There is an international collaboration out in the last weeks from Smog City Brewing and Nepomucen Brewery from Szkaradowo, Poland. And it’s a Baltic Porter! A win for diversity in beer styles.
Chocolate Vanilla Baltic
Sean Suggests for January 2025
Two out of three ain’t bad, right? The first two beers are collaborations between brewery and outside partner. They are also both in the 5% range. Then there is Sadie. An excellent outlier any day.
Paperback Brewing Crazy Clown Time Blonde – 5.1% – “Circus Liquor collaboration Blonde Ale”
Bright Spark Fika Swedish Coffee Milk Stout – 5.8% – coffee collaboration with Beacon coffee.
Beachwood Sadie Batch 11 – 12% – “This is our 11th batch of this expressive strong ale that spends a year in American bourbon & whiskey barrels—rich caramel and vanilla flavors are intertwined with delicate notes of oak and toasted oats. This adventurous beer is as spirited and delightful as the girl who inspired it.”
Review – Mere Visions West Coast IPA from ISM Brewing and Brujos Brewing
Gotta powerhouse hype combo for the review today, ISM Brewing in Long Beach have paired up with Portland’s Brujos Brewing on a straight up West Coast IPA, Mere Visions.
This has got to be one of the lightest straw yellow IPAs that I have come across. Hopped with an impressive roster of Columbus Cryo, Mosaic Cryo, Strata, Simcoe and Chinook. Very well balanced overall. That Simcoe smell comes through. There is a medium hop hit before a soft bed of wheat notes. You could call this a White IPA as well.
N/A Review – Galaxy Ripple and Double Hopped Hop Water
We start this N/A duo with Best Day Brewing and their Galaxy Ripple, which they call an Imperial IPA maybe as a joke? From my experience, imperial denotes higher abv, but non-alcoholic should be under .5%, so not quite getting that designation.
That label mis-step aside, there is a goodly hop aroma when you pop open the can. And to my surprise, this doesn’t taste super worty like many in this category. And for once, there are plenty of hops here. Probably my first actual hoppy low alcohol IPA. There is a bit of tropical fruit here too making this way more complex than average.
Next up is the Double Hopped Hop Water from, well, HopWtr. Most of their waters have jumped the hop shark and tend to be just fruity sparkle water, sorry Wtr, but this one caught my eye because of the hop double down. There is a weird grassy cat pee aroma when the can is opened. Once vented, this does have a better taste than smell. Getting a grassy cannabis vibe from it.
Two Stage
Cheers are in order as Russian River Brewing has a special Pliny coming in January! Double Dry-Hopped The Elder is making its bottle debut.
Pale February
Count me as a big fan of festivals that populate those smaller niches and Pale Fest from Institution Ale Co. easily falls into that category.
Keep up with their social media to get the date and ticket details.
Shift
There is no slowing the collaboration train. Whatever happens this year will not move that needle. Speaking of, there is a LA – SAC out now from Arrow Lodge Brewing and Moksa Brewing, Tectonic Shift West Coast IPA hopped up with the quartet of Mosaic, Nelson, Nectaron & Motueka.
“a dank & crispy West Coast IPA – the type of pint we’d reach for after a long shift. It so happened that California got a bit of an earthquake and tsunami scare right in the middle of brew day, so we added that little bit of inspiration to the name! With its big dank and citrus zest aromas, super light and clean body, and a lingering resinous finish, we’re all shook up over this one.”
Blue and Gold Reality
Moonlight Brewing ended 2024 (or started 2025) strong with a winter pils. “A nod to our classic Reality Czeck Style Pilsner and the Czech holiday tradition of higher gravity beer. 14° P Special clocks in at 6.7% ABV with extra special hops, grains and all the mouth watering deliciousness of a Moonlight Pilsner with a little
extra to keep you warm and fuzzy.”
The Bracket is Set
Starting tonight, Native Son craft beer bar in Downtown L.A. is having friendly contests. Each Thursday is a Thirsty Thursday with two breweries going head-to-head.
The first duel is between ISM Brewing and There Does Not Exist. And the rest of the bracket is similarly stacked.
4.8% if by Land
Sierra Nevada will be going agricultural with their upcoming new Estate Series Heirloom Landbier that will be brewed with 100% homegrown purple Egyptian barley. This new 4.8% lager will come in 16.9oz bottles so quite different from the current can culture.
