Follow Sean Inman to the best in craft beer
Straight outta Jersey comes this Abbey Dubbel from Flying Fish.
It pours dark orange with hints of brown shadows. The head rises and falls quickly. Caramel and raisins are the first aromas that greet the nose alongside some plum notes. The first sip has quite a carbonation kick to it. The scrubbing bubbles push the fruit and malt notes through the tongue. A bit like having trail mix to a certain degree. Quite effervescent along with some vanilla and spice contributions.
My March is full of birthday’s, so it is full of occasions to crack open those beers that have been down in the cellar. What will you be cellaring or drinking during March? It is traditionally a time for bocks and more maltier offerings but in our crazy American beer culture it can be time for anything! Plus…..
~ e-visits to the newest breweries in Tennessee like The Smoky Mountain Brewery and Saw Works
~ video reviews tackles two brown ales (one canned and one not) plus more beer reviews minus the videos
~ Three suggested beers to buy this month
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my opinion on the craft beer world
~ … and Session # 73 will converge bloggers onto a single topic
~ plus many more posts about new beers, beer products and breweries
Here are two events to get your November started in the Los Angeles craft beer world:
1) March 1st Beer Appreciation Night at Far Bar with Ohana Brewing/Bierkast/LA Ale Works
2) March 28th Hangar 24 Brew with the Brewer w/ release of Pugachev’s Cobra at all (3) Congregation Alehouses
We move on to the shortest month of the year with the most Presidential holiday’s. Oh, and my birthday too! I am still deciding which beer to bring up from the cellar to celebrate this year. Plus…..
~ e-visits to the newest breweries in the DC area
~ video reviews tackles two randomly selected porters plus more reviews minus videos
~ Three suggested beers to buy this month
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my opinion on the craft beer world
~ … and Session # 72 will converge bloggers onto a single topic
~ plus many more posts about new beers, beer products and breweries
Here are two events to get your November started in the Los Angeles craft beer world:
1) February 1st – El Segundo debuts their new bottles at 5pm
2) February 3rd – LAB Brewing Super Bowl Party
Now that the Mayan death apocalypse (and New Year’s Eve) has passed and beer is still being brewed, it is time to jump into 2013 with both feet for another great year with our favorite beverage. Here is what is on tap here at the Beer Search Party for January.
~ e-visits to the newest breweries in the San Diego area
~ video reviews tackles two randomly selected ‘fridge beers plus more reviews minus videos
~ Three suggested beers to buy this month
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my opinion on the craft beer world
~ … and Session # 71 will converge bloggers onto a single topic
~ plus many more posts about new beers, beer products and breweries
Here are two events to get your November started in the Los Angeles craft beer world:
1) January 5th – Sierra Nevada Tap Take-over at Blue Palms
2) January 29th – L.A. Craft Beer Blogger meeting at Chloes at the Pub at Golden Road
November is usually filled with the early releases of holiday ales that I generally love but can be hard to swallow when the weather is SoCal hot. But that is a small quibble for a month filled with an exciting array of beer choices.
~ e-visits to three breweries from Fort Collins, Colorado
~ video reviews tackles two really huge, GIGANTIC beers
~ Three suggested beers to buy this month
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my opinion on the craft beer world
~ … and Session # 69 will converge bloggers onto a single topic
~ plus many more posts about new beers, beer products and breweries
Here are two events to get your November started in the Los Angeles craft beer world:
1) November 10th – Oktoberfest @ The Verdugo
2) November 15th – A Night with the Zymatore Project @ Beachwood BBQ & Brewing
We are now in the heat of the SoCal summer that extends well into October in most years so that means I will review some milds that give you some roasty qualities without big ABVs. Then visits to some new and not quite done fermenting breweries in California along with a slew of information on L.A. craft beer events.
~ e-visits to three breweries in the Golden State
~ video reviews of three milds
~ Three suggested beers to buy this month
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my opinion on the craft beer world
~ … and Session # 65 will converge bloggers onto a single topic
~ plus many more posts about new beers, beer products and breweries
Here are two events to get your June started in the Los Angeles craft beer world:
1) July 8th – Stone SourFest
2) July 19th – Green Flash Night and Pig Roast at Kings Row Gastropub
Even though I did not go to the Great American Beer Festival in Denver or the Holiday Ale Festival in Portland and missed many, many events in the Southland area, 2011 was still a busy beer year for me.
Here is what I will remember most from the year that was(in no particular order):
1. CANFEST
There are good days and bad but when you get an e-mail that says that you have won a free trip to a beer festival. That is a great day times twenty. And getting a limo ride was cool, a tour of Reno beer spots from Doug at Buckbean was cool and best of all. The actual festival exceeded my expectations. I was floored by the geographic variety of breweries that can from across the country.
2. LA BEER WEEK
This year, I was not sick during the festival and I needed to be in peak condition. I was at an event almost every night. But the best of the two week fest was the Firestone-Walker Deconstructed party. One of my craft beer bucket list items was having a Sean Paxton special beer dinner. Check that off. The idea of trying all the components of the XV was brilliant.
3. GOLDEN ROAD
I have been lucky enough to be here in Los Angeles as craft beer has finally gotten off the ground. I got to walk around Eagle Rock Brewery before it became the beer destination that it is today and this year, I got to do the same thing with Golden Road Brewing. I had the honor of being at several media days at the brewery and to see the rapid growth is amazing. I am a lucky camper to have both ERB and Golden Road within 10 minutes of my apartment.
4. BEER BLOGGERS CONFERENCE
Any time I can get to Portland for beer is a good time and would make a year end list. But what really vaults this trip to the 2nd Beer Bloggers Conference into the top tier was a traffic ridden trip to the farm, the hop farm. I really loved touring through the in production Goschie Farms. The scent of hops in the air. Little green snowflakes flying. Seeing the hop bines. Just tremendous. Not to diss the rest of the conference, but those little green cones are scene stealers.
5. Stone Brewing
2011 will go down for me as the year where I truly felt like a member of the L.A. craft beer media. And when did I know this? When I and quite a few others in the beer trade are being squired around the San Diego area with Greg Koch and the Stone gang (including the awesome Randy Clemens). I got to visit Stone Farms and eat awesome food that was grown steps away, went to the Liberty Station site, learned about the Stone store in South Park and have Stone beer at each stop. A great way to spend a day.
This is no joke! April brings showers of beer posts from the Beer Search Party. 60 total in the works. Here are the highlights:
~ e-visits to three breweries based in the state of Washington
~ video reviews of beers from Grand Teton Brewing
~ Three suggested beers to buy this month
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my opinion on the craft beer world
~ my 2011 Beer challenge will be expanded, again…
~ … and an update on last year’s challenge
~ plus many more posts about new beers, beer products and breweries
A New Year to celebrate all the craft beer goodness that is available! And since the holidays mean curling up at home (be it adopted or hometown), I decided to start off 2011 where I currently call home, Southern California.
Here is what is planned this month for all of you readers/drinkers.
~ e-visits to four breweries of California
~ video reviews of three beers from my local, Eagle Rock Brewing
~ suggested beers of the Golden State to buy this month (maybe all brown ales in honor of our new governor)
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my opinion on the craft beer world
~ my 2011 Beer challenge will be unveiled
~ plus many more posts about new beers, beer products and breweries
And if you haven’t noticed, some minor site changes have taken place…..
~ The 50 Beers / 50 States Challenge has it’s own dedicated page
~ There is a page dedicated to the great Eagle Rock Brewery
~ My best of lists and monthly suggestions have been combined into one page
~ The beer links listing has been both added to and subtracted from so as not to overload (even though there are some really great sites missing)
We have reached the last month of the year. I hope all of you readers/drinkers had a great craft beer year!
Here is what I have planned for you this month:
~the final installment of the 50 Beers – 50 States challenge
~3 beers to try this month
~a crap ton of Holiday Seasonal ales to sample
~quick tours of 4 breweries from around the country
~the firkin will be opened and my opinions will flow
~video reviews of the Holiday seasonals
and MUCH MORE!