Author: Sean Inman

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L.A. Times Beer Travels

Let me set the scene, it is Sunday morning, I am a little groggy still and looking forward to the Maltose Falcons club meeting. I open up the Sunday paper and there on the cover BEER!

I am thinking this is great. Then I read the articles. The San Diego beer tour article is the best of the two but lacking much beer descriptions or interviews with brewers. And why column space was used repeatedly about getting drunk and unruly behavior is beyond me.

But it is a paragon of journalism compared to the other article about the beer scene on the central coast and San Francisco. Mike Pitsker and Don Erickson who cover this section of California for the Celebrator magazine could have written a more informative article in their sleep. The writer goes to Santa Barbara and passes on Telegraph and Hollister. He can’t even find Russian River Brewing! Then while in San Francisco doesn’t talk about 21st Amendment, Toronado, Lagunitas. The list of missed opportunities could go on forever.

I beseech the L.A. Times to use the guys who know beer to write about it.

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So sad…..

… I walk into my local grocery store (o.k. it was Ralphs). On the way in, a couple is leaving and they are carrying (together) their beer for the party. I look down. Miller Lite. I cringe. Hopefully they did not see me make the “I am about to throw up face”. Then to add insult to injury. The person checking out before me has a case of Landshark Lager. In CLEAR BOTTLES!!!

When I get my business cards made, I may have to start handing them out to the clueless among us.

This is why I started this blog. People my age and younger should know better. No one eats Hot Pockets or pre-sliced cheese and likes it. So why do the same with beer?

Not to get all philosophical but we all need to honor the time we have on this earth. Don’t buy a McCafe latte when your local roastery can make you something out of this world. Go to your Farmer’s markets. Buy the organic meat. It may take more time and it WILL cost more money but I would rather have one FANTASTIC beer with a great hormone free burger than a case of MGD and a whopper.

Wherever you are there is a brewery that is local and trying HARD to make a great pint. Drive that extra mile and get it. Don’t be the lazy, Landshark guy!

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Liquid Solutions

LogoLeftIf I had unlimited funds, I would spend a chunk on Liquid Solutions website. They have a great selection of Oregon and Washington beers plus foreign and California as well.

Let me give one example of how great Matt Maples and his staff are to customers. I needed Berliner Weisse for a beer & dessert tasting. None of my local spots had any. Now I could have driven to the Bruery for some growlers but I do not have the room to store it. I check Liquid Solutions and they have two types of Berliner Weisse, I had shipping questions that Matt answered and he even held off shipping to avoid excess heat!

I cannot recommend Liquid Solutions highly enough.

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100th Beer Post!!

Thanks to the advice of Tomm Carroll, I checked out BoHo in Hollywood. Open since March of this year, it is a odd spot. Great big picture window but on the inside it is eclectic old boy’s club / library. Very interesting and very busy.

I had two vastly different beers. First off was Dogfish Head’s 90 Minute IPA. Very interesting. This is a strange observation to make but it tasted thick but not in a stout or porter way. Not something that you drink fast. For an IPA, not a hoppy aroma or taste but you can really tell you are drinking a big beer. I will have to taste the 60 minute to compare.

Secondly was the Rogue Chocolate stout. Oh was this good. Great Aroma of chocolate and malt. I could spend hours just taking in this great smell. And it was so easy to drink. This is a really good beer. Great with dessert.

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The BeerGauge

This is a great tool if you want to stoke controversy at your beer establishment of choice or if you just want to antagonize your barkeep.

The Beer Gauge measures the perfect pint for you and makes sure you do not get less than what you rightly deserve.

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My current beer wish list

These are the (4) breweries that I cannot get out here in Southern California but really want to try…..

Three Floyds
Magic Hat
Cigar City
and most of all…..NEW GLARUS!

What brewery do you wish distributed to you?

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Tasting notes

Here are my notes from my tasting at 55 Degree Wine & Beer Store and from BJ’s.
55

The Foret really was alcohol from aroma to taste. Kind of tinny and not as complex as Saison Dupont which is the gold standard for Saisons. Between the two, I would always go for Dupont.

Ahh! St. Bernardus. Their Wit is the gold standard in this category. Sparkling. Effervescent. Tasted like oranges. Pitch perfect. In comparison, I also had BJ’s seasonal Nit Wit. Great name. Mediocre beer. Not much flavor. Just sort of sat there. Unfortunately, that is pretty much the same review I could give for every BJ’s beer. Nothing remarkable.

The McChouffe Brown was good. Nice and solid. Not much aroma. Nice earthy flavor though. A little chewier than most browns.

Mission IPA. I saw that it was made in San Diego and thought HOP BOMB! But this is restrained. You can really smell the hops but when you take a drink, it is a balance of malt and hops. Very nice.

Lastly, the St. Peters Old Style Porter. Very nice Porter. I liked it. Nice and drinkable. Not too smoky but not too light either. Another balanced beer.