Follow Sean Inman to the best in craft beer
If you want proof (bad too early pun, sorry) that brewers treat (ugh, another one) water with a lot of thought and care, then look no further than Beachwood who have a new pizza place in Huntington Beach.
They took the dough so seriously that they now have special water that they sell that you can use to make your own pizza dough. I am somewhat tempted to buy and taste it.
The only bummer about my Christmas trip to San Juan Capistrano was that Heritage BBQ was also on vacation those days.
But I have a new reason to try again, this time in Oceanside at the second location of Heritage that also includes a brewery and they have a former Pizza Port brewer at the mash tun.
You can read all about it HERE from San Diego Beer News.
Happy Turkey Day beer fans!
Have a fantastic day, however you wish to spend it. Be it football, family, fistfights with family or festbiers.
Back to regular beer programming tomorrow, along with the annual Christmas Seasonal beer survey.
Cheers!
One of the landmark beers in SoCal was the coffee white stout that Noble Ale Works in Anaheim brewed up.
Now you can get the coffee bean version of Naughty Sauce….
Now you can be naughty all day moving from coffee to beer.
I still do not know what really constitutes beer cheese. Is there even beer in the cheese? Or is it just a bit of malty flavor?
That being said, transferring cheese flavor to a pretzel cannot be easy. Adding a beer cheese to a pretzel must be harder.
So, this would be Needed or Not based on one taste of the pretzel. If it ain’t good, or at least to the American level of saltiness then the vote is Not Needed.
The Bruery is starting a supper club and they have chosen the highly regarded and much written about Oaxacan fare at Guelaguetza as the first restaurant in the series.
As you can see from the menu, this was a wide ranging set of foods and beer. I have to start by saying that the Moles were as advertised. Really flavorful and really a festival. It was great on the chips at the start of the night as well. The Chiles Rellenos were also quite good.
The beers, as expected, were well up to the high Bruery standards. Many were beers that I had not tasted in a long time and it was great to be reacquainted with them. Especially Or Xata and Mischief which seemed quite hopped up to me.
Strangely though, despite both sides being excellent, the pairings didn’t really fly. The Helles with the ceviche was the best of the bunch but even that was a bit dull. The tequila barrel-aged Siesta Saturday with the beautiful looking corn dessert, Nicuatole was a complete mismatch. The big burly beer ran over the delicate and subtle texture of the dessert. I would have paired the Helles here or the Gose.
Do not let that stop you from following along to see when and where The Bruery will supper with next. Food and beer pairings is an art and a science and sometimes it clicks and sometimes it just misses.
MacLeod Ales has finally gotten the green light to open their second location! They started on Monday at MacLeod on York inbetween the two trendy parts of Highland Park.
Expect a 1st visit report in the coming months.
Cut to the chase. Not needed. A light flavorless seen better days beer simply ain’t gonna add much of anything to chocolate or ice cream. I bet that if blindfolded, you could not taste the difference between plain and “High Life”.
But if a craft brewery added a stout or a fruited sour to an ice cream treat, then I would be 100% on board. But adding water beer, nah.
There are “gets” when it comes to food at breweries and Santa Monica Brew Works snared a great restaurant free agent in Emmy Squared Pizza.
My famously picky better half ranks this pizza just below her favorite, We’re Pouring and I have to agree. The ‘Roni pie is brimming with pepperoni and has that nice slightly caramelized soft crust.
The place was packed on a recent Saturday but I think the beers need to rise to the level of the pizza. Maybe even brew a beer specifically to pair with it. The XPA and Inclined IPA are good but could be brightened considerably in my view.
One of the beer-y events that I hope come back better than before is the beer dinner. Smog City will be hosting one at their Glendora Public Market location with owner / head brewer Jonathan Porter.
If you can’t schedule this one, start looking for the next one.