Tag: Best Beers of the Month

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Best Beers of September 2023

It was grand to have some draft Trillium this month so I need to put Headroom Hazy DIPA on the best of list for the month. I also have to shout out a dopplebock from Ventura Coast Brewing, Earth Day for being such a pleasant style change from all the hops. Speaking of, I was shocked to see that my AmaWhole FoodsZon had bottles of Russian River’s Hop Growers IPA – CLS Farms edition in their cooler. It was light and delicious.

But my winner is from Oregon, Cascade Brewing’s Tartini. Sour but not puckeringly so. And by goodness, it had botanicals not only in the beer description but in the beer itself. Lovely light spice note. On the nose for gin fans.

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Best Beers of July 2023

Well, even though i spent three weeks in Los Angeles and only one in Portland / Hood River, my best of is basically a list of what I drank up northwest.

Though I do give Pure Project’s Shake the Ground Murky Triple IPA an honorable mention that in most months would be good for at least 2nd place.

But the winner is Fracture Brewing’s Hype Machine Vol. 1 – Oat Cream Hazy.

Tied for second is Von Ebert’s Volatile Substance IPA which is worthy of the awards it has received. I also nod to Lichen West Coast IPA from Grand Fir Brewing. The last beer I want to mention is Jammy Pale Ale from pFriem Family Brewers as Hood River fandom.

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Best Beers of June 2023

This will be sort of a mini-re-hash of the Firestone Walker Invitational at the start of the month. When you have that many good breweries together, you are going to run across something stellar. But I will highlight one other beer from the rest of the month.

For me, what stood out was the Leeds based brewery Northern Monk. Their Very Stable Genius hoppy lager from their Patrons Archive was just bright and tasty which is saying something because the festival is home to a ton of fantastic pilsners and lagers.

Second was the Wild Pirate tiki-esque sour from the BarrelWorks program at Firestone Walker. It had a nice balance of vanilla sweet and fruit sour to be a hybrid of both.

Lastly, no homer-ism but I really took to the Artifex Beer Paper Pale Ale. Yes, I contribute the odd piece to the beer periodical but the beer itself was flavorful and 3-D.

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The Best Beers of May 2023

To be transparent, I did take a pre-Invitational beer break so May drinking was cut short a few days but since I am a very picky beer buyer, the quality is there if bot the quantity.

This was a particularly strong beer class as well. I had Green Cheek’s Illusion of Choice (great name – by the way) Hazy on draft at North Hollywood’s Hop Merchants and it was great. Had the haze but didn’t have that unfiltered apple cider brown look. I also had a collaboration lager from two Washington State breweries, Lowercase and Machine House which was fantastic. Glad to see super high quality lagers in cans.

But the winner was Seoul Searching IPA from right here in Los Angeles. Party Beer Co. teamed with LA Mill Coffee on a tea driven IPA and it had such a bright tea note, very floral, without sacrificing the hoppiness. A really grand aroma when the can was cracked open.

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Best Beers of April 2023

This month, just for fun, I will list the four best beers that I had this month and then I will give a not so subtle clue as to which beer is my overall pick…

  • MadeWest / Ghost Town Short Lived IPA
  • Firestone Walker Wookey Jack
  • 14 Cannons Fuck the Patriarchy IPA
  • Upshift Wheels Up Hoppy Pilsner

The winner starts with a swear word.

14 Cannons Pink Boots IPA was just super fresh and bursting with greenery close to a wet hop beer. The MadeWest and Ghost Town collaboration had a bit of that as well so it is a close second.

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The Best Beers of March 2023

I was excited for the California Craft Beer Summit because I had a few breweries on my list that I wanted to visit and though I had some really good beer whilst at the state capitol. Overall, was a bit disappointed.

But there were some gems to be found. The Urban Roots 10Degree Czech Lager was perfect with BBQ and served in a hulking dimpled glass added luster to it. I was also taken by the IPA’s at Alaro Brewing. Both Castillo, their West Coast and Avenida, their Modern IPA. Their label artwork is also some of the classiest that I have seen.

But best goes to Wild Fields. I tasted their IPL, Montana de Oro which was crisp with a nice bite to it as well as a splash of their brown ale, Pine Mountain Monolith. Both were at the sweet spot of simple but complex.

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Best Beers of February 2023

Time to re-cap the best of Birthday Month. Hope your birthday is in February because it is just empirically the best of the months to be born in.

We start with a San Fernando Valley version of a NE IPA from Shadow Grove Brewing called Hexed. They have a woodsy Fantasy theme to their taproom and beer names and this was the best of week one.

Moving on were favorites from two special events. One a certain sportsball game and a second from a beachside beer festival. First is DTLA HiDef Brewing and their barrel-aged barleywine Bass Clef and second was Bow & Arrow’s Denim Tux Blue Corn Pilsner.

The winner of the month though was drunk two days before March, a British Pub Ale from the combined forces of Urban Roots and Berryessa Brewing. So Many Promises a beer based on, what?, Golden Promise malt? It is one of the few beers that cries out for more. At 4.2%, you can drink a few cans. Fantastic stuff, simple but better than most beers with multiple ingredients.

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The Best Beers of January 2023

January proved to be weird beer month. My two co-winners this month were made to resemble tea and ice cream.

But before I jump too far ahead, honorable mentions for the month are the Simcoe IPA from El Segundo Brewing that stole thunder from their Meltdown behemoths. I also quite liked my first beer from Une Annee, their Tripel, with a sparsely decorated label was right on the mark.

Back to the weird. Cuppa a British Dark Mild with lovely notes of Earl Grey tea was way down the ABV scale, in the 3% range, but it was filled with malt and tea flavors. Near the end of the month, I was pleasantly surprised by a cream ale from La Bodega Brewing in Whittier, with added lactose so they could call it Whittier Ice Cream Ale. Again, not a big beer but well done.

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The Best Beers of December 2022

All my choices for best of December were hoppy. I did have sone really good Christmas beers but those lupulins won out again.

First is the MadeWest and Fieldwork Short Lived collaboration IPA. As usual the artwork was great. Comic panels work wellon a 16oz can and the beer was excellent. Another collab earns a place with Native Son and Common Space meeting up for an IPA called Step Sons. If only Native Son had made their new LA home more them.

Runner Up gets a Christmas bump, Docent Brewing’s Life Coach Pale Ale was nice and hoppy without leveling up to IPA status. Was also first Christmas vacation beer.

First was a new hoppy pilsner from Highland Park, Thiol Dial which had a great musty, fruity hop note to it. Proving that HPB and pilsner is a fantastic combo.

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In the Tap Lines for December 2022

Congratulations! You made it to month 12! Some people are into Easter eggs, some love a BBQ on the 4th while others love a costume and scares. Me, I like Christmas even in Southern California. There will be holiday beer fun all month so get ready…

~ e-visits to (3) breweries from Western New York where the snow is as deep as I am tall

~ special featured reviews of Winter Seasonals

~Heads-Up on Los Angeles Beer Events

~ Three suggested beers to buy this month. One light, one medium and one dark

~ A Book & A Beer reads Revolutionary Samuel Adams by Stacy Schiff

~ A Podcast & A Beer listens The Sunshine Place

~ New Beer Releases and Best Beers of the Month

~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world.