Follow Sean Inman to the best in craft beer
A concise brewery bio
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.
It is great to see new craft breweries springing up in smaller towns that used to have a brewery before prohibition and that is the case with Port Townsend which lost a 1906 opened brewery to the anti-alcohol crowd.
Now you can sample beers like these:
Boatyard Bitter
“Traditional Fuggles and Kent Golding hops (imported from England) dominate the flavor of this English style pale ale. British grown Maris Otter barley lends a round and smooth malt flavor. Truly a classic style.”
Hop Diggidy
“A classic Northwest style IPA. Hop Diggidy has a smooth malt background and full round hop flavors. Dry hopping two separate times in the process insures an aromatic and lasting hop finish. Enjoy this very drinkable Northwest ale.”
Our first stop in the state of Washington is Foggy Noggin. They are located in Bothell. You will have to really Mapquest it to see where that is. They brew English style beers like the two below that struck me….
Christmas Duck – Porter
“A mouthful of sweetened roasty flavors that linger long as a roasty dryness. Satisfying in every respect and a pint of the holiday spirit each time. Everyone deserves to celebrate Christmas year-round. Jingle Beers! Jingle Beers!”
Oski Wow-Wow – Scotch Ale
“Brewed in the olde Scottish traditional manner, Oski Wow-Wow is made with patience and love for the founders of this delicious beer style. The first 10% of the mash runnings are caramelized in the kettle, then liquified and added to the rest of the boil. Toffee and caramel flavors you have never tasted before are the result. Best enjoyed in Strawberry Canyon on a nice fall afternoon, you are sure to hear those enjoying the bounty of this special seasonal. One taste and you will shout – “Oski Wow-Wow!”
One more word, I think their logo is really cool. Simple but evocative.
I have yet to try any beers from this new-to-me brewery which brews in Modesto and is headquartered in Tarzana. Hopefully their Seismic IPA, Angelino Pale and Red Carpet will make their way into one of my local beer bars.
They have a nice website and a good roster of beers (even though some aren’t produced yet) They also have a charitable bent to them which is a plus in my book. Count me as cautiously optimistic.
Have YOU tried SoCal’s beers? If so, let me know your opinion of them.
UPDATE
I sampled the Seismic IPA and Red Carpet Ale last night at Blue Palms. Part of the SoCal tour that takes them to a beer bars here in LA. I and my beer buddy, Richard both preferred the IPA over the red but both made us hopeful for the rest of the line-up.
Out last Canadian stop is Crannog Ales in British Columbia.
All of their brews are certified organic, unfiltered and unpasteurized. And here are a couple to look for:
Gael’s Blood Potato Ale
“This rich Irish red ale is made with organic potatoes for an exceptionally smooth, rich body. It is extraordinarily rich in malt flavour, with just the right amount of hop finish. It’s an immigrant ale, uniting the staple food of Ireland with plenty of new world hops.”
Back Hand of God Stout
“Lean in body and powerful in flavour, Back Hand of God Stout has won many consumers’ choice awards. This dry stout is easy to drink, rich and inviting. It is extraordinarily smooth and mildly hopped with a distinct coffee/chocolate presence.”
Don’t be scared off by the labels on the Dieu Du Ciel beers. Yes, they are a little freaky but they match the beers quite well.
Here a couple to whet your appetite…
“Corne du diable aka Horn of the Devil IPA is a contemporary interpretation of the classic English India Pale Ale. This new style, born on the west coast of North America, is characterized by stronger and hoppier beers. The result is a red ale expressing caramel flavours coming from the malt, sharp bitterness and powerful hop aromas, thanks to dry hopping”
“La Rescousse (To The Rescue) is a noble Altbier that celebrates life in all its diversity. Malty up front with accents of toasted bread, the well-balanced hops provide a tongue-tingling finish and give this copper ale with mahogany highlights its freshness, complexity and unique character. Dieu du Ciel! Brewers will donate 11 cents for every bottle sold to Fondation de la faune du Québec, in support of efforts to save endangered species such as the wolverine, the copper redhorse, and the western chorus frog. “Liberté, égalité, biodiversité !”
I saw this brewery mentioned on the Pencil and Spoon blog. Glad to see smaller craft breweries popping up in London. It reminds me of Los Angeles.
The Kernel Brewery is located in London and has a great mission statement, “The brewery springs from the need to have more good beer. Beer deserving of a certain attention. Beer that forces you to confront and consider what you are drinking. Upfront hops, lingering bitternesses, warming alcohols, bodies of malt. Lengths and depths of flavour. We make Pale Ales, India Pale Ales and old school London Porters towards these ends. Bottled alive, to give them time to grow.”
And in a recent beer list check, I saw a decidedly American bent. Black IPA. Citra IPA and a Pale Ale with Columbus hops.
The second installment of Canadian breweries takes us to Half Pints Brewery in Winnipeg.
They have a Little Scrapper IPA with Amarillo and Cascade hops. As well as a brown, amber and stout. All of which are unfiltered and unpasteurized.
They also conduct “flavor training” courses and have cask ale nights.
Our first north of the border brewery is from Halifax. Let me introduce Propeller Brewing.
Now let’s get down to the beers that interest me…..
ESB
“Our ESB is a rich, full-bodied English-style bitter, brewed with carefully selected malts and hops. This copper coloured, English styled ale is our best seller. Smooth, Full bodied and All Natural, like all our beers.”
Kristall Weizen
“Literally “crystal wheat.” A Kristall Weizen is a filtered pale Weissbier. It pours “crystal”-clear rather than yeast-hazey. Propeller Kristall Weizen is made with special Weizen yeast, German Noble hops and equal amounts of barley and wheat malts. Like its Hefeweizen counterpart, Kristall Weizen develops a richly-textured, firm, white head in the glass. Very light, spritzy-effervescent and refreshing on the palate, with creamy texture and gentle, lightly fruity character, it finishes with a touch of dryness. Propeller Kristall Weizen pairs well with summer heat and good times… Prost.”
What’s great about their site is the glassware and temperature recommendations as well as a “Prop’r Learning” section that educate people about not only their brewery but about beer in general.