by supporting the Phoenix Creative Collective on Patreon. Our music is by Rialthos. You can find more at Rialthos.bandcamp.com. He also just launched a Kickstarter for his upcoming Lo-Fi Neo-Digital Jazz Compilation, entitled Repetition Legitimizes. Check the show notes for details on how you can contribute and get a copy!

That’s all for now but I’ll see you next week as we continue on our quest to taste all the beer!

Have you supported the Phoenix Creative Collective and the Phoenix Podcast Network through Patreon yet? It's easy, just click here

Send questions, comments and recommendations to [email protected]

Our theme music is by Rialthos! Find more at Rialthos.bandcamp.com.

Support The Two Minute Beer Review by donating to their Tip Jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/the-two-minute-beer-review

Find out more at https://the-two-minute-beer-review.pinecast.co

This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

Episode 76: Pliny the Elder Double IPA by Russian River Brewing in Santa Rosa, CA

It’s the Two Minute Beer Review!

I’m Andrew Burkum and it’s that time again where we take on that massive craft brew aisle to find the hidden treasures waiting for us there.

This week we’re taking a look at Pliny the Elder Double IPA by Russian River Brewing in Santa Rosa, CA. Is this exclusive and elusive beer really all it’s cracked up to be? Let’s find out!

Pliny looks like, well, an IPA in the glass. It’s a pretty gold color but it’s pretty unremarkable in this aspect. Looks like this one’s going to have to prove itself elsewhere. The scent is nice and strong from the get-go. It’s juicy up front but there’s also a ton of evergreen in the background. Well-balanced and inviting. Ok, now we’re doing better!

But what about the taste? This is a good old fashioned IPA. As far as I’m concerned, that’s a great thing! That incredible pine forest taste really shines in the crisp and clear flavor that hits you up front when you take a drink. Then, toward the end of the sip, just a little tiny bit of tropical fruit sneaks in around the edges. All of this ends with a strong punch of good old fashioned bitterness that lasts long after you swallow that sip. There’s nothing watered down or boring in this beer, and everything is in perfect balance. If you love a good IPA, you are going to adore this beer.

Now, here’s the thing. This is, as I hope you can tell from my description, a great IPA. But this beer literally has had people line up around the block just to get their hands on it. So the question really is, does it live up to that legendary status in a modern market that is simply flooded with top-notch IPAs? I’ll leave that up to you to decide. If you can get your hands on a bottle, let me know what you think either by emailing me at [email protected] (using the number 2), tweeting me @2minutebeer or responding on Facebook where you’ll find the live video of this episode. I want to hear what you think, and make sure to share the episode so others can weigh in as well!

That’s all for this week, but I hope you’ll join me next week as we take a look East Brother Brewing’s Russian Imperial Stout. East Brother was kind enough to send this new addition to their catalog directly to me so I could give it a try. And what’s the verdict? We’ll find out next week.

Look for links to this week’s beer and brewery in the show notes and don’t forget to subscribe to the show in your favorite podcast app and follow us on Facebook so you never miss an episode!

The Two Minute Beer Review is a part of the Phoenix Podcast Network and is brought to you by Zane-It, where you can find all the best costumes and makeup, Central Valley Youth Legal Services and Superfan Sandra Hay. If you’d like to support the show you can leave us a tip or sign up for a small monthly donation by clicking the link in the show notes or by supporting the Phoenix Creative Collective on Patreon. Our music is by Rialthos. You can find more at Rialthos.bandcamp.com.

That’s all for now but I’ll see you next week as we continue on our quest to taste all the beer!

Have you supported the Phoenix Creative Collective and the Phoenix Podcast Network through Patreon yet? It's easy, just click here

Send questions, comments and recommendations to [email protected]

Our theme music is by Rialthos! Find more at Rialthos.bandcamp.com.

Support The Two Minute Beer Review by donating to their Tip Jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/the-two-minute-beer-review

Find out more at https://the-two-minute-beer-review.pinecast.co

This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

Episode 75: Bottle Logic Brewing’s Hanamachi Rice Lager

It’s the Two Minute Beer Review!

I’m Andrew Burkum and it’s that time again where we take on that massive craft brew aisle to find the hidden treasures waiting for us there.

This week we’re taking a look at Hanamachi Rice Lager by Bottle Logic Brewing in Anaheim, CA. Will this one be naughty or rice? Let’s find out!

Hanamachi pours pale and lagery—just as advertised—into my glass. It’s such a pale gold color there’s almost no color at all. Giving it a sniff, the rice is very apparent in the scent If you’ve ever had a whiff of a bottle of sake, you know exactly what I’m talking about here. It’s just a little cidery with some crisp green apple notes. Fresh and clean.

But what about the taste? It’s almost completely like a traditional light lager in this department. There’s no bitterness to speak of and everything is clean and crisp. But there’s also that little bit of rice wine flavor as it appeared in the scent with its trademark just slightly sour notes. It’s just enough to color this beer as something different from your average pale lager and it definitely makes it a standout in the pale lager category as far as I’m concerned. It feels good and crisp in the mouth, without anything at all to weigh it down. This sentiment is furthered by its nice prickly carbonation that helps keep the whole thing lifted into a very light direction.

This is a neat little spin on the pale lager. It’s got plenty of flavor and character from that rice and there’s a lot of cereal goodness in there from the other grains as well. Interestingly, I believe this beer would pair as well with a good hamburger as it does with sushi—and make no mistake I think this would be an amazing sushi beer! Hanamachi Rice Lager is 5% alcohol by volume and is available in cans as well as on tap at their Anaheim location. Get out and grab some and let me know what you think!

That’s all for this week, but I hope you’ll join me next week as we take a look at Pliny the Elder Double IPA by Russian River Brewing in Santa Rosa, CA. Is this legendary brew really worth lining up around the block? We’ll find out next week.

Look for links to this week’s beer and brewery in the show notes, and don’t forget to let us know what you’re drinking and what you’re thinking about the show. You can find us on Facebook or tweet us @2minutebeer, using the number two.

The Two Minute Beer Review is a part of the Phoenix Podcast Network and is brought to you by Zane-It, where you can find all the best costumes and makeup, Central Valley Youth Legal Services and Superfan Sandra Hay. If you’d like to support the show you can leave us a tip or sign up for a small monthly donation by clicking the link in the show notes or by supporting the Phoenix Creative Collective on Patreon. Our music is by Rialthos. You can find more at Rialthos.bandcamp.com.

That’s all for now but I’ll see you next week as we continue on our quest to taste all the beer!

Have you supported the Phoenix Creative Collective and the Phoenix Podcast Network through Patreon yet? It's easy, just click here

Send questions, comments and recommendations to [email protected]

Our theme music is by Rialthos! Find more at Rialthos.bandcamp.com.

Support The Two Minute Beer Review by donating to their Tip Jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/the-two-minute-beer-review

Find out more at https://the-two-minute-beer-review.pinecast.co

This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

Episode 74: Ordnance Brewing’s White Crow White Stout

It’s the Two Minute Beer Review!

I’m Andrew Burkum and it’s that time again where we take on that massive craft brew aisle to find the hidden treasures waiting for us there.

This week we’re taking a look at White Crow White Stout by Ordnance Brewing in Boardman, OR. What exactly is a White Stout, anyway? Let’s find out!

First thing’s first. Although Ordnance Brewing’s operation is based in Boardman, they also have a taproom in Wilsonville, Oregon. I got to visit this taproom over the holidays and spent some time enjoying several of their beers. It was my intent to do a quickfire review as I usually do on my brewery visits, hitting all the beers that I tasted that day—and don’t get me wrong, I still intend to devote an episode to that. But when I tried their White Crow I knew that I was going to have to do a whole show featuring this beer.

Pouring this beer into the glass I had no idea what was going on. It was listed on the wall as a stout but the color is a pale straw yellow. If you poured this and set it in front of me I’d swear I was looking at a pilsner. But then I smelled it. Absolutely amazing. Out of this pale yellow brew I got a ton of coffee and a little chocolate as well as just a hint of vanilla. There’s also a little bit of a cereal scent in the very back that rounds it out and reminds you that this is a brewing operation owned and operated by an Oregon farming dynasty.

But what about the taste? White Crow is sweet around the edges with a good strong coffee bitterness. It’s full of roasted, toasted flavors that again I did not expect based on what I was looking at in my glass. You get both that little bit of chocolate and that little bit of vanilla that shows up in the scent. It also has a little touch of that unique stout sourness in the very back of the swallow which rounds the whole thing out and bring it home stout style. The feel of the beer in the mouth is very clean and pillowy soft but not at all chunky like you might expect from some stouts. It’s almost refreshing because of how clean it drinks.

I went into this tasting expecting a gimmick beer—a stout that was pale instead of dark. But that’s selling White Crow extremely short. This is a lovingly-crafted stout with all the flavors I love and expect out of the style, but with a unique spin that adds to the fun of drinking it. White Crow is 5.8% alcohol by volume. Based on their website it appears that Ordnance currently distributes to Oregon, Washington and Northern Idaho. I’ve reached out to them for more information and I’m waiting to hear back—I hope to have more details on how you can get your hands on this and the rest of their beers soon. But for those of you living within the distribution area—or who know people who can ship or smuggle you a bottle across state lines—this is an absolute must-try beer. We’re making it a Two Minute Beer Review Recommendation.

That’s all for this week, but I hope you’ll join me next week as we take a look at Hanamachi Rice Lager by Bottle Logic Brewing in Anaheim, CA. Is this one a hit or should we save the rice for sushi ? We’ll find out next week.

Look for links to this week’s beer and brewery in the show notes, and don’t forget to let us know what you’re drinking and what you’re thinking about the show. You can find us on Facebook or tweet us @2minutebeer, using the number two.

The Two Minute Beer Review is a part of the Phoenix Podcast Network and is brought to you by Zane-It, where you can find all the best costumes and makeup, Central Valley Youth Legal Services and Superfan Sandra Hay. If you’d like to support the show you can leave us a tip or sign up for a small monthly donation by clicking the link in the show notes or by supporting the Phoenix Creative Collective on Patreon.

That’s all for now but I’ll see you next week as we continue on our quest to taste all the beer!

Have you supported the Phoenix Creative Collective and the Phoenix Podcast Network through Patreon yet? It's easy, just click here

Send questions, comments and recommendations to [email protected]

Our theme music is by Rialthos! Find more at Rialthos.bandcamp.com.

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Episode 73: Federation Brewing’s Utopia Planitia Dry Hopped Red Ale

It’s the Two Minute Beer Review!

I’m Andrew Burkum and it’s that time again where we take on that massive craft brew aisle to find the hidden treasures waiting for us there.

This week we’re taking a look at Utopia Planitia Dry Hopped Red Ale from Federation Brewing in Oakland, CA. Will this one send us on a voyage to the final frontier or should it be left in drydock? Let’s find out!

All right, let’s just get this out of the way up front. I’ve been a Star Trek fan all my life and the very name of this beer is clearly pandering to geeks like myself. In Star Trek lore, the Utopia Planitia shipyards are where all the great Federation starships such as the good old Enterprise are designed and built. The facility is in orbit around the planet Mars, so a Red Ale makes perfect sense! So I came for the nerdy name—but did I stay for the beer?

In the glass, this beer is a beautiful red-amber color. It smells of baked bread and raw grain with just a tiny bit of rye spice in the background to make things really interesting and exotic.

This is an excellent use of rye—one of the best that I’ve seen and if you listen regularly you know I’m a sucker for a good rye beer. Sometimes as a component it can get lost in the mix but in this beer that pungency is really the star in a very big way.

The bitterness on this one is full-tongue engaging and hangs out as well. And although the overall mix doesn’t have a ton that really screams “red ale” at me, I absolutely love what it does have to say.

This is a great example of a solo-drinking beer. It doesn’t require any food or anything else to enhance its incredible flavor profile. It is easily my favorite rye-including beer of 2019 and one of the best brews that I tasted in the year. It comes in at 7.4% alcohol by volume, is available in cans and on tap at their tasting room in Oakland and is a Two Minute Beer Review Recommendation!

That’s all for this week, but I hope you’ll join me next week as we take a look at White Crow White Chocolate Stout by Ordnance Brewing in Boardman, Oregon. Is this one as rare as an albino raven? We’ll find out next week.

Look for links to this week’s beer and brewery in the show notes, and don’t forget to let us know what you’re drinking and what you’re thinking about the show. You can find us on Facebook or tweet us @2minutebeer, using the number two.

The Two Minute Beer Review is a part of the Phoenix Podcast Network and is brought to you by Zane-It, where you can find all the best costumes and makeup, Central Valley Youth Legal Services and Superfan Sandra Hay. If you’d like to support the show you can leave us a tip or sign up for a small monthly donation by clicking the link in the show notes or by supporting the Phoenix Creative Collective on Patreon. Our music is by Rialthos. You can find more at Rialthos.bandcamp.com.

That’s all for now but we’ll see you next week as we continue on our quest to taste all the beer!

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Send questions, comments and recommendations to [email protected]

Our theme music is by Rialthos! Find more at Rialthos.bandcamp.com.

Support The Two Minute Beer Review by donating to their Tip Jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/the-two-minute-beer-review

Find out more at https://the-two-minute-beer-review.pinecast.co

This podcast is powered by Pinecast.