Happy New Year’s Eve! This week’s beer tasting was LIVE at the Gilman Brewing Company (Berkeley, California) taproom in Pleasanton, California!
We tasted four randomly selected beers at this location and we’re going to tell you what we thought!
So, grab your favorite beverage (alcoholic or non-alcoholic), sit down, kick back…put the crystal ball drop on another screen, and kick back with us as we review beers from the Gilman Brewing Company!
(NOTE: We had a bit of an audio recording snafu. The beers we were given were not in the correct order when we tasted them and editing the audio to match the beers was an absolute nightmare so we won’t have audio reflections for the first three beers this week. We DID, however, manage to salvage the final beer and post-taste audio. Sorry to let you guys down! We will do better next week!)
Our first beer is…
BEER: The Idaho Two-Step (Single Hop IPA)
ABV: 7.3%
MATT: 4/5
DANIELLE: 4/5
LOOK: Gold and somewhat clear
SCENT: Citrus and pine notes
MOUTHFEEL/TASTE: Slightly thick mouthfeel. Some melon and good carbonation with a great IPA bite. The citrus doesn’t really come through.
FINAL REFLECTIONS: Incredibly refreshing IPA with a great melon after-taste. Not as aggressive as you would think. Excellent flavoring on this beer and would make for a nice summer ale.
BEER: Ales for ALS (Gilman Triple IPA)
ABV: 10%
MATT: 4.25/5
DANIELLE: 4.25/5
LOOK: Gold and somewhat clear
SCENT: No real nose on it
MOUTHFEEL/TASTE: Smooth mix of hops, malt and alcohol with a great kick at the end.
FINAL REFLECTIONS: This is an insanely great Triple IPA where you can taste the hell out of the alcohol. Beautiful malt and hops on this give a nice, sweet edge to things with a great IPA bite/finish. Highly recommended.
BEER: Cucumber Jordi (Golden Sour Ale)
ABV: 6%
MATT: 4/5
DANIELLE: 4.25/5
LOOK: Gold and hazy
SCENT: Musty hops, potato
MOUTHFEEL/TASTE: Extremely sour ale — but can’t make out the cucumber. Has a bit of fruit flavor to it…maybe mango.
FINAL REFLECTIONS: Wonderful sour ale with a fruit bite and heavy lemon citrus. It’s a great all-around sour — but needed more of a kick to make it interesting.
BEER: Pirates Have Feelings, Too (Imperial Coconut Porter)
ABV: 10%
MATT: 4/5
DANIELLE: 4/5
LOOK: Dark black
SCENT: Coffee and coconut
MOUTHFEEL/TASTE: Coffee, coconut, and cream.
FINAL REFLECTIONS: This is pretty much a typical Porter/Stout with your typical coffee/cream flavor. The coconut is a nice touch — but I’ve had coconut Porters before (Kona’s is great) and this didn’t really knock me out. Still, a decent Porter.
FINAL THOUGHTS: This is an excellent beer company with some great selections. Even the beer I drank (off-recording) called “Phil’s Bad Day” was outstanding. This was a great showing from the Berkeley-born Gilman Brewing Company. Highly recommended.
HEAR OUR FINAL THOUGHTS:
NEXT WEEK: We don’t know what’s on the slab — but please check out our year-end review of the best beers we’ve tasted!