Category: Brewery Tour

A concise brewery bio

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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.”

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Hess Brewing

One thing that amazes me about the recent spate of brewery openings is that seemingly mature markets seems to bear new entries. Portland keeps growing as does San Diego. Which is the location of a new-ish brewery I would like to spotlight.

Hess Brewing is according to their website, “San Diego’s first licensed nano-brewery. Nano, as in small, hand-crafted batches, one point six barrels at a time (that’s just 51 gallons each batch).”.

They have five uniquely named beers in their roster:
Claritas – kolsch
Grazias – Vienna cream ale
Intrepidus – IPA
Amplus – San Diego pale ale
Ex Umbris – stout

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Let’s Tour…Upslope Brewing

Are you ready for another Colorado beer tour? Let’s go to Upslope then!

Here are their specs and their signature beers…”Brewed with Patagonian hops, high quality Rahr malts, snowmelt and yeast, Upslope’s ales satisfy a wide range of beer drinkers. We have chosen to package our beer in cans because they are portable, light, crushable and the most recyclable container on the planet.”

Upslope Pale Ale
“This clear, crisp, dry pale ale is our signature beer. It’s refreshing characteristics, and signature dry finish, blends smooth malt flavors with a unique spicy hop bitterness. This will be the “go to” beer on any camping trip, fishing excursion or music festival.”

Upslope India Pale Ale
“Our IPA will appeal to the beer enthusiast who desires a bold, deep and bitter ale. With a coppery color indicative of a traditional IPA, Upslope India Pale Ale has a complex malty character and is more well-balanced than most IPA’s, but still offers that bitterness that IPA lovers seek.”

UPDATE:
I was lucky enough to sample the pale ale from Upslope in Boulder. The cans logo and design is striking and simple and that carries through to the beer. It is hoppy but it does not coat the mouth. A great beer for the beach on a summer day. I made room to bring two back home to LA if that tells you anything.

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Let’s Tour…Strange Brewing

from the Strange Brewing website

Now for a strange tour, brewing that is. Strange Brewing is another new entry to the high flyin’ Denver beer scene.

They have a selection of 9 beers according to their website. Including these 2 that I would like a sample of…

Cherry Kriek
We named this Strange Brew ‘Cherry Cherry’ because that’s what it is. There’s so much cherry in this beer even its foamy head is red! We start with a Dark Belgian Wheat recipe, cram it full of Montmorency Tart Cherry goodness, then age it with oak. The result is a cherry cherry lovers dream come true. Goes great with dark chocolate, with fudge brownies, with chocolate gateau, with cacao nibs, with…well you get the picture. And did we mention cherries?
4.7% ABV 15 IBUs

Le Bruit Du Diable
Our spin on a classic Belgian farmhouse ale. We start with high quality Belgian Pilsner malt and add some Belgian Caramel Vienne and Caramel Munich for color and complexity. Bring it back down to earth with just the right amount of Czech Saaz hops to provide refreshing balance. Fermented hot with a very special yeast strain from the Wallonia region of Belgium, this unique yeast gives our Diable its earthy, fruity, spiciness and dry malt character.
7.5% ABV 42 IBUs