Follow Sean Inman to the best in craft beer
Part of the NBA pre-season for me is seeing who The Portland Trail Blazers have teamed up with for a Blazer beer. This time it is Rogue Ales & Spirits bringing out the Rip City IPA.
Gonna have to send my mom to one of the Rogue pubs to get me a can so that I can root on our youngsters as they hopefully take the first steps towards a future NBA title.
The Pizza Port Strong Ale Festival should certainly be on any beer fans bucket list. Now in its 26th year down in lovely Carlsbad, it is a feast of big beers many of which are Belgian in style and perfect for December drinking.
Sometimes you just need to have a good cheese. But then you might wonder what craft beer to pair with that cheese. Or you could head to Trader Joe’s and pick up this Dutch cheese…
Institution Ales Fall Seasonal is back with a Black IPA. It is “brewed with Citra, Simcoe and Amarillo hops. Deceptively dark in appearance, this beer drinks similarly to a piney, citrusy West Coast IPA with only small hints of toasty and chocolate malts.”
It is safe to say that I enjoy a good entrepreneur story and if you don’t like the personalities of Shark Tank there is a different show that you can listen to as a podcast or on YouTube called The Pitch and recently they had a beer episode.
The founder of Hoplark which makes hop water and hop teas is branching out into brewing efficiency. ReCraft has engineered a way to get more utilization of hops and water that might save some money for a brewery.
Take a listen (or watch) HERE.
If there is anything this blog is known for, it is posts about collaborations and / or anniversaries and here is a little of both. The Rare Beer Club is having its 30-year anniversary this year and they have teamed with the Lost Abbey on The Last Sipper, “an 11.5% blended oak-aged imperial brown ale which was brewed for our members to celebrate our anniversary, and Perennial’s Prodigal, an 11.5% Imperial Milk Stout with chocolate and vanilla.”
And don’t sleep on the other 4 beer clubs either, it is a good way to taste around the country and the world and make excellent holiday gifts.
Left Burbank International Airport early in the AM and despite a little turbulence into Denver, everything went smoothly and by early afternoon, I was in Colorado Springs sipping beer at Ivywild an old school converted into food and drink with a brewery (Bristol Brewing) and distillery on site.
Over a bacon and bleu burger, I tasted four beers. A pale ale, a fresh hop IPA, a nitro IPA and for a change a pumpkin ale too. All four were above average which is not bad for a brewery that I had never researched at all. So good that I got a big ol’ bottle of their saison, which also rang true. A good start to the trip.
Next up was a drive south to the Cristo de Sangre mountain range town of Westclifffe, where the beer choices were a tad slim but luckily the stovepipe cans are around and I found a reliable Colorado choice in 90 Shilling Ale and flagship IPA from Odell Brewing and also a not so mini whiskey from Laws Whiskey House.
Uncle Nearest Distilling has been doing the bourbon thing and gaining accolades for it but now they reach into Tennessee Whiskey. A lower proof whiskey for the godfather of Tennessee whiskey at a more approachable proof.
It will be interesting to compare it to Jack.
I have been lucky enough to find some Russian River beers at my local Whole Foods / Amazon and maybe I will see the new R –n- D Series beer coming from the Santa Rosa brewery because Hazy IPA #54 is coming and it is coming with Brewer’s Gold and Citra hops.
The Georgia based Creature Comforts Brewing has reached the one year mark for their south of downtown, Fashion District L.A. outpost and will spend the first weekend of November celebrating. Maybe they will have a few autumnal beers on tap to ease into the holiday season with.
