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A concise brewery bio
In all my years of covering the SoCal beer scene and reading/hearing the Coachella hype, I have never heard of a brewery out that way. But apparently, there is one!
Coachella Valley Brewing Co. is in Thousand Palms and I can’t find much more information about them online so if there are any intrepid beer hounds who have tried their beer, let me know. I would like to learn about them.
Yes, I know my definition of heartland is strange but I could not think of a better term to cover these three breweries. That being said, here is our last stop….
Indiana City is the uber literal term for Indianapolis. Which is much better than living in a town which literally means Valley Valley, like I do. Enough word play though. What beers does this place have?
Here are my picks:
SHADOW BOXER oatmeal stout
“This is a black, full-bodied ale with mild roasted grain aroma, coffee flavor and moderate spicy hop bitterness. A diverse combination of flavors all below a creamy brown head.”
YACHT ROCK wheat ale
This Belgian style wheat ale is a light-bodied, crisp, slightly tart and lightly hopped golden beer with a fine-bubbled bright white head.
plus the HOOVILLAIN kolsch style ale
Things are starting to happen in Cincinnati for Rhinegeist Brewery. Despite the usual permits and other legalese that has to be surmounted the latest from Facebook has this to say, “Rhinegeist is a brewery located in the Over The Rhine historical district. We brewed our first batch on June 8th, 2013 and should be open sometime Summer 2013. ” Plus I have met the co-founder Bryant Goulding when he was part of the LA beer scene with Dogfish Head and Golden Road. ‘Cause I love to name drop.
And you can read more about this fascinating brewery history rich area at the OTR Brewery District page HERE.
Colorado Malting Co. is our final malting stop. (Yes, it took awhile to get here, thanks for being patient) They grow all of their own malt and because their is extra time left in day, malt it too.
They offer the following products to the brewing industry:
Colorado Base Pale
Colorado Pilsner
Colorado Malted White & Red Wheats
Roasted Malts and Barley
They are also planning a barley party (Gerste Gemutlichkeit)! “This is an opportunity to personally witness barley being harvested in the field, cleaned, steeped, malted, kilned and brewed into great beer. Bring a camper and enjoy an evening of beer, food, music, and friends right on the field.”
That is my kind of camping!
Our first stop is in Oklahoma and Prairie Artisan Ales. I start here because their beers have made their way out to L.A. (though I have yet to buy one of yet).
It is run by the Healey brothers, Chase and Colin. And their focus is on the wonderful Saison style. They have multiple versions to try but here are the ones that strike me off the bat….
Prairie Standard (and it’s super cool comics label)
Prairie Standard is our everyday beer. Its a light, crisp saison with a hoppy finish. This beer is dry hopped 1lb per bbl with Motueka hops. A lovely New Zealand hop with a spicy lime like flavor and aroma.
Prairie Hop
Prairie Hop is our hop driven saison. This beer is packed with Simcoe and Citra hops. Notes of peach, mango, and tangerine can be found in the flavor and aroma of this beer. The beer finishes dry which helps the hops jump out of the glass flavor wise.
As you can see from the post title, this was to run in June along with the other Micro-Maltster “tours”, I now attempt to fill in what I missed in the 2nd half of June…
Valley Malt of New England is located in the farming town of Hadley. You can get Organic Rye Malt, Chocolate malt, Hard Red Winter wheat amongst other offerings.
They appear to be tight with local CSA’s and are expanding to get grain from a much bigger plot of land. But as with Rebel Malting their primary goal is, “To provide the Northeastern craft and home brewer with artisanal malt from locally grown grains.”
You can tell the difference when it is fresh ingredients. Just try it with Farmer’s Market fruits or your own vegetables.
Tomorrow over at Food GPS, my altar ego talks about where he went after leaving the Firestone Walker Invitational…
More details on the beer will be there, but for now, the travelogue….
STOP # 1
Barrelhouse Brewing in Paso Robles
STOP # 2
Figueroa Mountain Brewing Co. in Buellton
Oh, and one stop that I missed that you will just have to read about tomorrow.
Rebel Malting of Reno is part of a new sub-culture within the sub-culture that is craft beer. I love the combination of keeping it local and using what is given to you. I mean, if you are in Reno, use the sun! It makes perfect sense. And of course you will try to use less water, cause it is Nevada…well. I will let the website do the talking. Less sarcasm that way.
“Rebel Malting Company is small, and produces malted products with local and niche grains ( Barley, Millet, Emmer Wheat, Buckwheat) for the brewing and distilling industries.
Micro malting operations are located in Reno, Nevada. Grain is primarily sourced from two locations: Fallon and Yerington, Nevada. Plus other locations if our farmers can not grow it here in Nevada.
The Rebel focus is to sow and grow grains within 100 miles of the malthouse and hand deliver (no ‘middle-man’) this product to local brewers and distillers near Reno, Nevada. An emphasis on customer service is achieved through order customization. Rebel utilizes advances in malting technology to lower water usage up to 30% (we are located in the ‘Rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada Mountains) and is constructing parabolic solar troughs (345 days of sunshine a year) to heat the building and first step in the kilning process. Rebel also supplies whole grain beer making and home malting kits, complete with detailed directions. Please see the About section for more details.”
Our last stop in the Seattle area is Urban Family. Oh and the swing is ironic.
And they also have fun with the names as well, Tall, Dark and Anxious for a porter, a wit with the expletive laden name of Ain’t Nothin’ Ta F@*k Wit as well as an IPA named after the bully on The Simpsons.
And in 2013, I think part of their “about” page really rings true to me and what the beer industry is about..”creativity and flexibility of how to live and define a life characterizes what we do at Urban Family Brewing: If someone you met through a Craigslist roommate ad can become your brother then you can definitely put lavender in a witbier.”
Oh, and they have other beers on tap too!
Los Angeles is a tough town to navigate if you want to build a brewery from scratch. And to try to do it on the Westside would seem close to crazy considering the cost of a large amount of space would cost.
But according to the L.A. Eater, “someone” is trying to start one up in Santa Monica. That would be big news and a large step forward for a brewery to open there.
When/If more news develops, you will here it here.