The last time we posted a beer review was back in November. Our resident beer reviewer Rick Nicholson finally finished his 12 step program and is now back on the game. Without further adieu, please enjoy the following beer review.
Being an Orange County transplant from the evil side of town known as Los Angeles, it fills me with pride to find a diamond in the rough of Orange County, California. While dining on the finest that Pancho’s Restaurant in the city of Orange has to offer, a representative (Alfred) from the Bootlegger’s Brewery approached our table to offer up some of their 22 ounce bottled beverages
Bootlegger’s Brewery is a microbrewery located in Fullerton, California. They create and provide craft beers to the locals in the vein of the small batch process which makes them flexible and able to present a wide variety of styles.
I chose their Rustic Rye IPA and being that I am normally not a fan of the more recent additions to the IPA aisle of my local grocer (hello Sam Adams?), I decided to give theirs a shot in the hopes that I may be turned around. After pouring it into a pint glass, the first thing that I noticed was the burnt orange color and the nice head of foam. The head did not retreat in a hurry and lingered perfectly with a nice hue which delighted me, so it very much did add to the beer’s appeal.
My nose encountered a sweet earthiness with citrus to carry the floral underlying scent. The taste was in no way as bitter and intense as some of the other IPA’s I have come across. A smooth and dry finish left me with wanting to drink more. And believe you me, I did that indeed. In addition to the floral citrus, I also detected a hint of caramel. I must say that I rather enjoyed this Rye version of the IPA, so I may start riding the IPA train…that did not come out right…
My food recommendations for IPA would normally lean towards fish of the spicy nature, but since I enjoyed this in a Mexican restaurant littered with spices, I say damn you traditionalists and have a tamale or flauta with this IPA. A clueless rebel I may be, but nonetheless, Pancho’s has a kick ass flauta.
I am not certain of the caloric count, but the ABV is 6.20% which leads me to the following PSA. “Please call a cab if you drank this at an establishment unto which you drove to”. This IPA makes want to go camping, if only I camped.
On a scale of 1-10:
1. Aroma 9/10
2. Appearance 9/10
3. Taste 8/10
4. Aftertaste or finish 9/10
Overall rating: 8.75/10
-Rick Nicholson
The Elite Sports Blog 