Tag: Beachwood Brewing

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Review – Rye Like An Eagle

How do you impress in a saturated barrel-age marketplace?  Well you let Beachwood concoct an Imperial rye brown ale aged in American Rye Whiskey barrels for a year.

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This beer packs the whiskey heat but it is no one trick eagle. There is a load of milk chocolate flavor here that matches the rye whiskey and wood notes.  There is a bit of vanilla cream sweetness here as well. Texture wise it is almost silky but far from syrupy where many a barrel beer ends up.

I don’t know if it is the touch of Udder Love blended in or the age but this is one of the rare 10%+ beers that is drinkable right now.  Three months into the year and I may have found one of the best beers of 2015. It totally reminds me of the Firestone Walker anniversary beers.

Expensive, yes.  But this beer is worth it.

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In the Tap Lines for December 2014

header_attractionsWhat was started after Thanksgiving continues as the Holiday Ale Daily Advent Calendar (HADAC) highlights Winter Warmers from all over the globe.  Including the infamous Anchor Holiday Ale which I will review many years of.  There will also be many Portland beers to review from my recent trip but don’t fret, there will be plenty of LA Beer news to convey.

~ E-visits to three breweries from the Dallas Design District such as Texas Ale Project, Noble Rey and Peticolas
~ Reviews of various years of the Anchor Holiday Ale including the new 2014 version
~ Heads-Up on festive Los Angeles Beer Events throughout the month
~ Three suggested beers to buy this month. One light, one medium and one dark
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world
~ … and Session # 94 will converge bloggers onto a single topic, this month it is Your Role in the Beer Scene

Here are two events to get your December started in the Los Angeles craft beer world:
1) December 5th New Belgium Sour Seminar at Library Alehouse
2) December 18th Beachwood 8 Double IPA Release

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Not Hawkins

Beachwood Brewing will soon be releasing the third beer in Beachwood Brewing’s 2014 series of barrel-aged beers, Sadie.

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Tasting notes from the brewery describe Sadie as having “Rich accents of caramel and vanilla are carefully intertwined with delicate notes of oak and toasted oats.”

SADIE will be released as a limited edition beer on Tuesday, October 14th at 6pm at Beachwood BBQ in Seal Beach and Beachwood BBQ & Brewing in Long Beach, California.

Saduewill be available in 22oz. bottles on October 14th at 6pm at both Beachwood locations for the price of $25.

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Review – Mocha Machine from Beachwood Brewing

What is this?  A review of a beer NOT from Sierra Nevada?  Well it is Beachwood and I do love their beers, so yeah. And yes this was a “press copy”,but  I knew that impartiality would be hard no matter how the bottle made its way to my ‘fridge.  But I will soldier on with an objective review.

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Mocha Machine is a Bronze Medal World Beer Cup medalist from 2014 and there is good reason.  This is a serious coffee bomb.  Coffee Beers can be big on aroma and too light on flavor but even the chocolate adds more of a bitter nib taste instead of milk chocolate so you get a double whammy of bitter that really sings.  There is a pepper skin aroma from the coffee beans that really adds an additional note that I like which is weird because I can’t eat regular peppers at all.

This does taste stronger than the 9+% ABV and is best shared.  I poured a bit out for my sis-in-law to have with dessert.  But I think this beer would actually be best paired with mole or maybe something with bacon.

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Bottles are hard to come by but you will find it (occasionally) on tap at the two Beachwood locations.

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Do Not Rage Against the Mocha Machine

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July 29th marks yet another release from the seemingly unstoppable Beachwood Brewing and the release the award winning Mocha Machine Imperial Coffee Chocolate Porter.

The 9.2% ABV brew is described as thusly, the “porter—which took home the 2014 World Beer Cup Bronze Medal in the Coffee Beer category—is brewed with an array of British and German malts and infused with masterfully roasted coffee from Costa Mesa California’s Portola Coffee Lab. Then aged in cacao nibs from Ecuador, this burly brew finishes with a dimension of fudge awesomeness.”

Plus the label is pretty cool. And you won’t see many, so grab if you can.

 

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2 out of 3

I have not been a big fan of Stone hop bombs.  Probably a palate thing on my part.  They just seem muddled to me.  Whereas their GoTo Session and Enjoy By seem simpler and tastier.  But this collaboration has me intrigued because it brings three distinct brewers together.  Plus I think the world of Julian Shrago of Beachwood, so I will be getting this just for his 1/3 contribution.

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Warrior, Columbus, Simcoe but mostly Citra

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April 29th, Beachwood Brewing bottles up another fan favorite. This time their “modern” west coast India pale ale, Citraholic is brewed with an abundance of Citra hops and blended with Warrior, Columbus and Simcoe in the kettle (for good measure). The citrusy brew is then dry hopped with a massive charge of Citra, imparting heavy aromas of citrus and tropical fruits along with melon and gooseberry accents.

This one will probably go real fast so don’t dilly-dally.

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8 Buffalo

Uh-Oh.  Now it’s getting serious, Beachwood Brewing is releasing 8 Buffalo Imperial Stout.

It is the kick-off for the 2014 series of barrel-aged Beachwood beers.

As Brewmaster and co-owner Julian Shrago explains, “We are so excited to finally release our first large scale barrel aged beer! It’s been amazing to taste 8 Buffalo along the way, we are very proud of the final blend.”

The limited edition 8 Buffalo Imperial Stout will be released on March 4th at 5pm at Beachwood BBQ & Brewing in Long Beach, CA.

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Tovarish

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Beachwood Brewing (home to many a 2013 GABF medal) is finishing their bottle year with an Imperial Espresso Stout.  And they had me at Portola Coffee Lab….

“Tovarish is a bold Russian imperial stout brewed with a base of British Maris Otter barley, heaping amounts of roasted barley, and specialty malts. “Tovarish is a remarkably rich and complex beer,” says Brewmaster & Co-owner Julian Shrago. It is finished with a touch of black-strap molasses along with a custom roasted coffee blend by Portola Coffee Lab in Costa Mesa, CA. “Savor the layers of roast, coffee, and dark fruits with every sip,” continues Shrago.”

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Game Changer

One of the beers (of many) that caught my eye from the Beachwood SourFest (that I didn’t attend this year) was a lambic lager from Sudwerk Brewing.

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Long time readers know that I love a good lager and pilsner and to see a brewery that makes a damn fine one use it as a base for Belgian souring experiments is really quite cool.  Maybe I will catch it somewhere else.