Cogstone Brewing February Visit

February 9, 2020 Jesse

This week, we decided that we would pay one of our favorite breweries, Cogstone Brewing, a visit once again. We had several reasons for choosing Cogstone; first, in our video series exploring the styles outlined in the Beer Judge Certification Program style guide, we chose a California Common as a style to taste. It just so happens that Cogstone has a California Common on tap right now.

Secondly, the local homebrew club, of which Mike is a member, is holding an internal competition for Altbiers. Guess what? Cogstone also has a Altbier on tap! So, not only could we get a Cali. Common for the video, we could sample an Altbier for inspiration for the competition.

Thirdly, Cogstone was celebrating the fourth anniversary of their opening the week we visited. We were happy to help them mark this auspicious occasion. Each day of the week, they had a different band playing. The night we were there the band was Dirty Little Secret and, boy, they really rocked the house!

Finally, it had been a long time since we visited and we wanted to see what other delicious surprises they had on tap.

This week, we were joined by new folks Mike B. Bill B. and John. Jerry was also able to make it and sample some of the great beers.

N. German Altbier – 5.1% ABV 32 IBU – As mentioned before, one of the reasons we decided to go to Cogstone this week was strictly for research. What should a good Altbier taste like? We were confident that Cogstone would knock it out of the park. I was expecting more of the sweet malty flavor rather than the roasty malt flavor of this beer, frankly. However, that’s not to say that this wasn’t a delicious beer. It started with a roasted malt flavor and finished clean. I’d happily order this one again.

Brut IPA – 7% ABV 32 IBU – For my second beer, I thought I’d try an IPA since I had a malty beer to start. I flet like I had order the Brut in the past but wasn’t sure. Well, it turns out that I had order it before, but it has been almost a year since I had. Re-reading my original post about it, I can’t say much has changed. It’s still a delicious, citrusy, dry IPA.

[Mike]

This visit sure turned out to be a really good time! We generally avoid venues that have a live band, just because we’re more about the talking than the entertainment, but I’m really glad that we didn’t change our plans, they were really good.

It was really a good opportunity to congratulate Rob and Marc personally. Congratulations guys! Keep up the good work!

As a bit of an administrative note, we started posting our Thirsty Thursday visits as events over on our Facebook Page. If you’re looking to get out of the house, feel free to come on out and join us.

Orange Creamsicle Cream Ale – 5.6% ABV – Yet again, Cogstone proves that they are masters of the cream ale. This was only available in the Firkin, which normally gets released on Thursday and is gone by Friday, and I count myself lucky to have had the opportunity to try it this week. It tasted exactly like an orange creamsicle turned into a beer, creamy and delicious.

Beers we’ve Reviewed at Cogstone: