This new to 2019 brewery has some San Diego brewing history behind it. Gravity Heights has Skip Virgilio on board. That name may ring a brewing bell because he co-founded and was the original brewer at a little place called Alesmith.
The new venture is in
Sorrento mesa and has a restaurant and a “lush outdoor beer garden”. Here are the beers that I would put into an
initial taster tray….
Take Two Pilsner – “rich, pale lager with a crisp, rounded finish”
Brewers Best – “session ale with crisp bitterness and rich malt character”
SMS Pale Ale (Sorrento Mesa Standard) – “crystal malt provides depth for a refreshing, hop-forward classic”
Double Overhead – “piney and resinous, chewy malt presence provide balance”
Brewers Breakfast Stout – “roasty and velvet-smooth stout with coffee and chocolate tones”
I made my first official visit to Lomita recently. Traveling for beer does indeed force one to parts of Los Angeles that you may see only on freeway exit signs. This time I am drinking my first beers from Burnin’ Daylight which occupies a new development block on Narbonne Street.
Right
off the bat I notice two things: One, they have a kitchen with a short food
menu which is nice and second, the place was damn cold. So cold that blankets were being passed out. The A/C must have decided to work extra
overtime. There is a nice amount of
outdoor over a barrel seating and upcycled malt bag pillows inside that make the
place homey.
There
was a good spectrum of beer styles on offer from the civic named Lomita Light
Lager to a Bourbon-Barrel aged stout and IPA’s in-between. I enjoyed the Wheat
Mas wheat driven IPA. It had a bright
hoppy flavor and a bit of strength behind it too. The Gold Days Coffee Milt Stout was a little
green coffee bean tasting for the style but coffee lovers like myself are bound
to find it tasty nonetheless. The Small
Town Feel DIPA was on track doubling up Citra and Simcoe though it was a little
too tongue scrapey old school West Coast (or I have gotten soft). The least favorite was the Appian Amber. This is a style that should be easily
executed, clean and crisp but this had a weird aftertaste going on that was not
my thing.
Overall, I like the feel of the place and for a new brewery, they seemed to be on track with the beers. They are also not too far from the other South Bay breweries so it is easy to add this to the beginning or end of a trip or to make a specific choice to come.
Mixing Kiwi to SoCal, Kairoa Brewing and brewer Joe Peach are trying to create a “modern farmhouse designed space” in San Diego. Probably one of the few places to get New Zealand comfort food and an IPA.
We’re heading to Mill Street for our last stop in Eugene, Oregon at Coldfire Brew Co. Here are my choices for the initial taster tray that I would order.
Czech Pilsner – “This pilsner is both light and soft and has notes of spice, honey and lemon. Bohemian floor malted pilsner and Czech Saaz hops give this beer the classic underpinnings inherent in the style. A well rounded easy drinking lager.”
Don’t be Bitter! an ESB – “This traditional ale is a classic in every way. We start with a water profile that fits the style and selected only the highest quality English malts and hops. This beer is fermented with West Yorkshire Ale yeast, and dry hopped with East Kent Goldings for a truly beautiful combination of nostalgia and flavor. DBB drinks as a light; but malt forward ale with a balancing, refreshing bitterness that will leave you wanting one after another.”
Pick Me! a Pale Ale – “Crafted with the best Chinook and Mosaic hops available for a bright, classic, yet modern flavor.”
St. James IRA – “Winner of the 2017 – GABF Double Red Silver Medal! A malty, biscuity red ale balanced by generous additions of dry hops.”
Affogato coffee cream ale – “This coffee cream ale was brewed with traditional ingredients; but infused with milk sugar and high-quality, cold processed Columbian coffee. All of the traditional elements of the cream ale are apparent in this creation.”
Looks like the City of Wilmington is getting in on the independent beer bandwagon as I noticed this logo on Facebook recently for Espada Brewing Co. No other info yet, but I will be monitoring this new possible brewing spot.
Our second stop in Eugene, Oregon is Claim 52 Brewing. The name “refers to the donation land claim settled by pioneer William Luckey in what is now part of South Eugene.”
Here are the beers that I would be ordering for my initial taster tray….
Starting with their Kolsch and then moving on to Willamette Wit before heady to hoppy with their Good Neighbor IPA, their Krispy Brut IPA and then off to their My Brother’s Farmhouse IPA. I would finish with their Voyager Strong Ale.
Our first stop in Eugene is not at a brewery. Nope, heading to Viking Braggot instead to try one of these off kilter (braggot is basically a blend of mead and beer) beverages…
Freyja Blonde – “is our light and flavorful blonde braggot. Two-row barley and wheat provide much of the body while a simple addition of Crystal and Cascade hops gives a subtle, yet present hop flavor. We’ve kept the flavors of this braggot simple in order to let the true star, honeybush, shine through. Honeybush is a South African herbal tea that we blended with local wildflower honey to create a delicate, but distinctly flavored braggot!”
Reverence – “is our take on a red ale. In this braggot, certified organic two row and specialty malts provide a strong malt profile and rich red color. Multiple hop additions, including dry-hopping, give Reverence a distinct, but not overpowering, hoppiness. The star ingredient, orange blossom honey, serves to balance out the hops while providing an inimitable aroma and truly unique taste.”
Battle Axe – “is our flagship IPA style braggot. We took the light wildflower honey and combined it with a generous amount of Chinook, Cascade, Columbus, and Centennial hops. followed by a dry hop addition of Zythosto create an extremely floral and fragrant IPA. This IPA is a balance between the bitterness of all the hop additions and the wildflower honey, that leans slightly on the hoppier end.”
Alpenglow – ” Named after the vibrant red light of high mountain sunsets, Alpenglow is a ruby red style braggot brewed with Northern California pomegranate honey. Light and sweet!”
On a windswept Saturday night, I braved the slow 210 freeway and set my sights to Monrovia and a new brewery on the outskirts of the main drag of this community, Wingwalker. The first impression is good. There is a nice little patio as you walk up to the entrance. There is a painting hanging up near the door and as you walk in, there is a nice dark wood bar with the silver gleaming cooler behind it. Not much in the way of signage but thanks to my far vision glasses, I can make out that three beers are on offer. Dark Matter Porter in both regular and CO2 versions. A mild and a Festbier.
It is brand new days
for this brewery that literally opened at the start of the year. So I was not expecting to have the best beer
experience. I was nicely surprised with
the start of ….
Dark Matter – Nice and roasty. Maybe a skosh too bitter. Tilted to the coffee side. The Nitro blunted that a bit and would be my choice of the two.
…then the last two
beers were tasted and the review started trending down…
Miskatonic Mild – Tastes way green to me. Smells worty. My reaction might be due to lack of British Beers in my life. But aim is off.
Physics Phest Bier – Tastes a bit off as well. Too sweet and a little to mineral tasting. Closer to style in my thinking. But could be heavier and maltier.
The other weird thing
is that one long section of the bar seating is an actual small airplane
wing. I had to look at it a good long
time to see it under the clear epoxy/resin? And I felt that it would have been
much better to have the same wood all the way around and then fly the wing
above the customers, maybe with the logo stamped on it as well.
The brewery has an
old/vintage brewing system that was first brewed on in 1980 and is apparently a
system that makes brew days long and longer.
If the system can be mastered, this might be only a slight hindrance but
it could be worse. The space could use
more logo branding, from coasters to glassware to tap handles. Handwritten signs are fine but they will need
to be upgraded. There does appear room
to grow with 12 taps unused and the former home brewer also distills so there
might be spirits in the future.
Overall, this space
really looks only 80% ready. What is
done is solid but more work is needed on that and the beer.
I have Excel spreadsheets in my mind that list which breweries are new, coming soon and then those that have less determined futures. Neither good nor bad, just unknown as of my personal press time. So add South Central Brewing Company to your Facebook friends feed and maybe you will catch updates about another possible L.A. brewery.
