Follow Sean Inman to the best in craft beer
Our second stop in Washington State is a little town named Seattle where we will find Human People Beer. There is a Modern Times lineage and hop farm experience in the trio behind the brewery.
Tim Kamolz and Andrew Schwartz come from Modern Times while Mallorie King has the agricultural background.
Human People Beer will be tenants in a project called the West Canal Yards in Seattle, Washington with a hopeful summer 2024 opening. First beers may be available before then as is often the case.
Firestone Walker is adding a hoppy beer back into the mix that is neither a pilsner or hazy, rather an XPA.
Here are the specs, “Firestone XPA is built around New Zealand’s Nelson hop with its grapefruit and tropical Sauvignon Blanc qualities, all backed up with a dollop of classic Mosaic hops. The resulting beer offers a trifecta of drinkability: crisp, hoppy.”
If saving money is on your 2024 agenda, then the Pintlife Passport might help out. $25 gets you super discounted / nearly free beers. If you get 4 stamps, that would pay back that initial cost and any beers past that are essentially free.
The participating breweries are not bad, there are a few non-brewing participants and it is primarily South Bay centric but even with only 10+ months left, it is pretty doable.
I have not seen a Brewers Guild with a podcast but The San Diego guild has just started The Capital of Craft. It is “a podcast that focuses solely on the San Diego beer industry.”
According to the podcast description it is “Curated for industry professionals, we will cover topics specific to our city and provide relevant conversations with guests from all walks.”
I have listened to episode 1 about distribution and though it may be a bit deep in the weeds but craft beer fans should be aware of what happens to get local beer to you. Learning about shipping rates alone is an interesting facet of the beer business.
I will be following to see what guests and topics come next.
There are a plethora of both good and bad beer guides out there for when craft beer fans go a’ travelin’. But I thought this post had a really good extension past just the city center out into the surrounding areas.
It so happens this city is Bamberg in Germany, famed for its rauchbiers but the point stands for any good beer city. We should be looking a little outside the bubble for brewery gems.
Check out the recommendations HERE !
In the past, craft beer had a mini-moment of beer / wine hybrids. Now Benny Boy puts a cider twist on it with a collaboration with Neighborhood Winery and the resulting drinks are almost here if you buy a ticket.
Creature Comforts has been up and going for a bit in south DTLA and last year packaged an L.A. barrel-aged beer, but now the first brewed in L.A. beer is here…..
If you haven’t visited the brewery, this new beer might be the excuse you need.
One benefit of taking over an existing brewery is the opportunity to turn back the anniversary clock. Project Barley Square is taking that tack with the new 1st anniversary for their Torrance location.
In my beer pecking order, I tend to go for collaboration beers a lot but close by in preference is an Anniversary beer. Today I will be tasting 2 IPAversary beers.
First is Burn 5, a West Coast IPA from Burnin’ Daylight in Lomita, California. B5 pours a dark orange color and the initial taste is a bit of Sweet Tart candy and dried orange peel. The aroma is light tangerine to me. Quite light in the mouthfeel though a bracing pine bitterness comes in at the end.
For their 8th, Ventura’s MadeWest Brewing went for a DIPA. Pours a yellowy orange color in the pint glass. Very strong initially but that quickly fades into a pleasing citrus melange. The bitterness does linger on the palate. Also cleverly clocks in at 8% abv.
Looks like another new L.A. based beer is out. Grown Folks’, Front Porch, an American Light Lager at a sessionable 4.5% ABV. Grown Folks has three hard seltzers as well – Peach Cobbler, Ambrosia, and Key Lime.
Grown Folks was founded by Danica Dias in 2021 and takes inspiration from her grandma and her Creole background. The lager will be available in Los Angeles and a few other cities.