Category: Brewery Tour

A concise brewery bio

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Mother Earth Brewing

Last year there was a bit of a kerfuffle over an online “who is the best beer city” poll that grew out of proportion. It was Beervana Portland vs. newcomer Asheville.

What was good about it was the attention that got focused on what was important. Bringing attention to a brewing hotspot.

I have now purchased beer from Bruisin’ Ales and that led me onto their newsletter which led me to this new brewery…
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About the brewery: “Take the goodness of garden-grown products, the warmth of small town life, the earthy ethic of rock ‘n roll, a deep respect for a time-honored craft…and you have the ingredients of Mother Earth Brewing. Born in the summer of 2008, Mother Earth is the dream-child of Stephen Hill and Trent Mooring, two guys from Kinston, North Carolina, a sweet southern town in the heart of the old tobacco belt.”

Here are the description of a couple beers that caught my eye:
Endless River Kölsch
“A clean, crisp beer, Kolsch offers a very slight fruity flavor and aroma. It is light gold in color, with a delicate head. This light-bodied beer appeals to nearly everyone who samples it. Expect to enjoy a slight tang in the finish.”
Weeping Willow Wit
“This beer style is over 400 years old, and continues to enjoy overwhelming popularity. Offering low hop bitterness, it is easy to enjoy. It pours very hazy, with a light gold color… we say it’s like summertime in a glass. Bitter orange peel and fresh coriander add zest and depth to this refreshing beer.”

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Cocoa Beach Brewing

A new entrant in the fast growing Florida beer scene is Cocoa Beach Brewing Company.

Here is their beer list:
Cocoa Beach Pale Ale – A traditional American Pale Ale featuring two row malts, Nugget, Pearle, and Cascade Hops.

Cocoa Beach Key Lime Cerveza – Unique to Cocoa Beach Brewing Company, this Caribbean style beer is brewed with Pilsner Malt, Crystal Hops, and real Key West Lime.

Cocoa Beach Dirty Blonde – A refreshing, crisp, low(er) calorie beer brewed with Pilsner Malt and Crystal Hops.

“Just Some” Oatmeal Stout – Made with two-row pale malt, dark chocolate malt, black malt, and flaked oats – this rich stout is brewed with more than one ounce per gallon of Fuggle hops.

Sofa King Double IPA – Our take on the traditional India Pale Ale, our Double IPA is brewed with Pale and Crystal Malts. It is dry hopped with a generous amount of Simcoe hops.

Matt’s Special Bitter – Brewed with Maris Otter and Biscuit Malts, this complexly hopped British Ale is the brainchild of guest brewer Matt Backus.

Von Braun Ale – Our classic brown ale recipe, but with German Nobel hops. This unique beer with a Space Coast flair was a collaboration with guest brewer George Folmar.

Cocoa Beach Oktoberfest lager – Our version of the classic German beer, it is brewed with Vienna, Cara-Munich, and Victory Malts and traditional German Nobel hops.

The key lime cerveza sounds great. Much better than jamming a wedge of lime into a dirty Corona.

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Down on the hop farm

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When you think of Rogue Ales, I want you to think lodging too.

That’s right. You can stay at their B&B in coastal Oregon or at their micro-hop farm in Independence, Oregon. And all for pretty cheap.

Here is the address:
Chatoe Rogue Micro Hopyard, 3590 Wigrich Road, Independence, Ore.; 503-347-8288
For more information follow this LINK to their website
Double rooms at the house on this hops farm start at $90 per night.

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Gilgamesh Brewing

Another one of the reasons why I love the craft beer industry, (I think this is now reason #77) is that it is truly a labor of love for the entire family.
That is the case with Gilgamesh Brewing in Salem, Oregon. (remember-Salem is a growing beer town).
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“Brothers Mike, Nick and Matt along with their father, Lee have loved brewing beer at home for years and decided to take a crack at making a business at it. The family has been in the Salem area for over 40 years, with most of the family members growing up here and graduating from Sprague High School.”

Here is the beer list:
BLACK MAMBA
Brewed with earl grey tea leaves in lieu of hops, plus a hint of tangerine zest. A high gravity HOPLESS beer that is extremely aromatic and complex without the fruity finish. INcredibly drinkable.

COPPER
Mild maltiness with the perfect combination of hoppiness. Similar to a mild amber ale.

IPA
Here come the hops! This is a 60 minute IPA. We add our 3 favorite hops (Zeus, Simcoe and Amarillo) every minute during the brewing process, and then another pound per barrel added during fermentation. Very citrusy and floral. A Hophead’s dream ale.

HOPSCOTCH ALE
Our most popular ale. It has a very traditional Scottish style malty body with an additional smattering of hops added during the fermentation which adds a complimentary floral finish.

SEASONALS —-

CRANBERRY SAISON
Another hopless beer, brewed and fermented with local cranberries. It has a pleasant tartness with clove and banana esters.

CHOCOLATE MINT STOUT
No Hops again. The perfect combination of cocoa, locally grown mint, and stout beer flavor -without being too sweet. International award-winning Amano Chocolate’s Madagascar cocoa nibs are used.

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Breconshire Brewery

As promised, here is the 2nd Welsh entry.
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Breconshire Brewery is considered the leading Welsh light of their craft beer revival.

Two of their beers struck my fancy. First is Ramblers Ruin – “Dark amber, malty and well hopped with a beautifully balanced aftertaste; a champion Old Ale. High percentages of Crystal and Black Malt create the malt/biscuit undertones; bitterness and aroma are provided by Goldings and First Gold amongst others.”
Second was 6. “This 4.4% abv complex ale is the colour of Welsh Gold; smooth, full flavoured and brimming over with character. Oat and Rye malts give the redish hint to this golden ale, whilst Challenger, Goldings and Sovereign hops provide the bite that underscores the flavour profile. Like the Welsh team, this beer promises to make a great and lasting impression over this Six Nations….
4.4% abv”

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Purple Moose Brewery

Since I am striving to bring my faithful readers beer news that spans the globe. (ripped off Stephen King and Wide World of Sports, sorry) Today’s brewery spotlight falls on Wales! (Kudos to Pete Brown for bringing these breweries to my attention)

The first stop is the Purple Moose.
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Here is a little background…
“The Purple Moose Brewery is a ’10-Barrel’ micro-brewery based in the historic harbour town of Porthmadog, North Wales, close to the mountains of Snowdonia.”

Here is the important beer information…
“We currently produce four standard beers in both cask conditioned and bottled formats. These are Snowdonia Ale (3.6%), Madog’s Ale (3.7%), Glaslyn Ale (4.2%) Dark Side of the Moose (4.6%)”

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Badger Beer

This is one of the beers that I wish made it across the pond. We are starting to see more Bateman’s here in Los Angeles so hopefully, more esoteric British beers will find their way to my ‘fridge.

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The Badger website says this about the stinger…”Hall & Woodhouse Head Brewer, Tim Morris, who helped to brew the recipe for the ale said: “Stinger is made from fresh organic Dorset nettles from the River Cottage estate added to the copper. It has a grassy herbal aroma with subtle gooseberry and lemon citrus notes that build up towards the end of the glass. It is finished with a slightly spicy after taste that lingers beautifully.”

Check out their full range of beers HERE.

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Coastal Extreme Brewing

My trip around the country highlighting breweries from the comfort of the internet continues on to Rhode Island and Coastal Extreme.

What drew me to their brewery is their Cyclone series. This is what they say about “Cyclones are powerful, unique, and pass through quickly. We consider these beers “extreme”, because each one is either aggressively hopped, unusually flavorful, or high in alcohol, or has some combination of these characteristics. Each Cyclone is brewed with an original recipe for a less common beer style making them incredibly unique. They are then packaged into bottles only and shipped out in six packs. Since we are only making 1300 cases of each Cyclone, they do not last long. Also, just like the real storms that prowl the Atlantic each year, these beers are named with human names, starting with Alyssa, and continuing alphabetically from there.”
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Yet another cool twist that you only find at smaller craft brewers who care!

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Free State Brewing

In conjunction with my 50 Beers from 50 States challenge, I will highlight little known breweries from across the country. Here is some information from….KANSAS!
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“The Free State Brewing Co. opened in 1989 as the first legal brewery in Kansas in over 100 years. Located in a renovated inter-urban trolly station in historic downtown Lawrence, the Brewery was an early participant in the rejuvenation of the north end of the downtown business district. Led by the renovation and refurbishment of neighboring Liberty Hall and the Eldridge Hotel, the result has been a rebirth of the 600 block of Massachusetts Street”
And this is the brew that most caught might eye…OLD STORMY!
“A distinctive quality of Old Ales is that they undergo an aging process (often for years) on their yeast, contributing to a rich and often sweet oxidation character. Back in August of 2009 we aged a batch of Stormwatch Ale without it’s usual dry-hop addition and without carbonation. We then transferred the beer to various oak barrels, some originally used for wine, some for bourbon. Rather than blend the barrel-aged beer back together, we’ve chosen to keep each keg of old ale separate and allow the full expression of each individual barrel to shine through. The resulting beer is unique and complex, with notes of caramel, cherries, plums, coffee, vanilla, bourbon, and wine. Medium bodied and deep mahogany in color, Old Stormy has matured into a beer that only hints at its previous incarnation, Stormwatch; with decidedly less hop character and a greater emphasis on sweet, malty flavors. Old Stormy is a great ale to weather the winter storm season. Served at cellar temperature on the back bar. Bottom Line: A slightly sweet, malty, medium bodied, deep mahogany ale aged for no less than three months on a variety of barrels.”

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Tree Brewing

Now that the Winter Olympics are over, we can go back to BC for beer. Here is one place to head to. Tree Brewing in Kelowna.
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And the Raspberry Porter sounds good. “650 ml single bottle
5.0% AlcoholThe Raspberry Porter, takes the smooth dark chocolate character of the Spy Porter and adds a Raspberry twist.”