Tag: brewery tour

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CA Brewery Tour # 3 – Hella Coastal Brewing

We head to Oakland and one of the rare but fingers crossed growing number of black-owned breweries, Hella Coastal.

Hella Coastal Lager – “Lightly hopped, easy drinking Lager Style Ale featuring Tettnang and Strata Hops.”

Hop On It Pale Ale – a new release using Centennial, El Dorado and Citra hops.

Oakland Haze – “West Coast Hazy IPA Featuring Nelson and Cascade hops with notes of Pineapple, Guava, Grapefruit and a hint of diesel.”

Bomba Nights – “We linked up with Federation Brewing to create this bomb coconut Stout inspired by the age-old Puerto Rican holiday drink coquito. Brewed with heaping amounts of hand-toasted coconut flakes, whole cinnamon sticks, lactose and Madagascar vanilla beans.”

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CA Brewery Tour # 2 – Farmers Brewing Company

Our next CA stop is in Princeton, or you can go to their Chico taproom, it is Farmers Brewing Company.

Let us see what is farm to tap…

530 Unfiltered Wheat Ale – “A very refreshing, easy drinking beer. Along with U.S. grown barley, the grain bill consists of medium grain sushi rice and soft white winter wheat grown and harvested on the fields of our family farm. 530 is late hopped during the brewing process, producing a slight citrus/floral aroma and flavor. The residual yeast produces a subtle, yet complex flavor.”

Sunup till Sundown Session IPA – “Inspired by and named after a farmer’s work ethic, this session-style IPA is easy drinking, sun up ‘til sun down. Estate grown rice and wheat, a golden sunset color, orange blossom aroma, and fresh lemon zest combine into a burst of tartness, dissipating into a smooth finish.”

Fall Harvest – “Fall is the time of year when we are busy in the fields and an Oktoberfest style beer couldn’t be more fitting for us to celebrate with. By toasting our estate grown rice and using our wheat, we have added an American twist to the traditional German style of beer.”

Stubborn Mule – “This loaded liquid is made from 100% estate grown rice and fermented with sake yeast. Brewed with blueberry, ginger, and lemon, this gluten-free beverage is crisp and delicious.”

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CA Brewery Tour # 1 – Narrative Fermentations

Stories in a bottle is how some people describe bourbon but it also holds true for beer, except substitute 16oz can. That is the segue to the first California brewery tour for October, which is Narrative Fermentations.

Here are some taster tray ideas from the San Jose brewery…

Knusprig German-Style Festbier – “a deep yellow German style Festbier coming in at 5.9% alc/vol. It’s malt forward with very minimal hop influence, but still bright and lively. It has a beautifully subtle character of lightly toasted bread dough with the use of Vienna and Munich malts supporting the Pilsner malt base.”

Hippie Couture IPA – “is like eating white gummy bears at a Grateful Dead show. The overwhelming danky aroma is the first thing to hit you….once you get a sip though, big flavors of pineapple, mango, lychee, passionfruit, and light supporting citrus notes fill your mouth while leaving a sticky resinous finish.”

Nectaron 3000 Hazy IPA – “We were able to get our hands on some sweet sweet Nectaron hops and boy oh boy this stuff did not dissapoint! We layered in a little Citra and Nelson for good measure and the result is super rad! Nectaron 3000 is pillowy and pungent! It has big aromas of tropical fruit and dank. On the pallet, expressive flavors of pineapple, passionfruit, peach, and pink grapefruit coat your mouth.”

The Moon Stood Still Blueberry Cheesecake Sour – “This beer is a ton of fun with huge jammy blueberry flavors that’ll make you think you’re drinking a slice of Blueberry Cheesecake! There is a bit of sweetness at an expected level that also tempers the acidity. The elevated ABV also helps those flavors pop in a big way.”

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Spirited Brewery # 3 – Scout & Scholar

Our last stop is in the Capital of Bourbon, Bardstown, Kentucky and to a brewery that honors the Bard brothers, William aka Scout and David the Scholar.

Scout & Scholar is just off the main street in a very frontiersy building with a large outdoor seating area as well as indoor seating on two floors. The beer list is quite long. So long that they have multiple personalized flights to order, like the collaboration flight that I tried first.

Got You Fam – “This Beer Was Brewed In Collaboration With Marker 48 Brewing Out Of Weeki Wachee, Florida. This Beer Is Know As An ErntBier Or A Harvest Beer. The Grain Bill Consists Of Mostly Vienna Malt Providing A Nice Bready Malt Forward Backbone. Using A Kolsch Yeast Strain And Noble Hops Helps to Cut The Sweetness Of The Vienna Malt For A Dry And Crisp Finish. Never Had An ErntBier? We Got You Fam.”

Post-Boredom Kolsch – “A collaboration between Country Boy and Scout & Scholar, Post-Boredom is our take on a refreshing German-style Kolsch with a heavy-handed dry hop pushing notes of tangerine and strawberry. This is the official beer of putting the past in the rear view and moving on. Tasting Notes: Bread dough, light cereal, slight mineral, strawberry, honeydew, gooseberry, hint of passion fruit.”

Stick and Poke – “Rum Runner Inspired Kettle Sour. Conditioned On Pineapple, Blackberry, Banana, And Key Lime. Then Aged To Perfection In Rum Barrels. Collaboration With Our Friends At Atrium Brewing In Louisville.”

Sage, Scout and Spirit – “This KristallWeizen Was Brewed In Collaboration With Our Great Friends At Log Still Distillery And Against The Grain. Aged In A Monk Road Gin Barrel This Beer Has A Unique Botanical Vibe From Start To Finish.”

I also had their Treading Paper IPA and their Miranda Belgian Dark Strong. Of the six, the Stick and Poke was my winner followed by the Miranda.

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Spirited Brewery # 2 – Entre Compas

This month I am going to highlight breweries in towns rich in distilleries as well as breweries, in a nod to where I recently went, Portland, we head to the new on the scene Entre Compas.

That phrase is slang for compadre, translating to “between really good friends”.

They do not have many brews out in the world yet but they do have a couple IPA’s out such as Entre Compas IPA and Verano IPA made with Culmination Brewing. They also have a Vienna lager as well.

You can find the beers at restaurant Los Ponchos which is the current home for Entre Compas. They are contract brewing while also looking for their own brewing space in the future.

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Spirited Brewery # 1 – Fermentery Form

This month I am going to highlight breweries in towns rich in distilled history as well as breweries, we start in Pennsylvania where Rye is king at Fermentery Form.

Slo Mo 2020 – “blended from 2 year old barrels from our Solera, and aged on cherry and blackberry purée. It tastes of bright, lush cherries, with just a touch of blackberry jam, finishing light and refreshing.”

Carménère – “a blend of 5 barrels that refermented on whole Carménère wine grapes for around 3 months. The resulting beer has a beautiful purple color, a lovely barrel aroma, and drinks like a wonderful marriage of the grape and the selected beer.”

Vieux Selection – “culmination of 3 years of careful beer preservation and maturation in oak barrels. We’ve been inspired to do much of what we do, but the tradition of Belgian Lambic. Our favorite being Geuze, the blend of 1, 2 and 3 year old barrel aged beers. While our process differs from traditional Lambic in significant ways, the inspiration still comes through in the bottle. This beer has complex layers of flavor that come from the careful selection of barrels to blend. The aroma is earthy, minerally and spicy, the taste is a balance of tart fruits, woody resinous sweetness, and pithy bitterness. While being one of the most complex beers we have ever made, it’s still easy to drink.”

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NJ Brewery # 3 – Magnify Brewing

Magnify Brewing was started in 2015 by Eric Ruta in Fairfield, New Jersey.

Let’s order up a taster tray…

Raw Essentials – “Helles Lager aged in oak barrels for more nuance and complexity.”

Vine Shine with Lime – “Our year round IPA conditioned on lime for a more refreshing experience.”

Wild Horizons – “Oak aged Saison with Brettanomyces dry hopped with Mosaic and Azacca.”

Lap of Luxury – “Our Reserved Triple IPA with lactose… Massive Triple IPA brewed with lactose for a creamy and bigger mouthfeel and hopped extensively with Mosaic, Galaxy and El Dorado.”

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NJ Brewery # 2 – Twin Elephant Brewing

Our next NJ stop is in Chatham at their first official brewery, Twin Elephant was founded by Cindy De Rama, Tim Besecker, and Scott McLusky are making some of the juiciest IPAs in the Northeast. It is one of a hopefully growing number of U.S. breweries led by a woman.

Time to get a virtual taster flight…

Forever More: Citra British Golden Ale – “hoppy leaning summer golden ale with some British bitter character. Same base as before but pairing VT yeast with 100% Citra from mash to dry hop. Easy sippin’ to session city, pony up and stay forevrmore. This one’s drinking like a trailside beverage. Perhaps an afternoon hiking companion towards the cliffs for lakeside leaps. Or simply your go-to afternoon pub pint hammer. Smells like some sweet crunch, orange kissed graham cracker dust. Tastes like sweet and dry and candy orange, marmalades, clementines, orange tea & Royal Danske (the tin joint) cookies.”

Motley Lou Hoppy Saison – “I hope you know we pack a chainsaw. Hell yeahs and east coast hoppy pours. Built some country loaf with German pilsner, domestic pale and North Carolina grown triticale. Juiced the engines with three saison strains and an all day DH of Belma, Mosaic and Simcoe. Dry on the exhale, wiggles and wobbles with a juicy stretch mid-sip, fruity pulses dancin’ up in the finish. Smells like guava, dried apricots, vanilla, oaked chardonnay. Tastes like OJ, white grapefruit, orange candy.”

Mr. Thundermaker Double White Wheat – “Strums of red, white & raw wheat caught in the crush of Tiki time! Pleasant vividness, light acidity, drier & semi-sweet,  some sourness remains in the jowls. Smells like fresh cantaloupe, lime tang, tropical honey on pineapples, ginger, then lime zest, orange and passionfruit on the inhale. Tastes like a tin can of pineapple juice, spritzy passionfruit drink with a ginger ice cube and a lime wedge.”

The Mighty Winooski DIPA – “Mighty mighty like a bomb jack. Green mountains inspired happy hoppy liquid going down a treat. Like the weightless levitation of wafer cookies cloaked in hazy aura from a toothsome bounce of floral, sweet and citrus Simcoe, Centennial Cryo, Citra and Motueka hops. A magically creamy loving cup to calm the body and mind. Smells like Champlain sunsets dipping into Adirondack peaks, orange blossom sugar cookies, orange lemon & tangerine fruity pebbles,  lemon-lime soda, grapefruit bitters. Tastes like sweet peach, mandarin bubblegum, mango, apricot,  dank red fruit, fresh sweet & orange juicy.”

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NJ Brewery Tour # 1 – The Seed – A Living Beer Project

Our first stop in the Garden State is The Seed, what they have sub-titled A Living Beer Project. Both really cool brewery names.

Here are some taster flight ideas from this unique brewery….

Poetry in Motion / Full Circle – “A blend of young, aged hop forward, stainless steel saison and mature barrel fermented and aged saison.”

Danko Rye Lager – “Amber lager brewed using 100% Rabbit Hill Farms grains. Brewed to highlight a single rye varietal, Danko rye.”

As Simple As Reflections? Heirloom Corn Lager – “Brewed in collaboration with our dearest friends at Bonn Place Brewing with PA barley and Bloody Butcher corn. Hopped entirely with NJ hops.”

Stay Awhile English Dark Mild – “A beautifully light, crisp, yet full little beer brewed with English pale, brown, amber, and pale chocolate malts. Hopped exclusively with whole cone Goldings. Notes of cleanly interwoven fresh ground coffee, hearth loaves, and the first hoodie evenings of the fall.”

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PNW Brewery # 3 – Woodland Empire Ale Craft

We close this month in Idaho, in Boise and Woodland Empire Ale Craft.

Let’s pick out some of their ale craft…

Boule Sourdough Wild Ale – they take bakery sourdough starter and combine it with a wheaty ale.

Ada County Stout – big, boozy barrel-aged 14% stout.

Old Boise Lager – crisp and clear modern lager.

Edge of Rainbows IPA – tropical aroma and flavor.