Category: Brewery Tour

A concise brewery bio

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Chicago – Lake Bluff

Our first stop in the Windy City is Lake Bluff Brewing. Theirs is a common (and great) story about home brewing that grew into a brewery. I don’t know who is luckier? The people who received the home brew gifts and were the de facto R&D department or the people who now get to sample beers that are really dialed in and perfected.

A couple of the beers that caught my attention are…..
‘Tis the Saison
“No matter what the season, ’tis the season for our Saison. Historically a summer seasonal beer, ours is golden in color and flavored with coriander, cardamom and orange peel to give slightly spicy notes. Finishes nice and dry with the yeast providing much of that classic Belgian flavor.”

Softtail IPA
Hardtail’s little brother. Same great flavor and aroma, but easier drinking and not so heavy on the alcohol. A great summer beer.

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Nebraska Brewery # 3 – Empyrean Brewing Company


Our third featured Nebraska brewery is Empyrean Brewing Company and boy have they grown like gangbusters.

It may be due to beers like the newly bottled….
Super Nova Summer Fest
“Easy drinking with hints of sweet corn, bread and caramel, finishing with a blast of citrus hop character and just enough crisp to balance the sweet. It’s a toast to rolling surf, Baja hoodies, beach BBQs and the elusive green flash.”

…or ….
Fallen Angel Sweet Stout
“A smooth-drinking, late-winter wonder. We’ve crafted this English-styled stout using roasted malts and a healthy dose of lactose sugar to produce a creamy-rich beer with hints of roasted chocolate.”

You can find their brews all across the state.

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Nebraska Brewery # 2 – Nebraska Brewing

I first encountered Nebraska Brewing at the GABF a couple years back. I saw a few people in their logo’d shirts and I thought to myself that their brewery must be an oasis to thirsty Nebraskans.

Fast forward to today and you can get some Nebraska Brewing offerings in Portland and even here in LA. I’ve already alerted you to the new Toasted Barn beer. So let’s take a look at two other offerings…..

Hop God
“A beautiful golden crossbreed of a Belgian Tripel and a West Coast IPA. A remarkable explosion on the palate with spiciness, tropical fruit, and a firm citrus bitterness that will leave you begging for more!”

Itty Bitty Betty
“Producing Black Betty results in some significantly sweet spent grains, so we decided that instead of giving it all to the pigs, we’d extract some of that goodness and make a smaller beer out of it. By using different yeast and hops, we created a nice sweet stout that really stands apart from Black Betty.”

Available: Now

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Nebraska Brewery # 1 – Lucky Bucket

Here is the back story on this Nebraska brewery….“After years of working a local brewpub and experimenting in the garage, three guys decided to take their know-how and passion for great beer and bottle it.

Lucky Bucket Brewing Company is Nebraska’s newest craft brewery, growing almost as fast as we can brew it. Our first release, Pre-Prohibition style Lager, is getting some welcomed praise for representing the true character of beer, reminiscent of a time when beer actually had flavor. Keep an eye out for our latest releases including a very floral and flavorful American IPA and our first barrel-aged release, Certified Evil”

Check out their beer page HERE to watch some videos that talk more about their concoctions. Quite the coup to already have a beer with Oakshire and 50/50.

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Anaheim Brewing


Looks like Orange County has another brewery. Welcome to the Anaheim Brewery!

Headquartered in the Anaheim Historic District, the version 2.0 of the brewery takes over 90 years later! from the first Anaheim Brewing that was shuttered by prohibition.

They are serving up four beers in their tasting room. A gold, a red, a hefeweizen and the “Anaheim 1888 is based on a style of beer brewed at the original Anaheim Brewery and has a flavor that is popular with today’s beer drinker. Copper-colored, full-flavored and well-hopped, Anaheim 1888 is our flagship beer.”

And this review from the Anaheim Gazette all the way back in 1890 on the original version of what is today 1888 gave me a chuckle, it “appears to be fully equal if not superior to the celebrated Anheuser beer of St. Louis.”

Thanks to the Full Pint for first spotting this new brewery.

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Almanac Brewing


Farm to table. It always warms my heart to see craft beer joining forces with artisans. Be it beer cocktails with bartenders, beer dinners with chefs or with local ingredients like the Almanac Beer Co.

“…a brewery dedicated to producing seasonal artisan ales, brewed specifically to complement local cuisine sourced and prepared with the same great care and craft.”

The Summer 2010 vintage is only available in San Francisco so unless you are a Bay Area denizen, you will have to drool over the cheese and entree pairing on the website.

These guys age their beer a long time and in limited amounts but I like the ethos. Very similar to the passion that Stone Brewing has as well.

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Tap It Brewing

Their motto is “Tap it, taste it, love it”

Tap It is based in beautiful San Luis Obispo.

They have two offerings on draft or in bottles:
APA
“Truly a handcrafted original, our American Pale Ale is a distinctive, crisp beer that’s delightfully easy to drink. Its deep golden color, full-bodied mouth feel and robust flavors combine to create a smooth finish with just the right amount of snap, presenting the perfect pour. 5.5% ABV”

IPA
“Our traditional India Pale Ale is continually hopped throughout the brewing process to provide the distinctively rich, aromatic flavors associated with this brewery classic. Made with four different varieties of light, citrusy hops, the flavors harmonize and combine with the initial sweetness of the malt to create a full-bodied beer that’s smooth, satisfying and exceptionally drinkable. 6.5% ABV”

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Manzanita Brewing


Near San Diego, in the town of Santee is Manzanita Brewing. They are a small-batch brewery with five year rounds beers and a few seasonals tossed in throughout the year.

We are a Small-Batch Craft Brewery in Santee, CA. We are passionate about Quality Craft Beer. We will have 5 year round beers and many seasonal beers available throughout the year.

Here are two beers that caught my eye….

Gillespie Brown; “a malty and sweet brew followed by a toasted chocolate flavor. Its dark brown appearance and deep roasted aroma translates into a smooth warm distinct finish.”

“A pint of Manzanita Horizon Red Ale is guaranteed to deliver a great initial malt flavor with a roasted grain aftertaste and dry Irish finish every time.”

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Golden Road Brewing

As if running a successful bar in Burbank wasn’t enough.

As if partnering on the ColLAboration events wasn’t enough.

As if opening a huge 65 tap bar wasn’t enough.

Well now Tony Yanow is really going big. And this will be huge for the LA craft beer community. Last night, I along with other craft beer writers got the sneak peak at the facility and more importantly the team behind Golden Road Brewing.

Jon, Meg and Tony

Jon Carpenter (brewmaster) is originally from San Diego but you may recognize him from the late lamented Brewmasters show because he was most recently at Dogfish Head.

Meg Gill (co-founder and Presidnet) comes from two brewing hot spots Boulder and Oskar Blue’s and San Francisco and Speakeasy Ales and Lagers. Combined with Tony they have taken over three distinctively colored buildings next to the train tracks in Atwater Village (on the dividing line of LA and Glendale).

There will be a pub in the yellow building. A barrel aging facility in the red and the blue building will hold the brewing operations.

The styles are yet to be determined. Too early in the development stage for that but don’t be surprised to see a hoppy California style brew. And it will be canned! The line has been purchased. Obviously with a barrel room their will be aged beers done but again too early to give definitive answers as to what kind though the word sour was bandied about.

If I can be corny for a moment, craft beer in LA looks golden right now.