Category: Brewery Tour

A concise brewery bio

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SF Brewery # 3 – Cellarmaker Brewing Company

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SOMA is our final stop in San Francisco as we learn about the beers of Cellarmaker Brewing Co. which was established just last year.

They have decided to focus on three types of beers to brew since they prefer to keep to small batches.  They do the hoppy, the funky saison and the imperial stouts.  And these are some of the beers that I would put in my taster tray…..

Saison Francisco  – a Brett Saison

Questionable Origins # 2 – a Nelson Sauvin strong pale ale

Daphne –  a Hoppy Blonde Ale

Unfortunately, you have to go to San Francisco to get their beers but after reading about the three breweries featured this month the motivation to go should be very high.

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SF Brewery # 2 – Magnolia Dogpatch

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A stalwart of the beer scene in San Francisco is Magnolia. I have had the pleasure of eating and drinking there.  I ordered jerky there.  What gastropub serves that?  Now they have branced out into brewing!  And they are in what appears to be the new hip place to be (that I had never heard of before) Dogpatch.

You can check out their current tap list with the handy tapCam.  Which looks like this…

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You could make a day of it with any of the three columns but I would start with the cask one.

 

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S.F Brewery # 1 – Fort Point

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Since it is the month that SF Beer Week falls into, I like to showcase some new spots in the City by the Bay.  And the first stop is Fort Point.  Not the greatest name (though I do prefer Beer Co. to Brewing).

Founded by brothers Tyler and Justin Catalana this year!  Fort Point is in the Presidio which is a great place to walk and see the city.  They have an eclectic set of initial beers.  Which is saying something in this ever crowded craft market.

Here is what I would put in my taster tray:

Westfalia – A German Rotbier

Collaboration with Freigeist- A Charred Manzanita beer

Tosca – a beer brewed to pair with food at the Tosca restaurant.

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Let’s Pour Brewery # 3 – Intuition Ale Works

For Christmas, I received gift codes to the Let’s Pour craft beer website so that I could buy to my hearts content or the max amount that I was given (whichever came first) and one of the breweries that I purchased a beer from is Intuition Ale Works from Jacksonville, Florida.

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As you can see from the photo, they can their regular line-up of beers.  If I had seen the pale and coastal ale, I probably would have gotten those too to get the full flavor of this brewery helmed by brewer Ben Davis.

And if I was standing at the menu board in the taproom, I would pick the following two beers (and also get a beer popsicle, that they serve):

Dark Star Milk Stout

“A creamy and sweet milk stout brewed with English pale malt, flaked and roasted barley and English Crystal Malts. Bittered with Nugget hops, smoothed with 5% lactose. This beer is served with a Nitro tap and is non-vegan.”

Fish Camp Pilsner

“Pre-prohibition style Pilsner. Light and refreshing with a hint of crisp spice.”

Silvertown Ale

“A Kentucky Common cold fermented with a slight sourness.”

 

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Let’s Pour Brewery # 2 – Pelican Pub & Brewery

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For Christmas, I received gift codes to the Let’s Pour craft beer website so that I could buy to my hearts content or the max amount that I was given (whichever came first) and this month I am focusing my brewery spotlight on three breweries that I plan to spend my money on.

Second up is Pacific City’s, Pelican Pub and Brewery.  I haven’t had any of their beers in a long, long while and I guess a part of me was waiting to visit their awesome location literally right on the sand looking out onto the Pacific.

Obviously, I don’t see many of their beers down here in Los Angeles but if I did have access I would get the following:

Nestucca ESB – “Copper-hued and medium-bodied, Nestucca ESB features an English-inspired herbal, floral, and grassy aroma balanced with a toasted bread and toffee-like malt flavor. A subtle fruitiness merges with biscuit-like flavors and a clean, hoppy finish to make this beer both refreshing and full of character. Dry hopped for a delightful fresh hop aroma!”

Kiwanda Cream Ale – “Inspired by one of America’s traditional 19th century beer styles, Kiwanda Cream Ale is pale gold with a fruity, floral hop aroma. A sweet malty flavor and a smooth snappy finish round out this tasty, refreshing brew! “

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The Grand Canyon is Expanding

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OK, that was worded a little too vaguely, but beer lovers probably read between the lines and made the deductive leaps. Grand Canyon Brewing in Williams (which is near the large and popular Arizona National park will be moving into a new and expanded brewing facility so they can brew more beer. The brewery will increase its brewing capacity from (currently) 6,000 barrels a year to a whopping 40,000 once operations are fully ramped up.

Maybe they will have enough to send to California so I could conceivably take Grand Canyon beer to Yosemite.

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Let’s Pour Brewery # 1 – Maine Beer Company

For Christmas, I received gift codes to the Let’s Pour craft beer website so that I could buy to my hearts content or the max amount that I was given (whichever came first) and the first brewery that I wanted to try a beer from was Maine Beer Company.

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The beer that I was most intrigued by was Lunch which sadly wasn’t available. But my second choice of Mean Old Tom a stout with vanilla beans was there!

Here are some of the other beers that piqued my interest…..

Peeper – “Our original hoppy American ale.  Dry, clean, well-balanced with a generous dose of American hops.”

Another One – “Intensely hoppy American IPA, brewed as the light-colored counterpart to Weez (both beers incorporate the exact same kettle and dry hopping schedule).  Another One has a very clean malt palate, leaving little but hoppy resins on the tongue, and finishes dry and crisp.”

Lil One – “Some may call this a malty double IPA, some a hoppy barley wine.  We prefer that it not be classified.  We think of it, simply, as our strong winter ale.  Intense hop aromatics and flavor (think pine, candied orange) blended with just enough malt sweetness to balance out the palate.”

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Petaluma is Brewing

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When you take beer-cations, despite all sorts of planning, you end up missing spots that have to be saved for the next trip to that region and such is the case for my Thanksgiving trip from last year to north of the Golden Gate Bridge.

But one way to pack in more bang for your buck (if you are not going to San Francisco Beer Week next month) is to try out the local beer festivals.  And this fall, you should put the Petaluma River Craft Beer Festival on your radar.  You might see locals like 101 North, Three Uncles Brewing Company, HenHouse Brewing or Dempsey’s Brewpub that you just won’t see outside Marin County.

 

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Holiday Brewery # 2 – Deschutes Brewery

The home of the winter classic Jubelale and the rotating art on the label. And when I think of the holidays and snowy wintry scenes, those labels and the city of Bend in Eastern, Oregon come to mind.

So, here is a little history of Deschutes and their winter warmer…

It started in 1988 and sported a wreath on the label until 1995 when the rotating artists took turns at designing the artwork.

It was the first “packaged” six-pack for Deschutes.

It won a gold medal in 2006 and also Australian awards that year and 2007.

The 2014 artist will be brought in to design in JANUARY!

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Oh and they brew a lot of other great beer too and you will occasionally see their “Woody” in L.A.

 

 

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Holiday Brewery Tour # 1 – Picobrouwerij Alvinne

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Picobrouwerij Alvinne in West Flanders makes quite a few beers that have graced the SoCal area (and hopefully yours) for many years and I have chosen them because of the Three Wise Men.

They started with Balthazar which as the translated website describes it is, “..a spicy dark beer, which includes fresh ginger, cardamom and coriander.”

Then they moved onto Melchior, a “Strong barley wine, full of flavor, a companion for cold and dark winter nights.”

And then finished the trio with Gaspar, “Bitter and thirst quenching, unusual winter beer, hoppy, malty and just creamy. For those who get fed up with dark beers during winter.”

All three are very different from the American takes on winter beers so I suggest picking them up for a beer dinner before Christmas.