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Sean Suggests for August 2021

This has been a hot goddamn August. Time to cool down with some pilsners and lagers. Here are three excellent California choices.

LIGHT

Faction Hipster Conformant Lager – 4..8% Simply, “Industrial lager”

MEDIUM

Artifex Czech Your Citra – 5.1% “Bright, crisp, and hoppy. Dry hopped with Citra.”

DARK

Smog City Hoppy Lager – 5.2% “Hoppy Pilsner are beautiful cans full of refreshing, crisp, & universally pleasing pilsner make the perfect weekend companion and are available in 4-pack cans & draft. Packed with just the right amount of hops to keep things interesting, Hoppy Pils is a great all day sipper.”

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Sean Suggests for July 2021

This month we ride with Belgian ales or spins on Belgian ales. Catch the other common theme as well..

LIGHT

Crooked Stave Sour Rose – 4.5% “Primary fermented with our mixed culture of wild yeast, Sour Rosé undergoes fermentation in large oak foeders on raspberries and blueberries. Showcasing bright effervescent characteristics, Sour Rosé is the perfect sour beer for all seasons and occasions. Unfiltered and naturally wild, we package each can with a small amount of yeast to maintain maximum freshness for wherever life’s adventures take you.”

MEDIUM

Drie Fonteinen Armond and Gaston Gueze– 6.5% “3 Fonteinen Oude Geuze Cuvée Armand & Gaston is a blend of one-, two-, and three-year old traditional lambics, all brewed at Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen. Spontaneous fermentation, patient maturation in oak barrels, and continued evolution in the bottle result in a distinctively complex beer. No two bottlings are alike, as there are multiple variables in the blending process, a variety of barrel sizes and shapes, differences in aged lambic proportions, etc. This cuvée, like all of our lambic, is 100% natural, authentic, spontaneously fermented, and crafted with steadfast adherence to tradition, like Armand and Gaston Debelder have always done it. This geuze has fermented in the bottle and will continue to develop its tastes and aromas over its long life when properly cellared.”

DARK

Fair Isle Jean-Michel – 6.9% “Jean-Michel is a blend of three, six, and nine month old farmhouse ales aged in oak puncheon and dry-hopped with the French hop Barb Rouge. Jean-Michel has an indubitable wild berry bouquet and oresents notes of strawberry pound cake and black currants.”

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Sean Suggests for June 2021

It’s June, weather is climbing out of gloom so let’s stay light and bright with this months beer choices. From Helles to Pilsner to the appropriately named Summer Ale.

LIGHT

Faction Brewing Helle Strata – 4.8% “Strata hopped Munich helles style lager.”

MEDIUM

Radiant Brewing Mind Gardens Pilsner – 5.2% “This crisp, hoppy pilsner is made with Riwaka hops, a newly exported breed from Clayton Farms in lovely New Zealand. The flavor contributions from this hop are reminiscent of those found in white wines hailing from the same region – ranging from pineapple, kaffir lime leaf, peach and Gewürztraminer grapes, to floral and peppery with a crisp minerality.”

BIGGEST

Fremont Brewing Summer Ale – 5.2% “Summer Ale is back and better than ever!  Bursting with citrus and melon flavors, refreshing and imminently drinkable, it’s the perfect beer for any Summer day. “

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Sean Suggests for May 2021

This month, instead of a theme based on beer style or ingredient or state, let’s pick three beers from one brewery, Crowns & Hops which will be based in Inglewood.

LIGHT

Crowns & Hops Wills of Steel – 5.6% “We brewed this Pale Ale in honor of our DJ’s on the “Ones & Twos”. A solid American Pale Ale with a flavorful, aromatic hop profile that’s noticeable, yet as delicate as a perfectly executed butterfly scratch. Just like when the perfect song plays at the perfect moment, in the club or listening to a live stream at home…Wills of Steel is always on time.”

MEDIUM

Crowns & Hops Island Anomaly – 6% “One of the most delicious ingredients to add to a stout is toasted coconut. Island Anomaly includes notes of chocolate, coffee, and mild smoke, which pairs perfectly with toasted coconut making this beer straight FIRE.”

BIGGEST

Crowns & Hops + J. Wakefield The Glow Up – 9% “A Hazy DIPA loaded with galaxy, mosaic, and strata hops offering notes of tropical fruit, citrus, and pine. This collaboration with the homies at J. Wakefield (Miami, FL) is an ode to Black cinema, music, and the 80’s.”

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Sean Suggests for April 2021

Collaborations. But not the normal kind are the theme for April. Be it with coffee people, bakery people or pink booted people, beer can be made with practically anything and certainly everyone.

LIGHT

Eagle Rock Brewery Loafer Rustic Ale – 5.5% “Rustic ale made with bread. Made in collaboration with Bub & Grandma’s in part of the Zero Waste LA initiative.“

MEDIUM

Indie Brewing Squad Hazy DIPA- 8% – “This double hazy IPA was brewed by the women of Indie Brewing Company on International Women’s Day. This beer also spotlights the Pink Boots Society which promotes women in the beer industry.”

BIGGEST

AleSmith Brewing Speedway Stout Mostra Coffee – 12% – “For this special edition of our signature imperial stout we partnered up with our friends at Mostra Coffee to provide their artisanal flair. Combined with copious amounts of coconut, this beer has intense notes of chocolate, roast, dark fruit, and a touch of milky sweetness, creating a perfect decadent blend of flavors.”

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Sean Suggests for February 2021

Two reds and an oak for this month. It highlights that even in these heady beer times it can be hard to find just three red ales to fill out the scorecard.

LIGHT

SLO Brew Reggae Red – 5.6% – “This one-of-a-kind ale was born at our brewpub amidst influential musical acts of California’s 90’s reggae movement. A harmony of seven different malts, three types of hops, and a dash of hemp seeds makes Reggae Red a crowd pleaser.”

MEDIUM

Common Space Double Red – 7.5% – “Our Double Red brings the rich caramel flavors you expect, without the heavy, stickiness that weighs down some reds. Double Red has a huge charge of Cryo-hops to brighten and lift the caramel flavors up, and create a beer that is hoppy, malty, bold, and delicious.”

BIGGEST

Faction Oakes Imperial Stout on Nitro – 8.5%- “Our Russian Imperial Stout with oak chips. Shake the can and pour straight to activate the Nitro!”

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Sean Suggests for January 2021

Welcome to 2021 everyone! Never thought we would get here, did ya’? To kick off this new year let’s stay a little bitter, OK, a lot bitter at 2020. It will be easier to move on with these great IPAs.

LIGHT

Boulevard / Athletic Flying Start N/A IPA – 0.50%abv – “Dry January doesn’t have to mean deprivation. Embrace those New Year’s resolutions and get a Flying Start on your goals with this innovative, N/A IPA made with our friends at Athletic Brewing Company. It’s the real deal – juicy hop flavor and crisp malt balance – minus the alcohol and many of the calories.”

MEDIUM

Casa Agria Room with a View IPA – 7.4% – “Room with a View is a decidedly West Coast India Pale Ale brewed with a base of Maris Otter, malted wheat, a little dextrin malt and sugar. Hopped in the kettle with Mosaic and Cashmere and fermented with everyone’s clean yeast strain providing a clean neutral profile to let the hops take center stage. A huge dry hop addition of Mosaic and Enigma who are backed up with Strata and just a kiss of Nugget, the aroma bursts with dank blueberry, fruity-pine and a light hint of passion fruit/guava. Pouring a brilliantly clear light-straw color, the flavor is filled with delicious hop derived fruit and dank pine with notes of honeydew melon.”

BIGGEST

Pariah Well That Was Fun, Said Nobody IPA – 8.2% – “Hazy Double IPA brewed w/Riwaka, Strata, Simcoe and fermented with our house yeast. Because f**ck this sh*t.”

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Sean Suggests for August 2020

Loyal readers of the blog will understand why the first beer made the cut for August. Hint – Gin. But I also wanted to highlight baseball being back with Arrow Lodge and collaboration with Mumford.

Lightest

Einstock Icelandic Lime & Juniper / 4.8% – “A unique blend of Icelandic Juniper berries and a dash of lime, combined with Noble hops and Munich malt, evoke classic Gin & Tonic cocktail-inspired flavors that make this a refreshing craft beer like no other. The senses are greeted with a vibrant citrus aroma, crisp mouthfeel, and dry bitterness on the finish that result in a naturally sessionable Icelandic beer truly inspired by the famous tipple.”

Medium

Arrow Lodge Belli Bombs IPA / 6.7% – “West Coast style IPA with Simcoe, CTZ and Centennial.”

Biggest

Mumford & 8-Bit Megabytes IPA / 9.00% – “NE IPA brewed with the homies from @8bitbrewingcompany. Hopped w/ Simcoe + X10416.”

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Sean Suggests for May 2020

This month, let’s take a stroll through Facebook posts from the excellent Select Beer Store in Redondo Beach and pass on some possible shopping ideas…..

Brewery X – Panda Pool Party

Black Project – Thunderbolt

Smog City – To L.A. Wit Love

Societe – Agreeable Folk

Sound good?

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Sean Suggests for March 2020

Let’s do some back and forth traveling. Starting west, then east and then back for a style-mashup.

~Light
Indie Brewing Beverly Pils – 5.00%
“Clean, crisp, Bohemian pilsner brewed with 100% Weyermann malt. Light and delicious!”

~Medium
Allagash CrossPath Golden Ale – 5.50%
“To celebrate the versatility of Maine’s grain, we teamed up with GrandyOats to create this Organic Belgian-style golden ale. It’s brewed with all-organic, Maine-grown oats, buckwheat, base malt, hops, and GrandyOats Granola. Allagash and GrandyOats both owe much of their success to the bounty of their home state. We hope you enjoy this refreshing tribute to Maine’s agricultural renaissance. A portion of this beer’s proceeds goes to MOFGA, to help farmers transition to organic crops. ”

~BIG
Stone Peak Conditions – 8.10%
“West Coast hops. East Coast haze. Passion fruit, orange and guava juice inspired by the popular Hawaiian drink. This ridiculously tasty double IPA combines influences from across the country into one of the most flavorful beers we’ve ever released. One could call it a perfect storm, we’d say it’s Peak Conditions.”