Category: Brewery Tour

A concise brewery bio

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Random Brewery Tour # 1 – Lord Hobo


The first “random” brewery tour for December is one that might be sending some of their NE IPA our way. Saw a job posting for a sales manager for Lord Hobo on the West Coast.

Massachusetts brewed for both “Lords and Hobo’s alike, we all deserve to drink like royalty.” Here are the four cans that I would drink from a regal chair or couch.

Steal This Can IPA
“This West-Coast inspired IPA features 4 notable hop varieties to produce poignant citrus notes with pine and hop bitterness. A malt bill that includes Pilsner malts and American Red Wheat gives this IPA a healthy mouth feel.”

Consolation Prize Double IPA
“A full-bodied Double IPA that glows a magnificent hazy orange. Heavily dry-hopped with Jarrylo, Azacca & Mosaic resulting in big notes of pineapple, mango, honeydew with a notable Pilsner malt backbone. Dangerously drinkable and surprisingly mellow.”

Glorious Galaxy Pale Ale
“This beautifully smooth New England-Style Pale Ale pours a hazy, straw color. A double-dose of sought-after Galaxy hops delivers a silky peach-grape aroma, tropical fruit flavors, and an elegant mouth feel.”

Hobo Life Session IPA
“Hobo Life Session IPA is heavily dry-hopped with Citra and rests on 20% flaked oats. Refreshing and bright with notes of lime and grapefruit zest to entertain the palate, Hobo Life is a go-to for any session.”

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GABF Winning Brewery # 2 – Benchtop Brewing


Our 2nd GABF winning stop is in Norfolk, Virginia and Benchtop Brewing. They won in the Gose category (Leipzig-Style or Contemporary) for their Mermaid’s Scorn. But they have even weirder beers that I would put into my first taster tray….

Sage Conclusion – Butternut Squash Saison w/ Sage
“This is our take on a fall saison. We first soured this one in the kettle a little for a nice tartness. We then used our typical saison malt bill with plenty of wheat and oats for body. We topped this one off with 300 lbs of butternut squash and some fresh sage. The herbal notes from the sage play nicely with th saison yeast. This beer displays many layers of flavors. You start out with some tartness and then move on to a subtle sweetness from the squash and then finally you finish off with a nice grainy flavor and dryness while maintaining a rich mouthfeel.”

Quick Pickle – Carrot Cucumber Gose
“We have taken the idea of a veggie beer to another level with Quick Pickle. It is named after the culinary technique of rapidly pickling veggies in a sour/salty/sweet solution. This is very similar to what is happening in our fermenter. It has amazing color from the addition of North Carolina carrots and a cool, fresh aroma provided by Virginia Beach cucumbers from Cullipher Farms. The tartness of this beer is complimented beautifully by the a subtle sweetness from the carrots and a gentle salinity from some sea salt. This beer also have some subtle guava notes from the a small late addition of El Dorado hops.”

Elegant Ego — Citra Basil Saison
“An exercise in collaboration, this beer was brewed with our friends and neighbors down the street at Smartmouth Brewing. A mash-up of our saison Elegant Titration and their flagship Alter Ego, this beer hits you right away with a fresh herbal aroma from the addition of fresh basil grown at Smart Basil in Suffolk. We also blended our house strains for this for a nice mix of peppery phenolics and fruity esters. This beer has a nice dry finish and is supported by a hefty dose of oats to smooth it out.”

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GABF Winning Brewery # 1 – Spellbound Brewing

Our first GABF Gold stop is in New Jersey and their new democratic governor.

The beer that won was a Porter Aged on Palo Santo Wood. and the brewery is Spellbound Brewing based in Mount Holly.

Here are the beers that I would try if I found myself in their taproom…..

Peach IPA
“Light in color and body, refreshing hoppy citrus notes intertwine with the peach. The peach rounds the edges of the hop.”

Pale Ale
“Light in color and body. A classic American pale ale dry hopped with Citra hops to give it a bright citrusy aroma and flavor. Low in ABV, high in flavor.”

Belgian Tripel Cherry
“Dark golden in color. We add sour cherries to the fermentation on our tripel. Aromas of cherry and fruity esters from the yeast. Finishes with a hint of honey sweetness and lingering cherry.”

Vices Coffee Porter
“VICES – Coffee Porter is our porter aged on Small World Coffee Crispy Hippie Coffee beans. The result is a huge coffee aroma with notes of roasty malt and chocolate.”

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Bay Area (San Jose) Brewery # 2 – Camino Brewing


http://caminobrewing.com/beer/
Our second stop is in San Jose where Camino Brewing celebrates beer and the journey of life that was crystallized during cycling the Sanitago de Compostela in Spain.

My taster tray would include the following:
Bosque De Milagros Juniper Saison
Café Con Leche Milk Stout
Cierzo India Pale Lager
James Star Imperial Rye IPA
Northeast By West American IPA
Nuberu American Pale Ale

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Bay Area (Oakland) Brewery # 1 – Temescal Brewing


The “High End” seems to think that their breweries can be grafted to any community. Maybe they are right. But they are getting rightfully pushed back on in cities like Oakland. Where the soil may not be fertile to former independent beer.

One brewery leading that charge is Temescal Brewing and that is who I feature today with my choices for an initial taster flight…

Dreamer Pils
On Holiday English Mild
Through The Fog Scotch Ale
Take The Hops House Saison with Tettnanger Hops
Love is Love IPA
Staycation IPA

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1st Visit – Hop Secret Brewing

I made my first visit to Monrovia’s second (and perhaps not last) brewery, Hop Secret.

The address for the brewery is on Pomona Street but the brewery is closer to the Gold Line tracks. There are two entrances, one that leads directly to the menu board and the back that leads you past the brewing tanks first.

I went for my predictable flight. I tried the lager, pale ale, hefeweizen and IPA # 001. And as I started on the lager, I had raised hopes. Granted the menu board had a multi-colored pen look that seemed more at home for a sticker factory than beer, that first beer was well done. Nice and crisp.

From there, the beers diminished. The Pale Ale was fine but on that and the IPA’s that I tried, I detected a skosh of buttered popcorn taste and the hop medley’s just didn’t have much zing to them. The Hefe was an OK beer but it different have the two esters of banana and clove that I was expecting. More like a light hued dubbel in my mind.

Not a high starting point but there is enough good here to hope that improvement could occur.

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1st Visit – Ten Mile Brewing

Being on the Westside for a bit, I decided, on the spur of the moment, to check out the new brewery in Signal Hill amongst the oil pumps off the 405, Ten Mile Brewing.

I was pleasantly surprised from start to finish. Tucked into the corner of an unassuming building, the brewery has been well outfitted with wood and metal. Especially impressive is the menu board. Really well done.

Extended descriptions of the beers are on sheet handed over with your taster tray and are helpful for both those new to beer and those who have visited many a brewery. I tried all but the milk stout, and found all to be clean and well done. The Kentucky Common even grew on me after my initial thought was that it was too watery and light.

There is a NE IPA coming as well as Direct TV for those that want to watch the new NFL team in town. I would suggest the Pale Ale Citrallenial and the well named Segway to Munich Helles Lager.

Plus, if you choose your seat carefully, you get a view of the really old city cemetery across the road. Not your usual brewery scenery.

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Houston Brewery # 3 – 160Ft Brew Works


Our final stop in Houston is at 160Ft Beer Works. Which is unfortunately not open currently due to the flooding from Harvey.

And instead of sending thoughts and prayers, (which are nice and all, but…) how about planning how you would help out your local brewery if a natural disaster struck. Do you have a special skill that would help a brewery get back up and running or could you show and help dig out or clean?

I certainly hope 160Ft. is able to open soon so that people could have beers like the following:

Re-Connect with your beer
Mo’ Money, Mo’ Honey – Honey Malt Hefeweizen
Texas Malt Ale- Ol’ Vintage Malt
Black Gold- Black Sour Hefe
Battle of Chocolate Town – Year-Round Stout