Our second stop from the New School Beer Blogs upcoming breweries post is at Audacity Brewing which is taking the step of moving from Washington State to Oregon.
Let’s check out some of the beers…
Enksy – “Part of our Trappist-inspired beer series. This underrepresented style goes by many names: enkel, single, patersbier. Fashioned as a lower-strength ale monks drink when they’ve got other stuff to do. With notes of pome fruit, honeyed biscuit, and light spice phenolics, you may find yourself ditching work to get a daily ration.”
Oberwesel – this Kolsch “has a grainy sweetness with subtle bread, spice, and fruit notes.”
Morning Mood – “stout loaded with maple syrup and Velton’s coffee. It’s the ultimate “breakfast” beer, and we are big proponents of the all-day breakfast.”
Before the big 10th Anniversary weekend happens at Boomtown Brewery, I was part of a media contingent that got to peek BtS.
And more importantly, got to taste a few of the beers currently on tap which I will get to in a moment.
We crossed over the causeway into a piece of Los Angeles building history and the current brewing area for Boomtown. The double arched ceilings have seen wine production, munitions and now malt and hops.
The brewdeck is in one corner with brite tanks and fermenting vessels surrounding it. Another corner houses the malt and grist mill. Boomtown does a morning brew and then a night brew so the malt haas to be at the ready. A conveyor takes the malt up and over into the brew corner. Kind of a typical set-up for a small brewery.
I started with the rice lager which was nice and crisp, checked out the flagship Bad Hombre as well as the Belgian Golden Strong Ale, Submission. But the winners of the night were tge Good Boy Decoy Oatmeal Stout and the latest peach tinged Brett Michaels Sour. The former was simple with a touch of sweetness and a delivery system for malt. The latter tasted as if it was straight from a brand new oak barrel.
If anything on the above menu board strikes your fancy, you just might want to visit this 21st through 23rd.
Each year, usually in February, I pore over the anticipated brewery openings list compiled by the fine folks at The New School Beer blog. Go HERE to read the full list.
My first pick is Tiny Giants Brewing which will be heading to SE Ankeny with former Cascade and Fracture brewer Steve Beadouin in the lead. That resume is one reason why I chose it. The other is that they are using a space used by a former brewery while they search for a forever home.
We head to Europe, specifically the Czech Republic for FUZE. A French restaurant in Prague with a brewing operation.
We will go from light to dark starting with TransFUZE the Czech Pils then moving on to FUZEnáč 13 what they call their semi-dark lager and then finish up with InFUZE 14 their dark beer. And while there they also have beers from Brewery Zichovec to compare and contrast.
I am not one for Best of the Year lists, more of a in the moment person so I am grateful for outlets like Hop Culture that go in on the whole look back at a whole year thing. You can read their list HERE and my second choice from the list is Deep Fried Beers in Athens, New York.
Not the most appetizing name for a shop known for their IPAs and rocketing up Empire State best of lists but let’s find a table to set our virtual taster down onto including…
Kilometer Long Stare – “Hazy Double IPA hopped with 8+ lbs / bbl of Citra and Galaxy.”
Built Different Batch 2 – “Hoppy Ale brewed with 8 lbs / bbl of lot selected Yakima Chief Citra, Freestyle Hops Nelson Sauvin, and HPA Galaxy.”
In Da Clurb, We All Fam – “Hazy DIPA hopped with 9+ lbs per bbl of Yakima Chief Citra, NZ Hops NZ Cascade, and Freestyle Hops Nelson Sauvin.”
I am not one for Best of the Year lists, more of a in the moment person so I am grateful for outlets like Hop Culture that go in on the whole look back at a whole year thing. You can read their list HERE but first a visit to the Yakima Valley and one of the breweries on the list, The Outskirts Brewing Co.
We start the flight off with an award winning pale ale….
Canyon Crusher Pale Ale – “Light, crisp American pale with notes of Citrus and tropical fruit cup. Too aromatic to be a traditional pale, but too crushable to be a traditional IPA. Hits right in the middle in the perfect way. This recipe won 1st place pale at the 2023 Fresh Hop Ale Fest and People’s Choice at Public House Pre-Harvest Party.”
Barn Raiser NW IPA – “Our flagship IPA. Big notes of Pine, Citrus and Dank (cannabis). Great beer for the IPA fan. Still very clean, but with the extra kick an IPA drinker is looking for.”
My Oh My IPA – “We hit a home run with this one, just in time for baseball season. Go M’s! A clean and clear IPA with huge aromatic notes of berry, pineapple and tropical fruit. Medium body, with a sweet (but not malty) backbone and low bitterness.”
The final brewery tour of 2024 takes us to Oklahoma and The Big Friendly brewery. They were honored for their Vanilla Oil Boom, a big imperial stout.
Time to check out a few other of their beers…
Peace Piece – “West Coast IPA made with Simcoe & Mosaic.”
Joe’s Balaton Cherry Preserves – “Made with Balaton Cherries from Michigan.”
Old Growth – “This dark lager offers a beautiful balance of flavors you’d want as we come into the fall. Light nuttiness, hints of bakers chocolate and fresh baked bread round out the flavor profile.”
Space is the Place – “A Barrel Fermented Brett Saison that has a mellow funk & complex fruit sapidity on the palate. Effervescent and delightful flavors of dried apricot & sand plum with hints of white wine grapes, agave & figs.”
I had the chance to check out a new to me brewery in Santa Barbara this month, Validation Ales. And they have an interesting hook or gimmick, they pit two beers against each other and whichever sells more gets brewed again and then matches up to a new recipe. Their website joins in on the fun as well which makes for repeated engagment.
I sampled an Italian Pilsner, a Cold IPA and an IPL and found all three to be quite good. I wanted to get an overview so I did only the one head to head match up. You can taste two seltzers or two light or get a taster tray with two match-ups.
The staff and the space were warm and engaging making for a fun visit.
Located in the University District of Seattle, Ladd & Lass Brewing was founded by wife and husband team of Jessie Quan and Nick Ladd ( hence the spelling in the name).
They were mentioned in the magazine for their Zoospaloos, a Czech- style dark lager.
Thankful for UDFB – West Coast IPA – “Brimming with some of our favorite New Zealand hops, Thankful for UDFB is a hearty celebration of the University District Food Bank and all they do for our community. Featuring Cryo Nelson Sauvin and Freestyle Peacharine, this IPA is a veritable cornucopia of ripe stone fruit, white wine grapes, and a beguiling piney note—all complemented by a pleasing bitterness and lightly bready maltiness.”
Olympic Peaks – NW IPA – “Our winter IPA is a garnet-hued celebration of the NW IPAs of yore. Expect a balanced beer showcasing hop aromas of grapefruit and piney resin set against a toasty malt backbone and crisp bitterness.”
A Minor Award – Winter Warmer – “At L&L, we have a nostalgic soft spot for the malty, heavily-hopped winter warmers of the early aughts. Harkening back to the seasonal warm fuzzies, A Minor Award is a holiday carol of nutty bread, deep caramel, and luscious toffee paired with a pleasing bitterness and citrus and pine aromatics.”
Deprived of Light – Imperial Stout – “This gnarly imperial stout may be deprived of light, but it still radiates with intense flavors of cacao, coconut, and vanilla. We took our decadent imperial stout and confectionized™ it—blasting your palate with a depth of flavor that saturates your taste buds while still managing to finish short of typical pastry stout cloyingness.”
Black Lung Brewing in Round Lake Beach, Illinois is our first stop from the Best Beers as tabulated by Craft Beer & Brewing magazine.
The beer they were recognized for is Left Fork a Kentucky Common Ale. I was surprised by that too.
But let’s create a taster tray with a few other of their beers that caught my eye…
Pancho & Lefty Mexican Lager – “Adjunct international lager with Pilsner grains, flaked Maize and noble Saaz Hops! A wonderful, dry beer that is delightful all year round.”
Mind of Peace Saison – “Strumming series saison infused with Sage, Green Tea, Mint and Rosemary mash water. Then Double Dry Hopped with Hallertau Blanc and Fuggle hops.”
Curb Check Carrot IPA – “Curb Check is a 7.0% hazy ipa with cascade, mosaic, and galaxy hops. Along with puréed carrots, spices Madagascar Bourbon vanilla beans and Malto-dextrin sugar. All coming together to create a uniquely spiced beer for the holidays!”
Tame the Chaos DIPA – “Citra and Mosaic hops give you that dank, yet punchy aroma, paired with a sharp bitterness and balanced malt backbone! This is our first journey into the west coast style, double ipa. We brewed it to remind us of a simpler time. We hope you find comfort in the raised bitterness and enormous hops aromatics!”
