Boomtown Brewery tucked between the Arts District and Union Station is the Unity host for 2024. Unity being the Los Angeles County Brewers Guild collaborative beer for L.A. Beer Week.
The graffitied cans holds a hoppy pilsner and I both had it on draft and bought a four-pack as well because it is really good for the incipient L.A. summer.
The celebratory beer pours a straw color with light fruity hops being the predominant taste. I get both grape and orange. This almost tastes pale ale to me but the carbonation and the heft of the beer does keep it tethered to the lighter side of the ledger.
Last week this time, Smog City Brewing unveiled a new more charitable Gorilla.
Combining with Crowns & Hops and their 8 Trill Initiative and the mission of achieving racial equity in craft beer and supporting up and coming black owned breweries is….
“This colossal Double IPA draws inspiration from our OG ape Amarilla Gorilla, the 8 Trilla Gorilla turns everything up to eleven and beyond. A ferocious infusion of Strata, Simcoe, and Citra hops rampage out of your glass with every sip. Strap in and prepare for an onslaught of amazing grapefruit, passionfruit, and fresh resinous pine so fresh you’ll swear you’re drinking hops straight from the bine.”
Now here is a throwback beer for ya’. Little Beast Brewing has teamed with Funky Fauna from Sisters, Oregon, to create a Brett IPA. “Story Forest was primarily fermented with Chico ale yeast, then aged with Brettanomyces anomalus var. clausenii (widely called Brett C) for several months. To bring out more flavor, we dry-hopped it with Nectaron and HBC 586 to add the final touch to this new elixir.”
“LA is not only blessed with great beer but is also surrounded by agriculture and a great way to showcase how those two factors meet is with Cellador’s sour beer program. We’ll have a selection of beers never before seen at Southland, and Cellador will be in the house telling the stories behind those beers.”
On tap:
Oogum Boogum – Wild Ale with Murray Limequats, Fukushu Kumquats, 2nd use late harvest Masumoto Le Grand Nectarines, vanilla & elderflower.
Raspberry Beer – Wild Ale with Raspberry, Blood Orange and 2nd-Use Nectarines and Apricots
Bottles:
15 Petals – Wild Ale with Roses and Masumoto Rose Diamond Nectarines
Nouvelle Pêche – Tart Saison with Masumoto Baby Crawford Peaches
L.A. Beer Week Collective Brew – join the team and be a party of the brewing process. Brew with them, smell the hops and vote on your favorite and get your signature on the can.
Come out and support your community of 20+ local artists and vendors. There will be so much good food, live music, DJ’s and of course, special beer releases!
Sunday, June 23rd – King of the Kolsch
Arts District Brewing hosts Wave 2 of their Kolsch contest between L.A. brewers starting at Noon
After the trials and tribulations of the last 4+ years, MacLeod Ales has hung on and has reached the double digit milestone of 10 years. That achievement alone should push you to a trip to Van Nuys to have a pint, maybe even a cask ale.
The Torrance Beermuda Triangle is gaining another tenant as HopSaint Brewing Company will be expanding to a location HopSaint @ The Ditch. I would probably ditch that moniker to match up better with the delicious beers that HopSaint puts out.
I will follow up with news about when and where when opening is closer.
As much as I enjoy both Bourbon and Bourbon barrel-aged beers, I like to see alternative barrels being used which is why I am highlighting this upcoming release from The Bruery…
Even though one can buy watermelon practically all year round, it still remains, stubbornly, a summertime fruit to me and with summer just a few June Gloom days away, it was time to taste Wheater Melon from Los Angeles Ale Works.
Right off the bat, back in childhood with a watermelon Jolly Rancher. The beer is light orange in color. That candy blast comes in strong and then leaves just as strongly, leaving a watery and light finish. Was hoping for a bit of wheat backbone here. Would be quite enjoyable on a hot day by the pool but I fear it would clash or be drowned out by most summer BBQ foods.
Hard to believe that Daisy Cutter from Half Acre Beer is 15 but time does fly. In honor of that anniversary comes DC Select Double IPA, a collaboration with Sierra Nevada Brewing.
“For Daisy Cutter Select Double IPA, both teams hand-selected special lots of freshly harvested Centennial from CLS Farms, a fifth-generation family hop grower in the Yakima Valley. All agreed on a selection that presented punchy notes of sweet, bright citrus, with a touch of background earth. We used it to build a recipe that echoes the ages – Classic IPA.”
