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A concise brewery bio
I haven’t even had any Figueroa Mountain beer and now another entrant nearby is brewing.
The Solvang Brewing Company crafting beers to fit the Danish tourist attraction. Windmill Wheat ale, 1547 Porter and Valhalla IPA among others.
So if you find yourself with some ableskiver, you can now have a beer to go with.
“In the spirit of tradition let’s “Øl” have some ALE!! Skál or in English, cheers!”
I mentioned Occidental Brewing in passing back in February but thanks to the New School Beer Blog I have been updated on their progress.
I like the old-timey feel and can’t wait to try their beers when I visit Portland in August.
For those of you playing at home, here is the current brewery list for LA. My list expands to include a larger slice of the Los Angeles area.
Up and Running
Eagle Rock
Ladyface
Nibble Bit Tabby
Skyscraper
Angel City
El Segundo
Strand
in the mash tun (so to speak)
Henson
Ohana
Pipe Dream
Pilot Brewhouse
Kinetic
And check out this L.A. Times article about the up and comers.
When the newbies come on line, LA will be in double digits.
Our third stop on the Indian brewery tours is Upland. I have featured their beers a few times on this blog so it’s about time that I talked about the whole place.
They are famous for their sour beers with odd fruits as well as this big beer….
A dark and robust beer brewed in the traditional stout method. Teddy Bear Kisses features an abundance of dark malts and high alpha hops for a powerful impact of roast, chocolate, and sweet bitterness. The lucky few who cuddle up to a warming session with Teddy Bear Kisses sense the velvety malt character, balanced bitter intensity, and soothing chocolate notes created by long aging on fair trade cocoa nibs. Teddy Bear Kisses will make you feel warm and happy inside, but it’s definitely not your childhood cuddle toy.
Baltic Porters are an Eastern European take on classic English Porters. Influenced by Russian Imperial Stouts, Baltics are higher in strength than traditional Porters, and feature multiple layers of flavors and aromas. Badder Elmer’s is a meaty dark lager, utilizing cold fermentation temperatures to achieve a quaffable and clean brew, with malty highlights ranging from nutty to licorice and candy caramels. Fruity aromas lead to a complex malt character and supportive continental hop bitterness.
Our second Indiana stop is People’s Brewing of Lafayette. Like most medium to large cities. Lafayette had a thriving beer scene and it looks ready to revive thanks to beers like these….
Layflatter Lager
German Lager beer… Light and refreshing lager made for ball games and yard work. We used our Midwest malted Harrington malt and Centennial hops. This beer is brewed for the people of Lafayette, also known as “LayFlatters”.
Aberrant Amber
American Style Amber with an twist. We started with a classic American Amber, 22% Caramalt giving it an Amber hue. Then added a large addition of Amarillo and Centennial hops for the bittering and dry hoped with Amarillo, giving it notes of grapefruit and tangerine. The complexity of the malts and hops in this beer make it a great ale for anyone who loves flavor.
Our tour of selected Indiana breweries begins at Bee Creek. And their 3 signature brews…..
Hoosier Honey Wheat
“Our signature brew. This beer is brewed with the addition of Clover Honey from Hunter’s Honey Farm located in Martinsville, Indiana.
The use of Weihenstephan Weizen yeast gives this wheat beer a hint of clover, orange, and banana flavors that blends well with the added wheat malt to produce a crisp, refreshing ale perfect for any time of year.”
Clay County Coffee Stout
“A dark, rich beer brewed with roasted malts and combined with Brazil Santos Coffee (from Jameson in Greencastle). Expect a full-bodied beer with a sumptuous coffee aroma topped only by it’s opulent flavor.”
Blond Ale
“A clear, crisp, cold filtered Blond Ale carefully hopped to reveal a mild flavor and aroma. The lightness of the hops makes this Blonde Ale perfect for those familiar with mass-marketed beer; but with a major exception, this one is made right here…..in Indiana.”
As I was patiently waiting to see beer handles for El Segundo Brewing, another beach brewery was also bubbling away.
Venice Beach Brewing is headed by brewer Kerr Smith and has two beers ready….
Venice Ale
Our signature Amber Ale which we created right out of the gate. A unique blend of malt and hops crafted to perfection with love and lust. Not to mention a little help from the mighty Summit Hop.
June Gloom
Cloudy, like its namesake month, this superb Belgian White, a mix of half wheat and half barley, with a touch of coriander, makes this the perfect beer to chase those clouds away.
…..with two more (Dirty Blonde and Ink Chocolate Oatmeal Stout) in the pipeline.
There will be a release party sometime this month.
The last Washington state brewery to visit is Whitstran in Prosser. And they have a unique brand style that works for me. A little sci-fi’ish but cool. Compare that to their Friar Series of beers…
Friar’s Blessing Raspberry Lambic
“The essence of raspberries sweetens this lambic for a refreshing brew with little hop presence.”
Friar’s Decadence Chocolate Chocolate Imperial Stout
“This is a sweet robust dark ale, with just a hint of chocolate from the baker’s cocoa added to the boil.”
Friar Lawrence Belgium-Style Ale
“The use of caramel and honey malts gives the sweetness, Goldings hops provide the balance and Abbey-style yeast introduces a unique spice character.”
Friar’s Penance Barley Wine Ale
“Fermenting for 9 – 10 months allows the complex flavors to blend to produce a unique brew that is available for a limited time each year.”
You know the craft beer world is exploding. Especially now that the OC is the home of Cismontane, Bootleggers, the Bruery of course and now Cosmic Brewing in Irvine.
Their Hell Hound brown is starting to make it’s way into the LA beer bars. I will report further when I have sampled that and their saison.
Dave Logsdon started with Full Sail then moved to Wyeast Labs. So he knows beer from multiple angles and now he has a farmhouse line of beers under his own name.
Logsdon is entering the Belgian, farm-style ales category. He plans to release two beers this spring — a Seizoen and a Seizoen Bretta.
I love this quote that I saw in one of the articles about the new brewery, “We’re probably the only brewery in the United States that’s a farmhouse making farmhouse ales,” The beer will be made on a family farm with organic hops.
Plus, it has been set-up as a co-op. So maybe more beers from different brewers will come of this incubator of sorts.
Logsdon Farmhouse beers will pop up at New Seasons and Whole Foods as well as local restaurants in Hood River and Portland and maybe beyond later.