Beer Wednesday: Le Freak by Green Flash Brewing

Green Flash is yet another good brewery in San Diego. They are best known for their Green Flash IPA. We reviewed their Le Freak in a tag-team effort between Aaron and myself. The Le Freak is a fusion of styles, it is alternately described as a Belgian IPA, an Abbey Trippel, a blond, and as Green Flash's own combo description described below. (Feedback on the format is appreciated; this is our first time experimenting.)

It is $7.49 for a 22oz bottle and has 9.2% ABV. Below is the discussion Aaron and I had in which we reviewed the beer.

Beer Wednesday: Imperial Russian Stout by Stone Brewing

I am quite familiar with Stone Brewing. For one thing they are based in San Diego, just like Ballast Point Brewery; that innate characteristic makes them awesome by default. We all know how much Aaron loves Stone's Ruination IPA, which we all agree is one of the pinnacles of the IPA style. Stone clearly knows how to make a good beer.

That makes their lackluster Imperial Russian Stout all the more disappointing.

Beer Wednesday: The FIWK IPA Tasting

Towards the end of April, Aaron came down to LA. We decided to celebrate this occasion by assembling a crew and drinking some beers. Aaron loves IPAs so we focused the tasting mainly around those. Here is the list:

IPAs
- Longhammer IPA by Redhook (6.5% ABV)
- Blind Pig IPA by Russian River (6.1%)
- Pliny the Elder IPA by Russian River (8%)
- Torpedo IPA by Sierra Nevada (7.2%)
- Hop Ottin' IPA (organic) by Anderson Valley (7%)
- Big Daddy IPA by Speakeasy (6.5%)
- Ruination IPA by Stone (7.7%)


Non-IPAs
- Noble Pilsner by Sam Adams (5%?)
- McGarvey's Scottish Ale by Left Coast (5%)
- El Camino (Un)Real Black Ale by Stone, Firestone Walker, and 21st Amendment (9.5%)
- Red & White Ale by Dogfish Head (10%)
- Victory at Sea Vanilla Coffee Imperial Porter by Ballast Point (10%)


Pictures are forthcoming. Feel free to add your comments in the meantime, especially if you've had these beers before.

Ballast Point - Victory at Sea Imperial Coffee Vanilla Porter

Ballast Point is a San Diego brewery (woot) that you may know from their Calico Amber Ale and Yellowtail Pale Ale beers, among others. They also have a seasonal beer out called the Victory at Sea Imperial Coffee Vanilla Porter, which I picked up at local wine and beer shopWally's.