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The Stone Brewing One Batch Dispatch series is back with the new Schoolmates Hazy Double IPA.
Here is the beer description from he brewery: “This particular hazy double IPA features a unique new hop called Anchovy. Don’t panic – despite the name, you can expect ripe watermelon flavors combined with dankness and orange cream character from “new classic” Citra.”
Here we go again. There is yet another autopilot home brew system that you can buy. The iGulu may take a bit because it just passed its Kickstarter goal so production is probably off a ways. It has the usual settings of let the machine do it or you customize. The same old, same old slim-ish countertop design so you can put it next to the air fryer you hardly use.
From where I sit, part of the allure of home brewing is the process. And these devices are all attempting to remove that. Home brewing is a hobby that people want to do, not a chore to be AI’d.
Here is your first look at the label for XXVIII – 2024 Firestone Walker Anniversary blend. I will update you when the blend details are available but know that if you are in California or the FW distribution network that you should get a bottle or two even without knowing what is inside the bottle.
Pasadena’s Replicant Beer is going to be creating not one but two Oktoberfest beers this year with an assist from German brewers. I can’t wait to see the label designs and see how these two beers differ from each other.
This is not the first Stephen King book featured in this monthly post and it will probably not be the last as he shows no signs of slowing down.
The latest is a collection of short stories…
The headliner of the piece is The Answer Man (also my favorite piece) where a young man looking to his possible future encounters the Answer Man on the side of the road, then encounters him again many years later and then a third and final time. It has classic King. Witty dialogue, melancholy and coulda – woulda – shoulda too.
The next anticipates piece is a sequel of sorts to Cujo except for snakes instead of a big, big dog. It was fine but I much preferred the punchy and short The Turbulence Expert about a man with a very specific safety job. I also quite enjoyed The Dreamers about sleep experiments gone wrong.
Many of the stories are set in Florida so if you can get a Florida Weisse style beer that would be a start. Or playing off the title, find something darker. Maybe a dark Bock beer.
Burning Bridge Brewing has reached the two year mark.
Check their socials for the details. If you haven’t visited before, this would be a great idea to make a first visit.
I am an avid listener to Lew Bryson’s Seen Through a Glass podcast and he has traveled to many a brewery in Pennsylvania. Enough to probably so three months or more of e-tours. We will curate it down to three for August though.
Starting in Enola with Pizza Boy Brewing which was super high on the listener requested list.
Normally, I would create a taster flight but as you can see from a recent tap list, that would be real hard….
If push came to shove, my first choices would be the Old Denim Cream Ale, the Sunny Side Up Bourbon barrel-aged coffee stout and the and the Frozen Eyelets Hazy with coconut.
There are not many transatlantic collaborations and of those, us L.A. beer fans don’t see them on store shelves. But maybe we will see the West Coast IPA, Under the Trees from Thornbridge and Urban Roots since they are from the state capital.
There are quite a few Sumpin’s in the Lagunitas Brewing back catalog but the latest is a near DIPA range Wheat IPA. So, this month, I thought that I would review a couple from this heritage brewery that is still hanging on after more halcyon days.
The wheat Sumpin’ pours a swirl of orange and yellow. Getting orange peel on the nose. First sip is close to an orange pekoe tea flavor but something seems off here. There is an earthy undertone that isn’t fitting in well. Or maybe it is just to tea tannic for my tastes. Doesn’t taste 7.5% though.
Since the Hard Knocks documentary series has come to HBO streaming ( gonna pass on the dumb Max name ), I have become a fan. And the roster of shows keeps expanding with pre- season and in-season now joined by off-season.
We only follow the team over five episodes and by team, I mean the back of house team. The GM, the owner, the scouts. Players are not far from mind, but they are not the focus. The ultimate episode is the draft which is a bit anti-climactic since the Giants basically got the wide receiver they wanted as well as a defensive free agent they coveted as well.
Future seasons may have more action to them, but this one, though illuminating pales in comparison to the pre-season version.
For beer, you can go two ways. Find any New Jersey beers you can or failing that, New York. Or you can pull out the biggest abv beer that you have on hand and wake up the next morning like you had been hit by a linebacker.