Tag: brewery tour

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In the Tap Lines for April 2016

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Water retention is up in NorCal but the weather has been 99% dry here in SoCal. Maybe April will bring some wet weather which would be better for drinking some cozy up by the fire stronger beers. Maybe that is just the hopeful April Fool in me.

~ e-visits to three breweries in North Carolina and Georgia. The theme being states under fire for possible/future oppressive laws
~ special featured reviews of beers from Portland (continues)
~ 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 the One City-One Book for Glendale.
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world
~ … and Session # 110 is hosted by ME! and covers the topic, “Twitter”

Here are two events to get your April started in the Los Angeles craft beer world:
1) April 1st – The Doughroom will tap a rare keg of Panil Barrique.
2) April 3rd – Southland Beer will host a sipping session with Tahoe Mountain Brewing

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GABF Gold & Unknown Brewery # 1 – Melvin Brewing

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We start in Wyoming with a brewery that had roots in a much lauded restaurant and brewery, Thai Me Up.  Melvin Brewing is now moving from a 3bbl to a 30bbl system.  And that may boot them out of the category that they won this year, Small Brewpub of 2015.

They won gold for Chchchch-Cherry Bomb in the American Fruit Beer category and a bronze in the Fresh/Wet Hop Ale for their namesake IPA.

Let’s check out some other beers to try:

Killer Bees – “Clean, smooth, slow motion, easy drinkin’, honey. The palette cleanser extraordinaire. Perfect for mowing your unwatered lawn, sipping in the shower, or fishing on a Sunday. ”

Hubert MPA – “Some would just call him an IPA, but we call him an MPA. The Melvin Pale Ale. A welcomed hand shake to your taste buds.”

Clinic ISA – “This medicinal India Session Ale is perfect for drinking at work under your desk, on a deck under the sun in your skivvies, or chilling out on a chairlift. Let Melvin Clinic make it all better with this light, crisp, and fresh taste. ”

..or try their Trip Out Tripel.

 

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Portland brewery # 1 – Baerlic Brewing

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We are back in Portland (my hometown) for a month of brewery “tours” to celebrate Oregon Craft Beer Month. The starting point is Baerlic Brewing which translates to “of barley” for those who speak olde English.

Here are the beers that I would have added to my taster tray:
Cavalier – Classic Cream Ale
“A brazen take on the style, our classic cream ale is as complex as it is refreshing. Aromas of hop spice and lemon balance perfectly with a soft and fluffy malt body. Brewed with Himalayan Basmati Rice.”

Primeval – NW Brown Ale
“A NW take on an American Brown Ale. Aromas of evergreen, cocoa & sweet orange dance with biscuit, roast and malty sweetness that finishes dry with bittersweet chocolate and citrus.”

Eastside – Oatmeal Pilsner
“Traditionalists would curse our addition of raw oats to this style of beer, but we just love the texture it adds. And it pairs perfectly with the spicy and fruity flavors & aromas of Czech Saaz and Santiam hops.”

Nice & Easy – Salted Oat Gose
“Gose (say “gose-uh”) is an ancient salty & slightly sour beer originally from Leipzig, Germany. Big aromas of floral hop spice, malt and oats are complimented by a slightly tart and saline finish.”

Altera – India Red Lager
“We paired the rich and sweet malt of a Northern German Altbier with the citrussy, tropical and piney hops of a modern West coast IPA and fermented warm with a German lager yeast.”

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Denver Brewery # 1 – Former Future

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Our first stop for Denver is Former Future Brewing Company.  Bronze Medal winner at GABF this year in the experimental category.  They opened in February of this year with the purpose of “combining modern science and innovation with historic styles and traditions.”  They only brew 120 gallons at a time so I would hazard a guess that the beer goes fast and changes frequently.

Here is what I would put on my first taster tray…..

Countinghouse – a pre-prohibition cream ale

Ryetly Oaked – a rye ESB fermented in red wine barrels

Golden Feather – a golden sour aged in sherry barrels

Salted Caramel Prim & Porter – a salted robust porter

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BC Brewery # 2 – Four Mile Brewing

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The middle stop in British Columbia is in Victoria and Four Mile Brewery.

They brew on a Peter Austin system which according to their website “is a direct-fired, brick clad, copper whirlpool and hop percolator, and you cannot buy it at Costco when you get a Vitamix.”

They also enlisted Alan Pugsley to be the brewmaster. Pugsley has come in and brought his expertise to a few breweries, Shipyard being the most known, then he leaves the brewing to a resident brewer. In this case Doug White who has UC-Davis learning in his past.

Without further ado, here are the British style ales that I would have in my first taster tray…

Best British Beer

The 4 Mile crew call this their “Stiff Upper Sip.” A cask conditioned beer that they deem a true session beer. Comes in at a low 4.25% ABV.

Golden Ale

A golden blond Canadian style ale with a crisp dry clean finish. Plus, “Just a flash of sweet.” And another low ABV at 4.6%.

Brown Ale

5 malts including crystal, chocolate & roasted barley are used to bring out “notes of caramel, mocha and coffee and chocolate.” Comes in at 5.3% ABV.

English Strong Ale

A style that is overlooked as people go to barley wines but the ESA is a more subtle dance of malt and hops and despite the Strong in the title it still clocks in under 7% ABV.

 

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English Brewery #1 – Pressure Drop

Time to see what is going on in England in 2014.  I wish we could get some of the more nano British beers but I guess that is what travel is for.  So count this month as a quick hit of three breweries to watch for if you find yourself ‘cross the Pond as it were. And we start with Pressure Drop in London.

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What caught my eye first was the cool bottlecap logo and the tech term name.  But digging just under a little and I saw this on their website, “three blokes in a railway arch doing lots of cleaning and trying to make the tastiest beers we can.”  Simple.  I like that.

Now usually I would pick a few beers that I would put in my taster tray but I would choose all of them from their list. So instead I am going to focus on the one beer that I think is the most English of the bunch.  And it is the one with the coolest label too….

Street Porter – “A classic London beer style with a long and colourful history, Porter originated in the city around 300 years ago. While there are conflicting accounts of the exact origins of Porter, it’s clear the beer has been enjoyed by hard-working Londoners for centuries. We use traditional malts and Kentish hops in ours, and we’ve also brewed experimental versions with tea, coffee, oysters, chipotle, and New World hops.”

I love the idea of taking a classic style.  Brewing that in traditional fashion and then doing experimental version offshooting from that.  The tea version is making my mouth water right now. Now if I was in a Picasso mood, I would try their Dunkelweiss, their version of a smokey wheat beer.

 

 

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Let’s Pour Brewery # 1 – Maine Beer Company

For Christmas, I received gift codes to the Let’s Pour craft beer website so that I could buy to my hearts content or the max amount that I was given (whichever came first) and the first brewery that I wanted to try a beer from was Maine Beer Company.

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The beer that I was most intrigued by was Lunch which sadly wasn’t available. But my second choice of Mean Old Tom a stout with vanilla beans was there!

Here are some of the other beers that piqued my interest…..

Peeper – “Our original hoppy American ale.  Dry, clean, well-balanced with a generous dose of American hops.”

Another One – “Intensely hoppy American IPA, brewed as the light-colored counterpart to Weez (both beers incorporate the exact same kettle and dry hopping schedule).  Another One has a very clean malt palate, leaving little but hoppy resins on the tongue, and finishes dry and crisp.”

Lil One – “Some may call this a malty double IPA, some a hoppy barley wine.  We prefer that it not be classified.  We think of it, simply, as our strong winter ale.  Intense hop aromatics and flavor (think pine, candied orange) blended with just enough malt sweetness to balance out the palate.”

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Holiday Brewery Tour # 1 – Picobrouwerij Alvinne

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Picobrouwerij Alvinne in West Flanders makes quite a few beers that have graced the SoCal area (and hopefully yours) for many years and I have chosen them because of the Three Wise Men.

They started with Balthazar which as the translated website describes it is, “..a spicy dark beer, which includes fresh ginger, cardamom and coriander.”

Then they moved onto Melchior, a “Strong barley wine, full of flavor, a companion for cold and dark winter nights.”

And then finished the trio with Gaspar, “Bitter and thirst quenching, unusual winter beer, hoppy, malty and just creamy. For those who get fed up with dark beers during winter.”

All three are very different from the American takes on winter beers so I suggest picking them up for a beer dinner before Christmas.

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California in November – Sante Adairius

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The final stop of California breweries (I think I could almost feature California every month) is up north of me.  Way north in the Santa Cruz area for some rustic ales from the hard to spell Sante Adairius.

This small but growing saison and more brewery (Has some Solera Method items going on to if I read correctly) has some really cool label artwork too.

Here are the beers that I would put into my sampler tray…..

“Saison Bernice is an exquisitely fermented farmhouse ale. Dry and refreshing, Bernice is made of the freshest on-hand and locally available ingredients. She receives multiple yeast additions, including Brettanomyces, and is further aged in the bottle.”

“Named for our three-legged brewery dog, Tripod is a Belgian-style tripel aged in oak-barrels.”

“Orange, lactic, and bursting with apricot aroma, West Ashley is built for consideration and conversation. While Ashley starts as a simple Saison, careful aging in French Oak Pinot Noir barrels with apricots, our house microbes, and warm encouragement transform her into a tart, complex and delectable beer.”

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Brewery Tour of Livermore, CA – Eight Bridges Brewing

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So, no Livermore beers were seen at L.A. Beer Week.  To be expected, a couple are still fermenting.  But maybe in a few years time, we will see places like 8 Bridges Brewing down in L.A. for at least a tap take-over.

Because I would like to try out these two beers when they become available….

Bay Bridge Brown (BBB)

Our Brown Ale was designed to be better than Newcastle and from comments we’ve heard, we succeeded!!!  While drinking this beer you’ll notice its flavors tend towards raisin, molasses, nutty and caramel along with the typical English hop flavors.  This full bodied ale is malt forward with low hop aromas.

Ode to Groll Pilsner

Josef Groll, the “Father of Pils”, energized the beer world by making the first pilsner in 1842. Our intent in designing this Pilsner is to do the same by bringing more flavor like a good German Pilsner has but with a little bit of a California twist.  Our Pilsner has the typical Pilsner taste but has a stronger flavor which is achieved by using multiple malts and increasing the hop presence.  The aroma is Malt dominant but the addition of hops late in the process gives a broader hop flavor to the beer.  This Pilsner is a crowd favorite where ever we go!

For now, though you will just have to follow their progress on Facebook or Twitter.