Tag: Cismontane Brewing

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The 2013 Birthday Beer – Revealed

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Earlier this year, I made mention of two beers in the pipeline from Cismontane Brewing in Rancho Santa Margarita.  And one of them, Oso (bear in Spanish) is my birthday beer for 2013.  A singular honor bestowed yearly that is on par with getting an Oscar or a GABF medal.

All hyperbole aside, here is what the brewers behind Oso have to say about it: “The English yeast imparted a symphony of dark fruity esters which compliment the tasty vanilla/ caramel notes, graciously donated by the Rye Whiskey barrels.”

I certainly liked the smoothness of this beer.  Plus the 10% abv displayed no heat at all.  I got lot’s of vanilla notes and also some baking bread aromas.  You could really taste the underlying porter underneath the whiskey which some barrel aged beers just can’t do.  As it the beer warmed up, I detected some spice notes underneath as well.  Between this big beer and the light Holy Jim Falls XPA, Cismontane has the beer style gamut covered.

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I also have a second birthday beer in mind.  It is the release of a collaboration between Ohana and the in Kickstarter phase L.A. Aleworks.  It will debut at Beer Belly tomorrow night and you should check it out!

 

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2 New from Cismontane

I haven’t spoke about Cismontane in awhile. They fell off my radar a bit but they have two beers that I am looking forward to finding and trying!
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1. “Holy Jim Falls is officially a part of our core beer lineup. A sessionable IPA weighing in at just under 5%, this beer is perfect for thirst quenching and time wasting. Expect a clean and crisp palate that will pair nicely with spicy foods. Complementing the taste graciously is a hearty dose of “herbal” dankness which overwhelms even the most seasoned of schnozes. This beer will be available for tasting, pints, growler fills and 16oz bottles. Try one, try as many as you like, Holy Jim is here to stay!”

2. “Label approval for our Whiskey Rye Barrel aged Oso has finally passed! We have been sneaking secret tastings of Oso over the last couple weeks and it is incredible. The English yeast imparted a symphony of dark fruity esters which compliment the tasty vanilla/ caramel notes, graciously donated by the Rye Whiskey barrels. This beer is super limited and will be available for tasting, ½ pint pours, and takeout 750ml bottles while supplies last.”

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Prickly Pear Beer Review – “Nopal de Trigo”

Prickly Pear is the official ingredient for the 2012 L.A. Beer Week and as I find and taste these special edition beers, I will review them. Some are only Union Station Finale available and will get reviewed later but first out of the gate is Cismontane Brewing and “Nopal de Trigo” a hefeweizen brewed with hand-pressed prickly pear juice.

As the photo shows, this pours a ruby red grapefruit color. The aroma does not include the clove and banana that you normally associate with a German style hefe but what I do get is a clear aloe, green leaf type of smell which is not an aroma that I have picked up on a beer before. The taste veers away from that into more of a strawberry and banana world. It is very fruity with a little bit of bitterness lingering at the back end. This style of beer (and the Berliner Weisse one as well) showcase the pear.

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While the beer world was in Denver….

So the craft beer world was tilted towards Colorado, I didn’t sit on the couch grousing that I wasn’t there. Especially since my football team was winning (Go Linfield!)

I took to the road and visited 4 SoCal breweries. The first stop was Cismontane for the release of their Double Rainbow DIPA….

My driver and fellow craft beer fanatic Richard

We got to sample the “regular” version of Double Rainbow….
..and the cask version as well!

Cismontane even grows a few hops outside their pleasant little industrial park tasting room….
hops mark the entrance to Double Rainbow, Black's Dawn and Coulter

Next stop is the fairly new Anaheim Brewing. Another pretty interior in which to drink beer and aside from me in the foreground…
a nice patio to enjoy beer on a sunny SoCal day.

I will have to sample more to make a complete assessment of their creations…
maybe I will try out the regular stable of beers like the Hefe or Golden.

Richard and I sampled the Tavern Ale and the Oktoberfest both of which were underwhelming in comparison to Cismontane.
Third Stop was the Bruery...
and all of the choices on that board. The big winner was the Humulus Wet. Which in my opinion is the equal of Kern River’s Citra (which are both better than a certain PtY). Big citrus aroma. Light on the tongue. A hit of bitterness. Just delightful. The Berazzled was awfully good too. Almost a raspberry soda. Re-tried the Autumn Maple and still had a difficult time with it. To strong and medicinal to me.
I bought yet another bottle of batch 300 tripel too!

Our final stop was a quick jaunt to Eagle Rock Brewery to get a taster of Populist and to buy a small growler. Then home to sleep!