Hillcrest Brewing Company - Perle Necklace Pale Ale

You're not going to believe this, but there's another new brewery in San Diego! Hillcrest Brewing Company is the first "Out and Proud LGBT Brewery" in the world, and is located in the heart of one of the most colorful, crazy, and downright fun parts of San Diego- Hillcrest. And with beer names like "Banana Hammock," "Crotch Rocket," and "Long and Stout," it's pretty obvious that the people over at HBC aren't taking things too seriously. Hillcrest Brewing Company opened last year, but bottles just started hitting shelves recently. A few days ago, I tried their Perle Necklace Pale Ale.

Perle Necklace Pale Ale is an American Style Pale Ale brewed with Perle and Hallertau hops. I'm familiar with Hallertau, but Perle is a new one for me. The beer pours a light copper color with a thin white head that disappears maybe a little too quickly. I really wanted to like this beer going in, but the smell instantly had me worried. I got a strange wet cloth-like aroma with a load of toasted grain husks, a touch of honey, some burnt rye bread and some bready malt. None of these smells really screamed "This beer is going to be awesome!" to me.

I wish I could say the taste was better, but the fun in this beer really ended with the label. The first thing I tasted was what I can only describe as the corpses of earthy hops. Soggy wheat thins and bran flakes came up next, followed by a finish of toasted grain, lemon rind and regret. I really did want to like this beer, but this was a very, very big miss. That said, I'm not writing this brewery off just yet. I will definitely be going down to Hillcrest Brewing Company and trying more of their beers in the future. One bad beer does not a bad brewery make and I don't know if I can go much longer, knowing there's a beer called "Banana Hammock" that I haven't tried.

Final Grade: C-

Top 250 Beers Tasted: 112