Follow Sean Inman to the best in craft beer
Burnin Daylight may want to amend the name to Burn 4 since they will be on sale in 4-pack cans. But since this is the first Anniversary IPA from the Lomita brewery, this name fits to. Debuting on draft as well on Saturday, February 1st from 11:30-5PM.
Here is how the brewery characterizes the IPA, ““Burn One” is a dry and clear West Coast IPA featuring the hop STRATA with dank notes of passion fruit and strawberry coming in at 6.5% ”
Boomtown Brewery is dropping their first Artist Series Double IPA tomorrow and they have tabbed Matt Sharack (also known as Sharackula) to design the can label. As you can see this is a Western meets Halloween look and inside, the IPA is powered by Amarillo and Cryo Mosaic hops. Don’t try to get into a shootout afterwords though. This is an 8.2% DIPA and will make that shot go a little wide.
Gonna inaugurate a new monthly feature where I highlight great beer names (paired with great design, hopefully) on SoCal beers that you should be on the lookout for. The initial pair is below…
2020 starts off hoppy for Firestone Walker as the 15th Luponic Distortion finds its fruity way to shelves. Then Propagator brings the grapefruit citrus into a single hop Citra Hazy.
I love seeing beers in packaging that is not usually associated with a style which is why it is cool to see that Los Angles Ale Works has put their Jazz Forever Bourbon Barrel-Aged beer in 12oz cans. The beer is described by the Hawthorne brewery as, “A smooth and choco lately blend of Imperial Stout, Barley Wine, and Roggenbock.”
No matter what side of the tracks you come from, currently reside in, you are East of something. And so you will be able to enjoy this coming release from Angel City.
The lager is described as, ” The first of the series, Export Lager is a balanced, crisp lager with floral notes produced from the choicest grains and hops. The brewery has been brewing versions of the style under various names, and in 2019 this final version won Gold for the Pale European Beer category in The California Craft Brewer’s Competition. Inspired by those fairly underrepresented classic lager styles found in Northern Germany, export lagers are known for robust malt flavor and spicy hop character.”
There are still days left in the year (nigh decade) but 2020 looms and Ogopogo has an ominous beer for us, ‘Nián Shòu.
Gotta add that Ogopogo is killing the label art game right now. This is one of the coolest designs with all the beer info and backstory easily accessible.
When it comes to series that rotate from hop to hop. It is usually IPAs or rarely pale ales or Saisons. But Enegren rotates a new hop to pilsner and this month brings a classic, Cascade. Draft or 4-packs available.
Lost Abbey is no stranger to spin-off lines. Hop Concept is their IPA offshoot and now they are launching Tiny Bubbles in 2020 with 4-packs of slim 12oz cans starting with two flavors, brut and rosé. I applaud that Tomme Arthur and crew have not bowed to the seltzer whims (which will come back to bite some, methinks) and have taken their core competency and put a spin on it.
Bob Kunz and the team at Highland Park Brewery can IPA with the best but you should seek out their pilsners. The latest in cans is RoboPils which the brewery describes as a “5.8% ABV very hoppy Pilsner hopped with a huge amount of Strata & Citra hops. The combo of those hops will give off big aromas & flavors of grapefruit, passionfruit, & lots of floral notes.” You can get cans for $17 per four pack.