It’s been a couple weeks since I reviewed a beer, so I figured it was about time. This beer arrived in the mail a couple weeks ago from my friend David, who sent me a pack of San Diego beers. David and I worked together many years ago, and he taught me a lot about his hometown… including Tony Gwynn, who this beer honors (.394 was his career high batting average in 1994). Huge thanks to David for sending me this beer.
Location: Poured into a goblet style pint glass at my home in Bloomington, IL.
Numbers: 6% ABV, 13 IBUs, 1.058 OG, ~180 Calories
Appearance & Aroma: It’s orange-amber in color and a bit hazy. It had a decent, soapy-textured white head on it, that had pretty good retention and great lacing. The aroma is a big, citrusy hoppiness with a hint of dankness.
Taste & Feel: The body is medium and the mouthfeel is a bit creamy and oily, I assume from the hop oils. The flavor up front is citrusy from hoppiness, but it softens up quite a bit in the middle. Despite all of the citrusy hop aroma and flavor up front, the finish is light with only a tiny bit of bitterness and a refreshing citrusy hop flavor. The citrusy flavor and little bit of bitterness lasts for a minute or so in the finish.
Food Pairing: This is a light beer, yet it has a lot of citrusy aroma and good amount of flavor. I might try to pair this with a lighter dish, like a salad or fish. In the spirit of San Diego stories from my friend David, I think this would be a great pairing with Rubio’s fish tacos.
Overall Impression: I really enjoyed all of the west coast, citrusy hop aroma and flavors in this beer, but was surprised at how light the bitterness was. I wonder if the only hop additions in this beer are whirlpool hops. It was a great summer beer, as it was light and refreshing, yet it also had a good amount of hop flavor to it. I really appreciate my friend David sending it to me, and I look forward to the Ballast Point beers he sent me as well.
My Rating: 
June 4, 2017
I’m glad you liked it. If I were a beer drinker, this would have been at the top of the beers I wanted to try (because of T.Gwynn)
As a fish taco eater, I agree with you assessment of pairing well with Rubio’s. But then again what doesn’t?