Follow Sean Inman to the best in craft beer
The new private label beer at the lovely little Altadena Beverage shop is a hazy IPA from Radiant Beer Co. I like the retro look of the label and the light blue UCLA color scheme and now it is time to taste the beer…
This has a proper hazy look to it and it also has the requisite palate grit as well so it is off to a solid start. The dominant flavor is lemon. One of the most lemony Hazies that I have had in recent memory. It has a really soft mouth feel but the hops keep delivering through it.
This new IPA from the hop wizards at Russian River Brewing is headlined by two hops that have yet to be given a fancy name, HQG #3 and HQG #4. These hops are from the Hop Quality Group Public Breeding Program.
It is RnD # 68. And this one is quite unique. It pours a dark yellow color with hints of orange and the aroma is subtle with a little hint of spice hidden. But then the flavors start zigging and zagging in new (to me) directions. There is grassy and dank. There is a teeny bit of stone fruit. And there is a herb and spice finish to it. All laid upon a light malty base. It is rare to have an IPA surprise because there are so many out there, but 68 does.
Even those the font on this new hazy IPA collaboration from Highland Park Brewery and Alvarado Street Brewery looks more like Buffon (former Italian goalkeeper) and not Button, I do like the 8-Bit game look of this label.
And does this ever pour hazy, a yellowy orange murk greets the eye. The first aroma is coconut and pineapple. Very Tiki. And this tastes like a smoothie. The hop bitterness has had every edge sanded off. There is a touch of grassiness when first sipped but that dissipates so the juice can flow.
I have expectations when it comes to Smog City Brewing and barrel-aged beers. They continue to set a high bar and their latest OE barleywine ages in Brandy barrels exceeds expectations.
The brandy just pours out of this. It must have been a super wet barrel. Near dessert levels this. Pours a dead black color. Lots of sugar to me with a growing abv heat from the over 12% barleywine. Getting some cake like notes here. Not that I am aficionado of fruit cake but this is redolent with that fullness. But mostly this is a brandy show and it is great.
There has been a lot of ISM Brewing posts this month (and last) and it continues with the following review of the L.A. Beer Week Unity Beer that ISM too the lead on this year….
Firstly, I really do like the label design. A smart mix of the elements you might see on a regular ISM can along with select L.A. images.
The IPA itself pours a light straw color. And overall, it is a nice lighter summer IPA. There is a nice bitterness and a concord grape taste that lingers. Little touch of breadiness as well. This is a perfect BBQ beer.
Even in a slower paced craft beer environment, I cannot keep up with all the ins and outs which is why, one night at Thee Elbow Room, a nice little restaurant and craft beer spot in Montrose, I saw something new at the top of the beer menu…
OPEN Brewing, based in Los Angeles. They seem to be located south of the Arts District in DTLA and they seem to be more about events and label art than beer though, to be fair, their “Lager crafted in collaboration with industry leader New Belgium Brewing and meticulously overseen by Award-Winning Master Brewer Ramon Tamayo”
The beer itself ticked the lager boxes and on a hot day will probably do the trick but it wasn’t memorable either. This lager occupies that vast middle ground of OK. Could have been a little slicker and maybe some extra malt character could have amped it up.
Right now it seems to be their only beer so the jury is out on OPEN as a whole.
Back again with another N/A beer review, still staying positive that there are additional good ones out there and I may have found one…
It is from Sober Carpenter and their Discovery Series and it is a Black IPA. When popping the can, there is a mini rush of piney hop notes that dissipates quickly but is a good omen. The green wort-y taste is there but the chocolate malts cover that enough so that the minimal hop flavor can make an appearance.
For me, I have found better beers in the darker realm. Most N/A seem to have muted hops and muted adjuncts but a good roasty malt can really help. It is why I like the Guinness 0.0 too.
Sober Carpenter has a new Mexican Lager out as well so, if I see it, I will see if they can do medium malty beers as well.
Got some new ciders from the lovely folks at 2 Towns Ciderhouse in Oregon and both are spot on perfect for hot SoCal weather.
Since I tastes a POG beer recently, I started with the POG Cosmic Crisp. First sip was a nice combo of orange and guava notes that started the song before the apple juice notes took the solo. Surprisingly, this is a 9% cider. It does not taste it at all. This is good but light on POGiness.
Water Wings brings in Clementine citrus from California, nice near wine-like aroma here. Quite punchy citrus which I like. Close to a smoothie experience. Bit of the old school Orange Julius. Apple takes a back seat and it works for this.
My first image of Colorado is more snow than tropical island but the brewers at Weldwerks Brewing Company concocted a smoothie sour with the POG acronym anyway.
POG Gelato is a sour with milk sugar and vanilla bean added and boy Weldwerks ain’t kidding around. POG G pours a pretty golden orange. This is like drinking a breakfast smoothie. It is very sweet. It is very guava and orange. Tastes like a melted ice cream. As it warms, there is a vanilla slickness left on the tongue. If it had been 12 ounces, I probably would have liked it more but by ounce 13, I got the gist.
There has been such a fantastic outpouring of support for Los Angeles by breweries far and wide in the wake of the devastating wildfires of this past January.
The charity program spearheaded by Common Space Brewery has garnered quite a bit of support from California and the rest of the Fractured States of America.
Here are my thoughts on the latest beers that I have had in the worldwide series…
Crowns & Hops with Malibu Brewing – this is my second C&H beer from this charity series and it has a little more sadness attached since the other brewery is Malibu Brewing who are so near the destruction. It is a West Coast IPA that pours a really light orange color with hints of yellow. The aroma is quite an astringent lemon and the flavor follows to an extent before going into pine territory. Very punchy and not for the fearful of hops.
There Does Not Exist – love the little E character from the brewery name logo moved to the We in We Love L.A.. There is a bit of a sweet tart candy aroma in this lager from SLO. That shows in the flavor as well before the malt notes sneak in all quiet like. This has more of a pilsner snap to it. Overall, I do like it.