Instead of travelogue, I am going to throw up some photos from my recent 3-city tour of Oregon interspersed with beer lists.
Wayfinder Hell, Flowers in the Kettle hazy IPA, Panopoly Hefeweizen, Doomtown IPA and Hidden Hand Black Lager.
Upright Supercool IPA, Old Town Pillowfist IPA and pFriem Bright Pale Ale.
FW Invitational – 1 Week Out
Now, let’s talk about this year’s collaboration beer for the fest….
This year’s beer started at the festival, last year as Creature Comforts and Firestone Walker came together to brew up what would become Mother’s Milk, a barrel-aged imperial milk porter.
Mother’s Milk is a bigger beer at 11.6% ABV. It was “aged for nearly a year in rye whiskey barrels inherited from a premium spirits producer” with added oats, lactose sugar and sea salt.
12-ounce bottles ($10.99) will also be available for a limited time at all Firestone Walker locations starting on June 2. A mere 300 cases (12 x 12-oz bottles) were produced.
Lomita Rising
Finally a brewery outside of Torrance and DTLA! JK, but it is does seem like certain cities have an abundance of beer.
Lomita (which I couldn’t pin on a map) has two breweries slated to open this very year….
Burnin’ Daylight is well on the way and add to that…
…Project Barley.
More information as it rolls in through the year.
Portland – McMinnville – Astoria / Part 1
I will be posting photos and additional commentary on my recent trip to Oregon, but here are some initial reactions from stops in Portland, McMinnville and finally Astoria….
It has been a patio drinking kind of trip. Sitting at Wayfinder beer watching the tables fill up with Portlanders who take every opportunity to sit outside to Allegory Brewing in McMinnville before the UFO parade to the sorta-outside seating section at Fort George. Usually, one bundles up in Oregon but even at the tip top of the state with Washington across the water of the Columbia it has been blue skies.
Beer-wise Wayfinder was strong. Primarily light and tilted to belles and dark lagers with an excellent hefe. I snuck into Beer Mongers for a quick pint and ran across Mirage Brewing of Seattle whose Neon Guts hopped pils was really nice.
From there to Allegory who had nine beers on offer and nary a dud in m6 taster tray of five. They even had a barrel-aged small stout.
Then all the way up the 101 to Astoria. Walking to Fort George, after parking the car a couple blocks from their city block I walked past a distillery, a cidery, a bottle shop and tap house and Astoria’s newest brewery, Reach Break. Typical Oregon.
More Oregon photos and a list of beers drunk in later posts.
FW Invitational – 2 Weeks Out
It is dangerously easy to miss out on Firestone Walker beers when you are at the Invitational. They are usually inside what I call the “Fort” near the music stage.
But you best look for it because BarrelWorks has some fruit forward beers that aren’t easily found and should be tasted. They are certainly on my list (if they don’t get bumped for other wild ales)
1. UnderCurrants (from the press release)
“We have been toying around with the idea of a currant-infused beer for several years now,” said Barrelworks’ Master Blender Jim Crooks. “We finally decided to strike when we were able to score beautiful whole black currants from a farmer in Poland, which is renowned as one of the world’s finest currant-growing regions.”
Crooks and his team blended the currants with 150 barrels of Agrestic Ale (Barrelworks’ wild iteration of Firestone Walker’s signature DBA pale ale) that had been aging for 12 to 48 months. The currant-infused Agrestic blend was then inoculated with Barrelworks’ proprietary Brettanomyces yeast and aged for an additional four months in oak foeders.
Lastly, more Agrestic Ale was added back into the blend to achieve an optimal balance of currant flavor and texture. “The intensity of the currant flavors was out of this world,” Crooks said. “By cutting more Agrestic into the final blend, we were able to dial everything into perfect balance.”
2. Pixie Dusted (from the FW website)
“We welcomed the team from The Publican in Chicago, and specifically Beer Director Adam Vavrick, into our lair to add his mark to this truly collaborative creation. Armed with an idea to use citrus in a blend, we by chance landed in the arms of Friend’s Ranches of Ojai, who offered us the beautifully grown Pixie Tangerine. By adding the juice and zest from the tangerines to the Publican’s proprietary barrel blend, we have created a liquid expression of an idea.”
FW Invitational – 3 Weeks Out
For those heading to Paso Robles, one of the side benefits is the ability to visit breweries in the Central Coast area.
Start HERE at the Guild page to see the full list.
Here are my suggestions as to which taprooms to visit….
Casa Agria in Oxnard
Institution Ales in Camarillo
Topa Topa in Santa Barbara
Tent City in Atascadero
Silva Brewing in Paso Robles
Toro Creek in Paso Robles
More Beer & Crowlers coming from …
2 pieces of news from Glendale’s Brewyard Beer Co.
1. COMING THIS SUMMER – They will be expanding their experimental lineup with the addition of a few more taps to our wall.
2. COMING THIS MONTH – Expect to see a new 16oz crowler machine up and running.
Get Ready to Summit
This week, specfically this Tuesday, you can get your tickets to THE California beer festival….
Head HERE to get your tickets to travel the state in #independent beer without traveling from Yreka to Calexico.
818 is Open
It took a lot longer than expected but with perseverance comes a taproom. 8one8 Brewing is finally open! Now Canoga Park is added to the list of SoCal cities that have a brewery open.
Tasting Room Hours
THURSDAY 5-3-18 from 5pm-10pm
FRIDAY 5-4-18 from 5pm-10pm
SATURDAY 5-5-18 from Noon-10pm
SUNDAY 5-6-18 from Noon-8pm
FW Invitational – One Month Out
One month until the beer world descends on the Central Coast. For those lucky enough to snare these elusive tickets, and if you haven’t perused the brewery list which you can see right HERE (in logo form), I suggest you start planning your stops along three lines.
New – Returning – Skip
What breweries fall into each will depend on what you have tasted before. Let me explain each of the three. New is obvious but I won’t be going to every newcomer, just the ones that I can’t get down in L.A. Returning are those that I had in years past and do not want to miss because (again) I don’t see them much in L.A. Lastly the skips fall into two camps. Last year Wicked Weed fell in due to their selling out. But the other are those with lines too long to justify standing with an empty snifter with so many great beers to be had.
Without further ado, here is my list:
NEW
Buxton, Jack’s Abby, Liefman’s, Oxbow and Thornbridge
RETURNING
Beavertown, Fonta Flora, Half Acre and Rare Barrel
SKIP
Melvin Brewing, Side Project, Trillium and Weldwerks