Follow Sean Inman to the best in craft beer
These are the beers that I wish I could taste for the first time.
Thornbridge Artesian is on my wish list because I cannot remember any beer with gooseberries in it. They are not well known and are not widely available so I haven’t had one in years but if my poor memory serves, they are a little tart with grape character paired with a botanical like elderflower would make a potent mix.
AleSmith, amongst other breweries, have a Mexican lager but there are fewer dark Mexican lagers. AleSmith is rectifying that imbalance with Clásico Oscura.
It’s Nilk, another sign, this time courtesy of Arrow Lodge Brewing, that fall is here for us.
Firestone Walker and the fine folks at the Full pint want to do a Credit Czech in the form of a “Polotmavý Garnet Lager”. We are in a great time for those who love the gamut of Czech lagers.
El Segundo Brewing has another new festbier season beer out with home brewer extraordinaire, John Palmer. This time a Czech Dark Lager. I will be on the lookout for it.
It has been a minute since I have spoken about The Crac Brewery in Carson. (Carson used to be a bustling little beverage hub, sigh) So I am going big to highlight a new hazy DIPA, Dude, Where’s My Crac.
Collaborations that I would not have predicted. Norm’s Restaurants, an L.A. landmark (at least sign wise, never been to one) has teamed with Common Space Brewery for a house IPA.
22 locations and counting mostly in Los Angeles and Orange County. But their menu shows no signs of alcohol at all, plus diner food and IPA doesn’t immediately scream a great pairing.
Hank is just a solid name. For a person, a dog or a beer. And de Garde Brewing from Tillamook, Oregon has a dessert-ish beer ready with a SoCal connection.
“During his visit for our last anniversary, we took the opportunity to taste through some barrels and compose a special blend with our good friend Henry from Monkish Brewing Co. .
It’s a thoughtful and gorgeous combination of both three and five year aged barrels of our spontaneous beer, all built around the cornerstone of a stunning Moscatel dessert wine barrel. There’s mature funk, yet it still carries a remarkable vibrancy. A lot going on here, and a lot to savor.”
There is another entrant in the Cold IPA shelf, this time from noted hoppy beer maker, Drakes in the Bay Area.
Just look for the pink can with the Eugene O’Neill tinted name,
Institution Ales has a new lager out now for the back end of summer, Euro Pils….
