California Common
Tributary Brewing Co.

Pours golden with white head. It's got some toasted sourdough and some biscuit. There's notable hop presence that creates some very nice balance for this beer. I really enjoyed this one.

 

16oz can poured into a lager glass.

A: Brassy golden/amber color with great clarity. Creamy, fine-bubbled head is off white in color and retains nicely at a finger and a half in height. Delicate rings of lacing.

S: Playfully floral hop scents. Fresh grass clippings. Slight lemon zest and ever so slight pine impressions. Mildly estery with white grape skin and other vague light, fruits aromas. Pleasant grainy undertones with hints of freshly baked bread and a soft toastiness.

T: Hops up front- very floral, green grass clippings, mildly oily, mild herb box spice, and soft pine. Fruity esters have a faint Juicy Fruit gum sort of feel. Really lovely grain profile with some dough, freshly baked bread, and some lightly toasty grain. Dries toward the finish with some trailing fresh bread and green hops- pleasant and easy.

M: Light bodied. Creamy and soft malt textures. Ample carbonation provides a bite and some lifting and scrubbing action.

O: I've worked in the craft beer industry for a decade, and outside of Anchor Steam, this is the only other California Common I can remember drinking. I imagine I'm not the only one in that boat- the style is anything but common. So my impression of the style is based on one beer, albeit one that does happen to serve as the style benchmark in the minds of most authorities. This stacks up quite favorably. In addition to being on-style, it's just a super pleasant drinking experience overall. It's such an easygoing and easy-drinking little beer. Nothing offensive whatsoever, just a light, dry, beer with a friendly hop profile, interesting esters, and a really nice grain bill. I'd love to make it a summertime regular in my fridge if it were more widely available. Superb.

 

 

Consumed 6/19/20

Somewhere between copper and amber in color, clear, small white head that fades to virtually nothing
Pale and caramel grains, bread, bread crust, biscuits, some light grainy sweetness, light herbal and grass notes, some lager yeast, fruity with some apple and pear, not really getting the "berries" in the official description, light bitterness, dry finish
On the light side of medium, smooth, low carbonation

Tribuary is no stranger to easy-drinking beers, and I was not shocked that my first can of this basically evaporated. This is not necessarily a style that I think about often, but this is worth a try.

 

 

A rarely seen style that can be quite enjoyable. Canned 3/31/20
Pours a light fizzy head with low retention, not too bad for style, crystal clear amber slight tan color

Nose is quite fruity, more than expected for style, mostly apple esters, light creamy base malt, a little possibly Maize but hard to tell, little doughy, light toasted malts, touch of honey

Taste is a bit better, nice grainy malty doughy base, creamy with some toasty almost caramely malts, light fruity esters, pome fruit mostly, less than the nose thankfully, a bit of apple juice increasing as it warms, light earthy woody hop bitterness, soft lager-like characters, drier finish, a bit more crisp bitterness hinting at med bitterness, a little herbal hop flavor, otherwise clean finish

Mouth is med bod, lighter foamy carb

Overall not too bad, taste was about where it should be, nose brought way too many fruity apple esters that kinda overpowered the rest, carbonation was also a bit light, so some improvements could be made, but solid start