Temecula is a bit far for me to go to hit up breweries right now. I may eventually make it up to hit up the breweries there but until then I rely on breweries with big enough distribution to get beer down to San Diego. I couldn’t resist when I saw Descend Black IPA at Bottlecraft in Downtown San Diego. It was everything I hoped for and I will certainly keep an eye out for more from this brewery in the future.
Descend Black IPA
I could smell the hops on the nose quite nicely though they don’t really show up in the flavor. To me Black IPAs have always been a strange beast. What separates it from a hoppy porter? Hard to say. This one certainly has a lot more in common with a bitter porter than anything else. On the front I could taste a strong bitter chocolate flavor. The bottle claims there is a malty caramel flavor on the back end. I could taste it but just barely. This would have been too bitter for my husband but totally hit the spot for me.
Paul McGuire is a craft beer enthusiast. He likes to travel with his husband and enjoy the great outdoors. In his day job, Paul is a divorce attorney serving clients in San Diego California.
The holidays are officially over today but the specialty beers brewed for Christmas are still here. I happened to grab a bottle of Santa’s Little Helper Imperial Stout from Port Brewing Company in San Diego recently and cracked open the bottle tonight. Thankfully I had a few people to share it with because it is a strong 10% and one of my new years resolutions is to try to avoid drinking as much during the week.
Santa’s Little Helper Imperial Stout, Port Brewing Company.
It is fitting that I get to enjoy this while the Christmas tree is still up. Apparently Santa is a big lush and needs some good beer to get him through his route and this beer does the trick. The beer pours thick with a bitter chocolate nose and a thick head. The taste is heavy on the bitter side with some clear chocolate flavors at the forefront. The aftertaste gives you a nice sweeter coffee flavor that some stout lovers might have missed. Overall, this is a great beer if you don’t like your stouts too sweet but might be too bitter for some.
Paul McGuire is a craft beer enthusiast. He likes to travel with his husband and enjoy the great outdoors. In his day job, Paul is a divorce attorney serving clients in San Diego California.
