Discovery Afternoons – Page 3

March 9, 2013September 11, 2018

Journey to the Center of the Barrel – Part 2

Firestone-Walker ain’t what it used to be. It’s bigger. My last visit to both their Paso Robles brewery and the Taproom and restaurant in Buellton was many years ago. I had heard about the changes and the new equipment and the addition of Barrelworks but I was not prepared for the scope of the expanded footprint of their entire operation.

They have added space everywhere on what is fast becoming a Firestone-Walker dominated stretch of land just off the 101. They have a huge restaurant where you can get the Central Coast Locals Only beer, 805. They have warehouse space for their “traditional” barrel aging that you see in such releases as their anniversary beer. And these large tanks are another (albeit large) sign of the changes taken place.

The brewery has been tricked out as well as expanded. Brewmaster Matt Brynildson now has new toys like a wet mill which maximizes yield from the grains while using less energy and added an automated hop doser. Which will make the bitterness you get from Union Jack even more consistent.

2012 proved to be a major year of growth for Firestone-Walker and it was great to get a tour of the whole facility and see all the changes firsthand.

March 6, 2013September 11, 2018

FoodGPS Teaser – White Labs

Tomorrow’s FoodGPS post under the Brew & You banner is all about my recent trip to San Diego and the very important White Labs.

You will read about why they are important but for now, here are some photos by my beer compadre Richard taken during the beer adventure….

The "test tube" tap handles. — The “test tube” tap handles.

Two of the seven ESB collaborations with Coronado.

March 6, 2013September 11, 2018

Beer in Miramar

In addition to finally making it to the White Labs, me and beer buddy Richard also hit three other extremely, really close breweries near the Miramar area just north of San Diego proper.

And we still didn’t visit Alesmith or Ballast Point!

First stop was Hess (or Mike Hess) Brewing…..

The Line-Up. My favorite was the Claritas Kolsch.

Next stop was Rough Draft Brewing (some of their bottles are making their way to L.A.)

The Belgian Blonde and Eraser IPA were the winners here.

The tasting room was big with couches to sit on.

Last on the itinerary was Green Flash….

This is barely a 1/4 of the size of their facility.

Richard "Untapping" his selection. — Richard “Untapping” his selection.

April 22, 2012September 12, 2018

Drinking with My Mom

In this “every once in awhile” series, I either send a bottle to my mom and get her review or she sends me a bottle and we both review it. That way, she gets some L.A. beers and I get my Portland beer fix.

This time around, I sent her cans. 16oz Golden Road cans of their Point the Way IPA and Hefeweizen. And to add another twist, she grabbed some friends to get their reviews. Mom was partial to the IPA. Though she thought it was more a pale. Name aside, she liked it.

The Hefe got good marks. “nice light summer beer” and “very mellow” The citrus did not come through but the cloudy banana that are hallmarks of the style certainly did.

The IPA impressed at first but the vibrancy and flavors faded as it warmed. But the balance was done well.

As a bonus, the Ninkasi / 21st Amendment collaboration was also sampled. The dates didn’t shine through, in fact a creme brulee taste was noted as well as barley wine notes to it. Certainly an interesting addition to a tasting.

Now I have to decide what next to send to my Mom.

October 3, 2011September 12, 2018

While the beer world was in Denver….

So the craft beer world was tilted towards Colorado, I didn’t sit on the couch grousing that I wasn’t there. Especially since my football team was winning (Go Linfield!)

I took to the road and visited 4 SoCal breweries. The first stop was Cismontane for the release of their Double Rainbow DIPA….

DSCN9415 — My driver and fellow craft beer fanatic Richard

We got to sample the “regular” version of Double Rainbow….

DSCN9412 — ..and the cask version as well!

Cismontane even grows a few hops outside their pleasant little industrial park tasting room….

DSCN9420 — hops mark the entrance to Double Rainbow, Black's Dawn and Coulter

Next stop is the fairly new Anaheim Brewing. Another pretty interior in which to drink beer and aside from me in the foreground…

DSCN9424 — a nice patio to enjoy beer on a sunny SoCal day.

I will have to sample more to make a complete assessment of their creations…

DSCN9427 — maybe I will try out the regular stable of beers like the Hefe or Golden.

Richard and I sampled the Tavern Ale and the Oktoberfest both of which were underwhelming in comparison to Cismontane.

and all of the choices on that board. The big winner was the Humulus Wet. Which in my opinion is the equal of Kern River’s Citra (which are both better than a certain PtY). Big citrus aroma. Light on the tongue. A hit of bitterness. Just delightful. The Berazzled was awfully good too. Almost a raspberry soda. Re-tried the Autumn Maple and still had a difficult time with it. To strong and medicinal to me.

DSCN9438 — I bought yet another bottle of batch 300 tripel too!

Our final stop was a quick jaunt to Eagle Rock Brewery to get a taster of Populist and to buy a small growler. Then home to sleep!

June 28, 2011September 12, 2018

Stone SourFest

My beer buddy Richard and I traveled to Escondido for the pleasure of puckery sour beer at Stone Brewing. And at 10am no less.

We arrived and quickly received are elegant sampler glasses, our 15 taster tickets and the menu…..

I started with Sang Royal from famed (and often mentioned on this blog) Cascade Brewery in Portland which had (6) sours on the menu. Of which I sampled two. The Vine with it’s big white grape taste and milder acidity was my favorite. We found a rock wall to sit on at the lowest level and plotted our sour choices on the sunny day…

My plan was to alternate between fruit sours and barrel aged sours. Mostly to keep the acidity level in check. (Even though I brought some Tums in case). And because there were so many choices, 53 on tap plus 49 bottles, it was easy to do.

There were only a couple of duds in the 11 that I sampled but they were far outweighed by two from Cantillon that were simply amazing. The Lou Pepe Kriek and the Iris.

The kriek was like a spiced cherry pie. It was a cloudy red with excellent aroma. My number one choice of the day.

If you went this year or last, what were your favorites?

June 21, 2011September 12, 2018

Pour it Black

One of the announcements lost in the shuffle (a bit) on the Stone grand expansion plans was the addition of the Pour it Black festival.

More will be said later but for now, save the date.

One beer that might be in attendance is the latest collaborative brew….

June 13, 2011September 12, 2018

Ultimate Brown Bag

On Saturday, Blue Palms put brown bags over their taps and for four hours, us lucky attendees, had to guess what beer they had in front of them. Out of 24, I got 0 exact matches which I expected but I picked 9 of the styles correctly. But I had only half of the beers before in my beer drinking life. And some beers like New Belgium’s Metric 10 defy easy categorization.

My favorite beer of the afternoon was the Green Hill Dry Hopped Blonde. It was sparkly and semi-sour at first but then this cloudy yellow beauty faded into a delightful grainy/oaty taste that contrasted with the sourness extremely well. I also heartily enjoyed Josh Jensen’s chamomile home brew. A really unique twist of a beer that was really well balanced. There were some truly distinctive brews. Ladyface Sauv Blanc Saison, Avery 18th Anniversary Rye Saison to name two.

On whole the IPA’s fared poorly in comparison to simpler brews like the Marin Chocolate Porter or Eagle Rock’s Yearling. Primarily because after one tongue scraper the bitterness can be too heavy. And a beer with bold but palate friendly flavors can really refresh.

As usual, Blue Palms has put on a good show. Time just flew by as people discussed what they were tasting and compared notes.

Here are the photos of the event…..

The Ultimate Brown Bag — The schedule of events

DSCN8522 — ...but first, brunch with Consecration Pancakes with Angel Share syrup

DSCN8525 — trying to be a discerning beer taster

April 11, 2011September 12, 2018

an afternoon of colLAborating

the sign — The logo is cool but the idea behind it is even better.

Last Saturday, I got to spend a lovely spring LA day drinking beer. Great craft beer at the ColLAboration pop-up Beer Garden. I partook of Stone Vanilla Bean, Bear Republic Double Rocket. Red Poppy from Lost Abbey but my surprise favorite was the habanero Sculpin from Ballast Point. So balanced that I imagine the technical skill it took to pull that trick off. I probably can’t do a pint of it because of my low scovill tolerance but the few sips I had were great. 2nd place went to Brouwerij West’s Blonde. Perfect on a summer day. I love both of their beers.

lenzo1 — Brian from Blue Palms talks the beer list.

warf pour — Volunteer Alex with the pour.

better glass full — A blonde ale from Brouwerij West to start the day.

me and bl — Me with Brian Lethcoe from Nibble Bit Tabby.

one dark one empty — vanilla bean porter and triple exultation. Guess the brewers!

More analysis to come on FoodGPS on Thursday morning.

March 5, 2011September 12, 2018

Dave’s Brewfarm

Eco friendly and craft beer go together like chocolate and peanut butter. You got HUB in Portland, New Belgium in Fort Collins and now the wind powered beer of Wisconsin, Dave’s Brewfarm!

Lupulo Noir is roasted malt and a boatload of hops.

Saison Farmfresh is an estate hop mashed up with French Saison list.

and check out RateBeer for some of their other fine beers!