Our last stop of the day was Green Flash Brewing Company. By this point I was getting tired of beer, especially the west-coast extra-hoppy types. But we endeavored on, trying two more beers, even though they had about 20 available for tasting.
I went for the Barleywine, as I’ve never actually seen one on in the bottle, let alone on tap. At 10.7% ABV, I was expecting something very different than what arrived in my glass. Light, but rich in complex flavors, this had the texture of a lager, but not the crispness. Honestly I was expecting more fruit flavors and depth, but I mostly didn’t enjoy this because it was extremely hoppy.
The other beer we tasted was their Trippel. Again, expectations didn’t match experience, but this time the result was much more enjoyable, as my wife had asked for their least-hoppy offering. This had all the wonderful smoothness and flavor of a good Belgian, but light in tone and color made for a nice way to top off the end of a long day bussing around San Diego County with no food.
