Category: Brewery Tour

A concise brewery bio

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New on the East Coast # 3 – Bissell Brothers Brewing

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Our last East Coast stop is to meet the brothers and their beer,  The Bissell Brothers to be precise.

Let’s check out a hypothetical taster tray……

The Substance Ale – “Our flagship; a brightly dank ale that threads many needles with Falconer’s Flight, Centennial, Apollo, Summit, Chinook hops”

Lux – “This rye ale is our Tropical Escape to a sunnier state of mind.”

i-Lucky -“IPA brewed with rice & fresh ginger. a homage to restaurant workers everywhere.”

Angels with Filthy Souls – “Out first dark offering; this porter is laced with lactose sugar to balance the tremendous amounts of Amarillo hops contained within.”

They can be found on draft and in cans in Maine and Maine only.

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New on the East Coast # 2 – Aeronaut Brewing

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Combine three MIT students with one Yalie, an old Safety Envelope building and a passion for the farmer’s market and you have Aeronaut Brewing in Somerville, Mass.

This brewery started up last year and has a unique set of beers when taken together.

Here is what I would try in a taster tray….

Unionator Dopplebock – “Traditional malty, bready, strong lager.”

Union Square Burton Union Style IPA – “Strong hops, with fruit and wood notes.”

A Session with Dr. Nandu American Pale Ale – “Refreshing, passionfruit notes of Mosaic hops.”

Hauftoberfest Marzen – “Easy drinking malty lager.”

Summer in Cologne Kolsch – “Crisp, light, refreshing, quaffable.”

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New on the East Coast # 1 – Other Half Brewing Co.

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Other Half is  owned by Matt Monahan and Sam Richardson their Brooklyn based brewery started brewing at the tail end of 2013.

They are covering a wide swath of styles from IPAs , pale ales,  farmhouse ales, barrel-aged beers, and sours.

Their first bottle release was a chardonnay barrel-aged saison with the name of Veldrijden Love.

But the following beers have raised my eyebrows:

Other Half/Evil Twin Beat It, Nerd Brett IPA
Other Half Grand Cru
Other Half Smokescreens and Oil Slicks
Other Half Dark and Handsome

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Gunbarrel Brewery # 3 – Vindication Brewing

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The final Gunbarrel stop is at the awesomely named Vindication Brewing Company. With Oskar Blues and Rock Bottom experience in the founders resumes, you can rest assured that they haven’t gone into the brewing game cold.

Here is what I would add to my initial taster tray……

American Bold Ale – “An Intentionally out of style bold ale. Rich in complex notes of layered caramel and balanced with heavy waves of hoppy goodness.”

Winchester Wheat – “Made with Maris Otter malt and wildflower honey from Clark’s Honey Farm in Ft. Lupton.”

Billy Badass Brown IPA – “A hybrid of styles: a heavily hopped IPA with the color of a brown ale with a large amount of Haystack Hops.”

Big Sampson Imperial Rye IPA – “A big, smooth IPA featuring all hop additions from Haystack Hops in Boulder.”

Ginger Ale (Non-Alcoholic) – Refreshing non-alcoholic ginger ale brewed fresh from all natural ingredients.

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Gunbarrel Brewery # 2 – Asher Brewing

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Tour stop # 2 brings us to Asher Brewing Company an organic Colorado brewer since February 25th, 2010.

Here are my top three choices for my taster tray. And if I have room after that, I might just try one of their hoppy offerings like Green Bullet Organic IPA or Greenade Organic Double IPA.

Green Lantern Organic Kolsch
Fermented with its own special ale yeast and brewed with a Pilsner malt, our version boasts a uniquely smooth balance with a dry, hoppy finish. The Green Lantern’s simple recipe lets our fine organic ingredients and meticulous brewing techniques shine through.

Tree Hugger Organic Amber
Living up to its roots, this full-bodied American classic boasts the perfect balance of naughty and nice. Crystal and Munich malts bring a caramel sweetness to the brew. Yet just when you think you’ve satisfied your sweet tooth, the organic German hops produce an unmistakeable dry finish. With a toffee aroma and deep amber color.

Green Monstah Organic Strong Ale
The Green Monstah Strong Ale boasts bold caramel malt flavors with a smooth aftertaste attributed to a low mash temperature in the brewing process in which results in the most sugars fermenting out.

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Gunbarrel Brewery # 1 – Finkel & Garf

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The name may conjure up the old-timey department store that your grandma bought you sweaters for your birthday but Finkel and Garf is in fact it is our first stop in Colorado and the Gunbarrel district in Boulder.

It is a father and son brewery that has two goals:
1.“To make outstanding craft beer.“
2.“To facilitate great moments among family and friends.”

They also don’t take themselves too seriously adding toys to their logo instead of the usual beer images or fancy fonts.

Onto what I would drop into my taster tray: (they use the one word method of description)

Cream Ale – Creamy + Malty + Floral
Oatmeal Milk Stout – Roasty + Chocolate + Malty
American Lager – Crisp + Dry + Floral
Pale Ale – Malty + Hoppy + Citrus
Rye Saison – Spicy + Tart + Crisp

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SD Brewery # 3 – 32 North

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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…”

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San Diego Brewery # 2 – Quantum Brewing

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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.

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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.
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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.

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San Diego Brewery # 1 – Toolbox Brewing

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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