Warsteiner Dunkel

A side trip from California to Vegas led to a nice night on the town. During dinner, I ordered a glass of Warsteiner Dunkel. The beer has a dark amber color with a thin tan bubbly head. The aroma is sweet and malty with raisins. The taste is sweet and malty and consists of fig and raisin. The alcohol content is 4.9% ABV. The Dunkel had an amazing taste and had the right amount of sweetness. It paired really well with the duck that ordered for dinner at The Public Urban Bar (P.U.B.) in the new CityCenter. On a side note, they were still working out the kinks at the restaurant and the service was not up to par.

Ballast Point Calico Amber Ale

While in California, I picked up a six-pack of Ballast Point Calico Amber Ale. The beer has a light amber color with a lofty foamy head. The smell is pretty faint but consists of earthy hops. The taste is malty on the front end and has a light lemon accent on the finish. The alcohol content is 5.0% ABV. The Amber Ale was a pretty decent beer and it has won a gold medal in the past. I think that is is a good representation of what an amber ale should be and with the alcohol content, it makes it a great session beer.

Lost Abbey 10 Commandments

I picked up a bottle of Lost Abbey 10 Commandments while in California. The beer has a dark brown color with a thin bubbly tan head. The aroma is mostly raisin but also has some sweet malts. The taste is sweet and malty with a heavy dose of raisin. There is also a sweet honey finish and a light rosemary bite. The alcohol content is 10% ABV. I really enjoyed the 10 Commandments and thought that it was perfectly sweetened. The alcohol content is nicely hidden in the flavors and made for an enjoyable experience.

AleSmith Speedway Stout

Another beer I ordered while out on the town in southern California was AleSmith Speedway Stout. The beer has a dark brown color with a thin tan bubbly head. The aroma consists of coffee and chocolate. The taste starts with sweet chocolate finishes with bitter hops and coffee to complete the Imperial Stout experience. The alcohol content is 12.8% ABV. I thought that the Speedway Stout was a very good beer and well balanced with hops and chocolate.

AleSmith Horny Devil

A night on the town in southern California led me to ordered a glass of AleSmith Horny Devil. The beer has a pale golden color with a little head. The smell is sweet and consists mostly of banana with a light pepper backing. The taste consists of banana with a pepper spice accent. There is also a light malt flavor underneath the pepper. The alcohol content is 11% ABV. I thought that the Horny Devil was amazing and I loved it. It provided a good start to the evening with a good spicy bite and a nice alcohol kick.

Stone India Pale Ale

While on my trip to California and out for an evening on the town, I ordered a Stone India Pale Ale. Are you noticing a recurring theme of my trip? (Hint: I really enjoyed Stone and tried to order it wherever possible.) The beer has a golden color with a thin white bubbly head. The aroma is lightly citrus that consists of lemon and mostly grapefruit. The taste is sweet and malty with citrus undertone, again dominated by the grapefruit flavor. The alcohol content is 6.9% ABV. I thought Stone has provided a really good IPA with great hop balance and malt sweetness. I think the malts do a great job of balancing the grapefruit bitterness in the beer.

Pacific Beach Ale House Sunset India Pale Ale

The final beer I had at Pacific Beach Ale House in California was the Sunset India Pale Ale. The beer has an amber color with a light bubbly head. The smell is lightly hoppy and citrusy. The taste consists of sweet malts and light lemon and pepper. It also has a great hop finish. The alcohol content is 5.4% ABV. I thought that the Sunset IPA was a pretty solid IPA with nothing overdone. It may be considered pretty tame by American IPA standards, but was easy to drink.