Gotta powerhouse hype combo for the review today, ISM Brewing in Long Beach have paired up with Portland’s Brujos Brewing on a straight up West Coast IPA, Mere Visions.
This has got to be one of the lightest straw yellow IPAs that I have come across. Hopped with an impressive roster of Columbus Cryo, Mosaic Cryo, Strata, Simcoe and Chinook. Very well balanced overall. That Simcoe smell comes through. There is a medium hop hit before a soft bed of wheat notes. You could call this a White IPA as well.
This second report will be more spirited than the first. We head to 23rd Avenue and gin at Aria. A lovely little spot with all sort of cocktail accoutrements. You got to taste the gin plus the summer seasonal cocktail tasters including a preview of their upcoming G&T canned cocktail.
Then, more gin, over at Aviation. And, of course, the special July cocktail flight which was Weapon X themed. Deadpool drinks. Leaving out the jalapeno infused Aviation cocktail the rest were fun and weird and Marvel-ous.
Right down ( Wade ) Wilson Avenue is Brujos Brewing and their gothic-witchy theme. I like a brewery that leans into their theme and Brujos does. There is a pulpit of beer to order at as well as some serious collaborations which tells you the status of this new brewery. I had an IPA done with Goal Brewing in San Diego.
Lastly was a trip to Scotch Lodge in a random building in the basement. But there was a cellar of spirits there. I had an Old Fashioned but it was no ordinary drink. The bourbon was a blend of four bourbons. It was great and the atmosphere was tres chic.
More spirits as the drive sent us to Forest Grove and Sake One where I got the Happy Lotus Sake made with Eastern Gold hops. A very gentle drink but also pretty boozy at 14.8%. Their was a distributor tasting going on at the same time and I sorta wanted to hear their thoughts.
It was a hop, skip and jump to my college town of McMinnville and the Hotel Oregon of McMenamins. Two MC’s. My lunch was better than the beer which was supposed to be a rye DIPA but seemed more a slightly rye session ale.
From there we walked a couple blocks down 3rd Street to Acorn & Oak the wine bar of The Linfield University. So, I had to have a beer. A really good Helles Lager from local ForeLand Brewing.
The last stop was supposed to be a whisky distillery but the world’s longest train was in the way so an audible was called and we headed to the Emerald Room at Aimsir Distilling for a mega spirits taster tray and vegan dumplings. Aquavit, gin, vodka and bourbon too. Appropriate for Portland, my favorite was the Rose Gin.
SoCal can get its first half taste of the popular Brujos Brewing from Portland with the cleverly named Exercising Demons a DDH Hazy DIP made with Everywhere Beer Co. Loaded up with Citra, Cryo Citra, Galaxy and Rakau hops.
