Rating: 4.75/5
Persistence of Time by El Borracho brewing is a 5% ABV Session India Pale Ale.
Brewed with barley, wheat, oats and guava. Hopped with Centennial, Cascade, Citra and dry hopped with Galaxy, Equanot, El Dorado, Cascade and Citra.
Super tropics all around… Amazing beer. Thanks to my friend William Carranza for the homebrew
Rating: 4.5/5
Rating: 5/5 
Rating 6/6
Dig My Earth by Brouwerij West is an 8% ABV Vermont style Imperial India Pale Ale brewed with Mecca Grade Barley and Raw Wheat. Heavily hopped with Amarillo, Simcoe, and Centennial.
New England style, no easier to get than standing in line overnight camping for beer…. super orange juicy tropics…. yessssss!!
Rating: 5/5
Space Cake #7 Anniversary Ale by Clown Shoes is a 7.7% ABV India Pale Ale brewed with the following 7 hops (Idaho 7, Mosaic, Citra, Ella, Galaxy, Centennial, and Nelson Sauvin)
Label:
Tasked with bringing cake to our 7th anniversary party, Miracle Mike needed to destroy the laser beam shooting pastries that menace him. He appears to have “borrowed” the birthday surprise from a young wizard who did not die. Dry hopped with seven hops (Idaho 7, Mosaic, Citra, Ella, Galaxy, Centennial, and Nelson Sauvin) this IPA salutes the industry and our customers. Thank you for a wonderful seven years!
==Introduction==
Space Cake is one damn delicious IPA. It has been a while since I tried the original. With this release, they took the base recipe and used 7 different hops to indicate their 7th anniversary. When I saw this was their actual Anniversary Ale, I wanted to bring it to the site. Clown Shoes has been one very amazing brewery making so many awesome beers and improving their spirit-blending portfolio with different brewing and aging techniques. I have been a big fan for the longest time and I am glad to present another awesome beer to the site. Here is to many, many years of brewing awesome brews. Cheers to Clown Shoes and all its fans!
Aromas:
Grapefruit, piney, grassy and garlicky hops, tropical fruits like mango, guava, pineapple, papaya, kiwi, passion fruit, dragon fruit, honey dew melon, stone fruit peach, honey, lemon zest, caramel, oranges, vanilla, biscuit bread and sweetened condensed milk notes.
Flavors:
Super tropics of Guava, Mango, Kiwi, Strawberry, pineapple, citrus, papaya, honey dew melon, cantaloupe, passion fruit, dragon fruit, grapefruit, piney, grassy and garlicky hops, sweetened condensed milk, crème brulee hints, white chocolate cake, cherries, milk shake notes, pomegranates, raspberry hints, blueberries, vanilla, rye notes, biscuit bread, tangerine preserves, lychees, stone fruit peach, honey, waffle cone, orange preserves, caramel notes, lemon zest and fruit cake hints.
Aftertaste:
Finishing up with lots of stone fruit, tropical fruit, vanilla, caramel, toffee, grapefruit, piney, citrus and herbal hops along with vanilla. No alcohol in the taste. Golden light body, creamy, smooth, crisp and refreshing mouthfeel, and easy to moderate drinkability.
Overall:
A perfect IPA indeed. I loved the original Space Cake and this one with the additional hop varieties bring out more sweet tropics to the beer. While the original space cake had this sweetness that was awesome like if it was an actual cake, this one seems to amplify that slightly more while still packing a huge hop punch. Definitely give this one a go, a definite recommendation from me.
Anime Corner:
Princess Allura and the Paladins of Voltron The Legendary Defender were chosen in this pairing to go with the theme of space and the colors of cake but also the label colors. Since this was the 7th Anniversary, I wanted to pair with the paladins, Voltron and Allura. Voltron is a bad ass and having that mech in a pairing is always badass. The new designs for Allura are also amazing as well.
Sources:
http://orig09.deviantart.net/1678/f/2016/160/7/3/voltron_fake_poster_print_jpeg_by_steveahn-da5m2un.jpg
http://orig07.deviantart.net/40e2/f/2016/226/c/d/princess_allura_by_mimibert-dadyj00.jpg
http://klevinkeeni.deviantart.com/art/Princess-Allura-650662499
http://68.media.tumblr.com/87a68989359758ed33b38103c79310bd/tumblr_oemsmxyk5n1ru00pmo1_1280.png
http://img01.deviantart.net/ea9f/i/2016/255/7/1/voltron___allura_by_bisho_s-dahdzkt.jpg
Rating: 4.75/5
Mango Sombrero Habanero by El Borracho brewing is a 6.5% ABV India Pale Ale brewing with Mangos and Habanero peppers with Columbus, Cascade, Centennial hops and dry hopped with Amarillo hops.
==Introduction==
A special thanks to my friend Will Carranza who has allowed me to review the next beer in his home brewing adventures. The next homebrew release comes in the form of a Mango IPA. Mango IPAs are always awesome. With this one, he wanted to add a kick to it. So he added habanero. As many know, habaneros are the hottest commonly available peppers. There are hotter ones for sure but this one is definitely hot. This brew was made in an attempt to make his own version of an IPA like Sculpin Habanero. With the Mango however, it would add that spicy mangoneada like flavors. I am hoping that is the case, let’s have a sip, cheers!
Aromas:
Citrus, piney, floral, grassy and garlicky hops, stone fruit peach, biscuit bread, honey, Tropical fruit Mango, honey dew melon, kiwi hints, mild peppery hints, tangerine gummies and guava.
Flavors:
Tropical fruit Mango, pineapple, honey dew melon, passion fruit, dragon fruit, guava hints, honey notes
Citrus, piney, floral, oniony and grassy hops, biscuit bread, caramel, habanero spice hints, peppercorn hints, coriander hints, tangerine gummies, stone fruit peach, vanilla hints, cherries and mild rye hints
Aftertaste:
Finishes with slight habanero pepper spice on the back end, tropical fruit mango, citrus and floral dank hops. No alcohol in the taste, Golden Medium body, crisp, refreshing, and smooth mouthfeel along with easy to moderate drinkability.
Overall:
A very delicious brew. Heat wise, not too spicy although the peppery aspects are there. I mainly enjoyed this one as the tropical fruit flavors and mango shined as the beer warmed up. The mangoneada flavors are super subtle but the mango does shine. While I did bring this up to my friend about getting more mango in the flavors than he did, I think this was true as I do have a tolerance for heat. I did get a bit of spice on the last pour. I think some of the heat settled to the bottom. Overall, this was definitely awesome. My friend said that he would definitely make it spicier next time!
Anime Corner:
Scardelita and Adelita Sánchez from El Libro De La Vida/The Book of Life were chosen to go with the name of the beer and since the ingredients are used in Mexican cuisine. It was easy to see why this pairing would work as the colors in the art of those of the mango oranges, reds and yellows and also the habaneros. The reference to dia de los muertos was also something that worked well too and the sombreros they wear.
Sources:
http://oddmachine.deviantart.com/art/Revolution-492118534
http://www.deviantart.com/art/Adelita-Sanchez-El-Libro-de-la-Vida-490237776
http://www.deviantart.com/art/adelitas-sanchez-528352659
Rating: 5/5
Endeavour IPA² (a.k.a Divine Reserve #11) by Saint Arnold Brewing of Texas is a 8.9% ABV Double/Imperial India Pale Ale brewed with Simcoe, Centennial & Columbus hops.
COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION (Ratebeer.com)
The color is deep amber with a light, creamy head. The nose starts off with a touch of citrus but then turns decidedly into peaches. The taste starts off with creamy malt resulting from the pale 2 row and caramel malts and Saint Arnold yeast. The hop bitter starts low then builds to a crescendo, but always maintains a balance even in its big finish. The hop flavor continues to be peaches, an interesting manifestation of the Columbus, Simcoe and Centennial hops. This is the first Divine Reserve that we have filtered. This decision was made to make the hop flavors brighter, plus it would have been a bottling nightmare with all the hop bits in it. This beer is best enjoyed at 45° or even a little warmer. Though the recipe and style indicate this beer to be enjoyed fresh, we expect this beer to develop interestingly over the years.
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Special thanks to my good friend Aaron of http://www.beermetaldude.com for proving me my second ever, Saint Arnold beer. This is truly a treat once again as this one is another fine example of a great brewery which we don’t get their beer here in California. The beer I had before from them was very awesome. So to that, I say cheers, thank you SA for making this and thank you Aaron for hooking up a brother Cheers!!
Aromas:
Caramel, toffee, mango, dragon fruit, candied oranges, lemon, citrus, honey, Grapefruit, piney and grassy hops, tangerine, melon, orange preserves and rye.
Flavors:
Grapefruit preserves, piney and grassy hops, tangerine, mango, lemon, orange peel, rye bread, biscuit bread, melon, honey, dragon fruit, caramel, pepper spice, toffee, pineapple, cherry, hop oils, gummy bears and orange marmalade on a toast.
Aftertaste:
Caramel, toffee, grapefruit preserves, tangerines and piney hops. No alcohol in the taste. Medium body and moderate drinkability.
Overall:
Aside from the Tropical end of IPAs, my second love is the malty IPAs. This beer is great and it is a great example of the malty IPA variety. As a reserve series, this is something I would expect, higher ABV and more sweet delicious hop oils. Reminds me of 90 minute IPA almost. Very delicious IPA and definitely worth picking up, if you live in Texas that is. Hope maybe us Socal peeps will get it one day.
Anime Corner:
Original artwork by fangxian cuoluan is used in this pairing to represent the earth in the label of the beer. As the beer floats in space with its delicious flavors, it gazes at out existence to show the height of what delicious IPAs will go through. This beer reaches the height of IPA caramel and the rising sun so forth brings it delicious citrus and complexity. They say you can’t hear anything in space, but you can definitely taste it!!
Rating: 4/5
Snow Day by New Belgium Brewing is a 6.2% ABV Winter Black India Pale Ale.
Label:
With three feet of powder closing the roads, a brewery is not a bad place to get snowed in. Given the unanticipated hall pass of a snow day, our brewers decided to experiment. Hmm…what about this dark caramel roasted Midnight Wheat braced with a serious load of Styrian Goldings, Centennial and Cascade hops? Shovel it in. What a deliciously unexpected way to spend a SNOW DAY!
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Just like the Stone 15th Anniversary or Self Righteous, but much much lighter in flavor and depth as well as alcohol. Aromas of Italian herbs and spices, oregano, basil, pine, grass, maple and minor chocolate coffee. The flavors are of oregano, basil, earthy pine and grass, smoked campfire bacon, beechwood, orange, lemon, grapefruit, alittle bit caramel, chocolate and coffee, some honey and biscuit notes. Some smoke, bacon and chocolate remain in the after taste. Not a mind blowing Black IPA but it is still pretty good as it has flavors of some of the best Black IPAs out there. Got this as part of the Folly Pack this year.
Brewerianimelogs (Anime and Beer Lore) 