Category: Brewery Tour

A concise brewery bio

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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!

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First Look – Boomtown Brewery

I had the chance to sample a pair of Boomtown Brewery beers during the L.A. Beer Week bash and came away encouraged.  Did they blow me away?  No.  But they tasted further ahead then some breweries at that point in the process so when Josh from Food GPS alerted me to a soft opening at their downtown LA location, I jumped at the chance to see the place.
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Despite the oppressive heat and impressive crowd was on hand as I rolled in at 7pm. The space is not taproom ready at this point but if they and Angel City and Mumford can coordinate walking tours, you could easily walk all three on an afternoon of craft beer drinking.
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I ordered up a Nose Job IPA since that will eventually be a line-up regular and was semi-pleased. Pretty dank to me but not heavy or over bitter. It doesn’t break new ground but is solid. I followed that up with B-Side a hoppy red that started off to sweet but started tasting better as the full set of flavors started working together.
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I am glad to see that they are doing a mix of Belgian and American styles and I think that this could be a solid player in the industry.
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Idaho Brewery # 1 – Payette Brewing

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To Boise via Boeing (the airplanes) and Schooner Exact the brewery in Washington State, comes Payette Brewing who I think has one of the best branded beers around in design and name. Western and rugged come to mind. Now on to what I would put into my initial taster tray….
Mutton Buster Brown Ale – “Mutton Buster is a full-flavored, brown ale that’s relatively tame, but fun to ride. Out of the chute, there’s a rich, roasted, nutty sweetness of cocoa and malt on the nose with a mild kick of earthy, hop bitterness that won’t bust your chops. Mutton Buster is dark in color, heavy on the malt flavors, but sessionable for any time of year.”
North Fork Lager – “This American Lager has a laid-back personality and pairs well with just about all edibles. Hops bring a mix of woody, green, floral and fruit notes with subtle herb and spice character. North Fork is a sessionable beer with lower alcohol content for a quick, smooth run. Pack plenty for your post river run refreshment.”
Rodeo Rye Pale Ale – “Unlike a real rodeo, the aroma of passion fruit, peaches and mangos fills the air with this spring seasonal. Rodeo is a single-hop rye, pale-style beer. Citra hops give it a tropical fruit nose and flavor with a spicy, rye kick. This is a sessionable beer, which means this might be your first, but it most definitely won’t be your last Rodeo.”
Slaughterhouse India Red Ale – “Named after Boise’s Slaughterhouse Gulch and its historical meat packing businesses, this brew is as bold and rugged as the miners and packers that traveled its path when it was known as “The Oregon Trail”. This fall seasonal is an India Red Ale featuring Amarillo hops, known for their dark, fruity characteristics. While higher in alcohol by volume, a roasted malt base offsets the hops and balances the heat of the alcohol for a subtle, rich finish.”

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Portland Brewery # 3 – Culmination Brewing

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For aspiring Portland breweries, the wait time isn’t usually all that long but in the case of Culmination Brewing it was a much longer (2 year) period before opening, which they finally did this year.

But the wait will be worth it, especially for those who love live music because that is a focus of this brewery with a dedicated space for their Concert in the Brewery Series.
Before I get to my picks for my initial taster tray, Culmination also has guest taps as well and have done many collaborations while in process of building their own space so you will probably find something to taste, if not more than one.

Reynard Belgium Style IPA – “Our Belgium Style IPA (made in collaboration with Brannon’s Brewery) is a hop-forward ale brewed with a Belgium yeast strain offering additional levels of complexities and a citrus nuance that plays well with the northwest hops.”

4 & 20 Imperial Black IPA – “Our signature 4 & 20 Imperial Black IPA (made in collaboration with Lucky Labrador) represents the smooth complexities of our upcoming line of fine beers. The name, 4 & 20, derives from our infusion of four hops and twenty plato.”

To round out my tasters I would add the Brett IPA, Saison II and their Black Saison.

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Portland brewery # 2 – Buckman Botanical

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Now, I have been to a fair share of Portland breweries and ale houses but the Buckman Botanical Brewery eluded my trained eye.  Part of it is that it is literally based in the back of the Green Dragon Pub.  It is also a not so advertised part of Rogue Nation and finding it on that website is no easy task.

I wanted to include it this month because they focus on the fringes and not on hops.  Apple, pumpkin, ginger as ingredients cysers, meads and braggots can be found from brewer Danny Connors.

I would add to my taster tray the Double Fruitcake Stout, the Cherry Cyser, the Fresh Hop Mead and the Rum Barrel Braggot but they also have IPA’s and collaboration beers that look interesting too.