Angel City Brewery has a new beer release with a fruit that is not often seen in beer (or cider for that matter), pears.
Sounds both refreshing and autumnal at the same time.
The Lemons and Pears
In the Garden
I like all sorts of collaborations as is evidenced by the amount of posts tagged with that title but I do really like cross country versions like this Sam and Schneider one…
Samuel Adams meets SchneiderWeisse for a Fest Weisse offering called Beer Garden, which is a great name by the way.
Arrogantly Aged
The second batch of Stone Arrogant Bastard Whiskey (made with Foundry Distilling) is now out. “this version was aged even longer (4+ years) in new charred oak barrels. Made with 100% malted barley, it’s truly an American Malt Whiskey worthy of the Arrogant Bastard name.”
The limited supply will be available in California, Iowa and Texas but NOT at Stone Brewing locations. You can thank our nations patchwork liquor laws for that.
Heady Twenty
It is amazing the speed of time, every day you learn that a movie is ten years old or a song is thirty years old. Or that a beer is now twenty!
Heady Topper from The Alchemist has been around two decades and it has a special, amped up version to mark the occasion….
L.A. gets the Heady and Focal every once in a while but I do not expect to see this in California.
Okto Boy
If you need more than one day to properly fest, well Benny Boy Brewing has a whole weekend planned for you and whomever holds your stein for you….
Okto Merchants
On the 21st, if you are looking to get fest-bier-ive, head to North Hollywood and Hop Merchants ( maybe they should re-brand ad Fest Merchants that day ) for their Oktoberfest celebrations.
You will get the usual pretzels and stein holding but they will also have great Okto drafts too.
RadCraft Industry Relief
I am quite picky when it comes to podcasts. Most are too long or the host rambles or the ground covered is too well trodden.
So when I was emailed about the first season of the RadCraft Industry Relief podcast from Emily Hutto, I was happy to see that they are under 30 minutes. Then as I listened to the episodes, I was glad to see that it is an interesting idea behind it.
Revisiting the strange time of the pandemic from individual beer people may be too soon for some people but the back and forth of now and then makes for thought provoking ideas.
I highly recommend giving the episodes a listen.
Colorado Brewery Tour # 1 – Very Nice Brewing Co.
So nice that they have two locations now. The Very Nice Brewing Company is based in Nederland, Colorado with a second location in Gilpin now.
Let’s get tasting, starting with….
Calmer Than You Are IPA – “Light bodied and light on alcohol. Generous late additions of Citra and Mosaic Hops and then dry hopped with Motueka, Mosaic, and Citra make for a huge hop forward character in a very easy drinker. Lots of citrus in the form of grapefruit and orange followed up with tones of mango, passion fruit and kiwi.”
Logical Fallacy Black Ale – “This beer challenges the Logical Fallacy that says if a beer is a stout, it can’t be hoppy. With 4 generous hop additions of Summit and Northern Brewer, this beer has a technical IBU (International Bittering Unit) of almost 70. However, this hops bill is challenged with the deep smokiness of black patent malt, coffee tones of chocolate malt, and the sweetness of 4lbs/BBL of wild Colorado honey.This is a unique stout that will make you look deep into this beer, and lose yourself in the intricate taste of its oil like blackness.”
Monk’s Phunk – “Strong ale named after a strong woman! Our brewer’s dear mother! This recipe is crafted as a tribute to the tradition the Monk’s started in Belgium over a thousand years ago. It includes lots of Munich and dark crystal malt with a shot of chocolate malt, giving it a deep burgundy color and a heavenly rich caramel taste that literally would bring people to God, or at least to his cathedrals in Europe. It has enlightening fruity esters from the Belgian yeast as well as divine sweetness from 4lbs/BBL of wild Colorado honey.”
Review – Honey and Ube from Engkanto Brewery
My lovely local craft beer bar the Glendale Tap had Filipino craft brewer, Engkanto on tap and since I have never had a craft beer from that country, my curiosity was piqued.
I had the Paint Me Purple Ube Lager which poured a medium dark purple color and had sweet yam taste to it. But also a bit of offsetting minerality as well. Slick mouthfeel too.
I also sampled their Hive Hive Honey Ale which was really good on very hot day. The honey was definitely in attendance as was that minerality again. Slightly slick mouthfeel but not too sweet at all. I liked that the bottle had the brewery name in the glass.
Oktoberfest SoCal – Part 2
Here are two more Oktoberfest biers to add to your late fall beer cooler, one from north of LA and one from south…
First is a classic from the old world inspired Enegren Brewing and next to it is a good wurst from Radiant Beer Co.