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Well, that was fast. It didn’t take long for Rev Brewing to rev up. (OK, no more use of the word Rev).
It will be fun to see what new twist this new brewery brings to the L.A. table. The organic niche is one that could be really exploited (in a good way) here in Los Angeles.
I don’t approve of buying Christmas gifts before Christmas because I am a grinch. Wait, that isn’t it. I just like to celebrate Thanksgiving without looking over my shoulder at the next holiday. But if you are of the kind to buy before then this now annual tradition is perfect. You get a handy box that you don’t even need to wrap filled with Stimulus Belgian Amber brewed with Intelligentsia Coffee, a special edition glass and a bag of the actual coffee used in the beer.
Eagle Rock makes Christmas into one stop shopping.
Considering the location of Angel City Brewing, it is apropos that they would come out with a sake inspired ale. With Little Toyko literally across Alameda Street from them.
They are using the “traditional sake-style rice and koji fermentation” to meld together with the hops and malts from the beer side of the ledger. This will be an intersting experiment and maybe something to add to the cellar since it is a healthy 9.2% ABV.
Plus, if you are free tomorrow night you can “celebrate the tapping of the first keg, beer enthusiasts thirsting to try the creation will be able to sip the beer in a uniquely inspiring and apropos location – the Japanese-American Cultural & Community Center. On November 20, Angel City will be serving samples of For the Sake of Ale alongside viewings of Arts District artist, JW Pippen’s Jugatsuzakura. His piece is a riveting new samurai-themed sculpture using oak barrel staves from Angel City brewing barrels. This sculpture ties together Pippen’s continued interest in Japanese culture and love of the Los Angeles Arts District. During the event sushi and mochi will also be served. There are three tasting sessions throughout the evening – 6:00pm, 7:00pm and 8:00pm.”
You need to purchase a ticket for this, so find the information on how to do so HERE.
First was the Nothing and Coffee Porter, then Goldie from the special barrel-aged series. Now the next bottle from Smog City is label approved.
STS has to be in the discussion for great beer name and I love that an amber is next in line from the Torrance brewery. Design wise, I like it because of the plant life that harkens to their Forager series of beers plus the font for the name is just quirky enough while retaining readability.
The Latest B(eer) A(rts) M(usic) Fest is done but another good show was put on.
As usual, there was just too much beer on hand at BAM Fest to try it all. I ended up skipping large swaths of booths simply because I knew that I needed to pace myself. I also was on assignment from Beer Paper LA to write about a few of the newer/less known breweries which were pouring so my focus was on trying their offerings and talking to them.
One of which, Santa Monica Brew Works gets a gold star. Being the “local” or closest brewery to the festival, they had quite a presence and the most beers on tap. Six all told while most others had two. I was cautiously optimistic as I approached their table and I was really impressed. Their regulars, an XPA and a Wit were both well done. Clean and crisp and excellent gateway beers. But they also had another gear to take it up higher. The Chili beer was spicy without destroying the palate, the wet hop beer was a serious peach/apricot blast with a solid hit of bitterness. But the winner was PCH – Pale Chocolate Heaven. A golden orange color that was a serious milk chocolate beer. Surprising and very tasty. It will be the first one that I will try again. My beer crystal ball tells me that PCH will be the breakout hit for SMBW.
Port Town took my second place with their Hefeweizen and Pilsner. Both solid examples of the styles. Styles that are hard to nail correctly. This brewery gets new digs in 2015 and will be one to watch. Venice Duck had bottles of their Agave Blonde and their Hemp Ale and both were also solid. They rank a bit below Port Town because because they were a little less well defined in the flavor arena. But the beers do seem to be improving from when I sampled them last and I hope they get their Venice location going.
The other newbie was House Beer. They only do an American style lager and it was fine. I would take Port Town’s Pilsner over it though. Too much sweetness here for me. Got a little cloying. And I wish they could have their contract brew done in state as opposed to Wisconsin.
Other beers that struck a chord for me were the Post Season Ale from King Harbor and the Grasshopper from Kinetic Brewing. A golden rye strong ale that to my taste buds was a delicious rye IPA.
There are a couple things that I wish BAM would do for next year. The beer area needs to be expanded. By 4pm, the crowd was difficult to navigate, especially with a glass of liquid. Maybe add a seating area or two that could draw people away to create a better flow. Secondly, increased signage would be great. Or a little map in your glass to show you what was where and at what time. For the musical acts this would be easy. A board near the stage with a list of who was playing and when.
That being said, this is a great festival that always gives you both beer choices and art to marvel at.
Tomorrow night at Stout’s Cahuenga location. Allagash Brewing will celebrate 10 years of Curieux and by extension, barrel aging beers.
In advance of that party, I e-mailed a few questions to brewmaster Jason Perkins about their signature and first barrel beer and aging in general:
1. Has Curieux changed much in its ten years of being brewed?
The beer really has not changed at all, in terms of recipe and process. We did add better temperature control of the barrel room about 8 years ago, which just helped to control the over oxidation of the beer. As it is a barrel aged beer, and there are inevitable variations from barrel to barrel, the beer is always slightly different batch to batch. We control this as much as we can through blending, but each batch is its own “vintage”. As we have developed our relationship with Jim Beam over the years, we have been also been able to specify the exact barrels we want and have been able to get them fresher and fresher. This has only improved the beer.
2. What have you learned about blending aged beers from doing Curieux?
Blending (like brewing) is a constant learning process. We are always learning new things, especially as we try new beers. Probably the most Curieux specific thing we learned very early in the process, is that this specific beer really open up and becomes more complex with 15-20% un-oaked Tripel blended in. Common sense would make one think that adding un-oaked beer would dilute the oak and bourbon notes, but we actually find that it compliments them, without diluting the beer.
3. Does blending get easier to do or is finding a balance still hard to accomplish?
I suppose the only thing that has made it easier, is having more staff who are competent at it. In the early years, it was myself, Rob and maybe one other person. We now have several of our Senior Brewers and QC folks who are able to blend this beer. This makes it more practical, while bringing more minds to the table.
4. Are there different consumer preferences on the East Coast vs. West Coast?
I don’t think so, not that I have seen. Although California sure does drink a lot of Curieux!!
5. Will there be a crossover in the Coolship and barrel aging programs?
The Coolship beers are, of course, barrel aged as well. As are many other of our Wild and sour beers. We house all of these barrels and foudres in a different building, adjacent to the brewery. There are some obvious similarities between the Non-wild and wild barrels, but what we are asking of the barrels is very different in each of those two areas. We do cycle some of our non-wild barrels into use in the wild barrel area, but never the other way around.
The only blending we have done of wild beer with non-wild beer, was a recent beer called Belfius-which is a delicious blend of a single Coolship barrel and our Saison. We only sold that at the brewery.
So the Weavers Three have opened! Here is a quick day-after commentary along with some photos from the day.
I was a volunteer out in the sun and got to see what beers were popular with the crowd and if that corresponded with my favorites.
Seafarer Kolsch was an excellent light way to introduce myself to their line-up. Their Session IPA, Stateside had an excellent aroma and a good amount of bitterness for such a light beer. The Double IPA Knotty Pine was also a cut above many in that style category. Strong without going overboard. But my favorite was the Coffee version of the Deep Roots ESB. I really enjoy coffee beers layered onto lighter bases. And the ESB was a great delivery vehicle for the roast. Barring that special beer the plain ESB was excellent as well.
The crowds seemed to hanker for either the Kolsch or the Expatriate IPA. Though the initial line for the Double IPA was quite long.
The event was not crowded. Plenty of space to stay out of the way of people and the sun. The two food trucks weren’t mobbed and no glass ware was broken, that I saw or heard. Which means that for a second event that they are doing pretty well.
The beers were uniformly good with only the Imperial Stout not being to my liking. Too much licorice for me. I am looking forward to the growth and new beers from this addition of LA’s beer scene.
The start of something special is coming on Saturday, Oct 11th, when the first of Smog City’s bourbon barrel-aged beers will released into the world.
Goldie has a longer style category than name. It is “a Belgian Golden Strong Ale aged in bourbon barrels stored in our brewery for over five months.” And each and every bottle has “the bottle #, abv and bottled on date handwritten on it.”
Starting at noon, you can also get the re-release of Smoked Smaug Lager and Atomic 82, the base Belgian ale for Goldie.
These will be L.A. souvenirs so I would pick up a bottle if I were you.
A beer festival is a beer festival, right? Well, yes and no. You do see some “regular” but you also may find causes that are nearer and dearer to the heart. And if Art is your thing (not a poet, I know) , or you want kids to get art education (you should), then B.A.M. Fest is not a normal festival.
And this year from a beer perspective you will find some new gems to try…such as the opening this month in Inglewood Three Weavers to the soon to open in Carson, Phantom Carriage to the mysterious unknown that is Santa Monica Brew Works. Plus a good amount of foreign beers and beloved locals too.
And if you so desire you can get educated as well with “20-minute mini-educational sessions called ‘Crash Courses’ by craft beer, wine and art experts. These fun and engaging classes cover a wide range of topics such as how to pick out food flavors from different beers or how art could be paired with some of the best wine and beer.”
After L.A. Beer Week and without the Great American Beer Festival on the agenda, I was able to take a mini-vacation of five days from beer so that I could prepare for Sunset Beer and their anniversary party. And this year, there is a twist…the tap list will include a collaboration with Monkish Brewing of Torrance, for the aptly named Sunset Beer’ brewed with Lotus Seeds. I have never had Lotus Seeds so I don’t know how they will taste in a beer but if Monkish can make me enjoy pistachios in a beer, which I don’t eat in real life, then I am down with the lotus.
