Follow Sean Inman to the best in craft beer
how to discover new beer to try
Amburana is used quite frequently to finish bourbon but The Bruery is taking their Black Tuesday base to create Amburana Noir, a double barrel-aged imperial stout aged in both Buffalo Trace Bourbon barrels and Amburana wood barrels. The beer will register at a super high 20.7%.
Every once in a while I will get a happy email from the Rare Beer Club wanting to highlight some of their great beers that you can get.
This is the second review of the month and if it sounds good, you should check out the club.
This is the Prodigal 2024. It is a biggun in abv at 11.5% but also large in syrupy stoutness. An Imperial Stout with cacao and vanilla and it is slick and big on caramel to me more than either of the featured adjuncts. It is halfway to being stout gravy. There is also a truckload of sugar coming to the fore as well. I would net hesitate to say that this would be good as a cooking ingredient. Little too extravagant for my taste.
Wow, the aroma on this hop water from Highland Park Brewery when the can is opened is large. I am getting mint initially. That settles into straight up lupulin cone flavor. Like tearing a hop apart. That is really good. It just tastes like being in a hop field. I had low hopes since most hop waters are only so-so but this is a winner. Gonna need more of these.
It has been a bitter November so let’s dive into some hops to console ourselves. And let’s keep it in the Los Angeles family and within low 7% abv too.
Los Angeles Ale Works Steady Coastin’ West Coast IPA – 7% – “Crisp with notes of juicy melon, berry, sweet fruit, and fresh pineapple.”
Brown Soul Brewing Juguito Hazy IPA – 7.1% – “inspired by our very own Chef Hugo, who many have come to know affectionately, as “Juice”, this hazy IPA packs a punch”
Ambitious Ales Frodo Foggins Hazy IPA – 7.2% – “we took the base of our NZ style Pils and beefed it up into a mighty foggy one! Pillowy soft with lots of juicy character the Freestyle Hops Motueka and Kohia Motueka Hop Kief are bursting with notes of lime sherbert, starbursts and tropical fruit.”
…you could choose to head to Burbank and Lincoln Beer Co. for their 7th Anniversary party…
You just might find the right beer for Thanksgiving pairing or a gift for Christmas.
Ambitious Ales is teaming with Bixby Knolls neighbor Bel Canto Books to present the 3rd Boozy Book Fair on Sunday, November 17 from 12-5PM. The third B along with beer and books is BBQ as Smoked and Salted will on site with their Filipino Fusion-Texas Style BBQ.
Yes, the following beer might be a few rungs above over the top but that is par for the course from Pipeworks Brewing in Chicago.
The beer is El Unicornio and it will be an Amburana Wood-Aged Horchata Ale with rice, lactose, vanilla and cinnamon.
We gotta super strong collaboration IPA today from Green Cheek Beer Co. and Beachwood Brewing. It has Nectaron, Mosaic and Mosaic Cryo but the most interesting ingredient in Adventures of Lucky and Cheeky is that it uses Canadian Pilsner malt.
Every once in a while I will get a happy email from the Rare Beer Club wanting to highlight some of their great beers that you can get.
I will be reviewing two of them this month and if it sounds good, you should check out the club.
It has been a bit since I have had a blended ale and I could not have picked a better beer and brewer to return with than The Last Sipper and Tomme Arthur.
This is a mix of quadrupel and strong ale. The aroma is candied dark fruit and hints at the texture of the beer which is not thick as some big beers are but has a minerality, along with chocolate and coffee. There is a brightness at both the beginning of the sip as well as the end. It is a complex beer for sure.
As SoCal finally cools down into our approximation of fall, I do long for a serene outdoor spot to drink craft beer like the full introvert that I am and this spot, Pub in the Woods, has the right idea….
…there are spots like Stone HQ where you are in a garden atmosphere or a similar feel at Topa Topa and their HQ but what I wouldn’t give for a short hike to a secluded area with even just a tiny good beer selection.