Author: Sean Inman

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Cismontane is Turning Three

Cis_Black

Cismontane Brewing Company’s 3RD ANNIVERSARY!!!

Friday April 26th, 2013 – 3 pm to 9ish  (Barrel Aged Night if you want light beer you will have to drink cask beer!):

Garlic Scapes Food Truck 4pm-9ish

Barrel Aged Beers
o   Oso
o   Black’s Nocturne
o   TJ Slough
o   Rye Barrel Aged Citizen
o   French Oak Coulter
o   French Oak Belgian Dubbel
o   8 month Bourbon Doppelsticke
o   13 month Bourbon Doppelsticke
o   Dos Cone Es
o   Sour Cream

Casks
o   French Oak Citizen
o   Pandion Pale
o   Black’s Dawn w/ Juniper & Vanilla Beans

Saturday April 27th, 2013 – 12 pm to 9ish 3rd Anniversary Release:

Dos Chinos Food Truck from 4pm-8pm

Tap List
o   1st Anniversary Black Lager
o   2nd Anniversary Belgian IPA
o   3rd Anniversary Belgian Strong (Release)

Mexican Summer Beers
o  La Crema
o  El Corazon Rojo
o  Nopal De Trigo

Past Favorites!
o   Cali IPA easy as ABZ
o   Belgian Dubbel
o   Smokin’ Santiago
o   Pandion Pale III
o   Whatever Casks Survive

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Session Fest – # 3

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One of my favorite events on the Los Angeles beer calendar is the Session Fest at Eagle Rock Brewery.  And it is back in it’s 3rd iteration!  From 4pm to 10pm on May 4th.  Here is the news feed from their website…..

“Session Fest is all about great tasting beers that don’t get you blitzed. All your favorite brewery staff will be brewing up some special session-style beers to share with you. We’re currently mashing, hopping, fermenting and working our butts off to ensure some deliciousness not to be missed!

This year for just $15 you’ll be able to get 3 beers and a half pint commemorative Session Fest pint glass to take home with you!

Additional drink tickets will be available to purchase as well.

We’ll have a food truck in the lot also and we’ll let you know who once we have it all worked out.”

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Take the Lid off

Sly Fox has flipped canning 180 degrees with its 360 Lid. Instead of a tab to a small opening, the 360 Lid let’s you remove the top of the can completely, magically creating an aluminum cup for your Helles. (and later their Pikeland Pils!)

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Now how will the foreign owned industrial water lager producers respond?

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Video Review – Natian Old Grogham

My mother is my Portland beer source and she acquired the two beers from Natian Brewery that I will review in April. We finish with Old Grogham Winter IPA…..

This is the short description from the brewery website, “Palisade hops were added throughout the boil and dry hop schedule, along with high alpha American hops for bittering, Noble hops for aroma and a few other varieties in-between to balance the heavy malt profile. Rum soaked Oregon oak spires added during the final stages of fermentation bring flavor notes of caramel and vanilla to complement the bitterness.”

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Arizona Beer – Dragoon Brewing

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Our next stop in Arizona takes us to Dragoon Brewing Company was founded by Bruce Greene and his son Eric “with a simple goal in mind: to increase the quantity and quality of local beer in the Arizona market.” And I say kudos to anyone who is brave enough to take the leap from home brewing to the pro ranks.  It is hard leap and sometimes people who write about it forget that.

After Eric founded a homebrew club (Northern Arizona Homebrewers) and studied at the  American Brewer’s Guild and Harpoon Brewing, he returned to Tucson and with Tristan White, another home brew member created Dragoon.

After perusing their website, I decided what three beers would have to be in my initial taster tray if I find my way to their brewery….

Stronghold Session Ale

This beer starts at a relatively low gravity, and thus finishes with a low alcohol content (about 4.8%). Make no mistake though, it is by no means a light beer. It is rich with roasted malt, bittersweet chocolate, and a touch of herbal hop flavors. It is made from a blend North American and British base malts with rolled oats, chocolate, brown and caramel malts. We finish it with a great big dose of earthy American hops (Sterling, Willamette, and Northern Brewer).

Ryelander

Ryelander is a beer that’s easy to wrap your head around: it’s a big, spicy, hoppy Imperial IPA. It ravages taste buds, decimates olfactory receptors, and leaves even the heartiest neuron begging for mercy. It is brewed from a blend of pale, crystal, and rye malts (with just a touch of roasted barley for color). We add many pounds of hops to the boil, and many more directly to the fermentation vessel. The result is an undoubtedly aggressive beer, but like its namesake, it shows a surprising depth and complexity. Bière del Bac
Named after San Xavier del Bac, our Belgian-style quad is deep reddish amber in color, with the aroma of dried fruit, caramel, and a hint of peppery alcohol. It is brewed with piloncillo sugar and dark Belgian candi syrup for complexity. It’s perfect for those cold winter nights.
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An (Extra) Sour Fantome

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There are quite a few English, German and Belgian beers that I need to re-acquaint myself with. I recently had Omer blonde ale and was reminded how great it was. Fantome is another brand that I should sample more of and this new sour offering is now on my watch list.

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Organic Hop Cuvee

Bison Organic Beer has a tough road to navigate now that hops have to be organic as well to be able to label a beer as organic so it is good to see them tackle it head on with….

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“The 2013 Hop Cuvée recipe includes Citra® and Simcoe, two new and exciting organic hop varietals not previously available as certified organic, as well the classic Centennial hop. This year’s hops were grown by Carpenter Ranches, Perrault Farms and Roy Farms—three family-owned farms in Yakima Valley, WA.”

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Craft Beer College

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When people talk about beer school, they primarily focus in on the brewing aspect but Portland State University now has a course to address the business side of the equation.

I have pulled some bits from the article on the Oregonian newspaper website that I think will pique your interest if you are pondering running a craft beer company.

“..Professor Mellie Pullman,  who leads the new program for PSU’s Professional Development Center. “We’re focusing on the business skills that will make your brewery or pub more efficient and profitable. If you’re not already in the business, the classes will give you what you need to create a viable business plan for a startup.”

-many people don’t realize that craft beer is as much a business as any artistic endeavor. And a well-written plan is a guide map to being successful.

“And even if you don’t live here in Beervana, the courses are available online and can be accessed by anyone anywhere in the world.”

-so you can learn without packing up your bags and heading north.

Being in Portland means Pullman has access to a wide variety of industry partners. “We’ve already filmed a segment at Widmer Brothers Brewing  and two at Hopworks Urban Brewery,”  she said. The growing list of future partners includes Rogue Ales, a stalwart PSU supporter; Bull Run Distilling; suppliers such as Great Western Malting; equipment builders such as JV Northwest and Metalcraft Fabrication; and smaller breweries and brewpubs, including Captured by Porches  and Migration Brewing Co.

-brewery tours alone will not cut it.  You need to visit and talk with all types of vendors.

the class consists of four segments: Basic Business for Craft Breweries;  Craft Beverage Business Management;  Strategic Craft Beverage Marketing; and Finance and Accounting for the Craft Brewery;  plus an optional immersion weekend spent touring breweries and suppliers.

-I, so, would have taken this class back in my college days

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The Hub

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“Rural communities, and this country’s rural way of life, face unprecedented challenges. The country pub, which has been at the heart of village life for centuries, is disappearing in many areas. Providing services from the pub, such as a post office or a shop, keeps an essential service in the village.”

If you have a royal highness in your corner, that carries a bit of weight and the Prince of Wales seems intent on carving out a niche as a supporter of small business and keeping the flame lit in rural pubs. And what better place then where people gather to celebrate either a sporting event victory or a wedding.

Why is that important to us in Los Angeles?  Well, firstly craft beer is being pushed forward here by the places that sell the beer and secondly, due to the economic downturn there are many storefronts that are empty and filled with dust.  Why not have a bakery/pub/bookstore mix? Or a pop-up pub? Take a page from this organization and revitalize areas.

(If you do find yourself in the English countryside, check out one of the inns or pubs on the list on their website and pop in for a pint and support a good cause.