Devil’s Canyon Full Boar Scotch Ale on tap at Freehouse. A 2 of 4. Nice color and lacing, and quite a bit of roasted maltiness up front. Relatively thin body and some slightly weird yeasty notes. Has the flavor profile you’d expect from a scotch ale - but the thin body is a bit lackluster.

Mission St. 2013 Anniversary Ale (from Trader Joe’s). A 2 of 4. A solid imperial brown - some nice nutty notes in the nose, as well as some slightly weird dark fruit and toffee notes. Some almost-molasses-y sweetness in the body, and a bit too much of it. Needs some balancing bitterness, but not bad at all - the sweetness fades in the finish, so it drinks pretty easily.

New Belgium’s Lips of Faith Cascara Quad (Picked up at Berkeley Bowl West). A 2 of 4. Not bad, but falls a little flat up front - definite dark fruit notes and a touch of tartness, but no coffee or other complex notes to speak of. The body is a bit boozy and doesn’t carry the nuance well. Some nice malty caramel and other notes come out, but combined with the relatively thin and boozy body, this isn’t that impressive. I’m actually quite disappointed, as I typically love NB’s stuff, and this is mediocre at best, especially with the ingredients they are working with.

Dogfish Head’s/Sierra Nevada’s Rhizing Bines IPA (Picked up at Berkeley Bowl West). A 2 of 4. Really nice color, and the nose is very, very earthy - grass, lemon, and other notes as well. Quite syrupy on the palate, and a bit sweet for the relatively low bitterness in this - while the hops are featured, it’s mostly the flavor nuance, not a powerful bitterness. Quite interesting, but not my favorite.

Berghoff Dark on tap at Berghoff in Chicago. A 2 of 4. Pretty easy to drink, and a touch of toffee-like sweetness, but not a ton. Was quite thirsty and downed this relatively quickly - not a ton of bitterness, and a pretty thin body make this relatively unremarkable. Not bad with some nice schnitzel.

Sierra Nevada’s Ovila Dubbel (Picked up at Beer Revolution). A 2 of 4. Solid, but no wow factor here. Quite sweet for a dubbel - not sure if it is from the malt or a bit of wine-ness creeping in. Good roasted notes and some dark candy notes as well. A bit boozy tasting, and too sweet for me. Not terrible, but there are so many better Dubbels out there.

Brewer’s Art La Petroleuse (Picked up in PA for me by Kim! Thanks!) A 2 of 4. Lots of relatively nice candy-like notes as well as some spicy yeast character up front. Relatively boozy, and lots of caramel notes in the body. Relatively high carbonation and a nice thickness to the body. Solid, but a bit more malty and boozy than I was expecting.

Ale Industries’ Easy Bay IPA on tap at Beer Revolution. A 2 of 4. Definitely has the bitterness in the body, but I’m getting something awfully medicinal and weird from the nose. There are some other tropical fruit notes there as well and the body is solid, but there is something weird in the nose that I can’t quite place but really didn’t enjoy. Might just be my palate, but given the relatively standard west coast hop profile this has, I don’t think it is from that. Still, a drinkable, ok IPA.

Abbey Beverage’s Monk’s Ale (From NM, Thanks to Nik for bringing from El Paso!) A 2 of 4. For a belgian pale, this has a relatively deep malt character to it - some roasted and dark fruit notes as present, but not powerful. Drinks relatively easily with your typical yeasty spice notes, and a pretty generic dry finish. Solid, and always cool to find a new US Abbey that I hadn’t heard of.

Mendocino’s Blue Heron Pale Ale (picked up at Trader Joe’s). A 2 of 4. A decent American pale ale - relatively clean straw body with a slight bitterness throughout. Some cereal malt character, and finishes clean. Very drinkable and palate-neutral, but nothing that wows me here. A solid pale ale.

Brouwerij West’s Saison Extra (Picked up at Ledger’s Liquors). A 2 of 4. Always good to try new breweries from the area! A relatively simple saison with your typical dry and yeasty body, and some light citrus notes in the nose. Not much nuance out of the yeast, unfortunately, but a decently thick body that drinks easily and has a clear saison character. Decent, but no wow here. Still, I’d happily try more from Brouwerij West.

World Brews’ Four in Hand IPA during a poker game (picked up at Whole Foods, Berkeley). A 2 of 4. Relatively amber in color for an IPA - and the malt character reflects this - a bit nutty and caramel-y. A decent amount of bitterness in the body, but not a ton in the nose. Easy to drink, but more of a maltier pale ale than a full-bore IPA.

Linden Street’s Urban People’s Common Lager at Plum Bar in Oakland. A 2 of 4. Lots of toasted and bready sweetness up front, with a relatively nice creamy body and some honey-like notes. Seems a bit out of balance in the sweet direction - not much bitterness to speak of despite some nice pine hop notes in the nose.

21st Amendment’s Sneak Attack Saison (picked up at Trader Joe’s). A 2 of 4. Relatively dry and yeasty body. Nice high carbonation and a bit of spice notes in the nose, as well has some herbal notes. Easy to drink - one of the less funky saisons out there, and a bit simple. Enjoyable, but simple.

Evil Twin / Stillwater / Stone’s “The Perfect Crime” Black Smoked Saison. A 2 of 4. (Picked up at Whole Foods, Berkeley) I was expecting a lot more smoke - and only got a slight roastiness. Really deep color, but a relatively thin body. Some nice funk in the body and some nice yeast character, but seems a bit weird with the deep malt character and relatively high hop bitterness. Lots of interesting things going on in this, but all the disparate things going on is a bit weird.