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Peel the Label – When I will drink at a brewery

Not that anyone is asking for my presence at a taproom but I bet that there are many people out there who are on the fence about sitting outside with others with masks going up and down.

I thought I would show the reasoning behind when I would return to have beer from a glass outside of my own home.

First, I will need to have gotten the vaccine. Second, I would need to see a significant percentage (over 60%) of people in Los Angeles County had gotten it as well. Or, a higher percentage (like over 75%) had received their Fauci Ouchie.

Once that baseline criteria is met, I would need to see that hospitals had bed capacity. Because if despite precautions, I did get sick after, I would want a bed available.

Then I would tentatively go out with the proviso that if a space was too crowded or too maskless, that I would bolt. I figure the people jonesing to be out are more than likely people who may have taken less precautions than me. Now, I don’t consider myself paranoid just lucky to have avoided getting sick and want to keep that streak alive.

Now let’s all get that vaccine!

Peel the Label is an infrequent series with no photos or links. Just opinion.

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Two Bright

Last week, Los Angeles Ale Works released two pale ales with artwork by Brady Smith.

Here are the beer details straight from the brewery:
Cannonball Kid (Juicy Pale Ale 6.0%) features El Dorado and Cascade hops. Resinous notes of grapefruit and mango gummy bears. 
 Pugapalooza (Pale Ale 6.0%) sports Sabro, Sultana, and El Dorado hops to lead you down the road to tropical notes of guava and passionfruit.

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DINO

The only (semi) reliable comic strip nowadays is Pearls Before Swine especially when beer comes into the bubbles and the art. But this recent strip had me thinking about Fans of Craft Beer In Name Only. You know the ones. You will see them in release lines, they trade a lot, they post pictures of what look like slurpees but are the latest fruited beer concoction and they are very sure of themselves. Mostly “beer-splaining” white dudes.

What I want to encourage is exploration, learning, changing your mind, listening (and reading). Don’t be a DINO, they went extinct.

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Featured Review – Spritz This! from the Bruery

We go from passion fruit to grapes with Spritz This! from The Bruery.

This sparkling golden ale pours a dark purple with lovely mauve bubbles. You can’t see much in the way of carbonation through the dark color in the glass. Slight tartness followed by a really nice grain flavor that leads to a final touch of grape notes.  I know a touch about Pinot Noir grapes but nada about Alicante so I can’t fully say if the grapes are expressing in tandem or one has the lead but it is the malt that is the lead here for me, it is the brightest flavor. 

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Review – That Track is a Groove from Radiant Beer Co.

I finally snared a can from the new Anaheim brewery, Radiant Beer Co. The vinyl referencing That Track is a Groove West Coast IPA.

This IPA pours a big, bright yellow color.  Snappy and effervescent on the tongue at first. Initially pine but a lighter burst of a creamy citrus jumps in to take over. Dare I say, more juicy than West Coast. Dare I say further that it strays into milkshake territory. There is a little bit of palate hop attack but it then turns soft. Not I need a bad way but there seems to me a bit of style drift from West Coast.

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Post Valentines Day

If you need to make up for last Sunday or if you just want to keep that party going, maybe some truffles are in order..

New Belgium has teamed with Enstrom Toffee and Confections on a line of truffles. Tripel, dark ale and Fat Tire and since it is Flagship February, you should probably get red wrapped treats.

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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!”