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Back to Lough Gill based in Sligo, Ireland and the second of three big beers on three different barrel types…
On to Trinity! The Bourbon barrel-aged oatmeal stout. The bourbon comes through in the aroma and it was a particularly heady latte head on this variant. As with Spear, the biggest flavor component is a maple syrup note. Here though is a balancing caramel note. Trinity finishes a bit thin and very sweet. I am hoping that the last beer will cut down on that.
Dubuisson has a few special big bottles and one that is on my wish list is their Bush Triple aged in oak barrels. Those barrels previously housed white Burgundy wine, the famous Charmes Meursault.
I think barrel aging and Tripels sounds great.
Figueroa Mountain Brewing has partnered with the Santa Barbara Zoo for a series of beers celebrating a few of the special animals that you can see the next time you are up the coast from Los Angeles.
Russian River’s Fonio will be a Belgian-style blonde ale in a collaboration with Brooklyn Brewery. The beer will be a Belgian-style blonde ale that will be releasing in August.
On Saturday, July 13th, the mighty Beachwood Brewing will be celebrating 13 years of brewing IPAs and all sorts of other styles at all five Beachwood locations. Five locations and thirteen years which is amazing. Pick your favorite spot and have fun!
Just before we ticked over into July, the Beachwood Blendery released Masucot a spontaneous lambic-inspired sour ale aged in oak barrels with Masumoto Sun Crest & Gold Dust peaches & Golden Sweet apricots.
There are a few private breweries who only sell memberships and whose beers do not grace store shelves. I am not a club joiner because I like to pick and control and they usually have lots of extra purchases involved but others like the surprise of a mystery box of beer and the true camaraderie of a group of like minded folks.
One of these clubs is Horus Aged Ales and for the month of July some of their beers will be available on the beer retail site Tavour. So if you want to make it a big stout summer, this is your chance.
Despite the downturn in beer, celebrities are putting skin into the beverage game. There is, of course, levels to celebrity so Hulk Hogan (now sober) is pitching for Real American Beer and the Kelce Brothers are now primary owners of Garage Beer.
Celebrity alone can be enough to push a brand into success even if they are just a front and are not involved. A brand can also be a success if the celebrity is actually involved. It can also succeed or fail whether or not the liquid inside is good or not.
The crux of the matter for me is the transparency of it all. It can be hard to suss out if it is at one end of the spectrum, a mere cash grab or an actual side hustle. I tend to avoid the celebrity beers whether it is musicians or actors if it is not made by a reputable brewery that has other good beers in their portfolio. See another wrestler, Steve Austin and El Segundo Brewing.
Time will tell whether the beers actually succeed.
Start with a hoppy red ale, move on to a Witbier and then finish with a blueberry muffin pastry stout. Then enjoy the fireworks and the local craft beer you stocked up on today. Just be careful with flames and heat and save some beer for the 5th.
Yes, it is hot out and barrel-aged beers are not the best style for the weather but I did not know when I would see beers from Lough Gill Brewery in Los Angeles again, so here we go…
Lough Gill is based in Sligo, Ireland and they have three big beers on three different barrel types…
Since this is an Irish beer, I started with the Irish Whiskey barrel-aged oatmeal stout, Spear.
The booziness starts up strong once the can is opened. The first sip brings maple syrup notes. Not faint ones, big ones. Quite a sugar high, maybe a knock-on effect from the Oatmeal Stout base. The Irish Whiskey is backing it up as well making this a small sip at a time beer. It is relatively thin mouthfeel wise but because the other flavors are so big, that works to its benefit.
Next up is Trinity!