That feeling when you take that first sip of a beer can be Ahhh! Take that into the realm of aroma and you get a new juicy IPA from Glendale brewery, Brewyard Beer. Co.
Smell Like a Pirate
Aqui
Brewjeria has a Benefit Beer Release on the way. They have “teamed up with Mexicali Biennial to make a Farmhouse ale, or as we’re calling it ‘Cerveza del Campo’ with local Oro Blanco Grapefruit. This beer will be available on tap and in four packs on March 25th.”
And if you want to pair the beer art, the Mexicali Biennial recently launched a new exhibition “Land of Milk & Honey’ at the Cheech Center which is on my list of SoCal places to visit. But maybe they should call the exhibit Beer & Honey instead.
Leprechaun Beer Review – Guinness vs. Guinness 0.0
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! I tend to stay in on the drinking holidays and today I am doing the same with a taste test. Guinness vs. Itself but its non-alcoholic sibling.
And to make it a little more interesting, gonna do this blind and see if the 0 is easy to taste. My wife laughed at the suggestion since most of my N/A experience boils down to “too thin.”
But this blind nearly fooled me. They both pour that familiar darl brown almost black. Both have the widget The 0 Draught has a more pronounced Guinness smoke and chocolate combo compared to the draught we know and love on this particular day in particular. But, the taste was noticeably thinner with a touch of wine sour as well. That lack of fullness was enough for me to semi-comfortably pick it out.
The aroma was probably amplified for the 0 to compensate and in that lies a lesson for others making N/A beers. Pull focus away from the thinness inherent in these beers with aroma and you can get close to the original.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!
A Podcast & A Beer – Let’s Make a Rom-Com
Last month, I listened to comedians trying to come up with a plausible Sci-Fi pilot. Well, that same team has released (on Valentine’s Day of course), Let’s Make a Rom-Com.
Ryan Beil, Maddy Kelly, and Mark Chavez are appealing as hosts / romance writers and because they are both really trying to write a romantic comedy while simultaneously learning about why and how one clicks makes the podcast really work.
For beer, I would head to chocolate. Chocolate stouts. German chocolate pastry beer. Bottle Logic in Orange County has a plethora of beers like that. Or if you want to dig deeper, pick a past or current relationship and where you “met cute” and pick a beer from that city.
Maryland Hops
I came across a cool tidbit of hop information on YouTube about the re-discovery of a brand new wild hop named Monocacy found in Maryland.
Don’t know if it is hardy enough to be bigger than just a novelty or if it has flavors that brewers can truly use but it is great to see hops waiting to be found.
PV
By law, beer bloggers must always talk about pilsners as if they are on the cusp of popularity. (they are popular, just not IPA popular). So, I present a local option for you pils believers…
….P(alos) V(erdes) Pils from Burning Daylight Brewing.
Sean Suggests for March 2023
This month’s trio is brought to you by the letter S for Spring. Also the letter C for California.
Riip Brewing Solo Triip IPA – 6.8% – “The next adventure in our single hop series focuses on one of the most ubiquitous hops in the world, Mosaic.”
Beachwood / Urban Roots Steely Jam IPA – 7.1% – “A collaboration between Beachwood and Urban Roots, Steely Jam is a hoptacular riffage using sustained chords of Strata, Mosaic and Mosaic Cryo hops.”
HiDef Brewing Spring Reverb – 7.45% – “Barrel aged mixed culture fruited sour with a mild pleasant funk, tart and crisp. Fruited with peach, raspberry and passion fruit.”
HPB # 9
Highland Park Brewery is heading toward their 9th anniversary soon which means two things.
- A High 9 IPA
- A weeklong celebration from March 16th through March 21st with special can releases, a bottle release, limited draft only High 9 variant, food specials
Not That Linus
I do not know what Saint Linus is the patron saint of other than the obvious pumpkin patches and security blankets but he has a beer festival line-up that is quite interesting.
- Amarok Brewing
- Brewjeria Company
- Brewyard Beer Company
- Brown Soul Brewing Co.
- Burning Bridge Brewing
- Cerveceria Del Pueblo
- Cerveza Cito
- Common Corners Brewing
- Crowns and Hops
- Eagle Rock Brewery
- L a Bodega Brewing Company
- La Jara Brewing Company
- Lit Brew
- Los Barbones Cerveceria
- Norwalk Brew House
- Over Town Brewing Co.
- Pacific Plate Brewing Company
- U pshift Brewing Company
If that list is to your liking, click HERE for tickets.
Patio beer
Stone Brewing has been outside apparently, which is probably why Patio Magic Double IPA is now out.
“This 8.8% botanical creation uses a special ingredient from New Zealand called Phantasm, which is made from Sauvignon Blanc grape skin extract. When making white wine, grapes are pressed off their skins. The skins produce some of those amazing fruit characteristics also found in hops. In combination with certain yeasts and hops it intensifies the flavor and aroma experience.
Combine that with a hefty dose of the experimental hop HBC 843 from Hop Breeding Company, and you’ve got an immensely complex but simply amazing IPA.”