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World Beer Cup 2024

CBC, the Craft Brewers Conference was in Las Vegas aka Land of the Sphere and that is where the World Beer Cup awards were announced yesterday.

Here is my Los Angeles centric take on who won…

  • 9,300 beers entered into the competition from 50 countries
  • took 8 categories before California announced itself by sweeping the Coffee beer category
  • Orange County picked up a brace of medals in Strong Porter and Hoppy Pilsner
  • Bend, Oregon was the big city winner
  • Speaking of Bend, 10 Barrel swept the German Style Sour Category, winning all three medals
  • weird fact that German-Style Pilsner was the 3rd biggest category
  • Good to see that Ian McCall and ISM Brewing came up big with multiple medals
  • Got to see Bianca, Jace and Guillermo streaming!
  • Also happy to see L.A. based winners Paperback repping Glendale with Silver, Ogopogo and Far Field with Gold and Cellador with Silver, Bravery with Bronze
  • La Fin du Monde from Unibroue won Gold and I have that in my fridge!
  • Great beer names: Cactus Makes Perfect, Hell Yes Helles, Irish Pre-Nup

You can see the full list of winners HERE

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Sith

Star Wars geeks know the importance of Kyber Crystal and what happens if the crystal is red.  It means a hoppy red ale from Long Beach Beer Lab that even a Sith Lord could love.  Masters and apprentices alike.

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From Foreign Shores – Part 1

There are numerous Rodenbach riffs from brewmaster Rudi Ghequire but one I just was made aware of is the Rodenbach Evolved Grand Cru at 6.0% and it has quite an age statement.

“Instead of the usual 18 months being matured in oak barrels, the base beer is a whopping 10 years! Then blended. Complex and mature. This Flemish red-brown mixed fermentation beer has the intense flavours of sour cherry, red fruit, balanced acidity and woody oak.”

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In Process # 1 – Ikasu Brewing

New breweries are a tiny bit easier to track now, but even I can fall behind on the news. Ikasu Brewing helmed by Masahiro (Masa) Kitano is in the planning stages and certainly has a different look from other L.A. breweries but has a renowned home brew club education (SoCal Cerveceros).

Follow on the social media and hopefully more news about this in process brewery will emerge.

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Not Red Handed

…instead try Red Hearted. Bell’s Brewery is adding to their Hearted Collection with Red Hearted. I am a fan of the Red IPA sub-style but I think Bell’s could have found a new name as this line has been quite extended. That said, if I see it in a variety pack here in L.A., I might just have to try it.

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More Small Print

There is the potential that beer labels will have to squeeze in a lot more information onto them in the future.  More specifically, allergens and nutrition information.  Which is not good for those, like me, who need major magnification just to read what hops are in the beer.  And though I like the idea of a QR code that leads you to more detailed information, what percentage of people are going to use that and then what percentage of those will understand the governmental gobbledygook that passes for information?

You can read more HERE from the Brewers Association. 

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Radiant Numerology

What do you get when you add 702 + 303 + 630 + 586 ? 

You get Radiant Beer Co.s By The Numbers DDH West Coast IPA.  It is collaboration with Yakima Chief Hops with “advanced hop products from YCH like Citra 702 flowable extract and 303 Trial (a blend with Phantasm®), while also featuring HBC 630 Cryo and HBC 586 T90 pellets.

With “hop character with fresh pineapple, ripe strawberry, guava and orange zest flavor.”

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Review – Scottish Golden Aged in Single Malt Whiskey Casks from Innis & Gunn

One of four barrel-aged expressions of a Scottish Ale, the Single Malt Whiskey matured version might not have the spirit geek cred of Caribbean Rum or Islay casks, but the issue is how does the base Innis & Gunn beer react with each cask.

Though I am afraid of the combination of clear bottle and non-refrigerated bottles, I picked up the lone bottle to try and the aroma is nice and Scotch-y but then the flavor turns a little too sweet. Almost cola sweet but that aroma keeps pulling the affair back to center. I like the subtle smoke note here as well. I wonder how this tastes fresh, would it have less caramel?