The second stop on our #southbayuprising brewery tour proved the saying “all that glitters isn’t gold.” The shiniest stainless steel in the county resides at Novo Brazil Brewing Company (901 Lane Avenue, Chula Vista), but what’s inside is dull and spotty…assuming we’re referring to one of the many large fermentation tanks that actually has beer in it, that is. Many of them were empty at the time. But, dang, the place looks good.
There’s actually a lot to be said for the lengths brewery owners go to when it comes to providing an inviting and comfortable environment for their customers. At Novo Brazil there’s a lovely tasting room with plenty of seating, TVs broadcasting soccer matches, colorful wall-hangings, and even a help-yourself popcorn machine. A bevy of stacked barrels greets guests en route to a rather spacious sampling space with many beers to choose from, including some unearthed from those very vessels.
My party and I were greeted into the consumption phase of our stop at Novo Brazil by the scent of movie theater popcorn. No, it wasn’t coming from the aforementioned machine—it was rising from the non-existent head of a Pilsner. Aside from this obvious sign of diacetyl, the beer didn’t exhibit any characteristics of a classic Pilsner—straw-gold appearance, tightly bubbled white head, sharp back-end bitterness. I’d have mistaken it for a blonde ale or a flat pale if forced to venture a guess.
Another of the subpar offerings included a dry stout that tasted like it been filtered through a Randall filled with ash-tray residue, probably from the improper use of really dark grain, or scorching the wort. We also weren’t fans of the Belgian-style quadrupel. I’d had a barrel-aged version of the quad during last year’s San Diego Beer Week. Back then I picked up some sourness, which is highly uncharacteristic of a big, malty Belgian dark strong ale aged in oak. I had hoped the problem was with the barrel, but the base beer had a weird pomegranate-like fruitiness, as well as burnt caramel bitterness and an off-putting cloying sweetness.
Novo Brazil’s Russian imperial stout was better than the aforementioned dry stout, but still had too much bitterness in the finish. A Belgian-style tripel was low on aroma and big on banana and honey sweetness, but was again too bitter at the end.
The brewery’s hoppier offerings fared better with the group. The English India pale ale we tried had no noticeable hop aroma, but its IBUs (international bittering units) were spot-on for a UK-style IPA. The Otay IPA was under-carbonated, but it did have a nice citrusy nose with flavors to match thanks to the use of Amarillo, Centennial, Citra and Simcoe hops. A second IPA, Copacabana, had a lemony scent but was pretty one-note on the palate…that note being bitter.
Our last stop of the day was the oldest of the South Bay’s three fermentation interests, Border X Brewing Company, which awaited us in Barrio Logan. Check in tomorrow for that report.
Disclosure: In his day job, Brandon works as the marketing manager for Miramar’s AleSmith.