Category: I would love to taste,,,

These are the beers that I wish I could taste for the first time.

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Amalgamated hops

One of my favorite purveyors of bitter IPA’s, Beachwood Brewing has been releasing bottles of selected beers from their line-up and they go fast!  And probably none will go faster than Amalgamator.  One of my favorite IPA’s from Julian Shrago.

Beachwood-Amalgamator-IPA-label

Oh and three other Beachwood notes:

1. SourFest is underway at both locations.  If you like tart, head there pronto

2. Drake’s Brewing Company and Beachwood Brewing have come together to brew a collaboration IPA,  Mind Melder IPA.  From the press release, “for his part, Julian offered up his thoughts on the most reasonable brewing methods for bringing the beer to their mutual standards on his system, and John brought in sexy hops, El Dorado and Nelson, to intensify the fresh lemon and tropical fruit aromas to their utmost potential.”

3. Another Beachwood favorite is in the bottling pipeline!

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They are certainly busy, industrious folks at Beachwood.

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Enter the Hop House

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I am starting to really enjoy the Belgian IPA style.  And yes, I know, this new Ommegang offering is a pale but I like the interplay of the Belgian funk and the bitterness of the hops.  It eases the throttle on both flavors.

I am torn about the new label design though.  It does look fresher and more of a brand than before but the graphics are muted to me.  Maybe it is the colors that are not to my liking.

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Sample the Boulevard

BOULEVARD

Boulevard Brewing Company’s is changing up how you will get their newest beers. It will be in their “Sample Twelve” package which “will feature three bottles each of two exclusive Tasting Room beers.”

I don’t normally buy sampler packs.  Space is an issue (because my fridge is usually pretty full).  But also because there are sometimes clinkers in the pack.  Something you now have three or four of to drink or pawn off on someone else.  But….

More from their press release: “The first two new beers included in the pack are Westside Rye Ale, a sessionable beer with a slightly spicy character, and Mid-Coast I.P.A. —at 100-plus IBU’s, the hoppiest member of Boulevard’s current family. Unfiltered Wheat Beer and 80-Acre Hoppy Wheat Beer will round out the initial Sample Twelve lineup.”

Because, we in L.A. are just getting some Boulevard and I happen to see this sampler, it will be all new beers for me and will be good to split with a drinking buddy.  (looking at you, Cap’n)

The 12 pack will be  “rotated with new selections in early 2014.”

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Your 2013 Decadence

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If you think of AleSmith and their Decadence Anniversary beers, and you had to guess as to what style they would brew for 2013, I don’t think that a dark lager would have been amongst your top 3 guesses. And I like it that a brewery can still keep people guessing.

“Decadence was first released in 2005 to celebrate our 10 year anniversary. AleSmith has released a new version of Decadence each year around our anniversary date in late fall. The style chosen each year is different, but you can be sure that it will always fit the description of Decadence!”

So kudos to AleSmith for the offbeat stylistic choice for Decadence this year.

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La Trappe Jubilaris XXV Anniversary Ale

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One of the Beer Search Party’s altar ego’s, (Emphasis on ego) is as the compiler of the weekly L.A. Beer Blast list for Food GPS. In that capacity, I will run across beer name spellings that will make me chuckle and then I will cringe when I make an error.

Well, this beer from La Trappe may be a contender for the most misspelled beer name this year. But that won’t stop me from trying it.

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Up and Down the Hill

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El Segundo Brewing went from a bevy of great pale ales to Two Five Left, a double.  Now they circle back to a locally named Grand Hill IPA.  Here is what one of our LA “bitter” breweries has to say about the new beer, “Named after the hill you have to slog back up from El Porto.. since it is precisely what you’ll be looking for after a day in the surf and sun, and a 1/4 mile climb straight back up to town!

Nothing but base malt, Big Bitterness, 7.2% ABV, and a heavy dose of Amarillo and Centennial  hops make this India Pale Ale a nod to what has made the California IPA what it is today.  Bright presence of lemon zest in the aroma leads well into a base of pine and citrus in the palate.”
I will be checking to see what Rob has up his hop sleeve here.
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Sierra Nevada Collab-a-palooza

SierraNevada

Check out this mega-collaboration……

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. is celebrating the opening of its new Mills River, North Carolina, brewery by bringing revered craft brewers to North Carolina via a cross-country festival path in 2014. A dozen craft breweries across the U.S., both up-and-comers and noted names, will join Sierra Nevada in the creation of a variety 12-pack—one partner brewery per beer—to be released in summer 2014. A multi-weekend, west-to-east tour of regional festivals will culminate with the Mills River doors opening.

The specific travel path for festivals is a work in progress, but in spring 2014, these breweries will visit Chico to develop recipes and begin brewing:

Allagash Brewing Company, Portland, ME
Ballast Point Brewing Company, San Diego, CA
Bell’s Brewery, Inc., Kalamazoo, MI
Cigar City Brewing, LLC, Tampa, FL
Firestone Walker Brewing Co., Paso Robles, CA
New Glarus Brewing Company, New Glarus, WI
Ninkasi Brewing Company, Eugene, OR
Oskar Blues Brewing Company, Longmont, CO
Russian River Brewing Company, Santa Rosa, CA
Three Floyds Brewing, LLC, Munster, IN
Victory Brewing Company, Downingtown, PA
Local brewing community in Asheville, NC”

Holy Hell that is an impressive list of breweries.  From the LA perspective it would have been nice to see Craftsman on the list or Eagle Rock but hey, you can’t win ’em all.  I will be really interested in the New Glarus and Russian River combos.  I know the Firestone Walker one will be a huge hit.

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26

FS-26-Label-TTB

I am a fan of the hopped pilsner.  It might be the only thing to get Americans to try pilsners at this point.  And add in the allure of single hop, and you might see a beer snob or two try it.  All kidding aside, I like this idea for a celebratory beer from Full Sail and maybe when I am in Portland later this month, I will find a bottle or tap handle of it.

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25

North Coast is one of those California breweries that isn’t hip for lack of a better term.  Old Rasputin is known and loved but offerings like their Scrimshaw pilsner don’t get enough love.  But I am sure the geeks will have their interests piqued by this anniversary ale.  And the fact that they recently added three fermenters to their brewing operations.

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These guys know how to do a big, bad beer and I expect nothing less from this one.

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#MashTag

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BrewDog somehow manages to straddle the line of being grandstanding while still being true to the beer.  And this later Twitter inspired brew is a perfect example of that, “Inspired by the passion, knowledge and enthusiasm of craft beer drinkers, we set out to create a truly democratic craft beer. We entrusted all the important decisions to our fans, customers and anyone who wanted to learn more about the craft brewing process and cast their vote. We gave up complete control of every single decision which shaped the final beer that the #MashTag project produced.”

And what did #MashTag become?  A big 7.5% “American Brown Ale loaded with New Zealand hops and aged on Hazelnuts and Oak chips.”  Whether that combo works is another story but I am intrigued.

Now how do I hashtag a #mashtag?