Brewery Tour – Page 55 – Beer Search Party

June 30, 2014September 5, 2018

Cleveland Brewery Tour – Buckeye Brewing

Our final stop in the land of Cavaliers and Browns is Buckeye Brewing. They started back in 1997 and work on a 15 barrel system.

For my taster tray, I will start with their flagship….

Hippie IPA – “It is hopped five times with a combination of Northern Brewer and Cascade.”

Hipster Cream Ale – Just an obvious name pairing plus cream ales are quite tasty.

Sasquatch Pale Ale – “The Columbus variety is used to balance the brew, and later Sasquatch and I personally dry-hop it with Cascade. ”

Yuppie ESB – Yes, I am a sucker for names that aren’t hop puns. And again, I love seeing the ESB style.

Good Luck to both Manziel and Wiggins (except when he plays Portland)

June 21, 2014September 5, 2018

Hamilton Brewery

10413346_694979633898046_566902246940819594_n

The craft beer scene is Los Angeles keeps spreading outward like brett. And, “this Saturday, June 21 marks a historic event when Hamilton Family Brewery opens its doors to the public and becomes Rancho Cucamonga’s first craft brewery. The grand opening will be from 11 AM – 10 PM at the 1,600 square foot brewery and tasting room located on the southeast corner of Archibald and Seventh Street in the Scheu Business Center.

The Hamiltons will have six year around offerings of diverse styles from hop-forward beers to easy drinkers. They will also brew various seasonal and experimental beers and are committed to using top quality, all-natural ingredients with no extracts.

The tasting room showcases a true family effort with relatives and friends who all pitched in to help build and decorate. The art on the walls, drawn by Brewmaster Josh, capture Rancho Cucamonga’s rich history as it brings nostalgia with their vintage style.

Hamilton Family Brewery’s tasting room will be open Thursdays from 4 PM – 9 PM, Fridays from 4 PM – 10 PM, and Saturdays from 2 PM – 10 PM.”

Now you have another place to stop when heading to Vegas or Hangar 24!

June 20, 2014September 5, 2018

Cleveland Brewery Tour – Fat Head’s Brewery

homepagecoloredcrown-u2244

The mustachioed gent on the label doesn’t scream craft beer to me but any website that has a beer section for “wheat” beers gets my attention and that is why Fat Head’s Brewery is the second stop in Cleveland. This brewery gets filed under the category of places that I have yet to have a beer from. I may have seen them at GABF but that is the extent of it, seen.

That being said, here is what I would put in my taster tray…..

Alpenglow – A weizenbock that won silver at GABF in 2012. It is a style not oft seen in L.A. but one that is hearty and bubblegummy at the same time.

Starlight Lager – a German style lager with the Hersbrucker hop and lovely Carahelles malt.

Head Trip – They do Belgian too, not just Germanic styles. This tripel has “secret spices”.

Battle Axe – Another seldom seen style, the Baltic Porter would be a nice addition to the dark side of the taster.

They have hoppy offerings as well for those who can’t go without a blast of bitterness.

June 16, 2014September 5, 2018

Review – Angry Horse Brewing

Last Saturday, I had the unique opportunity to try the beers from Angry Horse Brewing. They still have a few days left in their Indie-Go-Go campaign, you can check it out HERE.

Here are my thoughts on the beers that I sampled…..

Overall, this is a solid start. There were no flaws in the seven beers that I sampled even in the English IPA that was rushed a bit for the tasting. To me the strongest of the bunch were the Tantrum Stout and the East LA IPA (the name alone should draw customers) with the Burnt Shirt brown ale a refreshing and sparkling close third. All three were solid to a bit above average. The two IPA’s are entering a tough market to crack and will need to be dialed in a bit more to generate buzz and repeat business. Especially with the aroma which will need to be amped up to compete with the other West Coast IPA’s. That being said, the taste was solid and delivered bitterness in abundance which is what the hopheads want. The Brown ale would have been my favorite but it was a bit on the thin side and could also have used a boost of malt to give more of a cereal taste to it. A dump bucket was provided but none of these needed that drastic step.

The weaker ones were the Belgian Cheval and the Black Jax. Both were flavorful but also suffered from a bit of a thin taste. Cheval had a nice clove/banana mix that got overwhelmed by a bit of metallic notes. The initial aroma and taste went downhill. The Black Jax was a strong ABV imperial stout that could have used a bit of that warming in the cheeks. A strange thing to be seeking, I know, but the alcohol would slow a person down and make it more of a beer to savor because as of now it tastes too similar to the regular stout. (Plus if you name a beer after a nearly 200 pound dog, it should be a 200 pound beer). The HR Amber could have used a less heavy hand on the hops to put it more in line with the style. It was hoppier than the IPA’s and it would have been better for their beer portfolio if it was more of a malty option to compare and contrast with the brown.

The difficulty here is that these are not brewed on the larger system that they want to build. That is another difficult hill that they will have to climb in ramping up recipes to a larger volume. But this is a solid base to build upon and if they can find a spot in Montebello it would be a link in the geographic craft beer chain that is being built in LA and every city could use a brewery, don’t ya’ think?

June 12, 2014September 5, 2018

Pac City + 8one8 + MacLeod

The L.A. Beer Bloggers headed deep into the valley to visit two breweries. (And was given tastings from three in total!)

Screen Shot 2014-06-08 at 11.54.23 AM

One recently opened and one about to. Our first stop was Robert Cortez’s Pac City Brewing. The developing 8one8 Brewing was also in attendance. Then we headed over to the soon to open MacLeod Ale Brewing.

You will find the summary on Food GPS today. To whet the whistle, some photographs from the day….

Robert Cortez donning the Pac City shirt

The "backstage" pass — The “backstage” pass

No bagpipes were harmed to make this tap handle

The first four beers that are on the way.

June 10, 2014September 5, 2018

Cleveland Brewery Tour – Great Lakes Brewing

Cleveland sports have not been in the news for prowess or playoffs of late, but they are in the news for draft picks and hope. The football Browns snagged Johnny Football and the basketball Cavaliers have been granted a #1 pick do-over from last year. But lets start with a truly great brewery for our month long visit and Great Lakes Brewing.

Great Lakes is part of the storied class of ’88 and is one of those breweries that you hear about even if you aren’t in their distribution path. Even with that disadvantage in L.A., I have (in my travels) had the good fortune to sample a couple of their beers. Their Dortmunder Gold lager is lovely and light. And their famous Edmund Fitzgerald porter is a layered and flavorful beer that really pairs well with food.

But if you are visiting then I would suggest the following beers for your taster tray….

Chillwave – their Double IPA with Mosaic and Nugget hops blended together.

Glockenspiel – primarily for the awesome name but also because it is a rare Weizenbock in a world of hops

Engine 20 – a hoppy offering with undertones of smoke

Ohio City Saison – with ginger, lemongrass and coriander from a local farm

June 9, 2014September 5, 2018

New Brewery – King Harbor

Finally. You could start many of my posts with that. Like this one. Finally, I visited King Harbor brewing in Redondo Beach.

Despite being landlocked, this nautically themed tasting room (even our server had anchor earrings), is a nice and open space to try the current offerings from this few months old brewery. Their beer line-up is growing as they do but as of this writing, you could get a full flight of 5 tasters with two being variants of a regular beer. We started with the Quest which is a rotating pale ale featuring a single hop. This day brought El Dorado but Hallertauer Blanch and Hull Melon are in the future and would be highly recommended way to sample these new hops on the market. I enjoyed the beer more than I think I like the hop which finishes a little too dry for me.

Next was a pineapple version of that same beer and though I was trepidatious about it considering how sweet pineapple can be, this really worked and was my favorite of the group. Maybe the use of actual pineapple and not juice was the trick. But the hops and the fruit really worked well together. At this point, I was hoping that the positive streak would continue and though I enjoyed their take on the saison with lemon verbena, it lacked a more pronounced Belgian kick that I have come to expect. Solid though and again the ingredients were there but not overpowering which indicates a light and balanced hand at the brewing controls which bodes well.

Then it was onto the darker pair of beers. Abels Brown is a java bomb and a good one at that. Almost too heavy but then you look at the ABV and it is really low. In fact, none of the beers were over 5.5%. We also tried the vanilla version of Abel which was a little sweet but still worked.

All in all, for such a young brewery, King Harbor seems ahead of other breweries in their age bracket that still seem to be finding their footing. I would heartily suggest adding it to a Torrance tour for comparison and I believe you will agree.

May 31, 2014September 5, 2018

Florida Brewery # 3 – Pensacola Bay

main_logo

Our final Florida brewery opened their doors in October of 2010, Pensacola Bay. Hopefully, the backwards beer distribution legislation (SB 1714) that Florida is considering will disappear. The Florida Senate passed it but as of April 29th the Florida House did not even consider it. Which should make the state more amenable to new and future breweries.

But enough law talk. It makes my head ache. What would I put in my PB Brewery taster tray?

Treasure Grove Citra Pale Ale

“Legend holds that Christopher Columbus brought over the first orange to Florida’s shores. One expedition blossomed into more than 75 million trees, stretching across our sandy soil. We created Treasure Grove Citra Pale Ale with a similar excursion.

We started with the finest citra hops that gently inspire a slightly bitter citrus finish, sure to cause a rosy glow. With hints of grapefruit, tangerine and lemon, you’ll love the refreshing flavor in your next pint.”

Conquistador Dopplebock

“The fierce qualities of some of Florida’s earliest explorers are represented with our flavorful Conquistador Dopplebock. With a high ABV – over 7% – our brew is as
strong as the Spanish that conquered much of our coast. After one or two, you might start calling yourself Don Jose and looking for a helmet.”

Banyan Brown Ale

“Strength comes in many forms. With our Banyan Brown Ale, the flavors develop slowly and wrap around your taste buds. You’ll taste notes of chocolate and a certain nutty hoppiness that will inspire you to ask for a second pint.

The Banyan Brown Ale is perfect for Florida winters. The mild body is enough to keep you warm, without making you reach for woolen mittens. With hints of caramel and cocoa, you’ll enjoy sipping the Banyan Brown Ale all year long.“

May 10, 2014September 5, 2018

Beach City and an Angry Horse

The former is now brewing with tap handles in the South Bay and the latter is coming. What does it mean for Los Angeles craft beer?

It means that we are slowly catching up in terms of quantity but it will take time to see where our quality lands.

We are blessed that the first breweries we were blessed with, were so good.

How the “newbies” of 2013 and 2014 fare is a chapter of the story yet to be written.

Now is the time to explore all the new spots and give your feedback in constructive ways. This is how we will get the best beer.

So check out and support Beach City and let them know (constructively) your thoughts on the beer. And then help bring the Angry Horse to life by donating to their Indie-Go-Go campaign, HERE.

May 10, 2014September 5, 2018

Props Brewing in Florida

Florida beer is in the news for all the wrong Sterling/Clippers reasons. But let’s stay positive and focus on the new breweries coming up who I hope will fight through legislative crap to sell good beer. We start with Props Brewing.

The theme is airplanes (maybe they should collaborate with Hangar 24) and they are adding more fermenters this summer which is a good sign for any new-ish brewery.

Here is what I would put in my taster tray….

4 Kings Brown
“Designed in the mountains of Alaska, Four Kings didn’t have a name. Our Head brewer & Co-Owner Mike Kee, named this ale is named after his Partner’s, Nate Vannatter, rich family heritage where “King” has been utilized for four generations as a middle name in his family. Mike handcrafted this beer in the traditional American brown ale style. Formulated using a combination of caramel malts to give this ale a slight carmel flavor and strong brown color.”

Rye of the Tiger
“Brewed with malted Rye grain and in the Biere de guarde style of a french farmhouse ale, Rye of the Tiger is made its way onto our year round beers. For this large alcohol beer, it has a sweet finish after it attacks your taste buds with a moderate alcohol bite. The color of this ale is a golden red hue.”

…and if it was holiday season I would add their Jovie Ale.