Hard to believe but Valiant Brewing Company has been around a full year and the last time I was there was at their opening. So myself and beer compadre, Rich drove through the much needed rain to Anaheim.
And I started with the first anniversary offering which pours a golden orange red. A pretty decent strong ale for a stormwatch Saturday. Some Belgian notes to it. A little too viscous for me but the alcohol is well hidden making for a good sipper.
While Rich did recon with a 10 taster package, I next chose the hybrid Lager Barleywine which was a little underwhelming. I didn’t know what to expect but it was thin and a bit watery which is not good for me in a lager yet alone a half & half version. I also had sips of the Guava Cream which gets classified as a game effort. My favorite was the dry hopped Crescendo. A blonde lager that I bought a bottle of on the way out
There was quite the big crowd but the lines were manageable. They had a Pizza truck outside that was doing brisk business. But I felt like the beers hadn’t grown much from that first time I sampled. Some really nice beers like the Mounds of Grounds but more that seemed a few recipe tweaks away from being great.