Picked up this growler at the soon to be closing Laurelwood Pizza Pub, over my first actual pizza from the restaurant. It was good, but the beer was great. I had a pint with dinner, and ended up taking home this growler, too.
Unfortunately, I failed to write down the last word in this beer’s title, which was written on the chalkboard behind the bar. It was called El Rojo … Sorachi? Sorachi is a type of hop, so that’s plausible, but my understanding is that Sorachi is supposed to have a distinct lemony flavor, and I didn’t pick up on that at all. And then Matt refers to El Rojo as being an Amarillo-based single hop red … which seems more like what I experienced, but it would be difficult for this designer to mistake the word “Amarillo” for “Sorachi,” even at a distance. I spot type like some people spot cars.
Anyone know the story behind this beer?
Beer Name: El Rojo
Brewer: Laurelwood Brewing
Price: $10
Sampled: June 2, 2010
Rating: 4/5
Notes: I swear this is oaked. It’s like my ChardonnIPA but even oakier. And buttery hops. Got that dangerously drinkable quality Lucky Lab used to have. Yum.
ABV: 6.0% abv
IBU: N/A
OG N/A
TG N/A
Serving Type: Growler.
3 Comments on “153: El Rojo ______?”
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Posted on June 11, 2010 at 7:38 AM.
This is the last in Paul’s single hop red series as he no longer works at Laurelwood. Not sure if they’ll continue it without him, but this was under his supervision. The one you tasted recently was brewed with Sorachi Ace hops. In the past, the beers in the series had different names: El Rojo, Le Rouge, Gayle, Etc., so I’m not sure why it was named El Rojo. It’s possible that they just reused this moniker for a few different beers in the series. I tried it on the day it came out, and it definitely had a surprising taste: herbal tea. It’s possible that the flavor and aroma has mellowed out over time, but it was very prominant when it was first poured.
Posted on June 15, 2010 at 9:17 AM.
I love red ales and this sounds really intriguing to me. Unfortunately I find it really unlikely I’ll ever find this beer.
So this is actually brewed by Laurelwood Brewing, only for the pizza pub? And the pizza place is closing but a dedicated brewery is opening? I’m hoping the brewery will have some distribution that maybe makes it down to SoCal.
Posted on June 17, 2010 at 11:06 AM.