Follow Sean Inman to the best in craft beer
Thanks to my extremely kind and generous uncle up in Oregon, I was able to procure some delightful NW beers from my choice for internet craft beer sellers, Let’s Pour.
Here is what I chose, layer by layer……
and finally….
Stay Tuned because my sister and my wife also gave me credits on the Let’s Pour site. More boxes are on the way!
Apropos to start 2014 with a reboot. I mean Hollywood does it all the time. Every time with younger actors. This reboot is a re-release of the white IPA collaboration that Boulevard Brewing did with Deschutes Brewery and is now part of the Smokestack Series. It pours a light orange. Good crisp carbonation bite at first which fades into the familiar Belgian notes of clove and earth. (At least for me) The hops aren’t a big presence here so those looking for bitterness will only get a bit which are mostly in use to balance the Belgian side of the flavor ledger. Not bad. Smooth as it warms. I think that I prefer the first iteration of this beer, if forced to make a choice on a dessert island.
I am excited to find some new TV shows to watch in 2014 and the one that is now on the top of my wishlist after Sherlock is another BBC import, Orphan Black. I missed this one when it was airing but thanks to streaming and downloading, I have a 2nd chance to catch it.
I don’t much care for the new Cismontane labels but I do like the little touch of the dog and the citrus slice. This little part works. And so does the beer. This liquer looking beer pours without a head and the aroma is not blasting sour at you. Much more restrained . More cognac to my nose. But the taste gets back down to sour business. Tart on the lips and quite a bit of citrus that is tempered by the wood notes. Not tangy but mellow and sour at the same time. Nice and complex. Thanks to the Cap’n for voyaging down south to pick this beer up for me.
The last video review of 2013 is from Angel City Brewing right here in Los Angeles….
I highly recommend a visit to their brewery. It is a super cool place to have a beer in L.A.
This beer was part of my haul back from my Thanksgiving trip to the Bay Area. Just now finding time to squeeze in the review. All the Christmas beers monopolized space (in a good way).
This hybrid RyePA / Belgian Style from Headlands Brewing Co. pours a dark luminescent orange color. Lots of lacing left on the glass. I have never heard of this brewery until I saw the shiny silver can with a simple label stuck to it at City Beer in San Francisco. It has a kick of citrus to it. (Which is why the Satsuma is in the photo). It has a sharp Belgian twang of farmyard funk to it. They rye gets subsumed by those two notes though it does show up briefly in the aftertaste. Quite interesting and I am glad I took the chance on the 16oz can. And I wish I had seen their pilsner, Pt. Bonita. Because I would have picked that up too.
I was going to recommend the book, The Telling Room in this spot but I am part-way through and I am not digging it. Not at all. This book has more footnotes than actual writing and it makes reading a bit of a slog. So instead, I will recommend that you download and watch the Doctor Who Christmas special. It will probably be available on the 26th. You can wait if you wish because the next season won’t start until late 2014.
Ninkasi was kind enough to make my holiday a little more joyous by sending me their holiday seasonal, Sleigh’r. Very true to their rock n roll roots. Hence another seasonal Maiden the Shade. This dark brown Alt, a style you don’t normally get is very smooth. The 7.2 is well hidden. I catch a little bit of weisse action plus some mild chocolate notes. A slight hop note gives this a more American tinge than German in a good way. Great name and a great label and a holiday beer that I look forward to trying every year.
I found this beer at a wondrous shop in Healdsburg, California by the name of The Shed. They had two other bottles on the shelf but this large format bottle caught my eye. As did the style. Sparkling ales are a rare species and one with local Starthistle honey are even more rare. Cali-Craft is in the Bay Area and has a former Honest Tea employee, Blaine Landberg at the helm. This beer pours a light yellow. The first aroma is beer but then you sniff again and you come up with wine notes. The taste is similarly split. There is a light golden ale that blends into champagne notes and then back. The honey is prevalent without being super sweet or cloying. It is indeed light and zesty. I now wish that I had bought two!
Not one of my favorite labels from Gigantic Brewing but I do like the quote on the side. Very cool and fits into many points in a person’s life. This stylistic mash-up pours a dark reddish / brown color with a nice off white head to it. Aroma is a little alcohol heavy with a sprinkling of citrus. This is a cheek warmer. Solid herbal and citrus mix of bitterness with a nice malt punch to it. But the bitterness here is the star. Hitting hard at the start and lingering with each sip. I think I may like hoppy amber more than Black IPA’s.
On the non-beer side of the ledger, I have to tout Grantland again. The rambling and funny discussions between Malcolm Gladwell and Bill Simmons are great and thought provoking with many ideas that I wish were implemented in the world of sports.
I like the idea of the organic hop and I like that Almanac has gone to the old school C hops like Cascade, Cluster and Chinook. The wet hop Chinook pours orange brown in color. Spice is the primary note in both the aroma and flavor. There are some minor grapefruit notes as well the fruit and the pith. Nice mixture of viscous and sparkle. Usually you only get one or the other. Now I really want to sample the other two of the group.
I am a fan of the re-booted Dr. Who and I was one of the nerds who eagerly downloaded the 50th Anniversary special, the Day of the Doctor. But I also watched the movie “An Adventure in Space and Time” written by Mark Gatiss who is Mycroft on the BBC Sherlock. Really fun to see a spin of how Dr. Who came into being and I highly recommend it. You can get it on Amazon or iTunes.
Onto Round 2 of the BrewDog TV review!
This post revolves around the Seattle, Portland and Denver episodes.
Since I wrote a small piece about a coffee beer for November BeerPaper LA and I am writing a larger piece about coffee and brewing for December, I was glad to see that the show went with the obvious for the Seattle episode. And though the molecular gastronomy was enlightening with the beer pairings, I would have skipped the added caffeine boost section and given more screen time to the chocolatier and the baristas and Elysian. That’s a personal preference though.
The Denver / Boulder show scared me a bit with the meat smoked thing though I liked the choice of pale ale. On the whole this one is probably the weakest so far. Maybe because it was titled Denver, I was expecting more of actual Denver but no mention except for brief bits on Great Divide and Strange. Plus they like Falling Rock which might be good outside of GABF but has a Toronado SF vibe that I don’t like. I much prefer Freshcraft. The gourmand section was fun too. It is my favorite segment of the show by far.
I was really excited to see the Portland show seeing that it is my hometown. A little strange to see them partner with Deschutes. Nothing against them but they don’t scream Portland to me. Much like my issue with the Denver show, call it Oregon or Colorado if you are going farther afield. The beer style was inspired though and takes a play from the Beers Made by Walking idea. My favorite beer that I won’t get to try. The food section ranks second behind the Philly donut section.
Overall, the show really works for me though. I enjoy the accents and the self-deprecating humor. They seem to be enjoying themselves which helps the viewer to enjoy the show!