Follow Sean Inman to the best in craft beer
I have tasted a few hop waters and hop teas. Some better than others. Most don’t really taste like hops but are good in a different way. Then there is really different…
I have a pretty wide vocabulary but never have I encountered “adaptogens” and “nootropics”. When I saw those letter groupings, my spidey sense started tingling. Not as much as the missing A and E makes me upset though. I think this falls into the land of Not.
Portland’s Moonstruck Chocolate Company, have done wine and beer and now have cider to add to their truffle collection now that they have collaborated with 2 Towns Ciderhouse on the Craft Cider Collection.
You get nine chocolate truffles made with 2 Towns flavors like The Bad Apple Imperial Cider, Made Marion Blackberry Cider and Easy Squeezy Raspberry Lemonade Cider.
The alcohol and coffee worlds are forever mixing. As I am typing this, I am drinking wine barrel-aged coffee. Modern Times has a whole product line. Now Trademark Brewing in Long Beach has beans. Four roasts are currently on offer.
10 HOUR – “Inspired by the beans in our gloriously-decadent 10 Hour Coffee-Chocolate Stout, this signature blend features notes of dark chocolate, cashew and blackberry.”
ETHIOPIA MARU – “Single Origin featuring blueberry, grape and jasmine notes.”
COLOMBIA TIMANÁ – “Single Origin with suggestions of honey, almond and grapefruit.”
GUATEMALA CUBULCO – “Single Origin with flavors of milk chocolate, hazelnut and mandarin.”
I am always on the hunt for a good BBQ sauce. I am a bit hampered by an aversion to spice heat and for that reason, of the three New Belgium flavors pictured above, I gravitate to the mildest. But part of me is more intrigued by the 1554 because I think it will add the most beer-iness.
Before the whole pandemic took over, one of my to-do list items was to have a MacLeod ale and a pizza from their adjoining restaurant. And since the takeout only option has been on the books, I have seen that they seem to be at pizza making capacity many nights. Whether the food delivery people are gouging them is a different story. Now we have a new option…
…hopefully, the beer loving world has learned some cooking techniques in these last two weeks.
Moonstruck Chocolate has struck out beyond their Oregon home to their neighbors both North and South for a trio of beer + chocolates with Sierra Nevada, Pike Brewing and Breakside Brewing. In my boozy chocolate experience, spice and barrel comes through more than subtle flavors so I would guess that the tripel and the hazy would be true-r to the beers.
Beer Search Party favorite is ready to do the take-out and to-go, We’re Pouring in Glendale has some great bottles and cans so check their social media for more information and order some food while you are at it.
For those times when you need a morning beverage but you want to support a coffee company that is in bed with #independent beer, well, Smoky Hollow Coffee Roasters is a good choice. Their coffee makes it into some of the darker beers that ESBC creates
If you want to learn about hops and on the side have a great meal while you are it, Beachwood Brewing has a deal for you. You get hop knowledge from renonwed brewmaster, Julian Shrago, who will get you involved with a “hands-on hop sensory experience where you’ll learn about 7 different hop varieties that we will blend as a group to create a truly one-of-a-kind IPA for the people!” Tickets on sale Monday 3/9
The promotional photo stack of the new Hopyard Cheddar Burger from Burgerville is impressive but the fact that the Oregon burger chain really goes local is even more towering. The burger “features a cheese that is made with hop petals.” That is right, the cheese is from the Rogue Creamery and they use fresh hop petals from their home grown Freedom Hops. According to Rogue, “the flavor of the cheese is gently bitter, with sweet brown butter, hazelnut, and buttermilk notes.”