Avocado Honey Ale
Island Brewing Company

Poured from 12oz can into my BeerAdvocate teku.

Appearance: good golden hue with a bit of haze, some apparent effervescence and a thin finger of frothy ivory foam atop. The color is rich and beautiful.

Smell: rather nutty and biscuity, and just a bit sweet. It's not bad, but perhaps a bit sweet for my taste.

Taste: whoa, quite a lot of sweet honey flavor right up front. It definitely has a very; oh, it's hard to say, but ... wildflower, perhaps, character to it. It's smooth, and the honey portion is nice, but there's not a ton of complexity here.

Mouthfeel: medium body with a mild carbonation and a pretty smooth texture despite that. Not bad.

Overall: this is not a bad beer, especially by the standards of blonde ales. It is a bit one-dimensional, but that one dimension is pretty well-done.

 

 

 

 

I really liked this beer. Despite the gimmicky theme, could really taste the avocado/honey (or was it palcebo..?) enjoyed at Barrel House 101, Ventura Beach, CA, May 2016

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Delicious brew made once a year for the Avocado Festival in Santa Barbara. The honey from the avocado gives this a unique flavor. Island balances it out well with solid malts. If you can find it, try it.

 

 

 

Thanks to Skuter for sharing this one at jmgrub's tasting.

2012 vintage.

Pours a clear dark orange with a foamy orange-tan head that settles to wisps film on top of the beer. Small dots of lace form around the glass on the drink down. Smell is of malt, grain, and some honey aromas. Taste is much the same with a grassy finish. There is a mild bitterness on the palate with each sip. This beer has a good level of carbonation with a crisp mouthfeel. Overall, this is a pretty good beer that is drinkable but nothing all that memorable.

On tap at 515 in Santa Cruz. Poured into a pilsener glass. Clear gold color with a slight orange tint. Nice frothy white head that lasts awhile. Aroma is sweet with grains and a clear honey note. Flavor is honey, pale malts, and grain up front before finishing nutty and slightly grassy. Well integrated flavor, very smooth and crisp. Drinkability is off the charts. Good beer if you're not looking for a ton of complexity.

Pint at JJ Brewsky's yesterday for six dollars, shared this with my girlfriend after she did not like it very much, first beer with avocado I have ever heard of, they actually use the blossoms from them, not retired but brewed once every year

A-Bright golden yellow with some orange tint, big one inch white soapy head that had some decent retention, some lacing at the beginning
S-Kiwis, wheat, honey, lemon juice, grassy accents, tons of other citrus, tartiness, sweet yeast, and flowers, not much avocado in the flavor but some once it warmed up much later
T-Starts off nice and tart with tons of citrus attacking the tongue, some sweet flowery notes in the middle, finish is full of citrus as well, light overall which makes me think the base for this beer was either a blonde or a low alcohol pale ale
M-Slightly fruity, tart, and citrusy, medium bodied, lots of carbonation, taste lasted a long time and you really pick up on the avocado in the aftertaste, it was almost like a blonde with sweet and tarty guacomole in the aftertaste, okay that might not sound very appetizing with that descripotion but it was an awesome mouthfeel
D-Could drink a bunch of these and especially this time of year, nice and light with a nice refreshing bite to it, reminded me a lot of a berliner weiss, great summer beer, no alcohol present in the flavor,

Too bad this brew is just made for a festival because this unique brew is something that could really get this small Carpenteria operation on the map, never heard of the beer or brewery until today and was very surprised with the results from this one, unique is an understatement, would love to drink again, recommended

This beer is not retired, just brewed once a year.
Poured a clear light golden color with a flat white head. Nose is honey, slight avaocado, citrusy, floral. Taste is really good IMHO. Like a Pale, Blonde mix with a very light amount of Avacoda. Mouthfeel was nice, thin but sweet and tasty. Avocado plays a back seat and its well balanced. Could be agreat session beer.

Had this at the brewery on 9/17. Paul told me this was the first batch and they have bunch in the tanks to be ready for Carp Avo festival at the end of the month. This beer is a honey blonde made with avocado honey. The fruit beer style classification is incorrect.
The beer has a nice pale golden color with a slight floral aroma. The taste is a solid representation of the honey blonde style, avocado flowers produce a unique honey without much of the flavor of the fruit. A great session beer to celebrate the fall avocado harvest,

Paul, the brewmaster, has brewed up a batch of this stuff for the up-coming Avocado Festival held annually in Carpinteria, CA. All in all it's not bad. There's little to no avocado taste noticeable, but if you've ever had one you could imagine how difficult it would be to bring the mild flavor of avocado through to a beer. Instead what you have here is something like a nice tasting honey lager (yes, it is an ale, but there's a definitely lager quality about it). It's quite drinkable, but I don't think it's going to become a perminent fixture at Island.