Category: Monthly Features

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The Firkin for April 2022

Every year April heralds Easter and then 4/20. And boy, am I not on the CBD or THC or TLC bandwagon. All the Snoop Dog memes, the warmed over munchies craving jokes make April 20th a day to avoid social media.

To me cannabis and beer is like stuffing cheese into the crust of the pizza, overkill. What actual flavor does cannabis add? I do not know. I have read about chocolate with marijuana, candy with marijuana, water with marijuana and yes, even pizza with marijuana and I have not seen what it adds to the experience.

This is no anti-weed screed, just a reminder that if you are adding an ingredient to a beer, that ingredient better add something to the overall drinking experience. I had a saison that included lemon and vanilla recently. The creaminess imparted by the vanilla played extremely well with the citric acidity, bringing out the best aspects of both while also taking the edges off of both.

And that is what any CBD/THC addition should do in a perfect world.

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Best Beers of April 2022

I do not drink a lot of sours these days. One is that there is a tilt toward the smoothie sour which is a little to kids candy for me and second, that acid rumbles my tummy big time.

All preamble to April and the choice of two sours for my best of the month. First is Honey Mile from Cascade. No surprise that the NW masters of sour made something tasty but the mix of chamomile and honey was excellent. Second was French Twist from Smog City. A barrel-aged “cocktail” beer. Saison aged in gin barrels with lemon and vanilla.

Same story for both beers. A base sour with adjuncts that added layers and depth of flavor.

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Firestone Walker Invitational Brewery # 3 – Liquid Gravity

Our final stop before the Firestone Walker Invitational is in San Luis Obispo and Liquid Gravity. Let’s fill up a taster tray…

Killer Stratagy West Coast IPA – “100% STRATA WEST COAST IPA WITH BIG, STICKY NOTES OF DANK AND TROPICAL FRUIT.”

IPA – “LIQUID GRAVITY IPA IS A MODERN WEST COAST IPA WITH A BRIGHT, TROPICAL HOP CHARACTER, REFRESHING BITTERNESS AND CRISP FINISH. BURSTING WITH AN INTENSE BOUQUET OF PASSIONFRUIT, GUAVA AND TANGERINES, THIS 100% MOSAIC DRY-HOPPED BEER IS THE CORNERSTONE OF OUR LINEUP.”

Miami Heist Hazy DIPA – “MIAMI HEIST IS A HAZY DOUBLE IPA BREWED WITH CENTENNIAL AND CITRA HOPS. AT FIRST APPROACH YOU’LL FIND BRIGHT AROMAS OF CITRUS, MELON, AND TROPICAL FRUITS EXPLODING FROM THE GLASS. THE USE OF OATS AND WHEAT HELP TO BALANCE THE BEER WITH A GENTLE SWEETNESS AND LUSCIOUS TEXTURE THAT SOFTEN THE HOPS AS THEY LAND ON THE PALATE.”

Coffee Porter – “THIS BEER IS A TRADITIONAL ROBUST PORTER BREWED WITH PREMIUM LIGHTLY ROASTED ETHIOPIAN COFFEE BEANS FROM HONEY CO. COFFEE. THE RESULTING BEER HAS A MEDIUM BODY, GENTLE CARAMEL-LIKE SWEETNESS AND SOFT, CHOCOLATEY ESPRESSO FINISH.”

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A Podcast & A Beer – History Hit

With news of finding Ernest Shackleton’s ship, The Endurance in the news, time to listen to a podcast from someone who was there when it was found, Dan Snow. The podcast is History Hit.

I have bemoaned the fact that history, as taught in school, is dreadful boring. Proceeding from one date to the next in a linear fashion briefly touching down on high points with an emphasis on remembering dates.

When it could be like History Hit. Thirty to forty minute mini deep dives into a corner of history. Mary Queen of Scots, the first inventor of motion pictures who mysteriously vanished or as has been recently covered extensively, the wreck of The Endurance in Antarctica.

Dan Snow has a pleasant English accent and steers the conversation very well so that you can quickly learn fascinating anecdotes.

Beers to pair with this could go in many different ways but I will suggest that you find the first beer that you had (or can remember having) from a local brewery and re-visiting that “historical” or past flagship beer.

A fun side excursion would be to hunt down a gruit and sip on that whilst listening.

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A Book & A Beer – South to America by Imani Perry

Time to pull away from the notion that we can just dump our racism on the south and walk away, Imani Perry takes us to the south and what she sees in South to America.

Americans need to learn how to better understand our history. So many people try to twist America into an exceptionalism pretzel without looking at our many flaws and mis-steps. This book goes state by southern state describing the history of the American south.

Perry is jaunty and thoughtful in her writing. She is very engaging and comes at the thorny issue of race from unique and thought provoking angles but I found the book absent a real through line and it was jumpy. Going from one place to another without rhyme or reason. Once settled in, each state was given its due but I found it overall not organized and a bit too memoir leaning.

To pair with this book, I want people to try a beer from a brewery or a state that you currently hold a low opinion of. For me, that could be a brewery that focuses on pastry stouts or goopy fruited beers. Then taste it and try to see why that style puts you off, try to understand it. Walk in that beer’s shoes.

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In the TapLines for April 2022

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One quarter of the year gone by in a flash.  Now it is time for spring-y beers or as they should be called in SoCal, early summer ales.

~ e-visits to (3) breweries that will be pouring at the return of the Firestone Walker Invitational
~ special featured reviews of press review beers from Figueroa Mountain, Stone and Firestone Walker
~Heads-Up on Los Angeles Beer Events
~ Three suggested beers to buy this month. One light, one medium and one dark
~ A Book & A Beer reads South to America by Imani Perry
~ A Podcast & A Beer listens to History Hit with Dan Snow
~ Great Beer names and Best Beers of the Month
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world.

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The Firkin for March 2022

Fungibility, metaverse, virtual. Words that have morphed in recent years and to me sound almost as bad as the overused, ‘unpack’.

So of course big beer has to enter this make believe land like Heineken has HERE. But what is a innovative way to create a community around your beers when literally, you want people from the community to visit and try your beers?

I am no Luddite wailing against social media nor do I inherently disagree with the idea of virtual currency or virtual art. But beer is meant to be enjoyed in the one real world that we know of.

That does not mean I will buy a token (or is it Tolkien?) in a restaurant or brewery start-up. That seems a step removed from not getting anything on a Kickstarter or Indie-Go-Go.

But there can be a fun way to get, say, a virtual brew day tour. Or get a VR canning day followed by a special 4-pack later. There are creative ways to use an NFT that also includes beer.

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A Podcast & A Beer – Plain English

I don’t really do political podcasts or takes on current news but I like Plain English. Host Derek Thompson doesn’t break a topic down as much as he just is plain clear. It cuts through the noise. The podcast has been especially good of late in breaking down the crisis in Ukraine.

For this podcast, let’s get literal. Real literal. First despite a trend to complicated, ingredient laden beers, find the plainest blond ale or crispy pilsner as you can find. Go as simple as possible.

Or, you can pick up something English, perhaps an ESB or a Mild ale. Eagle Rock Brewery brings their dark mild, Solidarity out this time of year and that would be perfect.

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A Book & A Beer – The Anomaly by Hervé Le Tellier

Lost meets Fringe and X-Files is how I would elevator this Goncourt winning novel by Hervé Le Tellier. The Anomaly is about one flight that is more than one.

Stop here if you are not a fan of fast paced, sci-fi. Because this book is a page turner. It practically is a sub prestige level TV show a’la Manifest that (may) still be on. But it talks chance, science, scenario 42 and is both fun, smart and a touch poignant as well.

I am talking around the plot since it is best to enjoy it in the moment. So let’s turn to the beer choices…

This will involve a little legwork to accomplish. Find a beer that has an easy to find canned on date. Then get two of them but with different dates. If you can, get one that is two or three months older. Then try both and compare.

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The Firkin for February 2022

First it was food trucks. Then it was trivia nights. Then big TVs for sporting events.

Brewery taprooms had been filling every nook and cranny of the calendar up to when the 2020 hit. And now that calendar is filling again as we move from pandemic to endemic.

That leads me to two “attractions” that seem to be gaining traction. Maker’s Markets and Reality Show nights. Neither sound particularly tied to beer in my view.

You can point that say, craft soap and craft beer share that descriptor but if I want to buy a bar of locally made soap, I can do that without a brewery. Why do I need a few Etsy-ized tables in front of a brewery? This coming from someone who loves going to little shops. Wine + Eggs in Atwater Village is cool. Hi-Lo Markets are grand.

Then there are the Bachelor or Bachelorette nights. Maybe my hatred meets lack of interest in phony love not reality is showing and I understand that a weekly event might bring in regulars but it’s just icky. Like a footballer jersey sporting a Russian company sponsor. I do not have a replacement idea that would draw a drinking crowd but you are not going to see me watching a couple in a windmill or some bro hightailing it over a fence.