Follow Sean Inman to the best in craft beer
One of my bottle shops stops is Talon Tap & Wine in Eagle Rock. Friendly people, you have a great selection that you can buy single cans of and there is a nice little bar in the back if you want to catch a game.
And this year, they are turning 5! There will be a special day of celebration for it on Saturday, October 5th.
It is always heartening to see a brewery reach he ten year mark and at the end of the month, Hand-Brewed Beer will celebrate their decade with both real and temporary tattoos as well as beer.
If you saw the John Oliver – Last Week Tonight commentary on dollar stores and how terrible they are, you will understand why the name of the new beer from Paperback Brewing is so scary and fitting for the Spooky Season…
…it is good to see that Black IPA has found a bit of a seasonal niche for Halloween.
Paperback also has a good beer name going with the Beer Snob IPA but they really should have gone for a different IPA sub-style like Brut instead of…
We have entered Q4 of 2024. As always, the year just swings by before you know it. Before the calendar switches, we need to pack in fun like a trip to Colorado, which I will be posting about later.
~ e-visits to (3) breweries that won at this year’s GABF
~ special featured reviews of Halloween inspired 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 Book of Elsewhere by Keanu Reeves and China Miéville
~ A Podcast & A Beer listens to Blocks with Neal Brennan
~ Sports & A Beer returns with WNBA and NBA expansion to Portland and maybe Seattle
~ 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.
Gonna go very trivial here. But it is a bee in my bonnet. In my internet beer wanderings, I see videos and photos where beer is spilled, intentionally.
I know that there is only so much new beer content when making beer content is very much second, third or fourth place behind making craft beer but whenever I see spilled beer, I think that the beer could be given as a taster to a new customer or an old customer.
Then another part of me just moves to who has to clean up that mess because beer is sticky as hell. What cleaners are they using? I just start thinking of anything other than the beer.
Instead of the pranks and hijinks, this beer fan would like more about the brewery and the beers.
This month we are going to toggle between Fest and IPA for the best of the month.
My fest best are the always good Oaktoberfest from Firestone Walker and Paulaner’s Oktoberfest Bier. A journey from Germany to Paso Robles.
Hops wise, the Stone 28th Anniversary DIPA strayed a bit from their heavy format to a balanced fruity and big beer. The other is a spooky season named beer from ISM Brewing with Ghost Town Brewing, the 6.66% Death Dealer IPA.
As an added bonus, the Strudel Cider from Benny Boy here in Los Angeles literally tasted like an apple pie. Even though it is not fall yet here, it sure tasted like it.
Our third and final stop for September and Colorado breweries is Public Offering Brewing. The name sounds like it belongs on Wall Street but the brewery is on South Broadway in Denver.
Time to grab a taster flight….
Brilliant Disguise West Coast Pilsner – “Delicate passionfruit, orange, guava and grapefruit rind aromas and flavors rest on a light pilsner base.”
Le Spritz Italian Pilsner – “Light bread malt, a touch of honey sweetness and notes of elderflower, lemongrass and quince with a crisp, dry and slightly bitter finish.”
Quite the Pear Fruited Sour – “Our collaboration with Monolith Brewing – a light, refreshing, and slightly tart beer with a hint of pear.”
The Green Mile Hazy IPA – “Bold tropical pineapple, sweet mango and shaved coconut combine with peach, key lime & Valencia oranges on a smooth, creamy, and slightly sweet finish.”
El Segundo Brewing is throwing it back to the ’80s in both beer style and font with their Fresh Wave XPA, Extra Pale Ale. Like most monikers XPA is a bit weird give it is basically just word replacing. Session IPA is a bit cleaner and understandable.
That said, let’s taste the liquid inside and not get too hung up on verbiage. At 4.9%, this is low ABV but that first sip doesn’t give too much away because the hops come in the front door, loud. There is a second wave of malt where the lightness of the body shows up but at the end, it tastes almost like a hoppy Wit as a tropical burst comes in.
I am a beer traveler. When I go to a destination, part of my prep is a list of breweries to visit. That list will always be too long. Part of the reason why is that there are guides like San Diego Beer News that put a lot onto a plate.
And since fall is a great time to travel with fares down from summer highs until the holidays hit, you should check out the guides again since I have already told you about them before.
There are new ones out though!
You can start HERE with the local San Diego breweries.
Then head HERE for the rest of the U.S.
I have another Instagram handle for L.A. craft beer fans to follow. @laaleworks_hermosa.
Los Angeles Ale Works will debut their 3rd location in Hermosa Beach in 2025. You can check out the announcement video HERE.