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I like all sorts of collaborations as is evidenced by the amount of posts tagged with that title but I do really like cross country versions like this Sam and Schneider one…
Samuel Adams meets SchneiderWeisse for a Fest Weisse offering called Beer Garden, which is a great name by the way.
It is amazing the speed of time, every day you learn that a movie is ten years old or a song is thirty years old. Or that a beer is now twenty!
Heady Topper from The Alchemist has been around two decades and it has a special, amped up version to mark the occasion….
L.A. gets the Heady and Focal every once in a while but I do not expect to see this in California.
If you need more than one day to properly fest, well Benny Boy Brewing has a whole weekend planned for you and whomever holds your stein for you….
On the 21st, if you are looking to get fest-bier-ive, head to North Hollywood and Hop Merchants ( maybe they should re-brand ad Fest Merchants that day ) for their Oktoberfest celebrations.
You will get the usual pretzels and stein holding but they will also have great Okto drafts too.
My lovely local craft beer bar the Glendale Tap had Filipino craft brewer, Engkanto on tap and since I have never had a craft beer from that country, my curiosity was piqued.
I had the Paint Me Purple Ube Lager which poured a medium dark purple color and had sweet yam taste to it. But also a bit of offsetting minerality as well. Slick mouthfeel too.
I also sampled their Hive Hive Honey Ale which was really good on very hot day. The honey was definitely in attendance as was that minerality again. Slightly slick mouthfeel but not too sweet at all. I liked that the bottle had the brewery name in the glass.
Here are two more Oktoberfest biers to add to your late fall beer cooler, one from north of LA and one from south…
First is a classic from the old world inspired Enegren Brewing and next to it is a good wurst from Radiant Beer Co.
Sierra Nevada’s famed Narwhal is getting a campsite variant with a Barrel-Aged Toasted S’More. It is an imperial stout aged in Bourbon barrels with cocoa nibs and natural graham cracker flavors. No mention of marhsmallow though for this 11.9% beer.
Narratives, whether true or false, can be powerful. Many American cities have been painted with a broad brush of “unsafe” or “uncool” even if the day to day is not much different.
Portland, my hometown neighbor to the north, has endured a bit of bad press you could say but during both of my visits this year, it has seemed just as filled with beer, good food and frustrating parking as any city one lives in or visits.
So I am glad to see Old Town Brewing go to bat and stand up for the City of Roses with their recently launched Believe in Portland IPA. Which you can read more about HERE.
El Segundo Brewing is up to their third collaboration with noted home brewer John Palmer. First was a Dunkelbock and second was a Czech Dark Lager and now their is a Smoked Altbier.
Altbier is a Düsseldorf classic but this has a smoked malt twist. Beechwood to be precise.
Maybe when they get to a fourth European style, they will do a mixed four-pack.
Throughout the month, I will be highlighting some Festbiers from Los Angeles ( and adjacent county ) breweries that will be readily available for your Germanic beer needs, here is post # 1…
Around the horn, clockwise, we have Oaktoberfest, a classic from Firestone Walker, Bear Ears from Brouwerij West, Huftgold from El Segundo Brewing and Das Hof from Hermosa Brewing.