Beer – #846 – Garage Project – Los Lobos
Los Lobos, The Beer. It was a hard choice tonight with some very nice beer available (well they read nice, don’t know if they drink nice, buy hey, what’s the worst that could happen?
Los Lobos, ‘the wolves’ in Spanish,
From the fill station, it’s the trusty 1 litre of beer that is 8% ABV, making this 240 calories a serve size, 6.31 standard drink units in NZ.
Brewed by Garage Project in the style that is: Imperial IPA and they are in Windy Wellington, New Zealand
Thirsty like a wolf…
Californian road trip inspired IPA pouring for the first time at the 2015 Westcoast IPA Challenge at Malthouse.
Packed full of Simcoe, Amarillo, and Citra hops and golden like the Golden State itself.
So, what could possibly go wrong?
Surprisingly sweet aroma, from the lats? and less hop grassiness than I expected. This is a really murky cloudy beer too, the new thing.
It’s a lovely pour with a crisp bright white head the is just about the right size, had a listen, and it’s about the right noise too.
Tropical fruit in abundance on the nose when you pour this, it’s ticking a lot of boxes.
Bullseye.
That is a tasty tasty beer.
Lovely level of bitterness and none of that dryness at the end of the mouthful, this also has a real wallop of tropical notes in it, sweet against that bitterness and make this instantly and easily drinkable as a beer.
Clearly quite the potent hop mix in this.
- Amarillo displays spicy orange and other citrus characters
- Simcoe a very high alpha acid, this is a hop that isn’t bashful with its pine, citrus, and cat urine characters.
- Citra blowing peoples’ minds with its fruity and citrusy characters.
Note even making that up, I went and read my cut/paste notes on it 🙂
This has that lovely billowy mull mouthfeel from that malt without being over the top, and the bitterness brings you back down to earth and together they’re quite the thing in the mouth, it’s difficult to explain, it’s just nice and a bit clever.
Being as how it’s dinner time I can attest that this sat well with the spiced chicken, and since it’s Friday also sandwich night, wherein ‘Portuguese’ chicken and “Italian” Bread and the salads are pretty much a match. Oh and Kumara wedges (that’s pretty much a sweet potato they grown around here).
Back to the beer though, damn and blast the single bottle as this is beer that would carry me a whole night and get me to the happy place in a measured way, despite being higher in the alcohol this is beer that despite being drinky get a bit of respect that it deserves and you end up just appreciating it a while.
Last pour as lovely as the first and nothing wrong there either. which is where we get the point where I try to think about what went really wrong and how this isn’t a beer for the 10’s. Which might be hard.
The pdubyah-o-meter rates this as 9 of its things from the thing. It really is a beer that hits all the bits that it is supposed to hit. The bit’s that it don’t hit though are important. For me. Which are? Hard to define. This is a fine beer of high merit, but it’s really not the best of the beers I’ve ever had, and that’s a pretty subjective measure. I’d lose in my own arguments if someone challenged me on how things got a 10 of course. Then again it’s all about me. I’m sticking to that and “great” which is just a shade under awesome, an way better than very good. I really didn’t think that scale through.
This is great beer that I’d be mad not to have again.
The double dip review
- Where did I get it? The fill station but it’s in cans all over the place.
- Am I enjoying it?
- Would I have another?
- Would I share with a friend on a porch and set the world to rights?
Music for this: ” Khun Narin ” ” II ” on the Spotify
Khun Narin is a psychedelic music ensemble based out of the Phetchabun Province in Thailand. Led by Khun Narin, the group is known locally for their impromptu improvisational performances situated at backyard parties and parades.
IMPERIAL/DOUBLE IPA
Imperial IPA, Double IPA or DIPA is a strong, often sweet, intensely hoppy version of the traditional India Pale Ale. Bitterness units range upward of 100 IBUs and alcohol begins at 7.5% but is more commonly in the 8.5-10% range. The flavour profile is intense all-round. Unlike barley wines, the balance is heavily towards the hops, with crystal and other malts providing support.
A life just as ordinary 