Follow Sean Inman to the best in craft beer
These are the beers that I wish I could taste for the first time.
Even in the dog days of summer, I like to see barrel-aged beers released and Chapman Crafted, who recently hit their 7 year mark has a new one out…
“Oaks & Owls is our Barrel-Aged Barleywine aged in Blinking Owl Distillery (from nearby Santa Ana) rye barrels for 18 months. The American oak barrels give this brew a subtle spice with a hint of vanilla.This beer is malty and has notes of sweet bread, toffee, and dried fruit.”
USC can Big10 tailgate properly with the new , Stone Fight On! Pale Ale. Stone Brewing will be the official USC Athletics beer will be available for purchase the week of August 14, 2023.
The Pale Ale with “a balanced blend of tropical and citrusy hop flavors” will “be distributed throughout Southern California at stores, bars, and restaurants and onsite at the Los Angeles Colosseum and the Galen Center, home of the USC Trojans.”
Maybe I can get Linfield University to have an official beer made by Heater-Allen.
Kudos to both leaning into a perceived negative and bringing back a blast from the past.
El Segundo Brewing has created a new pale ale as a house beer (which used to be a thing back in the olden days of excess capacity) for two bars. One is the Library Alehouse and the other being the The Richmond.
The name….
Yup, craft beer dads have a bad reputation from ticking too much on Untappd to being so not cool that the kids are moving away to other beverages to distance themselves.
I am onboard with Tiki bars even though I am more of a bourbon and gin and not rum pirate. But Radiant Beer Co. has a interesting rum barrel detour…
“Tropical Detour – Rum Barrel-aged Strong Ale – 14.9% ABV. We chose a strong ale that spent almost 2.5 years in Barbados Rum Barrels and blended it with other strong ales aged in Grand Marnier and Chartreuse Barrels. Then, we conditioned the blend on roasted almonds, limes, grapefruit, and oranges with a kiss of cinnamon. The result is an eloquent equatorial extravaganza of tropical flavors housed in a deep brown pour with a touch of tan foam. The aromas are complex, reminiscent of a tiki cocktail with emphasis on notes of citric acidity and rich rum, with some lingering impressions of dark rum and toasty, nutty accents. Take a trip to the tropics; a pinky-up visit to your favorite island.”
Right now there are two breweries that I can say with confidence can nail a Quad IPA. El Segundo Brewing and Pure Project. The latter has teamed with Bottle Logic for a long but funny named QIPA.
“”A Quad IPA? In This Economy?!” emerges with a pale yellow haze, a hugely tropical aromatic output, and a bullish 12% ABV. Our diversified portfolio of Nectaron, Strata, and Citra Cryo hops lends flavors of grapefruit, pineapple, and stone fruit to the palate’s balance sheet, where bold malt sweetness tempers the punchy ABV and eases the hop bitterness into a delicious depreciation.”
Unlike other heritage brands owned by foreign companies, Lagunitas will be back in 2023 with their Born Yesterday fresh hop ale. One of the few larger scale hop to brewery in under 24-hours IPA’s. As another break from the mold, the beer will be in 12oz cans.
One of my most anticipated beers of the year is the anniversary blend from Firestone Walker.
If you are in Los Angeles or Paso Robles, now might be the time to see if their company stores have any lingering 26’s on shelves so you can prepare a taste test.
Offshoot Beer Co. started as more or less the hoppy side of the Bruery but they are low key adding in lagers like Viaje and now a Czech-Style Pilsner with the punny name of Czeched Out…
I hope you have been keeping up with the frenetic pace of One Batch Dispatches from Stone Brewing, cause another one is coming! With two New Zealand hops in tow.
Some beers I never thought would ever come to cans, but then they do. Allagash Brewing is putting their wonderful and strong barrel-aged Curieux in cans this year.
I probably would have stuck with 12oz cans though.