Continental Drift
Alvarado Street Brewery

Beer Geek Stats | Print Shelf Talker
From:
Alvarado Street Brewery
 
California, United States
Style:
American Lager
ABV:
5.5%
Score:
89
Avg:
4.06 | pDev: 7.39%
Reviews:
3
Ratings:
17
Status:
Active
Rated:
Mar 26, 2021
Added:
Jul 20, 2017
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  1
Collaboration with Creature Comforts Brewing Company
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Photo of rodbeermunch
Reviewed by rodbeermunch from Nevada

3.75/5  rDev -7.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
Picked up a single can of this in Spring 2019. Took it out shooting soon after.

Pours a nice golden pilsner color, good clarity, 1/2" white head. She's a looker. Mosaic hops are used for aroma, but there's been some real nice Mosaic lagers coming out of NorCal, and this is kind of a second tier one in that regard. Light dank weed and guava notes alongside a nice smelling light sulphur lager yeast.

Taste helped further the Mosaic notes along with I think Saphir hops, seemed decently placed for a lager, in terms of both taste in and of itself, but also the bittering level and binding with the lager yeast taste wise. The pilsner malt character and carbonation level give this the requisite levity and dryness in the mouth feel. While it fails to reach that top tier hoppy lager level, it is still quite nice.

Where it gets difficult is that $5 a can price. I might buy it once more, but its tough to become a staple at that price.
Mar 26, 2021
 
Rated: 4.28 by dshansen1184 from Washington

Jul 18, 2019
 
Rated: 3.64 by Ice_Cream_And_IPAs from New York

Jun 18, 2019
 
Rated: 4 by Bum4ever from California

Jun 08, 2019
Photo of TheBrewsky
Reviewed by TheBrewsky from California

3.94/5  rDev -3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Canned 4/9/19. Haven't had it before, but I am in the mood for a hoppy pilsner so consider me stoked.
L: Pours that grain yellow that I love to see. Transparent, bright and lively with bubbles making their way to the top. About a finger of a loosely packed head formed from the pour but didn't last long. Not much in terms of lacing.
S: Lemon and grass is what I smell the most, and that is pretty much it. It smells nice, just rather muted.
T: Very citrusy at first, with lemon and grapefruit standing out. Grassy on the finish with hints of pine and black pepper alongside a nice clean hoppy finish.
F: Light in body and in weight. Crisp, light, and refreshing. People hate it, but this is a crusher. Would pair nice with a tractor on a hot summer day.
O: A super enjoyable beer. Not grainy as is the case with most pilsners, with a nice variety of grassiness and citrus. I would drink again and I am glad to try. Cheers!
May 16, 2019
 
Rated: 4.1 by Samnem from Pennsylvania

May 12, 2019
Photo of fmccormi
Reviewed by fmccormi from California

4.84/5  rDev +19.2%
look: 4.75 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.75
Straight pour from a 16oz can to a stemless wine glass (HPB’s Bottle Friends cat glass). This was canned on April 9, 2019 according to a canning date printed in black ink on the underside of the can (“NOT PACKAGED FOR RESALE 04/09/19”), making this can 18 days old at the time of consumption.

Appearance (4.75): Two fingers of nearly bone-white foam rise off of the pour, capping a crystal clear, 24ct gold-colored body. The head is fine and whipped with a creamy, meringue-like appearance, dissipating at a rather leisurely pace, leaving a nearly solid, wavy collar of sticky, whipped foam film rising from the surface of the beer. Unbelievably beautiful. The only improvement might be stickier collars, but it isn’t really the style.

Smell (5.0): A beautiful array of juicy tropical, brightly grassy, gently mineral, and softly bready aromas jump from the glass, offering mouth-watering passionfruit, green guava, and gooseberry notes alongside fresh-cut grass, river stones, a touch of pinot grigio, and pain de campagne crust, soft boule, and a bit of very light toffee. Balanced, diverse, on style, and damn near perfect as far as I’m concerned.

Taste (4.75): On the palate, this beer is, kind of surprisingly, a little more malt- and yeast-forward—but well within the realm of what you should expect from the style. A quick, light grassy flavor makes itself known first, blended with a little green guava, before giving way to a broader, soft bitterness that’s seamlessly melded with big, balanced mineral and citrus tones. There is a fruity component to the hops, too, showing up in the form of mixed berries, plum, and just a touch of papaya, I think, but it blends organically with the malt and yeast imprints. The grain or malt here is beautifully soft and earthy, with the gentlest spice and a breadiness that is almost totally free of sweetness. Country wheat bread, a bit of dumpling dough, and very light, nuanced toffee are all present—but they’re nicely kept in check with grassy and citrusy bitterness, fresh, wet river stones, and extremely light phenols like you might get from a very dry gewürztraminer. No sign of booze, no hop burn, no off-style flair for the sake of flair, just straight-up, beautifully rendered pilsner.

Mouthfeel (5.0): Unbelievably soft for the style, especially a hoppy version of it. The body is just shy of medium-weight, creamy and soft, but balanced with a firmly dry, yet wonderfully moderated bitterness. The carbonation is lush and velvety, washing across the palate with an extremely fine-grained, active tingle that covers all surfaces before foaming up fully and very cleanly. It washes out completely, leaving only a grassy, minerally, slightly citrusy bitterness to linger on the back end.

Overall (4.75): Okay, full disclosure, I was not expecting to give this beer such a high score. I’d already had it on draft at the brewery in Monterey, as well as one can maybe in the shower (I really love a good shower beer), and between those two experiences I knew that it was wonderful but I also didn’t pay quite as close attention to it, because life. This is outstanding, in every single way. It perfectly walks this tightrope between New World hoppy pils/IPL and Old World perfectly attenuated, naturally carbonated, painstakingly rendered malt-to-yeast character types of pilsners. I’m so impressed with this beer, it’s hard to overstate how much I’m enjoying it (and glad I have two more cans left). Ugh. It should go without saying, but I can’t recommend this highly enough.
Apr 28, 2019
 
Rated: 3.53 by acurtis from New Jersey

Apr 26, 2019
 
Rated: 3.85 by BarrelAgedG from California

Apr 21, 2019
 
Rated: 4.15 by festizio from California

Apr 18, 2019
 
Rated: 4.27 by Kurmaraja from California

Nov 07, 2017
 
Rated: 3.9 by Hop_God from California

Aug 04, 2017
 
Rated: 4.18 by bouncepass from California

Aug 01, 2017
 
Rated: 4.4 by Beernoobie from California

Jul 31, 2017
 
Rated: 3.83 by Beerbom from California

Jul 22, 2017
 
Rated: 4.1 by westcoastbeerlvr from California

Jul 22, 2017
 
Rated: 4.27 by nataku00 from California

Jul 22, 2017
Continental Drift from Alvarado Street Brewery
Beer rating: 89 out of 100 with 17 ratings