Gotta love the 710 Freeway on a Sunday. It was an easy glide down to Willow Street for a first visit to the Long Beach Beer Lab.
And it is a lovely set-up. Big, airy warehouse ceilings. Barrels at the window on the right as you walk in, fermenters on the left. And food, the LBBL also makes bread and pizza. You can even buy a loaf to go!
There is a pretty Van Gogh-ish star painting heading up the stairs to the balcony seating where you can view the downstairs and its long rusted look reverse L bar and rustic rustic tables.
All of the beers looked lovely. Fluffy heads to them. And the bartenders were more attentive and helpful even coming out from behind the bar to talk. The set-up reminded me of a lit version of what Phantom Carriage has done in Carson.
Here are some back of the envelope reviews of the six beers that I sampled….
Bier D’Agrumes
Light and bright. Beautiful lemon taste. A bit thin.
Rye Not ???
Kvass style. Little tartness. Rustic.
To Blave
Very similar to Naughty Sauce except a touch thinner. Nice soft pillowy texture to it.
LB 4.20
NE IPA bright pineapple. Again soft and feathery. Quite bitter though at the back.
Berries Chocolatey Nuts
Jam upfront for sure. Candied peanut taste follows. Weird. Almost like potpourri
Super NES
Dry Hopped Saison funky aroma. Sour IPA’ish. Tart but balanced by the hops.
Overall, I was quite impressed by the beers. They all had a touch of thinness to them which might be a house style and a point of differentiation from other breweries that are all about big.
With Ten Mile just down the road on Willow and with Steelcraft and Smog City just up Atlantic. This is a neat little beer hop.