Category: Monthly Features

Posted on

Sean Suggests for February 2021

Two reds and an oak for this month. It highlights that even in these heady beer times it can be hard to find just three red ales to fill out the scorecard.

LIGHT

SLO Brew Reggae Red – 5.6% – “This one-of-a-kind ale was born at our brewpub amidst influential musical acts of California’s 90’s reggae movement. A harmony of seven different malts, three types of hops, and a dash of hemp seeds makes Reggae Red a crowd pleaser.”

MEDIUM

Common Space Double Red – 7.5% – “Our Double Red brings the rich caramel flavors you expect, without the heavy, stickiness that weighs down some reds. Double Red has a huge charge of Cryo-hops to brighten and lift the caramel flavors up, and create a beer that is hoppy, malty, bold, and delicious.”

BIGGEST

Faction Oakes Imperial Stout on Nitro – 8.5%- “Our Russian Imperial Stout with oak chips. Shake the can and pour straight to activate the Nitro!”

Posted on

A Podcast & A Beer – KingCast

I have been reading Stephen King for way too long. Why my dad thought it was OK for me to read Pet Semetary as a pre-teen when we had cats and a dog is beyond me. I slept with one on on the cat for a few nights. The KingCast deep dives into the world of the horror and nostalgia master. Whose stories are still resonating today even if the current adaptation of The Stand isn’t lighting the world on fire.

The podcast does meander a bit and the guests, though eclectic, sometimes don’t seem to be King aficionados. But there are fun nuggets of King lore to be found.

With the resurgence of Black IPAs, that would be a good place to start. Dark and bitter. Lucky Luke and Common Space have local versions for us here in LA. Another good choice would be to have some Maine Beer Co. while you are listening, especially for any of the Castle Rock or Derry books. But what I would push for something like the AleSmith My Bloody Valentine Red Ale is out currently and is a perfect Misery beer.

Posted on

A Podcast & A Beer – From Now

I generally focus on non-fiction when it comes to this monthly feature but to start off the year, let’s go into outer space. Here is the logline: “a lost spaceship named USS Hope returns to Earth after 35 years, one shocking lone survivor disembarks—and chaos almost immediately ensues.” Starring the voices of Game of Thrones actor Richard Madden and Brian Cox from Succession.

Now, you can find many a beer with a space theme but I would suggest that you look for IPAs with Galaxy hops as the lead. Maybe compare and contrast a West Coast version vs a hazy one.

A deeper cut would be to drink beers from breweries that are older than 35 years. See how those “surviving” breweries are doing.

An even deeper cut would be this….

…a newl re-released beer from Institution Ale Company that has the word hope and a skeletal astronaut. “Hope Unknown is back in 4-packs for the first time in over 2 years! Hope Unknown is a Double IPA hopped with Azacca, Ekuanot, Mosaic and Simcoe. Expect big flavors of melon, papaya, stone fruit and pine. Hope Unknown has high bitterness, dry body and a crisp finish.”

Posted on

Cool Labels & Beer Names – January 2021

I have started seeing labels with admonitions to wear masks and some are cute but they remind me of so much that is bad about 2020, so this month, let’s get hopeful with…

The color scheme of this stout from New Holland Brewing is simple but eye catching and the clever change of phrase sneaks up on you. When I first saw it, I thought, “hmm, Light at the End of the Tunnel is a cool name..” Then I took a second look and smiled at my mistake.