Follow Sean Inman to the best in craft beer
These are the beers that I wish I could taste for the first time.
No, Eagle Rock Brewery did not host the Unity brew this year but that does not mean that they can’t add a new beer to the #LABW7 mix.
Hence, Milo the Oatmeal Pale Ale, a quite sessionable 5% ABV filled with El Dorado hops and oats. Check it out at their tap room before, during or after L.A. Beer Week.
I appreciate the base beer choice by Stone and their collaborative partners. Past that I really don’t know. Three of those ingredients are sugar filled and the other might not have a chance to balance the proceedings. Oh and beet juice? And lacto?
I am very picky when it comes to Black (Cascadian) IPA’s. Balance is important and that is a hard trick to manage with that sub-style. But I think a Vanilla Bean IPA from the Hoppin’ Frog might be even harder to manage. Would it impart a creamy, nitro-esque note? Or would it become a fight between sweet and bitter. File this under get a taster first.
Personally, a Cuddlebug sounds more dangerous than a Sabre Toothed Squirrel.
But a sour blonde with both peaches and apricots sounds too delicious to pass up. And at $12 a bottle, it is on the easier to purchase side than others on the market.
If you are a stonefruit fan then head to Smog City tomorrow and pick up a bottle or two. And if they have any other sours on, give them a try too.
I must say that I do like currants more than Gooseberries but I am curious as how to either, let alone combined, will work in a sour. But Mammoth Brewing Company has their spin on it for their 2015 Harvest Series. I might just be adventurous to try it.
Salted caramel brownie ale. Sounds too much by even Ben & Jerry standards. Maybe if it is light enough on both the salt and the base beer then the chocolate notes and the caramel will be able to play off each other in a balanced way. But New Belgium does have a way with chocolate and they have done stranger beers.
A brewery in Yosemite or Crater Lake or Jellystone Park?
Now, not every National or State Park is a fit for a brewery but after reading the All About Beer piece by Leslie Fisher about the Superior Bathhouse Brewery made me think how government can re-purpose and re-invigorate unused or underutilized buildings in historic areas. Without resorting to actors playing historical brewers.
But this article shows that it is a two-way street. The owner, Rose Schweikhart, has molded what she is doing to fit the community and the visitors. Gelato and a restaurant aren’t normally on the minds of brewing start-ups. Getting partially brewing ready water without having to heat it yourself is also new.
The next wave of brewers are going to have to be looking for these hidden opportunities as the prime industrial spaces become more and more scarce.
Now I just need a sugar daddy to fly me to the hot springs so I can sip a local kolsch under the magnolia trees because that sounds like heaven.
First Anchor Brewing came out with an IPA and now they are doubling up their iconic Liberty Ale. Literally doubling the hops and the IBU’s according to the flavor notes from the Brookston Beer Bulletin. And I hope that I can find the regular Liberty so that I can taste compare the original to the updated double.
Thanks to Cismontane there is another lager for SoCal. And it is great to have a Vienna Lager, I mean Cerveza, sorry. This style is overlooked even though it pairs very well with spicy and heavy food. Or at 4.6% ABV it makes for a great, uncomplicated Session beer.
In Hollywood, there is the oft-repeated phrase, “But I really want to direct.” Actors become directors as do writers and producers. The same motivation seems to be in place for breweries. I want to brew but I really want to have a barrel-aging program.
Not, of course, a bad thing. It just came to mind when hearing about the second release in the Scientific Series from Surf Brewery, of Ventura. The limited release Oil Piers Porter, aged in French Oak Merlot barrels came out in mid-February.
“The culmination of close to three years of barrel aging in French oak and artful blending at their newly established barrel aging warehouse in Moorpark, CA., has resulted in this dark porter featuring lush flavors from the barrel on top of rich chocolate malt with just enough oak flavor to draw out the finish.”
Coming next from the Scientific Series barrels will be a Belgian Tripel, a blonde, plus more porter and a Flanders red sour.