Category: Brewery Tour

A concise brewery bio

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Canadian Brewery # 1 – County Road Beer Co.

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This month, we are scanning for new breweries all across the country of Canada to mark the return of a Trudeau to power in government. We start…

…in the town of Wellington in Ontario, County Road Beer Co. opened their new brewery this year tied with an already established winery, Hinterland Wine.

The brewery opened with two beers – County Road 1 Blonde Ale and County Road 12 Farmhouse Saison which are available in bottles. Those were followed by a Red ale and an IPA. All bottles adorned with the appropriate road number.

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GABF Gold & Unknown Brewery # 3 – 7th Settlement

The last golden stop is at 7th Settlement of Dover, New Hampshire who won gold in the American Brown ale category for their 1623 Almighty Brown.

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7th Settlement Brewery is named for Dover, New Hampshire which according to the brewery is “the oldest permanent settlement in New Hampshire, and 7th in the New World.”

Their tag line of “Don’t Buy Beer from Strangers” is a succinct buy local plea that I think should be a nationwide mantra.

Now if I was tasting their beer, I would be sampling the following….(by year)

1623 Brown Ale then the 1896 wheat before moving to the Rear View Roggenbier then going on to the Amarillo Evening and their Milk Stout to round it out.

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GABF Gold & Unknown Brewery # 2 – BNS Brewing & Distilling

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There is one category that is incredibly hard to just medal, let alone strike gold.  That is the case for the American IPA category which had 336 competitors this year.  I would be hard pressed to drink that many IPA’s in a full year.  But BNS Brewing and Distilling from right here in California came out on top of the hop battle royale with their Revolver American IPA.

But this Santee brewery doesn’t just do hops with their Old West themed beers.  Here are my choices for a taster tray…..

Gunfighter Golden Ale,  Saloon Girl Saison, Flintlock American Pale Ale, Gatling Gun Imperial Stout.

And maybe they will have some patriotic spirits to go along with their beers in the near future.

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GABF Gold & Unknown Brewery # 1 – Melvin Brewing

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We start in Wyoming with a brewery that had roots in a much lauded restaurant and brewery, Thai Me Up.  Melvin Brewing is now moving from a 3bbl to a 30bbl system.  And that may boot them out of the category that they won this year, Small Brewpub of 2015.

They won gold for Chchchch-Cherry Bomb in the American Fruit Beer category and a bronze in the Fresh/Wet Hop Ale for their namesake IPA.

Let’s check out some other beers to try:

Killer Bees – “Clean, smooth, slow motion, easy drinkin’, honey. The palette cleanser extraordinaire. Perfect for mowing your unwatered lawn, sipping in the shower, or fishing on a Sunday. ”

Hubert MPA – “Some would just call him an IPA, but we call him an MPA. The Melvin Pale Ale. A welcomed hand shake to your taste buds.”

Clinic ISA – “This medicinal India Session Ale is perfect for drinking at work under your desk, on a deck under the sun in your skivvies, or chilling out on a chairlift. Let Melvin Clinic make it all better with this light, crisp, and fresh taste. ”

..or try their Trip Out Tripel.

 

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Vancouver Brewery # 3 – Heathen Brewing

Any place that calls it’s tap room a Feral Public House wins points in my book.  Se let’s take a look at Heathen Brewing, our last stop in Vancouver, Washington.

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Let’s go really hoppy and check out the bitter descriptions of Heathen Brewing.

Vantucky Pale Ale – “Pours a light orange color with a vague coppery hue. Subtle grapefruit, tangerine, and grassy tones assault the nose, while malty-grainy-ness eases up from the rear. This beer is firmly planted in that gray area between Pale Ale and IPA.”

Carnage Double IPA – “This golden straw-color Imperial IPA has a big bright hop flavor without harsh bitterness. Moderate clarity due to the slaughtering amount of dry hops, this low maltiness beer leaves your hop head wanting more.”

Malice Triple IPA – “Papa Malice has finally come to join the Malicious IPA family here at Heathen. We took inspiration from his son, Son of Malice, and combined even more hops, time, and evil into making this huge triple IPA.”

Son of Malice Imperial IPA – “A full bodied malt backbone dangerously balances the 95 IBUs until the bitter finish kicks in and leaves a hoppy residue that you can scrape off with your teeth. This IIPA has a sinister agenda that is best served at 50 degrees with malevolence.”

Oh and check out their Cedar-Aged Seins Belgian Tripel too.

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Vancouver Brewery # 2 – Doomsday Brewing

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Last month, I visited (through the magic of the interwebs) breweries in Idaho and lo and behold, I received a bottle of Idaho beers from one of the featured breweries, Sawtooth.  This month’s tour stuck in the NW and lo and behold, one of the breweries I chose to feature, Doomsday scheduled up a tasting right here in LA!  I feel the power of my blogging is growing stronger like Darth Vader.

Instead of a virtual taster tray, I was able to try the Solar Flare Citrus Wheat, Agent Orange IPA and the Ender Vanilla Porter.  All but the IPA suffered from a slight sour-tart taste that signaled an over-aged beer. The Wheat beer could be sold as a slight tart wheat but the porter fell flat to me.  The acidity cancelled out the vanilla and left the beer tasting funny. The IPA was fine.  Nothing that set my taste buds aflame but solid.  Their beers are available in bottle at Sunset Beer for you to decide your feeling on them.

Other beers to try include:

Beatdown Beet Wheat

“The pink beer, A unique experiment gone horribly right. We started with a blend of pale and wheat grains for the backbone, added some mild bittering hops for balance, then we went ahead and threw in a crate of beets for sugars, flavor, and of course, color. No artificial dyes here. The beety/earthy flavors hit hard on the nose and slowly fizz off of the tongue, leaving behind a manageable bitterness. This brew is a very light and crisp easy drinker.”

Undead Chihuahua Golden

“The Undead Chihuahua thinks its bigger than it actually is.  The 2-row base is blended with caramel malts and specialty grains to give a light and very drinkable texture. Light saaz and mt hood hop additions in the boil present a malty nose with a slightly bitter tail. This beer is all bark with no bite. Unless it’s chewing up your pant leg.”

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Vancouver Brewery # 1 – Loowit Brewing Company

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Portland may get all the Beervana Buzz but there is a city right over the river that could use some exploring.  And I am telling myself that more than you because I find it hard to pass by Portland and head to Washington State.  So today we head to Loowit Brewing Company to see what we could put into a taster tray.

Let’s start with…

Gaiabolical Organic Pale Ale
“A refreshingly light, yet full-bodied pale ale accompanied with wonderfully balanced hops. Gaiabolical is made with all organic malts.”

Silver Star Saison
“A generously hopped northwest-style Saison exhibiting the subtle spice of rye malt and the citrusy esters that are the hallmark of the Saison style.”

Shadow Ninja IPA
“Swift and silent, full of flavor. This skilled, shadowy master of IPAs will take you by surprise yet honorably leave your palate intact. Aggressive late hop additions tempered with a stealthy, fleeting bitterness make Shadow Ninja IPA a formidable and respectable beer.”

Storm Shadow Imperial IPA
“Weak and uninspiring beers fall before this imperial master. Striding forth with intense hops and full malt body deftly intertwined in a deadly dance. Disciplined, unwavering and focused.”

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Idaho Brewery # 3 – Portneuf Valley Brewing

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Our final Spud State stop is at Portneuf Valley Brewing in Pocatello has been brewing since 1996 and moved production to it’s current facility in 2002.

These are the beers that I would have on my initial taster tray:
Ligertown Lager – “The classic all malt, all American pilsner. Balanced flavor and light body.”

Krystal Weizen – “Cousin to the hefeweizen, we’ve cleared it up for a smooth and light wheat beer. Light and crisp with low hop character.”

Grog – “Our Premium India Pale Ale is high in malt flavor and aggressive hop bitterness and aroma. This current batch is dry-hopped.”

Portneuf Cocoa Porter – “Silky dark malt flavor that’s slightly toasty with a bittersweet chocolate finish and medium hop bitterness. Made with real cocoa!”

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B(eer) & Breakfast

When I hear the term Farmhouse ale, I generally think style of beer. I don’t take it by the technical term to mean there should probably be both a farm and a house with brewing equipment inside.

Now, though, the Oxbow Brewing Company, a farmhouse brewery in Maine has taken the term another step further and will rent out its farmhouse to visitors.
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If you choose to vacation on pastoral land without leaving craft beer behind you get 3 bedrooms (enough room for nine people) a full kitchen and bathroom, laundry facilities and Wi-Fi and for those not staring at a screen you can use the deck with vistas of the pond, woods.

The kicker is that the nightly charge includes twenty-five dollars credit at the tasting room for Oxbow! You can also take tours of their brewing facility.

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Idaho Brewery # 2 – Sawtooth Brewing

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Usually when I highlight a brewery, it is a place that I have not been too. Sometimes I haven’t even had a beer from the place. But things happened weirdly when I added Sawtooth Brewery to my list to talk about.

One of my wife’s friends who knows of my beer blogging brought me a beer from this brewery from Ketchum, Idaho. So now instead of just a sample taster tray to talk about, there will also be a review!

I would start with…
•Sunnyside Session Wheat
•Idahome Session IPA
•Flow Trail Pale Ale
•Freeheeler Rye IPA
•Last Chair Stout

And here is the review of…
•Snowyside Blonde
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The beer pours a wonderful clear yellow/orange and has a fruity pear like nose to it.  The beer also has some spice and tea notes as well.  Quite a flurry of flavors for a blonde ale.  I have had pear juice infused beers with less pear flavor to them.  It is quite enjoyable and if a blonde which is normally the least exciting of the brewery line-up can be this varied then I fully expect the rest of the beers to be that way too.

Thanks to Adam Venker for the bottle!