Manhattan Beach Brewing Reviews

BeerandBlues2	2.4 Manhattan Beach Bohemian Pilsner Draught. Pours clear pale yellow with a fizzy, white head, mostly lasting with excellent lacing. Aroma is heavy malt (grain, meal, cereal), light hops (grass), heavy yeast (sweat, dough) with notes of corn. Light bodied, dry texture, soft carbonation, and a chalky finish. Average duration, light sweetness, acidity, and bitterness. Closer to pale lager or malt liquor than a Bohemian Pilsener. Wednesday, February 25, 2009
BeerandBlues2	3.2 Manhattan Beach Chocolate Porter Draught. Pours black with a small, creamy, light brown head, somewhat lasting with good lacing. Aroma is heavy malt (chocolate, coffee, nutty), light hops (dry grass), average yeast (leather) with notes of tar and dates. Full bodied, slick texture, average carbonation, and a metallic finish. Average duration, light sweetness, acidity, and bitterness. Wednesday, February 25, 2009
BeerandBlues2	3.4 Manhattan Beach Rat Beach Red Ale Draught. Pours clear, deep amber with an average, creamy, off-white head, mostly lasting with excellent lacing. Aroma is heavy malt (caramel, nutty), heavy hops (perfume, pine, citrus), average yeast (dough) with notes of candied apples and pear. Medium bodied, oily texture, average carbonation, and a chalky finish. Average duration, light sweetness, acidity, and bitterness. Wednesday, February 25, 2009
BeerandBlues2	2.9 Manhattan Beach India Pale Ale Draught. Pours clear pale orange with an average, frothy, white head, somewhat lasting with good lacing. Aroma is heavy malt (caramel, husky grain), heavy hops (perfume, citrus, pine), and heavy yeast (sweat, must). Light bodied, oily texture, average carbonation, and a bitter finish. Long duration, light sweetness, moderate acidity and bitterness. Dirty and sweaty socks steeped in this beer a while. Wednesday, February 25, 2009
BeerandBlues2	2.5 Manhattan Beach Dominator Hefeweizen Draught. Pours hazy pale yellow with a small, fizzy, white head, mostly lasting with good lacing. Aroma is heavy malt (cereal, bread), light hops (grass), average yeast (dough) with notes of banana and lemon. Light bodied, sticky texture, average carbonation, and a metallic finish. Average duration, light sweetness, acidity, and bitterness. Wednesday, February 25, 2009
BeerandBlues2	3 Manhattan Beach Blonde Draught. Pours pale yellow with a large, fizzy, white head, mostly lasting with good lacing. Aroma is heavy malt (straw, grain, meal), light hops (grass), heavy yeast (sweat) with notes of paper and dust. Light bodied, thin texture, lively carbonation, and a chalky finish. Average duration, light sweetness, acidity, and bitterness. Pretty good blonde ale; light and refreshing. Wednesday, February 25, 2009
IPAsavedMYlife	2.9 Manhattan Beach India Pale Ale On draft at Manhattan Beach. Very bitter. floppy and thin. Citrisy, grassy, one dimensional IPA. Tasted strong alcohol content. White head. Thursday, January 15, 2009
paiste2002	2.9 Manhattan Beach Blonde Tap at MBBC. Pours a clear golden color with a small white head that fell off quite quickly. Aroma is almost non existent maybe some malt if you really dig. Flavor is somewhat on the malty sweetish side with maybe some honey and some mild hops in the finish. Super lite and quite nice on a hot summer day. Wednesday, December 17, 2008
paiste2002	3.1 Manhattan Beach Chocolate Porter Tap at MBBC. Pours a very dark brown almost black with a thin white head. Aroma of malt coffee and some chocolate. Flavor of roasted malt milk chocolate and some coffee in the finish. Nice beer but nothing really special at the same time. Wednesday, December 17, 2008
paiste2002	3.3 Manhattan Beach Pier Pale Ale Tap at MBBC. Pours a clear orange color with a nice white head that fell off very quick. Aroma is of malt slight caramel lite hops. Flavor is caramel malt slight hoppy bitterness. A nice lite pale ale great on a warm summer evening. Wednesday, December 17, 2008
paiste2002	3.4 Manhattan Beach South Bay Bitter Tap at MBBC. Pours a clear copper color with an off white head. Aroma is of malt bread hops. Taste is malty caramel with some hop bitterness in the finish. Nice ESB. Wednesday, December 17, 2008
paiste2002	3.7 Manhattan Beach Rat Beach Red Ale Tap at MBBC. Pours a dark amber with a nice off white head. Aroma is of roasted malt bread caramel with a hint of hops. Taste is roasty malty bread caramel and a little bitterness from the hops. Very easy drinking amber ale. Wednesday, December 17, 2008
paiste2002	3.7 Manhattan Beach Old Sandy Claws Ale Tap at MBBC. Pours a clear copper color with a nice off white head that fell quite quick. Aroma of roasted malt cinnamon nutmeg spice. Taste is roasted malt spicy cinnamon nutmeg some vanilla in the finish. We always made a special trip to the pub to sample this one. Its been many years and it would be great to stop back in this season as I see they have in on line. Wednesday, December 17, 2008
paiste2002	3.5 Manhattan Beach Bohemian Pilsner Tap at MBBC. Pours a clear golden color with a nice white head. Aroma of malt bread spicy hops. Taste is crisp malty spicy hops. I remeber it was great with the Thai chicken pizza sitting in one of the front windows open on a warm summer afternoon. Great session beer. Wednesday, December 17, 2008
paiste2002	4 Manhattan Beach Pumpkin Ale I remember this as Great Pumpkin ale back when it was first brewed in the early 90s. If I remebr correct MBBC opened in 1991 or so. Tap at MBBC. pours a rich copper color with nice white head. Aroma of pumpkin cinnamon and spice. Taste is malty sweetness pumpkin cinnamon spice. Finish is pumpkin and spice. I remeber waiting for this special brew every October. I need to re visit the MBBC again. Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Wulfstan	3.8 Manhattan Beach India Pale Ale This is a pretty good IPA, tasty and well-rounded. It seems a little on the softer, less hoppily pungent side for a West Coast IPA. It is amber with a thin, somewhat off-white head. This slowly shrinks to leave a ring and wispy top plus some pretty nice even rings of lace. The aroma is malty and fruity, a bit juicy, with hints of pine, lemon, grapes and honey. The taste is similar, malty body and fruity sweetness with som wine and grain plus a hint of cracker. It has light, just dominant pine-citrus hop character and bitterness that lightly takes over the finish. Its’s smooth, tasty, has balanced, fairly full flavour and a good character breadth. Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Wulfstan	4 Manhattan Beach Rat Beach Red Ale This was the best beer I had at Manhattan Beach Brewing, although not the best looking, and it is fairly interesting and quite drinkable. It is dark red with a little brown. It has a thin off-white head soon shrinking to a thin ring and a hint of very weak lace. The smel is very malty, toasted bread, stewed runes, fruit, dark raisins, caramelized suagr with a little brown bread and hint of leaves. The taste is nice, very malty with a lot of stewed fruit, some sweet brown bread, hints of port and leaves. It’s mostly sweet with a very light bitterness of pine. It’s very easy to drink, a little unusual, and goes fairly well with food. I can’t say it’s a really great beer, but I certainly enjoyed it. Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Wulfstan	3.2 Manhattan Beach Bohemian Pilsner This is ok, but does not taste nearly as good as it looks or smells. It is dark gold with a medium, creamy head, slightly off-white, that slowly shrinks and leaves nice lace in even rings. The smell is mostly bready with some honey, citrus and flowers. It’s quite malty and very nice. The taste, though, is mostly just crackers with some white bread, with cracker aftertaste and a dominant, rather bland bitterness of grass and lemon pulp. The flavour is weak and not ciomplex but it holds up well to food. Tuesday, September 23, 2008
pinkzambia	3.3 Manhattan Beach Bohemian Pilsner Tap @ brewpub: Yellow gold with ring head. Grainy aroma as you would expect. The flavor is crisp with typical grain hairspray flavor with a sweet aftertaste. It’s actually not bad for a Pils. Monday, May 19, 2008
fordest	3.6 Manhattan Beach India Pale Ale Draft at the brewpub. Probably my favorite of the trip. Decent hop aromas off this amber colored beer. Citrus nose gave way to more floral and grassy flavors. Nicely hopped. Very Decent. Wednesday, April 23, 2008
fordest	3.6 Manhattan Beach Rat Beach Red Ale Draft at the brewpub. Now we are stating to get somewhere. Decent aromas and flavors. Reddish copper color with decent head. Aromas were caramel with just hints of citrus. Flavor came on more hoppy with decent grapefruit finish with a nice malty body. Not too bad. Wednesday, April 23, 2008
fordest	3.4 Manhattan Beach Chocolate Porter Draft at the brewpub. No head on this black pour. Almost no aromas at all. Flavor was decent with some roasted malts up front, and burnt malts on the finish. Touches of Chocolate.... very small touches. Just OK Wednesday, April 23, 2008
fordest	3.3 Manhattan Beach South Bay Bitter Draft at the brewery. Not much aromas off this copper colored beer. Smallish head. Very smooth mouth feel. Flavor was malty with just a touch of bitter on the finish. Another average beer. Wednesday, April 23, 2008
fordest	3.2 Manhattan Beach Blonde Draft at the brewpub. Very clear yellow. Some citrus aromas. Grainy and macro like flavors. Just eh... Wednesday, April 23, 2008
fordest	3.1 Manhattan Beach Dominator Hefeweizen Draft at the brewpub. Murky orange color with little head. Aromas and flavors of heavy wheat twang. Some citrus aromas, but not much else. Wednesday, April 23, 2008
pinkzambia	3 Manhattan Beach India Pale Ale Tap @ brewpub: Clear gold with a nice off-white head & sticky lacing. Sweet perfumy hop aroma, but the question I have to ask myself and the brewer at Manhattan Beach is: Is this a pale ale? Because it sure seems like it. The hop presence is mild and kind of papery. More like a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. The body is full and like a good pale ale, it has a fairly bitter aftertaste. they need to double the hops in this to make it a real standout IPA. Friday, March 14, 2008
pinkzambia	3.2 Manhattan Beach South Bay Bitter Tap @ brewpub: Clear amber color with a nice off-white head. Aromas of butter with a tin flavor with a little cola and nuts added in. It had a smooth full body and is a good all around ESB. Friday, March 14, 2008
pinkzambia	3.5 Manhattan Beach Chocolate Porter Tap @ brewpub: Dark brown, no head. It has a thin feel with a roasted nut, charcoal, and earthy aroma. Flavors of charcoal with a slight chocolate flavor. Ok. Friday, March 14, 2008
pinkzambia	2.8 Manhattan Beach Rat Beach Red Ale Tap @ brewpub: Clear brown with an off-white head. Interesting flavor of buttery malts with a zing. Malty flavors and aromas. The aroma isn’t that complex. I noted a little cola in the aftertaste and a slight hop presence with cardboard bitterness. Friday, March 14, 2008
pinkzambia	2.8 Manhattan Beach Dominator Hefeweizen Tap @ brewpub: Pale gold with a thin white head that glides over the top of the beverage. Mild flavor, not very yeasty. It’s pretty similar to the Beach Blonde, but with a fuller body. Pretty tasty and easy to drink. Friday, March 14, 2008
pinkzambia	2.8 Manhattan Beach Blonde Tap @ brewpub: Pale gold with a ring white head. Mildly sweet and grainy flavors with a soapy aftertaste. Aroma is mild. I guess its a good refreshing drink if you have been walking around Manhattan Beach and need a break. Friday, March 14, 2008
kseecs16	3.4 Manhattan Beach India Pale Ale Draught at the pub 03/2008. Floral hops lacing whitish head copper hued golden. Nice sweet full hops bitter finish. Light bodied. Nice IPA. Wednesday, March 12, 2008
kseecs16	2.9 Manhattan Beach South Bay Bitter Draught at the pub 03/2008. Light amber thin off white lacing head. Floral dry malty flavor quaffable a little bland, lacking any punch. Some lingering bitterness medium body. Aroma subdued barley. Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Dogbrick	3.4 Manhattan Beach Chocolate Porter Sample at the brewpub. Pours dark brown with a medium thin and creamy beige head that has good retention. Sheet of lacing on the glass. Rich chocolatey aroma with touches of sweet malt and coffee. Medium, smooth body with milk chocolate dominating the flavor, and malt and roasted coffee following behind. The finish is creamy and sweet, with a touch of coffee in the aftertaste. Decent overall, although with a little more balance I would have enjoyed it a lot more. Friday, February 22, 2008
Dogbrick	3.5 Manhattan Beach Bohemian Pilsner Sample at the brewpub. This beer is a clear golden color with a medium and fluffy white head that burns off slowly. Thin rings of lace on the glass. Aroma of Saaz hops and sweet malt, along with sweet spices. Light, effervescent body with a tart hops and spice flavor backed up by woody malt. The finish is fairly hoppy and bitter and leaves a spiced aftertaste. I believe the bartender told me the brewer was from the Czech Republic, so maybe that is why I enjoyed this beer the most out of the ones I tried. Friday, February 22, 2008
Dogbrick	2.8 Manhattan Beach Rat Beach Red Ale Sample at the brewpub. This beer is a clear reddish-amber color with a medium light beige head that diminishes quickly. Earthy malt and light hops in the nose. Light, sweet body with malt and caramel flavors primarily, and light hops in the background. The finish is malty sweet with mildly bitter hops left over. Slightly below average all around. Friday, February 22, 2008
Dogbrick	3.3 Manhattan Beach India Pale Ale Sample at the brewpub. Clear yellow-orange color with a medium thin and foamy off-white head with fair retention. Top ring of lace on the glass. Aroma of citrus and pine, plus a touch of malt. Medium-bodied and moderately hoppy with flavors of hops, malt and spices. Oak undertones as well. The finish is hoppy and leaves a bitter aftertaste. Above average overall. Friday, February 22, 2008
Dogbrick	3 Manhattan Beach Dominator Hefeweizen Sample at the brewpub. Not sure why a perfectly good Doppelbock name was wasted on this beer, but whatever. Served with a lemon. Pours a hazy yellow color with a medium thin ivory white head that diminishes slowly. Latticework lacing. Wheaty aroma with some citrus fruit. Light-bodied and fruity with wheat and light spice flavors. The finish is soft and fruity with a lingering wheat aftertaste. Decent overall. Friday, February 22, 2008
Dogbrick	2.8 Manhattan Beach Blonde Sample at the brewpub. This beer is a clear pale yellow-gold color with a thin bone white head that burns away quickly. Spotty lacing on the glass. The aroma is mildly hoppy with a bit of grainy malt. Light-bodied with lively carbonation and a light hops character. Some sweet malt is present too. The finish is short and mildly bitter with a touch of spiced hops aftertaste. Alright for what it is. Thursday, February 21, 2008
la1965	3.3 Manhattan Beach Rat Beach Red Ale On tap @ brewery. Great name for this red. Thick white head on this amber/red ale. Nice balance of hops and malt, nothing too overpowering. Good drinkable brew Friday, January 11, 2008
la1965	3.3 Manhattan Beach Blonde On Tap @ brewery Very clear golden blonde Initial sweetness fair light craft brew. Friday, January 11, 2008
User57106	2.3 Manhattan Beach Blonde On tap at brewery, 01/07/08. Light golden, crystal clear, thin skin of foam. Almost no aroma; what’s there is hard to ID. Typical corn flavor. Sweet off the bat, but fades quickly. No hop, no malt to speak of. Yawn. Tuesday, January 8, 2008
User57106	2.9 Manhattan Beach Dominator Hefeweizen On tap at brewery, 01/07/08. Called Dominator Hefeweizen on my visit. Properly cloudy and light yellow with good head. Wheat aroma and flavor. Not much else in flavor profile. Blah. Tuesday, January 8, 2008
User57106	2.9 Manhattan Beach India Pale Ale On tap at brewery, 01/07/08. Clear gold with nice head retention (as most of their beers seem to have here). No aroma. Flavor starts with piny hops, segues into a little sweet malt and finishes a little spicy (black pepper). Lingering bitter aftertaste. Okay. Tuesday, January 8, 2008
User57106	2.6 Manhattan Beach Rat Beach Red Ale On tap at brewery, 01/07/08. Coppery hue with excellent head retention, both nice looking and long lasting. No aroma at all. No initial flavor, but some malt when it goes down the tongue and a little hop bitterness on the finish. All the flavor is in the aftertaste. Huh. Tuesday, January 8, 2008
User57106	2.8 Manhattan Beach Chocolate Porter On tap at brewery, 01/07/08. Hazy brown. After sitting for a few minutes, the strange soda style head is gone. Light aroma of chocolate. Hard to say it any other way, but it has a mild proper porter flavor. Oddly, I didn’t taste any chocolate. Bitterness appears late in flavor. A bit boring. Tuesday, January 8, 2008
User57106	3.4 Manhattan Beach Old Sandy Claws Ale On draft at brewery, 01/07/08. Excellent head retention (still some left after 30 minutes in a taster glass!). Medium orange/copper. Aroma of cinnamon and nutmeg. Christmasy. Tastes like apple cider with cinnamon stick. Lingering taste of apples. Did I get a light cider by mistake? Not bad, just... well, not bad. Tuesday, January 8, 2008
DenverLogan	3.4 Manhattan Beach India Pale Ale Filtered gold, lingering small head and mild hop aroma. Strong, flavorful hops. A tad oily and lingering, but tasty. Not bitter as in the grapefruit rind, but it finishes with a mixed sweet and chalky bitter hop flavor. Wednesday, June 27, 2007
DenverLogan	3.7 Manhattan Beach Chocolate Porter On tap at brewpub. Big head, black. Nice for a porter in it’s rich body. Minimum chocolate malt flavor, but good. Wednesday, June 27, 2007
DenverLogan	3.6 Manhattan Beach South Bay Bitter Light copper color, lingering small head. Spice, hop and malt aroma. Rich flavors of malts and hops. Long, bitter spiced hop finish. Wednesday, June 27, 2007