Category: Brewery Tour

A concise brewery bio

Posted on

SD Brewery # 3 – 32 North

uuhn9qRu
The third and final stop in the never ending stream of breweries in San Diego is 32 North. Not a latitude or longitude but the explorer themed brewery. I love the minimalistic design of the logo. Gives a Livingston, Zoo, pith helmet type of vibe.

And I found (4) beers, after much deliberating, to put in my imaginary first taster tray….

Landfall White Sour (Berliner Weisse)“ German Perle hops give Landfall an incredibly pleasing floral aroma paired with a sour crispness that makes for a light but awesomely full-flavored beer that you won’t be able to put down… but at 3.5% ABV, you might never have to!”

Fly By Night Milk Stout
“…a coffee-forward, incredibly dark, and curiously sweet beer that will never fail as the perfect cap to any beer tasting foray. It’s malt variety creates a smooth body that blends seamlessly into an endless chocolaty/coffee finish. Those looking for a thick mouth feel beer will not be disappointed. Carefully curated coffee beans, ample amounts of Victory malt, …”

Rye IPA“ Coming in at 6.3%, this is one of the smoothest IPA’s you’ll encounter. The Equinox hop really comes out in both the taste and nose, with a light but solid bitterness on the back end.”

Peanut Butter Cup Porter
“A strong peanut butter nose highlights the many strengths of our Peanut Butter Cup Porter! It’s taste and scent are extremely consistent with it’s namesake, and the lighter body doesn’t lead to being overly sweet. The strong peanut butter front end leads to a crisp vanilla finish…”

Posted on

San Diego Brewery # 2 – Quantum Brewing

Capture
Similar to the Ecliptic Brewery in Portland, Quantum Brewing of San Diego borrows science lingo (some celestially related) for their beer names. Which makes constructing a taster tray almost dependent on the names rather than style. Which might be a good thing because I think more people should taste the full palette of beers and not just the hoppy ones.

So my science fictional taster would start with the Singularity Stout, then move backwards in time and style to the Boron Brown before trying the Uncertainty Red and the Pale’s Constant Pale ale and finishing with the Hadron Wheat Collider.

Then maybe try one of the hoppy lab creations with only numbers attached to them like the Project 95 IPA.

Posted on

soLArc Brewing

Any brewer, and I am not talking just about L.A., that calls a beer Mask of Agamenmon, earns some points in my book. That is just Theatre History nerd fact.

I missed trying their Gruit at Sunset Beer because, silly me, I thought a hop-less beer would last a weekend on tap. I was wrong. Happily.

That means I am still on the hunt for my first beer from SoLArc.
Screen Shot 2015-03-08 at 8.27.50 PM

P.S.
I had the Dunes Gruit at the Oinkster and was pleasantly surprised. It wasn’t over-the-top with spice and had a certain hefe character to it. Quite enjoyable.

Posted on

San Diego Brewery # 1 – Toolbox Brewing

Capture
It seems like at least once, if not twice, a year, my monthly brewery feature travels to San Diego. 2015 is no exception as more breweries are firing up their kettles. So let’s get started….

I give extra gold stars to breweries that can incorporate multiple meanings to a name especially if it is a (to me at least) obscure reference to a city skyline which is the case for Toolbox Brewing in San Diego. I don’t particularly see it but others look at San Diego and see an “Allen wrench, Phillips Head and Flathead screwdrivers and a chisel.” It is also a reference to the military history of the area as well which is a cool nod.

Toolbox focuses on small and brett, in no particular order. And these are the beers that I would put in my taster tray (which I assume will have a tool theme):

GRASS FED LETTUCE – Dry Hopped Blonde Sour Brett

MINI MUDDER – Milk Stout

MY COUSIN, STRAWBERRY – Wild Brett Beer w/ Strawberries

SMELLS LIKE NIRVANA – Hoppy Pale Brett

THE VIRGIN CHERRY – Tart Cherry Wild Ale

Posted on

French Brewery # 3 – La Montreuilloise

Our final stop in France is in Montreuil at La Montreuilloise…

LaMontreuilloise_web-e1409303494205

…where you can taste the colors of beer from…

La Blonde, La Rousse, La Brune and La Blanche or as we would call them, the blonde, red, brown and white.

They also hold brewing workshops every Saturday in the morning and afternoon and you can return in two weeks to get your beer and do more tasting and bottle buying.  Added bonus is that it is not far from Paris or Deck & Donohue.

Posted on

New-ish TAPS

taps-brewery-logo-790x1024

In a full 360 degree turn. Times two. TAPS Brewery has re-signed the talent of somewhat recently departed brewers who had left for newer brewing pastures.

David Huls WAS at Barley Forge Brewing but is NOW back as director of brewery operations. Kyle Manns WAS head brewer at Bottle Logic Brewing but NOW has been named brewery operations manager.

The duo will be charged with the Brea, Corona and Irvine locations and the exciting bits of the press release are these duties:

“Take barrel aging of beers to the next level. Huls and Manns have purchased 100 aged barrels including new oak, rum, mezcal and wine.

Create novel styles of packaging, including 750-ml bottles.

Begin providing variations of brews in kegs that have been dry-hopped, fruited, spiced, fermented or dispensed differently in order to extend the array of offerings within the restaurants.

Expand with different beer styles in small production and limited runs, such as Berliner Weisse, Farmhouse Ale, Red-Rice Sake Ale, Imperial Pilsner, Oatmeal Pale Ale and a rare Oyster Stout — a full-bodied stout with a hint of brine.”

Posted on

French Brewery # 2 – Deck and Donohue

Deck-Donohue11

If you find yourself on the Rue de la Fraternité in Montreuil then you will find yourself at what sounds like an American brewery name, Deck & Donohue and their fine bieres.

And here is what I would put into my taster tray:

“Strisselspalt exhibits a soft floral aroma with notes of earth, spice, and light citrus. Bitterness is extremely low to showcase these smooth Old World hops, which in their fresh form add a green and vegetal characteristic to the brew. Slightly caramelized malts add a nice Autumnal color and a faint nuttiness. The beer finishes discretely dry.”

“Monk Brown Ale.  Our twist on the under-appreciated brown ale style. To this smooth dark ale, thanks to the generous addition of oats, we combine a variety of French-kilned malts to impart a subtle malt complexity of roasted, toasted, and chocolate flavors. Finishes dry.”

“Our new interpretation of a traditional farmhouse ale, Trouble #6 is brewed with four cereals, barley, wheat, rye and oats, for a subtle and intriguing malt complexity. Alsatian hops add a spicy, earthy hop character, with light notes of lemon. Effervescent and dry.”
“A hoppy amber ale, Ricochet combines a delicate pine,resin, and orange hop character with toasty and fruity malts. The beer presents itself with light to medium body and finishes slightly bitter. A special beer for every day.”
Posted on

French Brewery # 1 – Brasserie du Mont Saleve

La_Brasserie_du_Mont_Saleve

You can call them fabrique de bières artisanales de Haute-Savoie.  Even without French lessons, a craft beer geek should be aware of what La Brasserie du Mont Saleve believes in.

And they have quite a selection to try from which made selecting a taster tray all the harder (plus I had to dust off my lack of French skills)  but lets get to it:

First up will be the Special Bitter, then on to the French takes on the German Weizen and the American IPA, then onto more hops.  The Admiral Benson which features Nelson Sauvin, Mademoiselle which is Aramis hopped and finally Sorachi Ace Bitter.  And I haven’t even touched on the darker beers in their repertoire.

Sounds like a good way to enjoy the ingredients of beer à partir de malts, de houblons, de levure et d’eau.

(I also don’t use good French grammar either)

Posted on

New Mexico Brewery # 3 – Nexus Brewpub

Screen Shot 2015-01-23 at 8.02.57 PM

Straight up, the Nexus website and logo could seriously be for any brewpub. But who can resist when the owner flies the flag for Star Trek love?  Come On, gotta respect putting yourself out like that.

Here is what I would put in my taster tray on my first visit:

Honey Chamomile Wheat
“Local B’s honey, and chamomile flowers make this wheat beer slightly sweet and aromatically refreshing. ABV 6.0% IBU 16%”

Scottish Ale
“Our Flagship Beer! A strong very malty deep brown ale. Malt flavor predominate with nutty flavors mingling within.    7.0% ABV 28 IBU”

Nexus Maximus
“Seven varieties of citrusy, piney, grapefruity, floral, tropical, wonderful hops.  Plenty of malty sweetness to back them up.  This Nexus Maximus is one serious DIPA.  7.6% ABV   100 IBU”

Warp 10 Golden Ale
“East Kent Golding and Fuggle hops, Maris Otter malt, and Whitbread yeast make this well rounded strong ale exceptionally smooth and quintessentially British.  8.0% ABV  IBU 28″

Imperial Cream Ale
“Our World Beer Cup Silver medal winner is back! Crisp, smooth, light and packing one hell of a punch.  9.3% ABV 22 IBU (12oz only)”