Follow Sean Inman to the best in craft beer
Our final stop for January is in San Jose, California at Fox Tale Fermentation. And boy do they have some fun ingredients in their beers.
Time to pick some projects for the taster tray…
Plant Cultura – Oaxacan Green Corn Lager
Magic Monday – Farmhouse Ale with fresh pressed Asian Pear Juice.
Fung Shui – Farmhouse Ale with Candy Cap Mushrooms
Legend of Pandan – Tiki Inspired Golden Ale with Macadamia, Coconut and Pandan.
Next up from my reading of Hop Culture’s Best of 2022 list is Bizarre Brewing in Seattle, Washington. Such an interesting line-up of beers with spelt and oats everywhere.
The Sun Myth Unfiltered Czech-Style Pilsner – “The Sun Myth is our little Czech-style pilsner. Mashed with pilsner and chit malt, The Sun Myth was then hopped in the kettle with a blend of Saaz and Hallertau Mittelfrüh hops. This little nod to Winter was then fermented cold and allowed to naturally carbonate itself. Once carbonated, The Sun Myth went through a long cold lagering phase making it extra crisp.”
Dinkel Hell Bavarian-Style Spelt Ale – “Dinkel Hell is our spin on the weisse hell biers of Bavaria. Our take started with pale pilsner malt and a large portion of flaked wheat. We then added a generous amount of spelt malt. Hopped lightly with German Saphir, this pale spelt ale was then fermented very cold with our favorite hefeweizen yeast strain for a nice long maturation.”
Teenage Jesus Oat Bitter – “Teenage Jesus is our riff on an English ordinary bitter. Mashed with a base of pale English malt, flaked barley, caramunich and a portion of caramelized oat malt, we then hop this little bitter with East Kent Goldings, Challenger and Comet hops. Once Teenage Jesus has cooled down we pitch our favorite English ale strain and allow it to ferment before spunding to naturally carbonate.”
Steam Noir Dark Lager – “Steam Noir is our riff on a traditional steam beer. We took the same steam concept of fermenting a lager at warmer temperatures and applied it to a dark lager. This version was brewed with pilsner, Maris Otter, chocolate, caramel and spelt malts. It was then hopped with Styrian Gold, Cascade and Tettnanger. Steam Noir was put into a blend of port and red wine barrels cold, then allowed to naturally warm until it was finished fermenting. Once finished, Steam Noir was lagered in barrels cold for an additional four weeks.”
Hop Culture did a round-up of best breweries in 2022 and it was a wide ranging list. This month, I will highlight three with the first being Mahalo Aleworks. This Maui brewery has a super cool train station style arrivals graphic for their beers, so let’s take a peek…
You can start with a traditional English Brown Ale or a Vienna Lagale. If you are in the mood for Belgian, they have a dry hop Saison or the more traditional Farmhouse Saison. Sours are their as well, Mango and Tropical last time I checked. Then to finish you can head for their Rum Barrel Aged Imperial Stout.
Welcome to 2023! Are the years moving fast for you as well? I know time is a construct of humans but boy does it move fast at times. This blog now enters its 14th year!! Crazy. Let’s start strong with….
~ e-visits to (3) breweries from the Hop Culture Best New Breweries list of 2022 like Fox Tale Fermentation Project, Bizarre Brewing and Mahalo Ale Works
~ special featured reviews of ciders received for Christmas from Portland Cider Co.
~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 Fairy Tale by Stephen King
~ A Podcast & A Beer listens to Seen Through a Glass
~ 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.
We end our month in New York State in the hamlet of Williamsville at Britesmith Brewing.
Creekside Cream Ale – “Clean light bodied with a dry finish, brewed with centennial and mandrina hops.”
Briter Daze Pale Ale – “Moderate bitterness, hints of floral, citrus, and pine from Centennial, Columbus, and Cascade hops.”
Blind Squirrel Brown Ale – “Hazelnut, cascara cherry, & coffee.”
Iron Horse Irish Red Ale – “Ale brewed for the season bringing out biscuity malt flavors with a dry finish.”
Watching Waterfalls Hazy IPA – “Smooth, citrus, unfiltered New England IPA.”
Next stop is Lockport and the New York Beer Project which has two New York locations and one in Orlando, Florida too, for when you need to escape the snow.
Let’s check out some beers…
Victor Lager – “A true classic beer for the light lager lover, this beer style is what German Immigrants introduced to the first Beer Halls in 19th century NYC. Years later, let’s raise a glass to tradition with this authentic, delicious, and timeless Lager.”
Buckleberry Wheat – “we had a great time finding that PERFECT blend of three delicious berries to create our unique Buckleberry Wheat. We’ve combined Blueberries and Boysenberries, and then added exotic wild huckleberries (which are pretty impossible to get…but we think the people that drink our beer only deserve the best!)”
Red Hop Monster – “This Red IPA is a beautiful blend of the American IPA and Amber Ale. This beer is all about balance: caramelized sugar and dark fruit malt sweetness up front, balanced out by a hoppy bitterness and strong resiny and piney hop flavors.”
Hibeernation – “Brewed with Cassia Cinnamon Powder, Fresh Ginger, Sweet Orange Peel and Cinnamon Sticks, this Winter Warmer will remind you of freshly baked gingerbread cookies. This is the perfect beer to warm you up on a cold winter’s night!”
Our first stop is Allentown, aka Buffalo. Home of the Bills and QB1 Josh Allen. Pressure Drop Brewing is the place.
Here is what I would put into a snowy taster tray….
Not a Football Beer – “An ultra-crushable beer that’s great for not tailgating, not gathering with friends to watch the game at home, and not sitting in your favorite barstool to root for your team.”
Sticky Trees West Coast IPA – “Sticky Trees offers craft beer drinkers a well-balanced IPA with a moderate ABV and low IBU. We brew this IPA with Mosaic hops and malts typical of an IPA. The flavor is inspired by the variety of flavors a brewer can extract from Mosaic hops.”
Mochi House Hazy IPA – “Our first collab with Brazen Brewing!!! All the beautiful tropical notes of a New England IPA with a super soft feel to it, and the tiniest hint of bitter on the finish.”
Greetings from the North Pole – “This insanely delicious Milk Stout is brewed with a TON of chocolate roasted malts
and lactose for rich flavor and a sweet, creamy mouthfeel.”
Our final stop is at Moor’s Brewing Company. The brewery was founded by Jamhal Johnson, Damon Patton and Anthony Bell. Starting as a contract brewer with big growth plans.
Let’s dig into some of the beers from this new brewery….
Session Ale – “Moor’s Session Ale packs a light but flavorful balance of green papaya and a hint of key lime with a smooth lemongrass finish.”
Helles Lager – “Our full bodied pale lager leads with a hint of honeydew melon, harmonizing with subtly spicy and bright German hop flavors for a refreshing finish that is soft, clean and crisp.”
IPA – “Moor’s IPA is crisp, providing a subtle grapefruit quality on the front, flavors of pretzel dough and rounds out smoothly with fresh honey malt notes.”
Imperial Porter – “Moor’s Imperial Porter is a rich, textured beer with a hoppy nose complimented by the scent of lavender and blueberry. The palate brings home the flavors of roasted chocolate and ground coffee.”
The Chicago Brewseum is having their Beer Culture Summit this month so I thought we should visit some of the breweries connected with that education this month, the second stop is…
…Black Horizon Brewing Company.
Let’s get some beers then…
Three Putt for Par Kolsch – “A hoppy Kolsch hopped and dry hopped with fresh Citra hops for a light citrus aroma with a great crisp, hoppy and easy drinking finish.”
Endless Brilliance Blonde Ale – “Aged on over 80lbs of toasted coconut, buckets of marshmallows, a huge drizzle of salted caramel and plenty of vanilla this is the perfect Fall/bonfire beer. Rich and sticky with plenty of balanced sweet notes from real adjuncts, this beer reminds us of Dutch stroopwafles or a s’mores without the chocolate.”
Peach Fist Fight Hazy IPA – “One of the taprooms most popular variations of our house hazy IPA is finally in cans for the first time! This 100% Citra hopped hazy IPA was aged on a massive amount of fresh peach puree that accents the delicate tropical and citrus fruit notes of the hops while bringing waves of stone fruit and peach with each sip.’
Frozen Dimension Cold IPA – “Cold IPA is best described as a strong California lager foundation with a beautiful West Coast IPA hopping and dry hopping. A delicate malt base of pilsner and flaked corn create a soft backbone in which tropical citrus, white grapefruit and sweet sappy bitterness blend for a super crisp and refreshing new school IPA twist.”
The Chicago Brewseum is having their Beer Culture Summit this month so I thought we should visit some of the breweries connected with that education this month, starting with….
…Funkytown Brewery. Founded by Richard Bloomfield, Zachary Day and Gregory Williams who won a Brewbound Pitch Slam for their brewery plan.
Here are a list of their beers: