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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.
I do not need any nostalgia when it comes to ice cream. I will have it every day to keep it in mind if needed but Radiant Beer Co. has a new late summer stout to maybe pair with a pint…
Nostalgic Vibes is a cookies and cream ice cream cone pastry stout. Using Cacao nibs, Comoros Vanilla Beans, crushed chocolate sandwich cookies and waffle cone pieces.
Wrexham Lager is not available here in SoCal but the Wrexham Lager Export will become available where Destihl Brewing distributes because the Illinois brewery will be contracting the Welsh beer. I am kind of amazed that it has not been on shelves already considering the popularity of the team and the show.
Topa Topa Brewing is setting out their first variety6-pack just before Labor Day weekend. The Solitude Series IPA Mixed Pack harkens back to the single hop IPA craze of years past.
You will get two beers each of Mosaic, Citra and Talus. Here are the brewers notes from Brewmaster Casey Harris – “Mosaic has always been a standout hop, as it’s so diverse in its flavor and aroma with an array of fruity, tropical, and earthy notes. Citra is one of my favorites, and kind of finds its way into a lot of our beers – perfect for rounding things out with its strong citrus qualities. Talus is a new one, and it’s really a unique hop with intense flavors of grapefruit, stone fruit, and oak.”
There is also an “interactive QR code on the base of the mixed 6-pack provides an opportunity to share feedback on which hop pleases their palate the most.” If this sells well, I would expect another set of three hops in box 2.
This month, as a bit of a scientific lark, I am going to review the same beer weeks apart to see if any differences can be found. I chose Patio Project IPA from Beachwood Brewing as the test subject after picking it for the beer shopping list post last month.
As you can see from the above photo, it was canned up on 8/1/24. For this review, the first can was tasted on 8/16/24. I will taste can two and can three later.
PP pours a light yellow in color with bubbles flying upward in the glass. At first, it seems slight but this has a very solid dank base to it. The malt texture is not letting itself be left behind here as it is near equal to the hops. Any fruit notes from the hops come off as dried citrus to me.
Can you imagine being a brewery since 1701? Crazy. Just crazy enough that Sierra Nevada has tapped Brauerei Gutmann, for the 2024 edition of their collaborative Oktoberfest.
This year’s beer celebrates with more wheat malt in the recipe in a nod to Gutmann’s famous Hefeweizens. There are also Saphir hops to add a little lemon to the proceedings.
Once again, more collaboration brews in the news but this time it is a home and away combo from MadeWest Brewing. First with Tarantula Hill Brewing in Thousand Oaks on California Street and then with Fremont Brewing of Seattle on the latest Short-Lived IPA.
Looks like taste test will be in order.
This month it is the all IPA edition. Which is weird because usually I find most IPAs to be smack in the vast middle of pretty good land. I do my best to taste fresh IPA but even the most ardent hop hunter can fall prey to hops that just aren’t packing the same punch as earlier.
Two were draft and two were canned. In the runners up category was Smog City and their CCBA White IPA, the first of two of that sub-style that I tasted this month. It was bright and light without getting too thin and it had a real nice subtle character to it. The other draft was at Great Notion where I had their Orange Creamsicle IPA. Usually not a fan of the milkshake but this did not have the fake orange and too sweet. It tasted much like the ice cream treat.
The cans were from North Park Beer Co. and from Ambitious Ales and it was a tight call but North Park’s Dead as a Doornail DDH West Coast IPA made me sit up a bit straighter than the Gimme That from Ambitious.
Stone Brewing has two options for you if you want to got to their 28th Anniversary party in November. One, you can get Main Festival tickets and sample dozens of amazing beers from Stone and our friends in the industry. Or two, get the Rare Beer ticket so that you can access your own special private festival area on the Stone campus in Escondido.
Head HERE to choose.