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Pop Culture Brews

Each month I post about books and beer and podcasts and beers. The Pop Culture Brews podcast does something similar to fun results. They have a guest and they combine a type of culture and talk about beers and hone brewing.

It is thus fun on two levels. Check it out.

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Stone is Bringing Them Back

Stone Brewing will be resurrecting past beers that were voted on social media, so, without further ado, here are the beers making a triumphant return…

First out of the gate will be Sublimely Self-Righteous Black IPA for another re-return followed by my personal choice…

Baird / Ishii / Stone Japanese Green Tea IPA (Late February) 

  • “It’s hard to find such a perfect blend of IPA hop flavor and herbal tea qualities. Strong tea attributes combine with hop elements of peach, apricot and mango.”

Stone RuinTen Triple IPA (Late April) 

  • “Hugely hoppy, an indelicate beer. There are five pounds of hops packed into each barrel and the ABV is cranked up to withstand the onslaught of hops.”

Stone Peak Conditions Double Hazy IPA (June) 

  • “This beer offers all the hops and bravado of a double IPA along with real fruit additions of passion fruit, orange and guava. Expect West Coast hops and East Coast haze.”

Stone 25th + 1 Anniversary Triple IPA (August) 

  • “Although not an archive rebrew (yet!), Stone’s anniversary salute audaciously reserves a spot in the Stone Fan Favorites lineup. This year’s triple IPA will extend the 25th anniversary for a bonus year of celebration.”  

Stone Imperial Russian Stout (October) 

  • “One of the foremost examples of this Old-World style in the American craft beer market. Rich and sinful, this massive and intensely aromatic beer abounds with notes of chocolate, coffee, black currants, anise and roastiness.”
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5K

As a born and raised Portlander and a Gin fan, this new milestone release from Ecliptic Brewing is doubly up my alley.

This is Batch 5000 and it will be a golden BarleyWine ale aged in Old Tom Gin barrels and will reach 13% ABV. Maybe we will see this in L.A.

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Dead Seltzer Database

Two seemingly unrelated items that I hope to tie up with a bow.

I recently read an Eater Portland piece chronicling notable restaurants that closed in 2021. Then I read that….

SABInBev has pulled the plug on the Cacti brand of hard seltzer. Not super surprising or important in the grand beverage scheme but it did get me to thinking if someone out there on the interwebs is tracking the comings and goings of hard seltzers in the way that the Eater folks did.

Now, I am not so plugged into this world, didn’t even know there was a brand called Cacti, but maybe someone else can point me towards a list. I think it would inform us all if seltzer is a passed fad or just in a mature market.

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Want to Visit in 2022 Brewery # 1 – Wagon Wheel Brewing

First we travel north to Oxnard and Wagon Wheel Brewing. Opened in the auspicious year of 2020.

Let’s dive into what I would put into a taster tray…

Swanky Bear Hazy IPA – “Swanky Bear is our first Hazy Single IPA featuring Simcoe and Citra hops. Soft citrus and stone fruit flavors pair well with the silky mouthfeel of this crushable Hazy IPA.”

Switch Back IPA – “This West Coast IPA is light, pale and dry. Nelson, Simcoe and Chinook hops leap from the glass with pineapple and grapefruit aromas balanced with a crackery malt backdrop. This IPA is fruity and dank with a lean but expressive bitterness.”

Road Rash DIPA – “Road Rash is a high octane Hazy Double IPA with a rider friendly delivery. Layered with German Pilsner, American Oat Malt and Wheat, this beverage goes down smooth. The Galaxy and Citra deliver the bottom end power with intense notes of orange, tangerine and grapefruit.”

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Featured Beer Review – LA – Strategic Partnership IIPA from Ogopogo (and friends)

Ogopogo gathered a flock of brewers for their IIPA, Strategic Partnership…

Here are my tasting notes…

Right off the bat, fruit punch, concord grape and bubbly as well. Light for the style at 8.5% I kept waiting for a hit of alcohol or some form of heaviness but it never came. There was a little hop speedbump but the big fruit notes zoom you past it in a jiff. The label does make me note what “lupomax Citra” brings to the table as well. Two thumbs up here and if you are looking for fruit without the haze, this is for you.