Category: Brewery Tour

A concise brewery bio

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Let’s Tour – Hollister Brewing

Goleta is just north of Santa Barbara and tucked into an unimposing mall is Hollister Brewing. Where you can see (and hopefully drink) some fine beers like this…

KRISTALWEISS – 5.4% ABVFiltered German wheat beer with oats and honey malt for a smooth mouthfeel.

Orange Blossom Special – 5.8% ABVA light and reafreshing golden ale brewed with 6 gallons of local orange blossom honey and the peels of 25 pounds of oranges.

beer with hops – 5.5% ABVGolden yellow pale ale brewed with a blend of Minnesota 2 row barley and English floor malts. This rendition of an old friend is exclusively hopped with the Amarillo hop varietal.

The Pope I.P.A. – 6.7% ABVFull bodied yet dry this West Coast style India Pale Ale is packed with flavors reminiscent of fresh fruit and pine forests.

sorachi san – 7.5% ABV
Belgian style ale brewed with 100% Sorachi Ace hops. Deep golden in color with a spicy and earthy hop bite that fades into flavors of citrus. Strong aroma of freshly peeled lemons and aromatic yeast.

abbey Dubbel – 6.8% ABVDeep, flavorful, Belgian ale brewed with 25 lbs. of raisin puree, 12 malts and a fruity yeast profile.

Five Foot Shadow – 10.8% ABVA nontraditional strong ale, this Imperial Oatmeal Porter is beguilingly drinkable due to large quantities of oats and chocolate malts. A subduded hop profile dominated by a rich malt body.

2:01 Imperial Red Ale – 9.7% ABVSupercharged red ale that balances a hop profile with a rich malt backbone.

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Maui Brewing photos

My beer partner in crime Richard went to Maui Brewing in 2010 and here are some photos for those (like me) who have yet to be to Hawai’i.

The tanks in the brewery
a mouth watering menu
a taster tray of Hawaii's best
this is how to pay for a pint!

all photos courtesy of Richard Rosen

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Beetje Brewing

The Portland brewery boom shows no sign of abating! Burnside Brewing just cracked open their doors and now another nano is moving forward with their brews!

“Beetje (\’bee-cha’\) is a Flemish word that roughly translates to “little”, or “little bit”. This brewery will live up to that notion for the foreseeable future.

Beetje will produce small batch beers using high quality ingredients. I intend to use organic 2-row and organic pilsner as my base malts. As much as possible I will use organic specialty malts, and hops. Sound familiar? Yeah, a lot of breweries do this, particularly in the Northwest. I like the approach, and intend to employ it. Quality inputs tend to have a positive impact on the beer”

And here are the beers you can try….
B-sideABV: 5.5% || IBU: 30

B-side is a light , crisp and refreshing farmhouse ale. Golden to light orange in color with a floral nose and a dry finish. B-side is brewed with three base malts: Organic Pilsner, Organic 2-row and Rye. Northwest grown Willamette, Golding and Hallertauer aroma hops offer a soft underlying bitterness to help bolster the refreshing nature of the beer. The key note speaker in this beer is the Farmhouse Ale yeast.

Traditionally farmhouse ales were brewed on farms in the French and Flemish regions of Belgium. These beers were born out of necessity as most water was not potable and the farmers needed a light, refreshing low alcohol beverage to offer the hardworking farmhands.

Little Brother
ABV: 8.5% || IBU: 20
Little Brother is in the vein of a Belgian dark strong ale. By Northwest standards an 8.5% beer may not be considered strong, but it is currently the biggest beer Beetje produces. It pours dark brown, with shades of ruby and a creamy tan head. The flavor is dominated by caramel, and candy and offers a smooth finish. Chocolate and coffee begin to emerge as the beer warms.
Flemish KissABV: 5.7% || IBU: 35-40

A clean Northwest pale ale with a subtle kiss of Flanders. Brewed predominantly with organic 2- row, the malt bill is rounded out with organic light munich, organic 60L crystal and caravienna. Northwest Golding and Hallertauer hops provide a pleasant hop character. Right out primary fermentation this beer is decidedly a Northwest pale ale, but as it enters secondary a bridge to Belgium is built with a dose of brettanomyces bruxellensis.

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Let’s Tour – Noble Ale Works

Orange County is a haven for great beer for us needy Angelenos and coming soon these beers from Noble Ale Works….

Pale Ale 5.6% ABV
Brewed with Amarillo hops giving it a crisp floral nose with smooth finish.

Alpha Red 7.2% ABV
This Imperial Red Ale beer is brewed with Magnum and Columbus hops then dry hopped with Simcoe and Columbus hops which gives it a nice citrus finish to the balanced malt characteristic.

IPA 7.0% ABV
Brewed in the west coast IPA style, this IPA is highly hopped with a full body. Essence of grapefruit with a floral/piney nose.

Dark Sybian IPA 6.5% ABV
Our version of Cascadian Dark Ale, brewed with the new and seasonal Midnight Wheat Malt from Briess Malting.
Hopped with Cascade, Centennial and Magnum hops.

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Let’s Tour – Black Market Brewing

GABF medalists from Temecula, California. Say hello to the Black Market, Brewing Company that is.

I recently tasted a few of their beers at a Meet the Brewery style event at Blue Palms Brewhouse and came away with mixed feelings. The brown ale was solid and I know the Rye IPA is good but I was left a little cold by the red ale (Scary Carrie) and their Hefeweizen and dunkle which just tasted off style and too cereal grainy to me.

That said. Not all breweries have exceptional beer from top to bottom that suits my particular taste. I’m just glad that more breweries keep springing up in the Golden State.

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Let’s Tour – Kern River Brewing

If you haven’t heard of this brewery yet, you soon will. And the beer that you will probably here about first is the famed Citra DIPA. The beer that I could just smell all day. A pure blast of lemony citrus fragrance that lives up to the hype.

But then you had better delve into the rest of Kern River line-up which includes the Class V Stout and the Just Outstanding IPA for starters. Then maybe a growler of Sequoia Red or Isabella Blonde.

And if you want further proof then check out Drink Eat Travelfor their experience at the brewery.

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Let’s Tour – Blue Pants Brewery

I know Alabama is not a beer destination yet. But with Good People and the soon-to-open Blue Pants, it is moving in the right direction.

The name is a head scratcher but their initial beer is not…
Knickerbocker Red
“Here is our preliminary planned product, Knickerbocker Red. Its a moderately hoppy, but balanced, agressive American Red Ale with a good Cascade taste and a strong malty backbone. The good head retention and foam lets you know that this beer has a lot of body, which complements the rich hop aroma and taste.”

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Let’s Tour – Ranger Creek Brewing

The line between spirits and craft beer has been blurry of late with Ballast Point, Anchor and Rogue creating artisan beverages on both sides. But they came to spirits after.
Today’s entry brewed both from the get-go!

Here is their take on their unique twist, “Ranger Creek is a combined brewery/distillery proudly located in San Antonio, TX. We make beer and whiskey in our “brewstillery”, and we make it by hand one batch at a time with lots of love and attention. As a combined operation, we use much of the same equipment to make both our beer and our whiskey, and we can do this because there are a lot of similarities between the two processes.”

Their current beers are:
South Texas Lager
Oatmeal Pale Ale
Mesquite Smoked Porter
and my pick to try….
La Bestia Aimable
“In 1685, the explorer La Salle claimed Texas in the name of France, landing at Matagorda Bay on a ship called the Aimable. In honor of Texas’ French and Mexican heritages, we created a complex Belgian-style ale with a name to match: La Bestia is Spanish for “The Beast,” while Aimable is French for “friendly.” This devilishly friendly dark strong ale has a rich, complex nose of deep berry and fig with cinnamon, nutmeg, and black pepper spicy notes, and a superbly drinkable body full of rich, dark fruit flavors. The use of Texas honey and a well attenuated body in the Belgian abbey tradition make this beer superbly drinkable despite its high alcohol content. La Bestia Aimable pairs well with carbonade, lamb, game and fowl, rich cheeses such as triple-crème and Gorgonzola, as well as decadent desserts like sticky toffee pudding, dark chocolate and raspberry cake, and tiramisu.”