Pizza Port Chronic Ale
Mar. 14th, 2023 09:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerA few weekends ago I did a gonzo beer-buying shopping trip. I scooped up 6 or 7 packs of beer. A few were beers I've liked in my Beer Tasting 2022 project and want to keep in my cellar. The others were beers I want to add into the competition. This week's competition involves a beer I've been wanting to try for several months now but can't always find in stock at the stores, Pizza Port Chronic Ale.
Pizza Port is a brewery down in Carlsbad, California, about 30 miles north of San Diego. Why do they call it Pizza Port? I dunno. I just kind of figure their brewery serves pizza. Their Chronic Ale is an amber ale. I had it once before, years ago, on tap at a restaurant up here in the Bay Area. I was excited to see it sold in cans for retail.
Because Chronic Ale is an amber ale I had to pair it against my reigning champion of amber ales, Fat Tire. I did give Chronic Ale a bit of a home field advantage, though. I tasted both beers with pizza! 🍕🍻😂
The first tasting round, though, was the solo round. I tried each beer without food. The Chronic tasted a bit harsh, but then so did the Fat Tire. Amber ales can be a little strong without food, especially the Fat Tire which has a swish of a hops sourness that tastes a bit harsh on its own but serves as a great palate cleanser between bites when eating.
What was surprising was how similar these two taste. They're not impossible to differentiate, like how North Coast's Laguna Baja is basically a clone of Negra Modelo, but they're close. The slight difference I found is that Pizza Port had... more going on in its flavor. That "more" wasn't necessarily a positive, it was just... more. The Fat Tire had a simpler flavor mix but was also slightly smoother. ...Better integrated, perhaps.
With pizza, the comparison held. Both beers are good beers. They're very close overall. Pizza Port had slightly more going on in its flavors, but Fat Tire tasted just slightly smoother and better put together. I downed half a pizza along with these two beers and still couldn't decide which one I'd rather have next time. For Chronic Ale to come out and fight the reigning champ like this is impressive. I call it a draw!
Pizza Port is a brewery down in Carlsbad, California, about 30 miles north of San Diego. Why do they call it Pizza Port? I dunno. I just kind of figure their brewery serves pizza. Their Chronic Ale is an amber ale. I had it once before, years ago, on tap at a restaurant up here in the Bay Area. I was excited to see it sold in cans for retail.
Because Chronic Ale is an amber ale I had to pair it against my reigning champion of amber ales, Fat Tire. I did give Chronic Ale a bit of a home field advantage, though. I tasted both beers with pizza! 🍕🍻😂
The first tasting round, though, was the solo round. I tried each beer without food. The Chronic tasted a bit harsh, but then so did the Fat Tire. Amber ales can be a little strong without food, especially the Fat Tire which has a swish of a hops sourness that tastes a bit harsh on its own but serves as a great palate cleanser between bites when eating.
What was surprising was how similar these two taste. They're not impossible to differentiate, like how North Coast's Laguna Baja is basically a clone of Negra Modelo, but they're close. The slight difference I found is that Pizza Port had... more going on in its flavor. That "more" wasn't necessarily a positive, it was just... more. The Fat Tire had a simpler flavor mix but was also slightly smoother. ...Better integrated, perhaps.
With pizza, the comparison held. Both beers are good beers. They're very close overall. Pizza Port had slightly more going on in its flavors, but Fat Tire tasted just slightly smoother and better put together. I downed half a pizza along with these two beers and still couldn't decide which one I'd rather have next time. For Chronic Ale to come out and fight the reigning champ like this is impressive. I call it a draw!
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Date: 2023-03-15 11:25 pm (UTC)"Pizza Port was established in March 1987 when it made pizza only in Solana Beach." When then expanded to brewing.
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Date: 2023-03-16 02:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-03-16 03:19 am (UTC)