Up from the Cellar – Gone to Plaid from Noble Ale Works

cellar
We return to the cellar and in honor of the Noble Ale Works wins at the recent Craft Brewers Conference, I have cracked open a Wee Heavy from the Anaheim based brewery.

Gone to Plaid pours a dark brown with red tinting to it. A woody sweet aroma greets the nose. Initially a little caramel sweet but a light drying bitterness closes the gap fairly quickly. This is a cheek warmer for sure. The label mentions fruit cake, toffee and brandy and I concur with that last descriptor the most. This has the weight of that spirit running through it.

I don’t quite remember when this was purchased or where but the Scotch Ale has been in my hands for close to a year and a half. This beer is based on a recipe from home Brewer Darren Shelton who won best of show at the Anaheim Fest of Ales in 2013.

The beer may have lost some brightness that would have added to the flavor by subtracting out done of the sweetness but I think this beer could have aged into something really port-like with more time.

FirkFest 2016

Amazingly, there are still tickets available for this year’s rendition of Firkfest in Anaheim! You should remedy that situation and get your admit one (or two) for the 19th of this month. It is money well spent and much better than being in a crowded, rowdy bar on St. Patrick’s Day for sure.

So hop to it and click this LINK to purchase.

Here are some of the breweries whose tents you should visit if you already have your tickets: Bottle Logic, Firestone Walker, Legends (new to me) and Monkish (especially if they have the Spa beer again).
firkfest2016

Firkfest Fotos

Firkfest part Deux was this past Saturday.  I will cover the beers on a post on Food GPS this Thursday, but for now, some photos from the day….

Beer Guy LA pouring for King Harbor.
Beer Guy LA pouring for King Harbor.
My intro to Artifex and their DIPA.
My intro to Artifex and their DIPA.
The long and lovely casks of MacLeod
The long and lovely casks of MacLeod
Josh and Craig pouring the ales of MacLeod.
Josh and Craig pouring the ales of MacLeod.

A Valiant 1st

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.
20140301-122513.jpg
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
20140301-122030.jpg
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.

FoodGPS Teaser – Anaheim Beer Day

As much as I try to promote the L.A. Beer Community, there is also a greater California community to also to talk about.

With that in mind, I visited the soon to open Valiant Brewing and Noble Ale Works in Anaheim and you can read about it tomorrow over on FoodGPS.

For now, these photos will have to do….
IMG_3641
The taps and beer menu at Valiant
IMG_3643
The Valiant brewing system
IMG_3642
The initial tasting flight!

IMG_3648
A Noble tower!
IMG_3655
The taster tray!
IMG_3656
The new look of Noble labels.

Bruery Reserve Society

Normally, I do not go out on St. Patrick’s Day. And if provoked, I will declare that it is a beer beginners night and I don’t fancy my chances on the road from other revelers and police checkpoints.

BUT…(and you all probably saw that coming), if the Bruery is throwing their Reserve Society Celebration that day? Exceptions are made.

Beer buddy Richard and I arrived in slightly rainy and slightly cold Anaheim in the afternoon to get in line for the festivities not knowing how it would play out since it was our first time at this event.

I had heard through the beer hop bines that last year’s party was not optimal. But from the start, this celebration was smooth as 2009 Papier. We were allowed in the tent early to avoid more rain. Check in was quick and painless and after the initial long lines as people targeted their must have beers most lines throughout the 3 1/2 hours were very short. You could walk up and get Chocolate Rain in no time flat.

The choices were ridiculously great. Papier, Coton and Cuir. Black Tuesday. Multiple versions of Carmen and Smoking Wood oh and Eagle Rock brought Libertine and Deuce, Bootleggers had Black Phoenix and Knuckle Sandwich, Hangar 24 had Pugachev’s Cobra and their DIPA and TAPS brought the awesome Imperial Balinese Stout and Crystal Pils.

But this was THE place to have Bruery beers. And my favorite was Sour in the Rye with Kumquats (Thanks Dave for the recommendation). Fruity and tart and well balanced. Just awesome. I had my first taste of ISO:FT and Carmen with Kiwi too.
And for those in the Irish mood, you could get a beer dosed with Centennial hop oil. My green beer was Humulus Lager and boy was it green and hoppy.

Oh and great food from Beachwood (love the blue cheese grits), plenty of water and soda and enough room that you did not feel cramped. I just wish I had more than ten tickets and another couple of days to work through the whole list of beers!

Let’s Tour – Noble Ale Works

Orange County is a haven for great beer for us needy Angelenos and coming soon these beers from Noble Ale Works….

Pale Ale 5.6% ABV
Brewed with Amarillo hops giving it a crisp floral nose with smooth finish.

Alpha Red 7.2% ABV
This Imperial Red Ale beer is brewed with Magnum and Columbus hops then dry hopped with Simcoe and Columbus hops which gives it a nice citrus finish to the balanced malt characteristic.

IPA 7.0% ABV
Brewed in the west coast IPA style, this IPA is highly hopped with a full body. Essence of grapefruit with a floral/piney nose.

Dark Sybian IPA 6.5% ABV
Our version of Cascadian Dark Ale, brewed with the new and seasonal Midnight Wheat Malt from Briess Malting.
Hopped with Cascade, Centennial and Magnum hops.