Category: Brewery Tour

A concise brewery bio

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1st Anniversary of The Bruery

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First things first. Kudos to all at the Bruery for throwing a great party. There wasn’t even any sour faces at the sour bar.

I will begin with the beer reviews. My goal was to sample new offerings first. I started at the aforementioned Sour Bar and I was glad I did. The Gypsy Tart was an excellent Flanders red. Easy drinking, full of flavor. Tart without being puckery. On par with the Ommegang Flanders Red.

The next beer truly surprised me. I selected it mostly out of curiosity. Melange # 1 is a mix of Russian Imperial Stout and Flemish Red. I truly loved this beer. They got the mix just right for my palate. Dark and fruity. Like having chocolate and raspberries. I recommended it to all that I talked to yesterday. Anytime I see it, I will order it up.

I followed that with their anniversary beer, Papier. To me it was a little too much. It is close in flavor to the Melange # 3. Both are dark and bourbon-esque. Good to sip by the fireplace in the cabin by the woods.

Next was the Hottenroth Berliner Weisse. The sourest of them all wasn’t at the Sour Bar. I really enjoyed it. 3.1% alcohol. So easy to drink. I could see adding some fruit syrup to balance out the sour but it was great on it’s own.

100% Brett Saison de Lente was very good as well. Full bodied almost amber. A very balanced beer. A complex beer.

That was the end of the beers I had not tasted before. To finish, I had the Humulus Blonde and the White Zin. The blonde is nice but tasted differently from one I had previously at Blue Palms. Not as hoppy as I remembered. The White Zin was good as usual. Zippy with a nice sharp wine taste to it.

Food wise the BBQ from Beachwood BBQ was great. Even tried a fried pickle. The dessert plate was awesome. Belgian waffle, three types of cheese and bacon wrapped in chocolate. Heavenly!
dessert

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Uncommon Brewers

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Uncommon Brewers is a community-oriented organic microbrewery based in Santa Cruz. Incorporating traditional Belgian brewing techniques, cutting-edge innovation from the modern West Coast, and grounded in the principles of sustainability voiced by the Slow Food Movement, Uncommon Brewer’s goal is to make uncommon beers for uncommon people.

Their beers include:
Golden State Ale – a golden ale made with poppy seeds
Baltic Porter – brewed with anise
Siamese Twin – a Belgian double made with coriander, kaffir lime & lemongrass

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Kinsale Brewing

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Kinsale is a beautiful spot on the southern coast of Ireland. The type of place you visit then decide to stay longer. Great pubs, great food town, a wine museum and Kinsale Brewing. This is good solid pale ale country. Anyone who buys a six pack of Heineken or Stella would love this. I cannot recommend the town and the brewery highly enough. The photo below should sell you on going…
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Crannog Ales

For people who are near the Okanagan Valley in Canada (count yourself lucky)

“Crannóg Ales is Canada’s only Certified Organic farmhouse microbrewery, one of only a handful of such breweries in the world. We brew unfiltered, unpasteurized ales using only organic ingredients, some of which come right from our own farm. All our ales reflect the Irish tradition of brewing full-flavoured, complex ales which are also great session beers.”

This brewery is in the top three of beer sights to see.  I love their ethos and passion.  It is part of why I am drawn to beer.  Brewers and drinkers alike have a passion that is just great to be a part of, very infectious love of doing great things. Plus they have a beer called Back Hand of God.  I love that.

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Los Angeles Beer Festival

A beautiful Southern California day to have beer…

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…Culver City to be exact on the Sony Studios lot.

The Los Angeles Beer Fest!!

A very smoothly run event I must say. Free parking which is a plus on the west side. Check-in was smooth and kept separate from the entry line. A very nice selection of quality brews on hand.

On the down side, a sizable portion of the crowd was ex-frat party boys. Lagunitas only brought bottles no kegs and Bud and Michelob were on hand. But to be fair, no one seemed shy about trying something new and even Anheuser had Hoegarden Wit on tap so effort was being made.

On to what I had before I had to call it quits.

The Bruery – Saison de Lente

Excellent beer that seemed a little toned down from a bottled version that I had before. Light and refreshing though.

Left Coast Brewing – Hop Juice

Not the hop bomb I was hoping for so I would have to rank this as a middle of the road IPA

Alaskan Brewing – Summer Ale

Only so, so to me. I don’t know why but I much prefer their darker beers.

Pyramid – Rollick Amber

Very nice malty taste. One of the better Ambers that I have had and one of the best that I tasted.

Angel City Brewing – Che

Also very nice. Balanced. Not too malty and not to hoppy but with a bit of spice to it.

Dale Brothers – Black Beer

Sort of bland to me. Not bad but did not compete with the others.

Skyscraper Brewing – Sancha Lager

Excellent. In the top three. Light and refreshing lager. Would make a good session beer.

Dean Brothers – IPA

Unfortunately, did not taste right. Acidic and not hoppy.

Widmer – Drifter Pale Ale

I really like this beer. Spicy and fruity and great on a summer day.

Bootleggers Brewery – Hefeweizen

Plain. No banana or cloves. Below average to me.

The Bruery – Orchard White

You can’t go wrong with their beers. Complex but not overpowering. I wish they had brought more than two beers.

Coronado Brewing – Orange

Fair. Drifter from Widmer blows it away though.

If I had more tolerance I would have had more from the large selection that Angel City had brought and I would have tried Shipyard and Deschutes and Kona but my limit was reached.

Overall, I give the event an A.

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Jolly Pumpkin Brewing

These guys do some seriously great Belgian beer. I have had their Bam Bier and La Roja.  Very good.  Subtle too, which is good for a Belgian beer.  They have many great special beers too.  Newly out is one called Firefly.  According to Beer Advocate they are the 8th best brewery in America.

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New Glarus Brewing

This is one of two breweries that I wish had beer here in Los Angeles. I have had the Belgian Red and the Raspberry Tart and both were beyond excellent. To give you an idea of the styles they have, here are their “unplugged” beers for 2009….Iced Barleywine, Imperial Saison, Eisbock and an Olde English Porter. Makes you want to go to Wisconsin.

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Eagle Rock Brewing

This is a great blog. http://eaglerockbrewery.wordpress.com/

It is all about the building of a brewpub. It is both fascinating and frustrating. But the end of story will be great beer in Los Angeles.

eaglerockbrew

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Double Mountain Brewing

They are relatively new to the Hood River, Oregon scene but they do some excellent brews.  Many seasonals that I wish I could get my hands on.  They do a Killer Green IPA each year that hope to taste from the tap.  They do an excellent IRA – India Red Ale and they do a coffee beer with local coffee roaster Ten Speed.stout