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North Carolina brewery # 3 – French Broad

Our last stop in North Carolina is French Broad Brewery in the east coast craft beer mecca of Asheville.

The first beer that caught my attention, partially due to the patriotic name, is 13 Rebels ESB — Named for the 13 colonies, our Extra Special Bitter features generous Goldings profile and a complex malt palate. I am predisposed to breweries that have ESBs, brown ales or milds on their regular menu and this would be the first one that I would go for. Then my hoppy extreme side would get a chance to order the IPA because who wouldn’t want to solve this conundrum “Here’s a really easy riddle: what has twelve hops additions and rules your face?”

French Broad has been around since 2001 filling taps and growlers with their offerings.

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Eagle Rock’s 2nd Anniversary

Eagle Rock Brewery celebrated the Deuce yesterday. Both the anniversary and the anniversary beer. It was a bright sunny day with a big crowd ready to sample a wide spectrum of Eagle Rock’s brews.

Beer Buddy Richard and I waited in line and quickly grabbed our taster glasses and tickets. I started with Tarte Noir a lovely sour beer with big dark fruit tastes and then went bigger with the Deuce.

This anniversary edition (in bottles too!) is an amped up version of their classic Solidarity. Which has also spawned a vanilla bean nitro version which I also had a glass of too. It is big and defies easy adjectives. It isn’t super chocolately or roasty and it is almost more Belgian-y than English. Dark fruits and some light coffee notes.

Oddly enough, the biggest line was for the taps that housed Stimulus and Red Velvet instead of the new beer. Then I tried the Red Velvet which had been run through a randall and tasted why. It was lighter and less hoppy than I remembered the original award winner being and it had a lovely tea taste infused all the way through it.

It was my favorite even though I went back for seconds on the Deuce and bought a bottle later at the brewery.

Thanks to Jeremy and the hard working Eagle Rock crew who had to man the tap room right after the party. And also a big shout out to Ryan Sweeney and the Verdugo folks for hosting.

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A harbinger

I know that I seem to be pushing Sixpoint hard of late, but I really like both their beers and their marketing. And I am not the only one.

It is one of the fastest growing breweries in New York. And they are sending out more and more beers in their modern, yet traditional looking cans. I have been fortunate enough to have had a couple different selections from them and now they are bringing out more like Diesel and Harbinger to put on my wish list. Seeing a saison in a tallboy just brings a smile to my face. It really blurs the boundaries for people who still see cans as just lager receptacles.

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BrewDog in London

In case you missed it like I did, BrewDog Camden opened in December of last year expanding the reach of the Scottish renegades beer crusade south.

Or as BrewDog puts it, “Just a stone’s throw from Camden Tube Station, the BrewDog bar at 113 Bayham Street adds a much needed craft beer injection to an area that’s typically associated with a twisted mix of indie drinking dens, chic VIP venues and mental aslyums.”

So now there are 3 locations to get your BrewDog on.

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MOA

No, it is not someone asking for “moa” beer please. It is a brewery from New Zealand. Blenheim to be exact.

MOA Beer recently held a tasting of 5 of their beers up in Oregon at the famous Belmont Station. And maybe some of their line will reach a little further south here to Los Angeles.

The ones that most interest me are:
Moa Five Hop Winter Ale shows the unique signatures of traditional North European bottle conditioning. Displaying a Nelson-dominant hoppy nose with a subtle oak character leaving extra smooth and creamy, honeyed characters on the palate. A well-balanced companion to eastern style spiced foods. Traditionally served just below room temperature.

Moa Methode is bottle fermented and conditioned to give a natural, more consistent carbonation and flavour. Due to the natural brewing process of Methode Moa, a light, beneficial sediment will remain. This sediment protects the beer from premature aging and leaves full, slightly spicy characters on the palate.

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Auto Growler Fill

I saw this mechanical wonder in an article by John Holl on Craft Beer.com.

You are seeing the auto growler!

“The traditional way to fill a growler is still directly from the taps; often with the assistance of an extender hose so the jug can fill from the bottom. But there are some breweries that are putting technology to work when it comes to preparing beer to-go.

At Pennsylvania’s Victory Brewing Company they use an Austria-made growler filler. Purchased in 2008, the mechanical wonder pours 20 different beers. After being inserted into the filler, the growler is placed on a pedestal; the machine purges the glass from carbon dioxide and then fills the growler with the beer of choice.

“It’s much more exciting than watching a bartender hook a hose up to a bar tap,” said Victory’s Whitney Thompson, Quality Services Executive Manager.

The brewery said it allows them to send draft beer home with customers while preserving quality. Additionally, beer loss has been reduced by at least 90 percent, they said, which saves considerable cost.”

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I & I

I was reading about the new Little Bear bar on the interwebs (I forget where, apologies in advance) and I ran across this bit of news: “I & I Brewing, the newest in the thriving micro and small brewery business, has opened shop today in Chino. The menu currently features six offerings, including Honey Cream Ale, Peach Wheat Ale and a Belgian Cranberry Wheat. Their tasting room is open only on Fridays (4PM to 9PM) and Saturdays (1PM to 9PM)”

Aside from the fact that my last name starts with I, this is cool on another front. Every community should have their own brewery. And maybe one day I&I will make it to L.A. and be a player just like Hangar 24 from Redlands is today.

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Select Beer Store

Being a Portlander, I have been waiting for California versions of Belmont Station and Bier Cafe or Saraveza or BeerMongers down here.

So I was happy to see Sunset Beer open up last year and now it looks like another is joining the ranks. Select Beer Store!
Let’s look at the statistical breakdown. 12 taps. Over 300 bottles that you can take away or enjoy on premises (for a small corkage fee). That should be enough to get you down to Redondo Beach.