Lifted Embargo
Latitude 33 Brewing Company

October 6th, 2016 - I've had this accessible beer more than a few times, mostly because it shows up when you most need it and don't have any other beers on the go. Dark and hazy, it looks almost like a winter warmer, betrayed only by the head. But the deception persists in the aroma: custard, cinnamon and a nice malt bill. The label does say IPA, right? It's more like the stated style in the flavor, serving a light happiness and a sticky booziness on a lighter palate. A little jam-on-toast sweetness too. Nice and tasty for a hop dose on the go.

Type: 16-oz. can
Glass: Pure Project 14-oz. Teku glass
From: Windmill Farms in Del Cerro (San Diego), Calif.
Price: $2.99
Purchased: Aug. 16, 2019
Consumed: Aug. 16, 2019
Reviewed as: American IPA
Misc.: Canned on June 10, 2019

Kind of a sucker for Latitude 33 and had thought I had reviewed this before. Turns out I had this one before, giving it a 3.75 on Untappd on March 23, 2019. Thought I had reviewed it, but oh well. It calls for Mosaic and Citra, which is really hard to mess up. Online description read, “The embargo has been lifted! This beer was brewed solely for the purpose of satisfying our insatiable San Diego taste buds… and mission accomplished! A dry, crisp IPA with an uncanny citrus aroma followed with a burst of bitterness that hits hard but doesn’t linger.”

Poured an amber semi-clear color with four fingers of rocky white head. Lots of bubble streams coming up along the sides of the glass. Excellent foamy lacing. Almost perfect retention. (Sight - 4.75)

Smelled almost a 50/50 mix of Mosaic and Citra. Also floral, tropical passion fruit, mixed berry, caramel, mango, red grapefruit, pine and herbal. Much better from the can with the Mosaic really coming through. (Smell - 3.75)

Tasted a little better than the nose. Got pine, tropical passion fruit, Citra, Mosaic, mixed berry, mango, red grapefruit and herbal. (Taste - 4.00)

Medium body. Oily-to-creamy texture. Average carbonation. Abrupt finish. (Feel - 4.25)

Outstanding beer overall. Better than I remember it. (Overall - 4.00)

4.01 | 90 | A-

 

 

 

 

22oz bottle - so the 'embargo' that has been lifted is the one meant to keep this stuff in San Diego County? Ok.

This beer pours a mildly hazy, medium copper amber colour, with a teeming tower of puffy, finely foamy, and somewhat bubbly off-white head, which leaves some decent layered and webbed lace around the glass as it slowly dissipates.

It smells of grainy and biscuity pale malt, a lesser caramel sweetness, very muddled domestic citrus peel, a musty yeastiness, and some plain leafy, weedy, and resinous piney green hop bitters. The taste is bready and doughy caramel malt, weak orange, red grapefruit, and pineapple citrus rind, more meaty and earthy yeast, and a still hard to appreciate leafy, earthy, and musky floral verdant hoppiness.

The carbonation is quite inert in its barely-there frothiness, the body a solid middleweight, and genuinely smooth, with a nice airy creaminess nearly there from the get-go. It finishes on the sweet side, the malt and fruity hops the order of the lingering day.

Overall, this is a rather unchallenging and not particularly gripping version of the style - the expected 'San Diego' West Coast, big 'C' hops not exactly bringing their A-game, and for the north of 10 bucks a pop shelf tag around here, they can keep that embargo in place for all I care.

Clear amber brew with plenty of foam in the tall goblet. Citrus nose. The rush of fruity hops is clean and delicious. Quite malty but distinctly tangy. Seems well balanced to me, it's just a big malty brew with a lot of orange flavor. Bitter aftertaste leaves you wanting more, instead of less.

A welcome relief from some bitter bastards I've been drinking lately. Seems to be a love it or hate it beer, and I think it's great. From the 22 oz bottle purchase at Barons Market in San Diego.

 

 

 

This brew started out decently, with a nice looking, golden copper hue, small head that dissipates to a small foam pool. Hardly any lace at all.

Smell is sticky resin, caramel and an underlying smell of wet dog. Taste is all over the place; dry hops, pine resin, citrus zest, straw, grass, weeds, drywall, wallpaper, woody dryness. More dry hops and grass. Light bodied on the finish and very dry. A bit astringent with malt running amock.

The underlying wet dog aroma brought this down heavily for me. Overly dry and very unbalanced brew. Maybe I need to try this on tap instead.

A-Copper Orange with a white head that lingers for a while
S-More malt than anything else, sweet aroma and not much hops to observe
M-Resinous mouthfeel and carbonation has a slight peppery bite
T-All malt and malt, I can't detect any hop flavours and the bitterness does not balance the overwhelming sweetness
O-Not for me.