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A concise brewery bio
This brewery snuck up on me. I would have remembered the name for sure. It is a bit unwieldy but if the beers are good, people will learn how to spell it.
Ximix Craft Exploration Brewery will be open starting today!
Here are the opening weekend hours:
Thursday: 4 pm – 9 pm
Friday: 4 pm – 9 pm
Saturday: Noon – 9 pm
Sunday: 1 pm – 6 pm
As usual, I will report back with a 1st Visit as soon as I can.
The last March stop is in Nashville at Smith & Lentz who have gone the route of a small brewing system surround by what they call “an army of fermenters and aging vessels…” to allow them to keep bringing the new. Though they do have a couple core beers in their Mosaic IPA and German Pils.
Here is what I would add to my taster tray….
Happy Hearts Club Pilsner – “Brewed with bohemian floor malted heirloom malt and Czech Saaz. Happy Hearts Club was fermented with urquell lager strain and then conditioned for eight weeks.”
Münkel Dunkelweizen – “Pleasant Malt character. White grape & Orange Hop Aroma”
A Long Way From Huell IPA – “Featuring Huell Melon hops from Hop Head Farms, selected for HHF’s attention to detail harvesting and processing these beauties. We layered in Mosaic, Citra and Azacca to make this a dynamic beer that glorifies excessive hop use!”
Mosaic IPA – “A west coast style of IPA aggressively hopped with Mosaic. This is a very unique, highly sought after hop varietal which is reminiscent of blueberry, grapefruit, and pine.”
I was Untappd’ing recently when the following notification popped up….
…I had a vague feeling that Wiretap Brewing was in the works but from their website, it appears they are up and have been up and going in Lincoln Heights.
They have Black IPA named NSA which is rare style to see as well as a hybrid Mexican Strong Ale. I haven’t seen any of their beers on draft or in packaging but I will report back after visiting.
40 acres of forested land in Calhoun County, Arkansas is where Lost Forty Brewing took its name.
Here is what would be in my first taster tray (not forty, just five)…
Bare Bones Pilsner – “a robust, slightly sweet malt character on the front of the tongue, notes of alpine flowers and just-baked bread as it goes back through the palate. A clean, mildly bitter finish to round things off.”
Love Honey Bock – “a full-bodied, beer naturally sweetened with Arkansas honey for a smooth, creamy complexity.”
Twig Table Saison – “a bright, lemony, addictively refreshing, delicately tart, perfectly spritzy, and oh-so-laid back table beer. TWIG’s mildly sour and refreshing flavors come from fermenting our light Farmhouse Saison with wild yeast cultivated from the local Dunbar Community Garden inside a lightly charred white oak Foeder vessel.”
Forest Queen Milk Stout – “More than a stout. In addition to roasted barley used for deep, delicious flavors in all stouts, our lucious Milk Stout includes lactose, or milk sugar, for a velvety, medium body, and luxurious finish. Enjoy flavors of cocoa berries and dark chocolate covered espresso beans.”
I took off on a Saturday morning and drove through the SoCal rain to Hermosa Beach within steps from the pier to the new Hermosa Brewing Company.
You can imagine that a beach adjacent location probably isn’t zoned for brewing beer and you would be correct. But the beers on offer are being brewed at much better locations than most L.A. gypsy brewers have used in the past.
Dave and Jorge, the home brewers behind this new brewery have dual brewing operations. One in Westlake Village at 14 Cannons and down south at Rouleur Brewing in the San Diego area. And it shows in the beers.
Hermosa Brewing
I sampled all but the two saisons and was impressed for a spot that has only been open for 8 weeks.
Both the Lost Sirena Mexican Lager and the Windmill German Pilsner were bright and tasty and all of the beers were crystal clear (minus one with “Hazy” in the title). That Hazy was probably my pick of the hop trio with the Out the Back DIPA being a close second.
And they even have food, not from a truck food. (Not that there is anything wrong with that) There are tacos, burgers and a tight menu of beer food that is great for the beers.
Currently, their Hermosa Avenue location is the only place to get the beers on draft as they build up inventory and contacts. No crowlers/growlers yet but this makes for a good trifecta of PCH pit stops that starts at Select Beer then heads to the King Harbor – Harborside and then to Hermosa Brewing.
Two Tigers from Auburn University, Chris and Stephen Bivins are the folks behind the Torched Hop Brewpub.
Here is what I would put into a taster tray if/when I make it to Atlanta…
Anthem of the Angels – a Porter with coconut & cocoa nibs
Southern Haze – a Hazy Pale Ale
Once You Go Nelson – a 100% Nelson Hopped IPA
Cinnamon Golden Crunch – a Cinnamon Vanilla Cream Ale
Raspberry Lucy – a Berliner Weisse w/ Raspberries and Blackberries
Our last stop in Canada is in Edmonton, Alberta and Bent Stick Brewing.
Here are some options from their website that piqued my interest…
First Pull Coffee Amber
“This amber ale was cold-steeped with Sanson No. 7 coffee beans from our chums at ACE roasters here in Edmonton, Alberta. If there was ever any doubt, we’d say the coffee makes this a legitimate morning beverage.”
Swap the Hops
“Gotta have my hops! Dive into our Swap the Hops pale ale for your hop needs. Brewed on a semi-regular basis.
It’s the same but different ‘cause we swap the hops every time! Version # 8 – Simcoe Single Hopped?? [Early 2018!!]”
Rush Job IPA
“There was some tasty Galaxy & Ella hops in the freezer with a gap in the brew schedule, so we whipped up a West Coast IPA! Rush Job has big fruit and floral notes with light toffee to balance it out.”
and a past menu item….
Wakatu Wheat
“Not your poppa’s wheat beer. Wakatu Wheat has a savoury cotton candy sweetness with a nice grainy edge. It’s got a full body and smooth long linger.”
If you thought you were caught up on Los Angeles beer (even I am not), well another new one has opened….
…and it brings the Burbank brewery count to 4. Henson Brewing soft opened over the President’s Day Weekend. And it is even closer to where I work than the previous record holder, Lincoln Beer Co.
The taproom is a work in progress as was mentioned in the soft open announcement. As it stands now, the place looks very similar to other set-ups. There is a nice bar and a bit of non-bar seating. The roped off area probably signifies that more seating is coming. The cold box is way back in the corner and the brewing equipment is lined up neatly on the opposite wall.
On tap over the long weekend were the Double Blackjack Porter, My Lucky Linda Pale Ale and Don’t Call Me Hay’z was on deck. There were no taster flights ready yet so I started with the Madison Wheat Beer which was both murky and unappetizing looking. Flavor wise it was still a little too green, needed more time to lose some sweetness. It was tapped to early. The 2nd beer was Winthrop, a British IPA. It looked much better. It was very malt forward and could have used a bit more hop zing in my opinion though others could disagree.
I will check out the other beers and report back and let you know how the four Burbank breweries shake out ranking wise.
While visiting State Brewing earlier this month, I drove west on El Segundo to make a first visit to Common Space. I had only tried one of this new brewery’s beers so I was interested in tasting a flight and getting a better handle on how they are doing, early in the run. SO early that the version numbers are still in use and a whiteboard (better suited for a corporations meeting room) were still in effect.
The space is huge with a nice amount of seating inside and a large patio outside that buts right up to a dedicated food truck spot (which shows some forward thinking). There is a large brewing area and to the right seems just empty space punctuated by a few bags of grain.
For the beers, I tried the Pils, Jasmine Saison, Strong Saison and the new version of the IPA. All were very strong with my winner of the group being the Pils. I skipped over the Light Beer and Coffee Stout. Saving those for a future visit. The color palette was really nice and it is an overall strong start quality wise.
I am not a fan of the name or the interlocking circle motif. Both seem, well, common and don’t really scream Hawthorne or Los Angeles to me. Though you can argue that Space and Space X are matching but that seems a reach to me. Maybe the locked down versions of the beers will bear names that tie into the community.
To Revelstroke (great city name) we go to e-visit Mt. Begbie Brewing.
The brewery is named after Mt. Begbie, and the mountain is named after Matthew “Hanging Judge” Begbie, a character from Revelstoke’s history and it was voted Canadian Craft Brewery of the year 2017.
Here are the beers that I would put into a taster tray….
Bob’s Your Dunkel (Winter seasonal)
“Brewed in the Dunkelweisen tradition, this is a rich, unfiltered wheat beer (Weissbier) loaded with chocolate and Munich malts.”
Tall Timber Ale
“A dark, full-bodied English Brown Ale alive with rich malt flavour, caramel undertones and a slight residual sweetness. The use of Goldings finishing hops and an authentic top cropping ale yeast round out the traditional Brown Ale character.”
Powerhouse Pale Ale
“A generous portion of lightly roasted malt gives this beer a smooth yet distinctive character.”
Nasty Habit IPA
“A generously hopped IPA, balanced by a diabolical blend of rich specialty malts and pure mountain water.”