Ambiant Review: Tioga Sequoia “Bridalveil Lager”

The beer subject: Bridalveil Lager

I am not okay with giving straight reviews of beers. Either reviewing beer bores me or I simply suck at it, or both.

So this is the closest I can come to a beer review. In the roughly 20 minutes it took to drink this, these are some thoughts and things.

BEER DETAILS:

  • Name: Bridalveil Lager.
  • Brewer: Tioga Sequoia (Fresno,CA).
  • Style: American Lager.
  • ABV: 4.5%

THOUGHTS & SETTING:

  • 3:50PM. Fresno. On my patio at a table in my backyard. 94 degrees.
  • Music: “Citizen Erased” by Muse plays in the background.
  • Woah. This beer is easy to drink – I mean that in a good way.
  • I wonder how many people know that Bridalveil Falls is in Yosemite – that can be a very dangerous hike up that trail, super slick.
  • Oh hey, a little breeze. Maybe a 10mph gust.
  • Is Muse an underrated band or are they rated properly and I just haven’t paid attention?
  • Someone odd parked across the street. [inspects]. It appears to be someone looking at the house to rent it.
  • A neighbor with their patio on the other side of the fence from my patio, has come outside. She is arguing with her boyfriend whom is still inside. She is yelling back at him things, I can’t help but overhear. The fight seems to be about a friend of his who is a woman and he was defending her. My neighbor is not okay with the amount of positive talking he is doing about this friend.
  • This is a solid Lager. As crisp as the sky is blue right now.

Thanks for coming to my first Ambient Review of a beer. Here is some Muse for you:

I Had These Beers and Didn’t Get A Buzz, I’m Broken

Zapped On Zappa Alvarado Street XPA King Sue IPA Bare bottle
Why you guys give me no buzz!?

The other day I had the four beers you see above. That’s enough beer to do a little damage, right? One should feel some damn thing after those.

Yeah, well, I didn’t. Never caught a magical buzz all evening.

Have I become THAT tolerant of beer? Is my ATL (Alcohol Tolerance Level) at scary levels? Let’s break it down.

Beer One:

  • Alvarado Street’s “XPA” Pale Ale. 5%. 16oz. Drank around 5PM

Beer Two:

  • Original Pattern Brewing’s “Zapped On Zappa”. IPA. 7%. 16oz. Drank around 6PM.

Okay, so, here is where the buzz should be happening. But at that moment I stopped for dinner, took a jog-walk with the child, did the dishes.

Any chance of a nice buzz is interrupted by life.

Beer Three:

  • Bare Bottle Beer Co. “Dusty JR” Hazy Pale Ale. 5.6%. 16oz can. Drank around 8PM. 

Beer Four:

  • Toppling Goliath Brewing Co. “King Sue” DIPA. 7.8%. 16oz can. Drank around 9:30PM.

Here is where things are a little cloudy. I think there is some falling asleep in front of the TV happening at this time. If a buzz was there to be enjoyed, I napped through it.

So, maybe I am not broken, my system for getting a buzz is? 

I remember enjoying the beers, that’s the main thing. But if getting a buzz is also the intent, a little more focus is needed.

Thanks for coming to my Beer Talk.

Hard Seltzers Ain’t Hurtin’ This Beer Geek

DC Brau hard seltzer “Grapefruit Crush”

If Beer Twitter didn’t love to talk about hard seltzers so much, I don’t think I would notice them anymore.

When seltzers started becoming big and trending and we started seeing big ends of them at the grocery store and it was White Claw Summer and all that, yes, I noticed.

But now, seltzers blend into the background for me.

I can still get all the same Indie Beer I could before the seltzer boom. The taps are mostly the same. The part of the shelf I look at for beer in the grocery store, looks the same.

Although I think the Big Beer section looks like it has more seltzers and less beer, but I really don’t know.

So, what is the fuss?

Make that money. Whatever it takes for a brewery to stay Indie and open is cool by me.

Have a new seltzer release every week. Be like Humble Sea is with their beers and slightly change one ingredient and call it a brand new name and slap a new label on it every week! Go for it.

As long as I can still get all the Craft Beer I want, have your fun with your seltzers. Just keep making beer and putting on the shelves is all I ask.

Don’t Feel Bad About Always Wanting To Try New Beers

We make fun of ourselves. Brewers make fun of us too. Beer Geeks are constantly trying new beers.

It’s like we’re always changing the channel to see what else is on.

I don’t think we should make ourselves feel guilty about that anymore. We are not fickle, we are curious.

It’s your curiosity that makes you choose a new-to-you beer over a staple.

Inspired by this Austin post, Iggy & Anthony agree:

We all want to think of ourselves as curious, right? It’s a positive. So keep trying new beers and being curious. It pays dividends.

I’m Trying To Decide Which Hop To Drop From My Life

Star Cloud IPA
Modern Times – Star Cloud IPA

I really don’t like the taste of old IPAs. I suppose everyone can say that, but I really really don’t.

Depending how low I am on beer supply, if I buy a six-pack of (what turns out to be) old tasting beer, I will drain-pour the whole damn thing, three sips in.

It’s so bad that even if a fresh beer has a hop that brushes up against that old beer flavor, I’m the hell out of there.

I am getting that from a recent batch of Modern Times “Star Cloud”. Not so bad that I want to pour it out, but there is an issue here and it might be personal.

It’s a newish batch (only six weeks old). It was in the cooler of a Sprouts Market, so I dont think it took any extreme temperature changes.

Yet it reminds me of an older IPA. Notes of old. Could it be the hops used? I’m leaning toward this.

Citra is the featured hop. I have never gotten “old” from a Citra heavy beer. So I know it’s not Citra – at least I’m pretty sure. I fucking love most Citra based beers.

The other three?

  • Motueka: Its a New Zealand hop that features fruit and citrus notes. I would have picked this one before knowing anything, but it sounds fine.
  • Cashmere: Lemon lime, melon, peach, tangerine. Uh ohhh, melon huh? Yeah, I don’t like melon. This is a possibility.
  • Centennial: Citrus. Lemon. Floral. Interesting, sometimes I’m not down with the floral notes.

So my issue with the Star Cloud is likely the Cashmere or Centennial. Maybe both.

It could be the combo of melon and floral. It also could be just the melon.

My pick is Cashmere. I don’t usually have a problem with floral mixed in with other flavors I dig. And I know I like Centennial featuring beers, normally.

Time to start giving a hard look at Cashmere with a side-eye for Centennial.