Beer of the Week: 13 Year Anniversary

There are many ways to go when a brewing company celebrates its anniversary. Such an occasion clearly calls for a special beer, but in creating such an ale or lager does one, well, brew an ale or a lager? Does one go with a standard level of alcohol or take the octane to the extreme? Does one stick with their typical ingredients or brewing style, or take the opportunity to experiment. Those that go the latter route are throwing caution to the wind in some respects. That’s probably something most beer outfits wouldn’t do on a thirteenth anniversary (why tempt fate when the number 13’s involved, after all), but it’s exactly what the team at Booze Brothers Brewing opted for when crafting this week’s featured beer, 13 Year Anniversary IPA. The selection of an IPA is no surprise, as the Vista-based operation (which also operates satellite locations in Oceanside and Fallbrook) regularly goes that route with its anniversary beer. But rather than solely stick with safe, popular hops, the Booze Brothers fraternity put together a combination of Pacific Northwest and Southern Hemisphere greenery that included lesser-seen varietals. That quartet included Simcoe and cryogenically frozen Mosaic, matched with Galaxy from Australia and Taiheke from New Zealand. Don’t even pretend like you’re familiar with that last one. Far from your everyday hop mélange, the result is a beer that smells like a freshly halved navel orange, while tasting of citrus, mango and nectarine with a dash of catty, rye-like spice in the finish. At 6.9% (alcohol-by-volume), it’s balanced and drinkable, a beer that was worth any risk involved. Hey, who says the number 13 is unlucky?

At 13 years old, we’re not children anymore, though we still have a few things to figure out. For our anniversary IPA, we let go of our proverbial parents’ hands and stepped outside the hop combinations we know by heart. Galaxy brings passionfruit and peach, and Taiheke adds grapefruit, lime and tropical fruit. Simcoe contributes citrus and pine, while Cryo Mosaic rounds things out with berry and stone-fruit notes. The aroma moves between ripe fruit, bright citrus and pine, with no one hop getting the whole room to itself. The beer stays light in color, but the hops take it somewhere a little different from our usual path.”

Donny Firth, Co-owner & Brewer, Booze Brothers Brewing

Booze Brothers Brewing is located at 2545 Progress Street in Vista, 606 Mission Avenue in Oceanside and 121 North Pico Avenue in Fallbrook