Follow Sean Inman to the best in craft beer
A concise brewery bio
This woman owned and veteran brewed brewery is located in Forked River, New Jersey. The name is “an ode to the Army uniform, the Backward Flag is a symbol of always moving forward and never retreating.”
Here are the beers that I would add to a taster tray….
Combat Edison – Belgian Witbier
STFU – Pale Ale
Command Voice – NE IPA
Historic Rivalry – NE IPA
Armored Ale – American Strong Ale
Usually I like to first visit a new brewery on opening weekend but I waited a couple weeks before heading to Long Beach to check out the much talked about Trademark Brewing. Here is the initial report…
The space is just huge. A really long blonde wood bar is just one component of a seating area that stretches off into the distance. Jenga and cornhole are way off in the distance and when the sun isn’t actively trying to burn us, there is also outdoor seating.
The taster flight presentation is nice. Logo’d up quite well. I ordered up a wide ranging variety of beers from their menu. I like the 3-word descriptions used. I started with Viking Blonde which was a little fruity with a nice leading hit of orange. Next was the Batch One Farmhouse which imparted a spicy clove. Almost a Cinnamon Tripel which must be from the expressive yeast. Waffles is how I would describe it. Into IPA territory for Hula Moon which is lots of pineapple. Tastes like the near the core. Gristly part. Not really IPA to me but amazing to know that it is the hops creating that fruit taste. Hop choice two was Keyboard Warrior which I think is a great name. This imperial tastes a little burnt and more on the caramel side. I finished with 10 Hour Imperial Stout leads with smoky. Coffee grounds being the other prominent note for me.
A good start on the beer and an even better start on the vibe and interior design.
Our second brewery stop for July is 14th Star Brewing Co. in Vermont. And the origin story can’t get too much more dramatic than this, ” 14th Star Brewing Co. started as a daydream in the mountains of Eastern Afghanistan.”
Here are the beers that I would add to my first taster tray…
Recruit Golden Ale – ” a clean, crisp, and refreshing American Golden Ale with just enough bitterness to balance out the sweetness from the malts.”
Valor Ale – “Our flagship beer! Brewed with four American hop varieties, Valor is a hoppy Amber Ale balanced with citrusy hop flavor and aroma, clean bitterness, and a slight caramel sweetness.”
Follow Me IPA – ” a sessionable American IPA brewed with five American and Australian hop varieties — imparting balanced notes of crisp lemon and resinous hop oil.”
Dive Bomb Hazy IPA – ” Soaring hop flavor with a dive in ABV — Dive Bomb is a Hazy Pale Ale brewed with Mosaic and Ekuanot hops.”
Maple Breakfast Stout – “An Oatmeal Stout brewed with local maple syrup and Northern Bayou cold brew coffee — our Maple Breakfast Stout has flavors and aromas of dark malts, coffee, and maple.”
I am only in a patriotic USA mood due to soccer. Womens World Cup and Gold Cup is all I can root for, I wouldn’t cross a one lane street to even slap one of the too many old white male politicians McConnelling in DC currently.
Rant over, time to focus on a brewery with patriotic ties starting with…
My initial tasting tray from Talea, a New York based brewery would include…
Sun Up Hazy IPA – ” MEGA PINEAPPLE with notes of overripe lemon drop and freshly picked berries. Hints of vanilla bean, fluffy marshmallow, and passion fruit slurpy thanks to a touch of oats & lactose.”
Bravada Brut IPA – ” orange peel, lychee, gooseberry jam, spice”
Lunch Date Pale Ale – ” Aroma of candied orange, lemon meringue, and tangerine. Flavor notes of overripe lemon and grapefruit zest”
Why is this patriotic? LeAnn Darland, co-founder is an alum of the Naval Academy and the other co-founder Tara Hankinson works with the Veterans in Residence program and supply Naval ships for “beer day” when they return to port.
Our last stop in June is at A&H, Anspach & Hobday. They have three beer categories on their website so let’s pick one from each for this virtual taster tray.
from the Classics
The Cream Ale – “Landing somewhere between a pale ale and a lager, The Cream Ale is brewed using Sorachi Ace hops. It’s flavour profile ranges from dill to coconut to pineapple. In fact, a throwback to Prohibition America, it’s so full of flavour, it won’t fit in the fridge.”
from the Experimentals
The Brother Sean – “Bold, rich and complex, this continental twist on our classic Stout Porter is fermented using a Belgian strain of yeast. Brewed only once a year, Brother Sean rests in the bottle for 12 months before its release. The result is well worth the wait.”
from the Collaborations
The Sacc. Trois IPA – “We used a blend of Mosaic and El Dorado in the boil, and Ekuanot and Ella in the dry hop, along with a small amount of CaraAroma malt in the grist. This recipe was designed to give us plenty of fruit from the hops, and just a touch of sweetness from the malt (Sacc. Troi is a high-attenuating yeast, so we wanted to make sure we had some body left in the beer once it was done).
As for the yeast, its certainly had an impact. The nose is full of fruit, specifically ripe fruit, very ripe fruit for that matter. Ripe mango and juicy tropical fruit dominate, along with some dank and herbal notes from the hops. The body is smooth, with light touch of bitterness to balance, and a dry finish.”
The second English stop is at Boxcar of London. A somewhat trippy destination if their motto is any indication, ” Transporting you to a place of rainbows and hops, dreams of barley and oats, ideas about yeast and water, hallucinations of colour and light.”
Now on to the beers that I would sample first…
starting hoppy with PAL-019 BRU-1 DDH Pale then moving on to a Belgian BIG-001 Mosaic & Vanilla Tripel then to a Dark Mild, DRK-004 Dark Mild and then finishing with an IPA, IPA-005 Ekuanot IPA.
This brewery has a cool design look, very color filled outer space plus the bottles are odd shaped for my eyes. And you can get more Boxcar info from this article in Pellicle
Our first brewery in London to visit is called Affinity Brew Co. and one of the reasons that I selected them is this statement on their website, “We do not filter or pasteurise our beer, allowing the yeast to produce a natural carbonation within the can.”
Now lets get to what I would try first…
Breeze – “A sparkling golden Saison brewed with Lime Zest and crushed Coriander Seed.”
Social Seduction – “A big, bold, west coast I.P.A brewed with a rotating selection of U.S hops.”
Toowoomba – “A Lamington inspired, coconut and raspberry stout. Toowoomba’s complex malt bill produces a rich, dark, chocolatey Stout. It is fermented on fresh Raspberries and conditioned with toasted Coconut.”
I’m sorta hoping that they bring the pizza to FWIBF19 too but here is a sample tray of beers from Austin’s Pinthouse Pizza…
Beluga Amber – ” Our director of brewing, like so many other brewers, started his journey into craft beer as a homebrewer over 10 years ago, and one of the first beers he ever brewed on his stove was an Extra Special Bitter inspired by some of England’s finest examples. In constructing the recipe for our Old Beluga Amber Ale he looked back on his notes from that first ESB he ever brewed, realized it probably wasn’t as great of a beer as he thought it was at the time, and worked on a recipe that blended elements of the English-Style ESB with those of an American Amber. The result is a delightfully complex, malt-forward Amber Ale filled with aromas and flavors of cherry, nuttiness, and an earthy-herbal hop profile to balance it all out.”
Sw’Elsinore – ” A craft Canadian Lager, Sw’Elsinore pairs well with the start of hockey season, Fall afternoons on the patio with a growler, and sharing a hand tossed pepperoni pie with friends at Pinthouse Pizza. Features: brewed with a mix of North American 6-row and 2-row barley along with rice to keep the body light and refreshing.”
Nitro Seal – ” Everything you read about our Gold Medal-winning Bearded Seal in the paragraph right above this one is true for this beer as well… Our Brewmaster isn’t Irish… at all, stouts are good in all weather, and jet black pints with creamy white heads are sexy… and Dry Irish Stouts on nitro taste really really good. So, we offer up a version of our Bearded Seal on Nitro as well! All the delicious flavors of roasted coffee and dark chocolate remain the same while the nitrogenation adds a smooth creamy mouthfeel to this stout.”
Fully Adrift – ” 2018 Alpha King Challenge winner, 2014 Alpha King runner up and Silver Medal at the 2015 LA International Beer Competition for the Double IPA Category! This is a dangerously drinkable combination of Dank, tropical, and resinous hops… and more hops.”
In perusing the list of participating breweries for this year’s LA Beer Week KickOff Festival, I noticed a new name on the list, Wave Maiden.
The tagline for this Venice born brewing operation is “Herbal Ales Rooted in Plant Medicine”. I am actually kind of surprised that this niche hasn’t been explored especially here in SoCal where it could take “root”, pun intended. I will certainly check out their booth and start looking for their beers around town.
Here are some of the beers that if I see at FWIBF19, I will get a taster of from Casey Brewing & Blending which I believe is making its debut in California.
Blackberry Whiskey Sour – ” We took Biere de Garde, fermented and aged in Woody Creek Whiskey barrels, and added blackberries. Collaboration brew with our friends at Four Dogs Wine and Spirits in Basalt, CO.”
Dry Hopped Oak Theory – ” We took unique barrels of Oak Theory and added massive amounts of dry hops just before bottling to add citrus and juicy notes to the rustic funk of Oak Theory.”
Fruit Stand / Grape – “Saison base beer aged on whole Colorado grapes at a rate of over 1 pound per gallon.”
Casey Family Reserves / Plum – ” Saison base beer aged on whole Colorado plums at a rate of over 2 pounds per gallon.”