Category: Brewery Tour

A concise brewery bio

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College Football Town Brewery # 1 – Alluvial Brewing

Iowa State is ranking just inside the top 10 so off to Ames and Alluvial Brewing we go to see what beers I would cyclone into a taster tray…

Lutris Pale Ale – “Our flagship pale ale featuring Citra hops & heirloom Maris Otter malt. Double dry-hopped with Citra and Apollo. New England style, hazy.”

Lontra IPA with Coconut – “Citra, Citra, Citra, Maris Otter, Citra and Citra. Made using the Norwegian Lutra Kveik yeast which brings a strong tropical flavor, pineapple and stone fruit. This variant was finished with hand toasted coconut for a summery twist.”

Waitoreke NE IPA – “Softly hopped, NE style IPA with tons of late hops from the famous New Zealand hop, Nelson Sauvin. White wine and gooseberry notes. This variant features additional Galaxy hops adding hints of tropical fruit.”

Coastdream DIPA – “Double dry-hopped w/ Mosaic and Sultana hops. Pineapple, bright citrus.”

BTW – Alluvial refers to alluvium which is “clay, silt, sand, gravel, or similar detrital material deposited by running water”

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Santa Ana Brewery # 3 – Cerveza Cito

I am going to cheat a bit and head a little north to Santa Ana for this last brewery stop in August.

Cerveza Cito is on 4th Street and is pretty new to the Orange County brewing scene.

Here are what I would put into a taster tray…

La Chata – Refreshing Horchata Cream Ale

Firme Twist – Our Santa Ana style lager, Firme, with a hint of lime and sea salt.

Mi Morena Amber – Smooth and crisp with notes of chocolate and caramel.

Quemacocos Stout – Smooth Coconut Rye Stout

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1st Visit – Telco Brewery

Time for a belated visit to Telco Brewery in Santa Clarita.

Waited out the traffic and arrived right at opening and there were already a few couples seated and drinking.  Telco is an Old school industrial park space, I passed sound stages and medical instrument companies on the way.  

Tip and Ring Pale – Dark and quite malty. British in temperament. Bit of berry note to it.

Static Haze – Has the right murk to it. soft on the palate.  bit of fruit and a bit of pine needles to it.

Busy Line Belgian Golden – has that initial Belgian quality but then it fades off into a place close to menthol. 

2 Rings IPA – starts off quite bright citrusy but the aromas and flavors quickly fade.

Overall, I kind of expected the quality to be higher for a brewery that has been around for more than a year (maybe two?).

Finally, on a more positive note the Telco branded phone booth is a great touch.  Great for photo ops.

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Anaheim Brewery # 2 – Rad Beer Co.

Next stop, Valley Girl lingo in Orange County Rad Beer Company which sports a former Bottle Logic brewer as head brewer in Dylan Mobley.

Time to pick some beers to pair with their sister company’s (Rad Brat) sausages.

King Minutia German Pilsner – “Lager brewing is all about the details, time and temperature can make all the difference. Our German style Pilsner follows a very traditional, precise recipe throughout the process. Brewed with all German ingredients and adhering to traditional brewing methods, this beer shows it. Crisp and clean, this beer hits all the feels for a classic German Pils.”

Halo IPA – “Bold hop aromas of pine, citrus & tropical fruit. It’s dank!”

Triple Tripel – “Belgian beers are like the original craft beer in terms of beer history. Take a detour from modern craft and enjoy the orighinal. This Tripel is a classic three grain recipe of malted barley, wheat and oats brewed with noble hops and fermented with a Trappist Belgian yeast. Big bubblegum, banana, and spicy fruity yeast esters marry with a rich malt profile for a great summer Tripel.”

American Export Stout – “We’ve all had a good American stout. Some of us have had world class Imperial Stouts. The export stout often gets overlooked but hits that sweet spot between the two. At 7.7% this Export Stout fills the gaps. Enough sweetness but finishes dry, rich chocolate and coffee but balanced. More of a hop presence than and Imperial stout, the Centennial and Amarillo come in to play at the back end of your sip finishing with a touch of citrus and earth.”

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Anaheim Brewery #1 – Brewery X

Our first foray to Anaheim hits the spot. Brewery X is in the North and East of the city. They have quite an extensive list of IPA’s, hazy and clear but let’s look at the other categories.

Here is what I would put into a taster tray…

I Know, Huh? – Amber Mexican lager

Clearly Confused – Kristallweizen

Stein Me Up – Munich Helles

Highlands & Islands – German / New Zealand Hybrid lager

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Smoothie Brewery # 3 – Omnipollo

I finish the Smoothie brewery month with what I consider the grandfather, progenitor of the style. Omnipollo. I remember seeing them tap out of their wild creations at the Firestone Walker Invitational at least twice and wondering what was driving the interest. The following beers might answer that question.

Pleroma Blackberry Blueberry Lime Crème Brûlée

“Blackberries, blueberries and a dash of lime crème brûlée sour ale brewed with berries, lactose sugar and lots of finely ground vanilla. The creaminess and notable flavors of berries are balanced out with the bite from the gentle amount of lime.”

Tropical Smoothie Hard Seltzer

Pineapple Peach Passionfruit Tropical Smoothie Hard Seltzer brewed with our friends at Untitled Art blends our favorite juicy, tropical fruits with a dash of lactose sugar and our finest ground vanilla pods. 

Bianca Guava Lychee Passionfruit Lassi Gose

Tropical, fruit heavy gose containing some of our favorite fruits of the season. Brewed with rock salt, lactose, guava, lychee and passionfruit. 5

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A Mad Era

Back in 2018, I posted about Mad Era Brewing. Fast forward to now and though still not open, they are getting closer to adding a new brewery to Simi Valley.

Add this brewery to your up and coming beer radar.

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Smoothie Brewery # 2 – Urban South Brewing

Next up is the bi-located Urban South Brewery which has spots in both Louisiana and Texas.

Let’s dive into there fruited beers…

Spillage Sour IPA Raspberry Vanilla Lemonade – “Base on a blend of milkshake IPA and our barrel fermented sour base. Conditioned on Raspberry, Vanilla and Lemonade.”

Double Spilled Pineapple Marshmallow – “Riped pineapples with the creamy smoothie Marshmallow mouthfeel.”

Triple Spilled – “Passion-fruit, Papaya, Tart Cherry, Guava, Pineapple, Apple: Over the river and through the woods to Fruit city! Explosion island of passion-fruit exploding right at first sip leaving you blown away over to the jungle of papaya city exotic flavors leaving you with doses of Pineapples and Apples lane to stop you at your tracks with Guava punch.”

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Smoothie Brewery # 1 – Smooj

Even the name sounds gacky to me but the people love this new trend so let’s look at Smooj and their hard seltzer smoothies.

This brand comes from HOMES Brewery’s sister company, Troobado and they have two leading flavors. One is strawberry banana and the other is pina colada. Passion fruit, raspberry pina colada and frozen slushies with rum and gin are available at the Homes brewery location.

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NBA Playoffs Brewery Tour # 3 – Simple Machine Brewing from Phoenix

Basketball is easy when all five players operate as a unit. See what I did there? Booker, Paul, Ayton and coach Monty Williams have been playing great basketball since the bubble last season and maybe if I don’t jinx them like I did the Jazz could hoist a trophy.

But on to the brewery.. Simple Machine Brewing Company is known for Helical Haze IPA but let’s fill our e-taster tray with ..

Coffee Crusher Blonde Ale – “We’ve collaborated again with our friends at Roastery of Cave Creek (ROC2), infusing our Day Crusher Blonde with their cold brew coffee to give it just the right amount of coffee roast while still being a light & refreshing blonde ale.”

Camper Red Ale – “Roasty malt aroma with a deep caramel malty flavor that finishes in a smooth, medium body.”

Dark Side of the Mash Black IPA – “Dark Side of The Mash is a Black IPA coming in at 6.3% ABV and 85 IBU. It starts off with a delicious bitter taste up front and then finished with an incredibly smooth chocolate and toasty flavor.”

Rye Around the Corner – “Rye Pale Ale brewed in collaboration with The AZ Brewers Guild, Kitsune Brewing, Furious Beer & BBQ, Coriega Beer Co and Ember Brewing.”