Category: Monthly Features

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Sean Suggests for May 2022

This month is all California with a leaning to styles not normally seen or ingredients not as often used.

Firestone Walker / Green Cheek – Parrotphrase – 4.5% “We teamed up with Green Cheek Beer Co. to create Parrotphrase, a limited-edition Dry-Hopped Grisette with crisp flavors of passionfruit and guava. Parrotphrase will be the Welcome Beer at the Invitational Beer Festival.”

Cellador Ales – Golden Healer – 5% “an intensely aromatic, and reminds me of the perfumey quality of walking by a guava tree in Southern California in the fall. The base beer has lots of depth, with classic Farmhouse beer character, which plays well with the slightly herbal note of the guavas.”

Beachwood Brewing – Barrel Aged Full Malted Jacket Scotch Ale – 12% – “Bringing back our two-time GABF award-winning Full Malted Jacket Bourbon Barrel-Aged Scotch Ale. With its NEW partner in crime, Full Malted Jacket RYE Barrel-Aged Scotch Ale. You’ll taste accents of vanilla and toasted oak that meld seamlessly with notes of toffee and caramel.

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A Podcast & A Beer – Dishing on Julia

Time to get foodie with Julia Child and the companion podcast to the HBO Max series, Julia.

Companion podcasts are a big thing right now. Any prestige series needs to have a podcast where the creators talk about making the show. And I can’t get enough of them.

That said, this podcast is 2/3 good. It is broken into a section re-cap which I skip by, one section talking to people involved with the show and a final section with someone from the broader food world. And there is some fascinating tidbits to be learned just about Julia’s husband Paul alone.

When it comes to beer, this is the time to globe trot like Julia did before and with Paul. Massachusetts. China. Sri Lanka. Holland. And especially France. So look for Biere de Garde, Grissette and Saisons. For bonus points pick up 1903 Lager from Craftsman Brewing in Pasadena where Julia was born.

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A Book & A Beer – The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi

John Scalzi has written a rollicking novel thar skewers greed and corporations while making heroes of scientists and a lead character who “lifts things” and loves sci-fi.

On the negative side, this reads like a B movie script. Stock characters, creature, juvenile humor and obvious villain. But it is a quick and short read so if you can turn your brain off a for the duration then you will enjoy the read like I did.

There is also an alternate universe, so, for beer you can choose to dig deep and find some altbier or sticke alts which will also add some heft to this light adventure.

You could also do the opposite of what is beer popular in this world and think about what beers might be the rage if time and events had unfurled differently.

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In the Tap Lines for May 2022

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Moving into May with another month of fun beer news and maybe even longer visits to breweries and even maybier festivals but for sure, this…

~ e-visits to (3) breweries in NBA playoff team cities
~ special featured reviews of Abnormal beers
~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 The Kaiju Preservation Society
~ A Podcast & A Beer listens to Dishing on Julia
~ 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 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.