Category: Brewery Tour

A concise brewery bio

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Modern British Brewery # 2 – Left Handed Giant


You can find beers (many hazies) from Left Handed Giant Brewing Co. in three locations across the city of Bristol.

Let’s get to my imagines taster tray…

Bristol Gold Festbier – “Bristol Gold is a celebration of all things Lager, brewed as a nod to the historic annual Oktoberfest celebrations, and inspired by many travels through Germany. We used traditional German malted barley and the finest Tettnanger hops, to create an export style lager that is rich, yet balanced and refreshing.”

Cheeseburger Cavalry – “back in full force! Hoppy, zesty and deliciously crisp, with a delightful tangerine hue.

Citra and Mosaic doing their thing, bringing splashes of orange marmalade and fresh pine, backed up by a full, biscuity grain character and an assertive bitterness.”

Solitude Milk Stout – “We’re always excited to see Solitude coming out of tank, brewed with coffee beans from our good friends at New Cut Coffee.

With Chocolate malt and Roasted Barley in the malt bill and additions of Hazelnut and Madagascan Vanilla, Solitude drinks like a silky hazelnut ganache with a robust, roasty backbone.“

Dark Mild – “Every beer has a time and place and this Dark Mild with notes of; English hedgerow berries, smooth caramel and lightly roasted malt, with a rich mahogany hue, will be taking pride of place to see us through many cold evenings.”

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Modern British Beer Brewery # 1 – Salt Beer Factory

Turn to page 97 of Modern British Beer by Matthew Curtis for our first stop, Salt Beer Factory.

They are located in the village of Saltaire and they name all of their core beers after textiles. Speaking of, let’s dive into a taster tray.

Jute Session IPA – “Jute as a textile is one of the most accessible and versatile fabrics in the world. Over the years it has been used for fishing, manufacturing, household items and even clothing. Similarly, the goal of our session was to brew an accessible beer suitable for all occasions.

We put our spin on the traditional IPA, using a mix of Australian and American hops, keeping it naturally hazy and packed full of flavour. Jute is a crisp, light and refreshing session IPA. Initial aromas and tastes of citrus followed by a slightly bitter melon-rind finish”

Denim IPA – “1. A hard-wearing cotton twill fabric, typically blue and used for jeans and other clothing.

2. A hop-charged IPA utilising a blend of 3 hop products to pack in big, bold hop flavours.”

Hessian – “1. A strong, coarse fabric made from hemp or jute, used for sacks and upholstery.

2. A dark & roasty beer infused with coffee, cacao & vanilla.”

Pray for Mojo – “A punchy IPA fermented with Kveik yeast.”

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Soulful News

Looks like another brewery is on the horizon for Los Angeles as Brown Soul Brewing Co. now has a home and is moving on to the next stages of brewery opening life which are the the permit and paperwork (the 2P’s) followed by the building phase. Wish them luck as they move forward this year.

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College Football Town Brewery # 3 – Lansing Brewing Company

We head to the Stadium District in Lansing, Michigan to the eponymous Lansing Brewing Company since the Spartans are still hanging in the Top 25.

Let’s see what to have here, shall we…

Amber Cream Ale – “A unique twist on a cream ale. Bold flavor yet refreshing and smooth finish.”

Blackberry Shandy – “Light and refreshing! Our Blackberry Shandy is a combination of blonde ale, craft lemonade, and blackberries to create a bright citrus punch with a sweet fruit finish.”

Home Grown Harvest Ale – “Our harvest ale is a wet hopped ale utilizing Chinook from Top Hops Farm in Goodrich, MI. We used 35lbs of fresh hops that were cut from the farm and brought right to our back door to use in our brew only an hour later. The Michigan grown Chinook gives this beer a nice floral and slightly fruity flavor balance with caramel and toasted malts. It’s both hop forward and malt forward.”

Stadium Stout – “Stadium Stout is our initial stout that we brewed for our opening. It has a prominent blend of coffee and chocolate notes, medium body, and light bitterness.”

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College Football Town Brewery # 2 – Narrow Path Brewing Co.

Next up is the land of the Bearcats who are in the top 20 in the rankings this year and Cincinnati where we head to Narrow Path Brewing Co.

Here is what I would drink:

Pomegranate Mint Kettle Sour

Tire Patch IPA – “tropical, citrus and soft lingering bitterness.”

Old Fashioned Lager – “bourbon oak chips, orange peel and Luxardo cherries.”

Barrel Aged Pathinator – “vanilla, orange marmalade, chocolate and mild oak.”

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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