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A concise brewery bio
The L.A. Beer Bloggers headed deep into the valley to visit two breweries. (And was given tastings from three in total!)
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….
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
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.
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.“
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.
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.
Our second stop is at Five Points Brewing Company. But not the historic neighborhood in NYC but in London. It is a small, neighborhood brewery in Hackney. Their flagship is a pale ale and their labels are simple but really effective. Very Kernel like and I like that a lot. But enough about labels. What beers would I put in my first taster tray?
OK. They have three mainstays and those are what I would get first. The pale which is a 4.4% session beer with Amarillo, Centennial and Citra hops then the Hook Island Red which is a rye beer and then finish up with the Railway Porter, a London classic.
Another plus they subscribe to the London Living Wage inititative. Good to see that.
…and Ohana Brewing has taps flowing.
With a caveat. You can only order tasters and you are limited to four of them. Even though they have six taps. Which puts smart decision making at a premium.
I had three tasters to test drive their system and they are ready for action. Again with a caveat, the bar space and the space on general is limited. It doesn’t take many people to fill up the space and the space to set your beer down.
As of now, it is geared more to filling your growler and going and it is less a social meeting place. And speaking of, they have plain growlers. Unlabeled 32oz and 64 sizes. Which should be fillable at other participating breweries.
In the future, once they have proven themselves to the city, you might find larger pours and even music (which is now verboten). It will be interesting to see what happens if/when that changes because the space may prevent long stays more than a city limit can.
Oh and the beer was it’s usual strong self. The coffee Black IPA was a nice jolt of caffeine and the Hollenbeck Amber is a smooth and easy ale to sip on. My favorite? The Saison Miel aka the honey saison. Strong and not overly sweet but you get the honey taste for sure.
Time to see what is going on in England in 2014. I wish we could get some of the more nano British beers but I guess that is what travel is for. So count this month as a quick hit of three breweries to watch for if you find yourself ‘cross the Pond as it were. And we start with Pressure Drop in London.
What caught my eye first was the cool bottlecap logo and the tech term name. But digging just under a little and I saw this on their website, “three blokes in a railway arch doing lots of cleaning and trying to make the tastiest beers we can.” Simple. I like that.
Now usually I would pick a few beers that I would put in my taster tray but I would choose all of them from their list. So instead I am going to focus on the one beer that I think is the most English of the bunch. And it is the one with the coolest label too….
Street Porter – “A classic London beer style with a long and colourful history, Porter originated in the city around 300 years ago. While there are conflicting accounts of the exact origins of Porter, it’s clear the beer has been enjoyed by hard-working Londoners for centuries. We use traditional malts and Kentish hops in ours, and we’ve also brewed experimental versions with tea, coffee, oysters, chipotle, and New World hops.”
I love the idea of taking a classic style. Brewing that in traditional fashion and then doing experimental version offshooting from that. The tea version is making my mouth water right now. Now if I was in a Picasso mood, I would try their Dunkelweiss, their version of a smokey wheat beer.
On the heels of the first Trappist brewery on U.S. soil comes another religious brewing experience, in Oregon this time.
The monks of Mount Angel Abbey and their Benedictine Brewery will be opening soon and will have their beer in bottles this year as well. To check their progress, check out their Facebook presence for the latest.
“Taste and Believe”, great tagline.