Micro Brewery Beer Review — Tustin Brewing Company | Beer, Motorcycles and Cigars -- Beer, Bikes and Butts

Micro Brewery Beer Review — Tustin Brewing Company

I’ve imbibed at Tustin Brewing Company many times, taking advantage of the free Wi-Fi to do some writing while quaffing a brew. For this review, I went in knowing that a few of the beers miss the mark, but I kept an open mind, treating each beer as if it was my first encounter. This was especially appropriate since Tustin Brewing Company recently brought in a new brewmeister, Andy, and his treatment of the beers will likely result in some variations from earlier formulations. I brought along another drinker, we’ll call her ST, to join in the testing. This was ST’s first exploration of the beers there, so she truly was untainted.

The sampler at Tustin Brewing Company includes five beers for $6.50, served in five-ounce pilsner glasses. The server rattled off the order of the beers when she brought the sampler, but I would prefer something to indicate which beer is which. Note to Tustin Brewing Company: Go to Oggi’s and adopt that manner of presentation.

On a scale of 1 to 10, ten being highest (keeping in mind there are no tens, and for a nine the angels must sing), ST and I (AM) rated the beers as follows:

Golden Spike Light Ale

A nice, if not very complex, light colored American Lager/Ale. No unpleasant aftertaste. This would be a good choice following a baseball game, when you just want a refreshing, not heavy, beer. Tustin Brewing Company’s Golden Spike Light Ale is comparable to Sam Adams Light.

AM – 6
ST – 7

American Pale Ale

Medium copper body with a slight aroma of malt. We don’t know what they were going for with this American Pale Ale, but they missed. Nasty aftertaste. I’d like to offer a scenario where this beer might be acceptable, but my mind immediately goes to natural disasters with nothing else to drink, so I’ll leave it alone.
AM – 5
ST – 4

Lemon Heights

The Lemon Heights Hefeweizen is an unfiltered (cloudy) wheat beer, with 30 percent malted wheat. It is not a great Hefeweizen, but it has good mouth feel with a nice, dry aftertaste. I could see slipping this in once as a change up during an evening of beer drinking at the Tustin Brewing Company, but only once. Squeeze in a lemon wedge.
AM- 6
ST- 6

Red Hill Red

The Red Hill Red was unavailable when we visited, replaced temporarily by Boogieman Red. The Boogieman was full bodied with a very distinctive caramel taste. Not at all complex, but a nice refreshing red, comparable to, but more full bodied than, George Killians Irish Red.

AM – 8
ST – 7

Blimp Hangar

The brewery’s own description of Blimp Hangar Porter is spot on: “a medium bodied dark brown ale with roasted malt flavor.” Not exactly complex, but it does afford some sensory treats with a mixture of nut, chocolate, molasses, and is that . . . banana? On future visits to Tustin Brewing Company, this will be my beer of choice.
AM – 8
ST – 7

Old Town IPA

The brewery’s Old Town IPA was not being served on our visit. IPA is a challenging beer type to brew, attempting to find that sweet spot where the strong bitterness translates as a pleasant dryness, not God-awful bitterness. We surmise the new brewmeister may have wanted more time to find that spot.