One Giant Leap
Alvarado Street Brewery

 

 

 

Can poured into an Alvarado Street Brewery Willi Beecher glass

A: Pours hazy golden amber with a frothy off white head that settles to a light layer and laces nicely.

S: Mix of ripe stone fruit, citrus, melon and tropical fruit, a touch of pine, light floral hints, biscuity malt, and caramel sweetness.

T: Soft tropical and stone fruit, apricot, peach, mango, guava, melon, and passion fruit, pulpy citrus juice, big orange with a little grapefruit and lemon, a touch of pine, slightly floral, biscuity malt, and caramel sweetness.

M: Shockingly light body, mild carbonation, pillowy soft, creamy smooth, that 10% is completely hidden.

O: I normally don't get too excited about TIPAs, but after hearing good things about this one for so many years I finally decided to give it a try. Holy crap! Insanely light and pillowy for its size, super smooth.

 

 

 

On tap at Belmont Station today in PDX.

The beer pours a hazy golden amber color with great head retention and considerable leaving. This looks great! On the nose, I get considerable tropical fruit and juice. It's nice, but is a bit more subdued than I expected. The flavor profile replicates the nose pretty closely In this moderately sweet TIPA, but with some noticeable alcohol in the finish. It's not over the top or excessive, but it is noticeable. There's a hint of bitterness in the finish as well. Mouthfeel is pretty full and soft, with a long, slightly boozy finish. Alcohol is otherwise pretty well integrated into the flavor profile.

A nice enough beer, but this is nothing special either. Glad to have a chance to try this, but would probably not order it again.

Serving: 16 oz can (“canned in 02/17/2022”) poured into a 9 oz Libbey Embassy snifter glass.

Appearance: Very hazy golden yellow with a nice froth dark of white head and fine lace.

Smell: Pineapple, guava, stone fruit and some pine resin.

Taste: Plenty more stone fruit, melon, apricot, dried pepper and pine needles. Balancing sweet and soft bitter notes, as well as a hint of alcoholic burn.

Mouthfeel: Soft and creamy while still moderately carbonated.

Overall: A big hazy, bursting with a spectrum of fruit notes, soft bitterness and definite booziness.

Type: 16-oz. can
Reviewed as: New England Triple / Imperial IPA
Glass: Pure Project 16-oz. snifter glass
Price: $25.99 for a mixed 4-pack
From: Blind Lady Ale House in Normal Heights (San Diego), Calif.
Purchased: Feb. 21, 2021
Consumed: March 5, 2021
Misc.: Canned on Feb. 10, 2021

Bought an Alvarado Street mixed 4-pack when I saw it available at Blind Lady Ale House. I love that BLAH is doing these lately as I’m on their website every day. Online description read “While making beer isn't quite akin to taking the first step on the moon, the nature of the industry lies upon progression through some element of risk. If we aren't trying new things, how will we know what's possible? This beer is a nod towards taking that leap; fermented with a blend of expressive yeast strains for maximum ester production and thorough attenuation, coupled with experimentation in water and a hopping schedule far from ordinary. The result is an Imperial IPA with an enormously complex fruit character, balanced bitterness, and palate weight as soft as a feather for extraordinary drinkability.”

Poured a golden hazy color with 2-to-3 fingers of frothy white head. Could see some bubbles coming up along the sides of the glass. Outstanding spotty lacing. Almost perfect retention. (Sight - 4.50)

Smelled stone fruit, peach, apricot, orange, viney berry, mango, pineapple, grapefruit and honeydew melon. Even better out of the can. (Smell - 4.25)

Tasted a little better than the nose. In order got peach, pine forest, mango, stone fruit, apricot, black pepper, orange, viney berry, pineapple, grapefruit and honeydew melon. Was getting all that 10 pct. ABV initially, but smooth out each sip. (Taste - 4.25)

Medium body. Creamy texture. Average carbonation. Long, spicy finish. (Feel - 5.00)

Damn. Really liked this one. Just an excellent beer. (Overall - 4.25)

4.34 | 96 | A

 

Look: Slightly hazy dark amber with a creamy white head.

Smell: Mango, peach, orange, grapefruit.

Taste: Strong mango flavor! Notes of grapefruit. Herbal hop flavor lingers alongside some mild vanilla and mango. Mango, mango, mango. A bit of alcohol warmth.

Feel: Thick and creamy. Crisp, smooth, and refreshing instead of oily/heavy.

Overall: Potent and fun to drink, with tons of mango flavor.

 

Sweet, tropical hoppy, bready/yeasty, and nicely dank nose on this one! Taste follows with a soft and fluffy swallow of tropical notes...backed up by dankness. This is good!

Amazingly smooth for such an intoxicating brew. Tastes crisp and juicy with malty, hoppy goodness. The warmth of the aftertaste is comforting and deceptive. Off I go to space!

 

OGL pours a hazy and milky yellow with a thick, rich and rocky white head with some sticky lacing. The smell is sweet melo with stone fruit, including peach and grapefruit. The taste has a somewhat heavy, slight boozy feel up front but a big citrus taste with orange, as well as pineapple, finishing with a slight hint of honey.

#30SecondBeerReview:

 

Canned 2/3/20 - poured into a teku glass.
L: pours a darker orangish yellow with a nice frothy top. Bubbling was good but retention was minimal as was the lacing. Those things aside, just the pure look at the liquid looks phenomenal. I can't quite describe whu but it just looks amazing.
S: melon and lime jump out at me. Also notes of honey and bread maybe like honey on bread. For a 10% I get faint hints of the alcohol but you could fool me this was a double. The tropical and stone fruitiness is also definitely present but can't pick one out.
T: wow, it is silky smooth but also the alcohol can't be missed, very well balanced. I get that honey bread towards the finish. The initial taste is the lime, melon and tropical fruits. Blown away by these flavors and the overall taste.
F: full body and good on the carbonation with a beautiful dry and tangy finish.
O: I personally love a triple NE IPA. This is knocking it out of the park, what a phenomenal beer. Thank you ASB!

Canned 1/18/19.
L: Golden bright yellow in color. Very hazy and practically at the murky level. No transparency, completely opaque. About a half finger of head from a uniform straight-centered pour. A tiny ring resides around perimeter of glass, minimal lacing. Color-wise, me likey.
S: Very melon and stonefruit forward. Peach, apricot, honeydew and grapefruit are the majority of the aroma. Typical ASB yeast aroma present as well. Hops are fresh and grassy smelling. Smells great.
T: Citrusy to the max, comprising of lemon, orange and grapefruit. Mango, pineapple, banana and berry also detectible. Yeast flavor also present throughout, but is milder compared to other ASB offerings. The booze slightly nips at the end, but is a very easy drinker. It's sweet on the finish, with a lingering flavors of apricot, tangerine and mango.
F: Medium in body and light to medium in weight. Moderate carbonation. Nice feel for a beer of this stature. Booze is detectible but isn't overly boozy by any means.
O: One of the best NETIPAs I've yet to have. This is great and is easy to drink for a triple, and I am not the biggest TIPA drinker. I do wish that I would have been more on top of it and drank slightly fresher. I bet it would be even better. Regardless, I would drink again and am glad to have tried. Cheers!