Pucker Up!

The Stone Brewing Sour Festival starts tomorrow!

Here is the description of the event (in typical Stone language):
“The human palate is capable of detecting four basic flavors, but during a typical beer tasting only two of those (well, three if you count the pretzels) are experienced: bitter, sweet, and salty. Well, here at Stone, we feel it’s high time to include the fourth flavor domain, SOUR, in the equation. “Dr.” Bill Sysak is busily hunting down the best sour beers the world has to offer in order to bring you one of the biggest gatherings ever held featuring these special brews.”

And here are some of the draft options. (It is quite a list)
Alvinne Kerasus Lost Abbey Isabelle Proximus
Avery Altar Boy Lost Abbey Red Poppy Ale
Avery Bad Sally Lost Abbey Veritas ’02
Avery Brabant Moonlight #16 Blonde Sour Beer
Avery De Vogelbekdieren Moonlight #28 Sour Ale
Avery Voltron New Belgium Bottleworks 10th
Anniversary Wild Ale
Avery Anniversary Ale-16 New Belgium Eric’s Ale 2007
Ballast Point Hout Series Dark Cherry New Belgium La Folie
Ballast Point Hout Series Gueuze New Belgium Le Terroir
Ballast Point Sour Wench Blackberry Ale New Belgium Love Barrel #3
Boon Oude Lambic New Belgium Spicy Folie
Boulevard Saison-Brett New Belgium Tart Lychee
The Bruery Cuvee Jeune New Belgium Transatlantique Kriek
The Bruery Hottenroth Berliner Weisse Ommegang Rouge
The Bruery White Zin Russian River Consecration
Craftsman El Prieto Dark Sour Ale Russian River Sanctification
Craftsman Honesty Ale Russian River Supplication
Deschutes Green Monster Russian River Temptation
Deschutes Little Buddha St. Louis Gueuze Fond Tradition
Deschutes Saison de la Bond Telegraph Reserve Wheat
Deschutes St. Lucy’s Artisan Ale Valley Chilie Wonka Sour
Dogfish Head Festina Peche Valley Decadence Grand Cru 2009
Drake’s George Brett Triple Valley DysFunktion-Ale Part Deux
Drake’s It’s Fity Valley Olallieberry Sour
Green Flash Grand Mantis-Merlot
Barrel Aged Grand Cru Van Honsebrouk Bacchus
Lost Abbey Cuvee de Tomme 2009 Verhaeghe Duchesse de Bourgogne
Lost Abbey Duck Duck Gooze Verhaeghe Echte Kreikenbier

Oregon Craft Beer Month – 7 Brides Brewing

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If you venture outside of Portland, you will find a great brewery in almost every Oregon City. McMinnville has Heater-Allen. Pacific City has Pelican. Enterprise has Terminal Gravity. Well Silverton has 7 Brides Brewing.

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Lauren’s Pale Ale (LPA)
NW pale ale made with generous amounts of hops
and enough crystal malt for a great balance.
Good upfront hop aroma with a great hop taste that lingers.
5.5% alcohol ibu’s 50

Emily’s Ember
Very well balanced red ale with deep amber color,
a caramel aroma and just enough hops
to let you know they are there.
4.5% alcohol ibu’s 35

Oatmeal Ellie
This coffee-like beer will finish with the smooth taste of oatmeal.
The strong oatmeal flavor should remind you of your breakfast bowl of oatmeal.
Tastes much lighter that it looks, but has a complex flavor with a dry smooth finish.
4.5% alcohol ibu’s 30

Maggie’s Marzen
Traditional octoberfest marzen
with soft malt flavor, creamy texture,
and a dark orange color and a smooth crisp finish.
5.5% alcohol ibu’s 30

Weezin-ator
This dopplebock is dominated by its strong,
deep toasty flavors that have a full-bodied finish
and a lingering sweetness from the complex mix of malts
and just the right amount of hops to balance.
This “big” beer has complex undertones and a smooth warming finish.
7.9% alcohol ibu’s 30

Lil’s Pils
This traditional bohemian pilsner is light, crisp,
and has a wonderful floral hop bouquet
that balances the complex malty taste
of the all German barley.
4.5% alcohol ibu’s 30

Here is their

Limbo from Eagle Rock Brewing

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2 great pieces of news from Eagle Rock
From the press release, “After all the waiting, we FINALLY have our Growlers! Hooray!
Also we will be releasing our newest seasonal beer. Limbo is a Citra-Hopped Saison, bursting with tropical fruit character, and perfect for this hot summer weather. This beer also marks another collaboration project with a local homebrewer, this time fellow mug-club member, beer writer, homebrewing author, and Saison expert Drew Beechum. Congrats to Drew, and thanks!”

LA Beer Week tickets

Go HERE to get your tickets for the 2nd LA Beer Week finale party on October 17th.
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And if you thought last year at Descanso Gardens amongst the roses was cool. How about upping the ante to historic Union Station!

Now you can metro to the beer and not have to worry about driving or parking.

Sean Suggests for July 2010

As summer rolls across the country with a blanket of heat and humidity, the types of beers that have maximum enjoyment factors are generally more effervescent and light.

This month’s suggestions still fall into light, medium and dark categories but are more tuned to the lighter side. July 2010 Beers

karl-strauss
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widmer

Mystery Brewing UPDATE!

Here is the latest news (VERY GOOD) from Mystery Brewing

“We hit our goal – and with 10 days to go! A huge, hearty, and hefty thanks to everyone who donated – in the past two days, including the matching funds, we’ve raised over $17,000. That is just phenomenal. I cannot describe how difficult it will be to sit through the rest of my work day.

…We go on raising money for the next 10 days. Anything above goal means we’re that much closer to our first batch of beer and that much more of it. Kegs get ordered, ingredients are lined up, we look at warehouse space and refrigerated storage. We’re already on the path through licensing and getting ready to make beer.”

Just because they reached their goal doesn’t mean you shouldn’t become a backer. Think of the great beer you could help make a reality.

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Mikkeller single hops!

A few months back, I warned that more Mikkeller single hop ales were on the way. Now that I have just sampled the Mikkeller 10. From the initial 10 single hop beers it is about time for the next set to start.

Personally, the two that I am looking forward to the most are Citra and Sorachi Ace.
Mikkeller-IPA_Citra
Mikkeller-IPA_SorachiAce
Bravo is my 3rd in line.
Mikkeller-IPA_Bravo
Followed by Apollo and Summit…
Mikkeller-IPA_Apollo
Mikkeller-IPA_Summit

So now I need East Kent Goldings and these new five to complete the series.

What about you? Which of these five are you looking forward to?

A tumble with Sierra Nevada

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Sierra Nevada Brewing has sidelined Anniversary Ale and instead will use the fall release slot for Tumbler Autumn Brown Ale later this year when the leaves are turning brown.

It appears to be part of the strategy that heralded Glissade in spring to bookend the tremendous 30th Anniversary brews. The second of which, the Imperial Helles, should be on finer beer store shelves now.

Lemony Cricket

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Hall-Woodhouse home of the Badger brand is a beer line that I wish I could get over here (as I have mentioned before in previous posts) Now they have a summer seasonal that would be great..
“It is a refreshing ale which abounds a certain zing. Lemon grass is used in the brewing process, this compliments the citrus aroma from the hopping level. The malt character that supports the refreshing undertones makes this beer suitable for both warm summer days or cool spring evenings. Lemony Cricket is 4.4% ABV and is described as ‘a classic beer with a twist’.”

more Beachwood BBQ

Great news from Beachwood BBQ! On two fronts!

beachwood-bbq
1)“We are very excited to officially announce that Beachwood BBQ and Brewing will soon be coming to downtown Long Beach. We’re opening our second Beachwood BBQ, but we’re going to be brewing our own beer. We’ve partnered with Julian Shrago, a fantastic brewer, who is going to spearhead our brewing operations. Our Downtown Long Beach location will have 12 house beers plus a rotating guest beer program. We’ll be serving the same menu at both Beachwood locations and we are going to try our hardest to make sure that we create a space where everyone finds a friend, enjoys a good meal and drinks some phenomenal beer. We are so thrilled that this is happening and will keep you all posted as we get closer to opening day.

2) In the next several months, Seal Beach Liquor on Main Street will become Home of Beachwood Bottleshop. We’re working hard to get everything together to make this happen as soon as possible. We think that Beachwood Bottleshop is a great compliment to what we do at Beachwood BBQ, it gives us another opportunity to provide awesome products, educate people and interact with our patrons in another way. More details to come, but expect the bottleshop to represent some of the best craft beer, wine and spirits we can find.”