Category: Monthly Features

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USA Brewery Tour # 2 – Miel

We go from Hill Country to cocktail country to visit (via the interwebs) Miel in Louisiana.

We Have the Czechnology – “Czech-style 12° Polotmavý. A smooth amber lager poured in the Czech way.”

Meow Meow – “New Orleans Common brewed with Zuper Saazer hops. An easy drinking amber ale with a malt-forward flavor!”

I Spy Cara Cara – “Fruited Sour aged on fresh oak chips and blended with cara cara orange. Slightly sweet with notes of orange, vanilla, and tannic oak.”

Smoked Braggot – “Braggot style ale fermented on Paradigm Garden honey and blended with Lapsang Souchong smoked tea. Fermented on equal parts honey and malt, this beer is rich with a sweet and smoky finish.”

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A Book & A Beer – The Sullivanians by Alexander Stille

This world is weird. People have an innate desire to control. Both occur page after page and all over The Sullivanians by Alexander Stille.

First have to mention that this is not fiction. This happened in New York City in the not so distant past of the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. Saul Newton and Jane Pearce taking bits and bobs of psychology from their mentor, Harry Sullivan started their own group which was part commune, part social experiment but mostly ill thought out and misguided.

It is wacky stuff. I am no prude but damn the partner swapping was out of control with special couples rooms that I would not have crossed the threshold of until they had been hosed down. Kids were taken away from parents and raised by others or simply shipped off to schools far away. Your therapist might be drunk and still charge you for their time even though you were paying dues. Then it became a theatrical troupe and then as the pattern with cults. It ended up being a restrictive, paranoid and violent group.

Since it is New York based and by the end bitter with accusations and counter accusations, your obvious brewery to find is Other Half and their hazy IPA’s with swirling colorful label designs.

Here in L.A., no stranger to cults, I would pick a brewery and have one of their pale ales, then and IPA, then a hazy and finally a DIPA and see if you might be someone easily swayed into evangelizing or if you are more wary, like me.

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Sports & A Beer – Women’s World Cup

There has been some bad vibes from the 2023 WWC. Loads of injured players who couldn’t play. Teams feuding with coaches. Pay being a omnipresent concern.

Granted, there were a lot more concerns with the Qatar World Cup on the Men’s side but I have come to expect shady, un-fun aspects to the boys.

The positive part of me sees this as growing pains. For too long, too many issues were considered no concern. Pay, as I said at the top, being first and foremost on the long list but poor playing surfaces, sexism, predatory coaches and even shorts were a problem. Literally, this year, 2023, press was made of decisions to have kits with anything other than white shorts.

But the expanded field of teams has shown parity as favored teams have looked human and the plucky Morrocan side made the knockout round and had a player in uniform while still obeying religious clothing rules.

Maybe these bad vibes are needed to get us and FIFA to change for the better.

Now, to drink. I would say g’day to a big ol’ can of Fosters Lager but maybe a better choice would be to find a pale ale or session IPA with some of those NZ hops to toast the Kiwis who didn’t make it out of group play.

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Sean Suggests for August 2023

Since IPA day snuck up on us on the 3rd of the month, I thought it would be proper to go hoppy with the beer suggestions as well as keeping it L.A. local.

Brouwerij West Scissor Run – 6.2% – “Indulge in this unique Hazy IPA and let it launch those tastebuds into a hoppy melon paradise. This dewy lil’ mama is packed with Amarillo, Huell Melon, and Ekuanot hops.”

Common Space Between the Lines – 7% – an intriguing flavor combination of mango, orange juice and pine.  Released for IPA Day.

Beachwood Brewing Dank Brigade – 9% – “We’ve assembled our finest battalion of hops for this massively aromatic double IPA! Hopped with Mosaic, Citra, Ekuanot, & El Dorado. 100+ IBUs.”

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USA Brewery Tour # 1 – Off Main Brewing

A name not often used to describe a brewery would be boutique but that is what Off Main Brewing has in it’s branding. And I like that term.

But this post is about the beers in a possible taster tray, so let’s pour….

Comanche Moon – “Blonde Ale that embodies the essence of the Texas Hill Country with its clean, crisp profile and
a touch of hop aroma and subtle sweetness from the malt.”

Bluebonnet Bock – “this traditional Bavarian strong beer is a malt-forward amber lager with a higher gravity, delivering a robust and flavorful experience.”

The Weekender – “this brew is crafted with flaked and malted wheat, giving it a satisfying body that perfectly complements the complexity of Southern Hemisphere hops. And here’s the best part: it’s fermented with Kviek Yeast from Norway, which imparts a delightful citrus flavor to the beer.”

Home IPA – “this surprisingly drinkable 7.6% American IPA is the first recipe we ever created.”

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In the Tap Lines for August 2023

August is filled with lots of, shall we say, interesting posts coming from me. Stay tuned in for the two daily posts for monthly features like where I pair beer with books, podcasts and eve sports stories.

~ e-visits to (3) breweries from around the United States

~ special featured reviews of beers from around the country

~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 Sullivanians by Alexander Stille

~ A Podcast & A Beer listens to Who Shat at the Wedding

~ Sports & A Beer returns with bad Womens World Cup vibes

~ New Beer Releases 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 July 2023

I mentioned in a post earlier this month that I went to a brewery that was open per their website, per Facebook and per the sign on the window but when I opened the door to Gorges Beer Co. in Cascade Lock, it was indeed locked.

An employee hastily brought out a sign saying closed for the day and quickly explained that an employee had chosen to spend another day in Las Vegas. Either a streak at roulette was underway or they were trying to win back losses.

Now I get it. Keeping staff is hard while trying to keep costs in line but Gorges is a large space and for the life of me, I can’t see how one missing employee was the make it or break it piece.

Was the brewery closed the other days this person was in Sin City too? I joke that I can make or break a brewery or joke even further that they should know who I am but any traveler beer or otherwise would be let down by a shut taproom.

You need to find a way to open for to-go only or open just for a small amount of guests for limited hours because the show must go on.

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Best Beers of July 2023

Well, even though i spent three weeks in Los Angeles and only one in Portland / Hood River, my best of is basically a list of what I drank up northwest.

Though I do give Pure Project’s Shake the Ground Murky Triple IPA an honorable mention that in most months would be good for at least 2nd place.

But the winner is Fracture Brewing’s Hype Machine Vol. 1 – Oat Cream Hazy.

Tied for second is Von Ebert’s Volatile Substance IPA which is worthy of the awards it has received. I also nod to Lichen West Coast IPA from Grand Fir Brewing. The last beer I want to mention is Jammy Pale Ale from pFriem Family Brewers as Hood River fandom.

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A Book & A Beer – The Trackers by Charles Frazier

Charles Frazier is best known for the hit Cold Mountain, his latest book is also set in a rugged past with a bit of a plain name to it, The Trackers.

The plot centers on a muralist for the Works Progress Administration sent to Wyoming to add art to the post office in the small town of Dawes.

That artist, Valentine Welch, has a rich benefactor in John Long who has recently married and is pondering politics as a next move. That wife, Eve, is mysterious and fresh off being a singer that travels the country. Another mysterious Eastwoodian character is Faro, the head ranch hand.

This was a bit of a split book. The front half is about the various people and the town and the mural. Then Eve disappears and it becomes a Chandler / Hammett mystery. Neither really worked for me because the lead, Val, is plain and uncomplicated so the others have to raise the interest level. And they do so in a very rote way. The troubled singer, the world wise ranch hand and the land baron who seems upright but is hiding a certain rot underneath. The Trackers has a written for the screen feel to it.

I would have Ranch Water as the first pick even though I have only had 2nd generation not really a Ranch Water. Since this is a beer and a book post, I would select an often overlooked pair of styles. The brown ale and the amber ale. This book is kind of pedestrian and you need a beer with some heft and malt to it.