Checked out
Barley Forge yesterday since I took the day off and they're not too far away from me. I've had one beer of theirs that was pretty good and another that was decent, so decided to check it out and see what their tap house only brews were like.
First off, on the far right, was the Nom Nom, a mango Heffeweisen. Sounds like it could be a great beer, the mango being a good substitute for the citrus you sometimes put in a heff. Nope, incredibly syrupy and juicy mango taste that completely overpowered the beer.
Second, the Broken Auger, a Black Lager. Black Lagers are not that hard to make decent. Just have some mildly roasted malts and get a nice, drinkable beer. Instead, this one tasted like licking a forest fire. Ashy and smokey tasting, you couldn't tell what malts were used since they were so over-roasted. Improved a little as I drank more, but overall a ****show.
In the middle was Head Case, a west coast IPA. This one was decent, but not really balanced. It had strong zest bitterness, a wet grass/weed dankness, and the taste of honeydew melon.
Next was rum barrel aged The Patsy. The Patsy is a decent beer, nothing spectacular, but nothing terrible either. Rum barrel aging ruined it though. Instead of having a mild rum taste to it, it had an overpowering booze taste and smell to it. I literally could not taste anything but the rum.
Lastly was Fugue State, an RIS. It was drinkable, but nothing inspired.
I took home a couple of bottles of Future Tripping, a decent DIPA, but I left disappointed. Supposedly they won a local best of Orange County award. If that's the case, the people who made the decision need to learn more about beer.
