Topa Topa Howler Coffee DIPA is back and thus time they are tapping a Santa Barbara Funk Zone roaster for the beans. Dart Coffee Company is the partner for the 2023 version of Howler.
Santa Barbara Coffee
At the Moon
Topa Topa is my favorite Ventura brewery. No dis to others. So I will be interested to see how they spin a coffee IPA. Like the Black IPA, the balancing act of hops and coffee is tricky. I will also need to try Beacon Coffee too.
Wizard Meet Gargoyle
This label design goes a little Oregon settler but any time a coffee IPA hits town, I will mosey to a bar stool to try it. Especially since Modern Times does have a bit of bean roasting experience. And Stone has brewed a few hoppy beers. The only issue that exists is that this sub-style can drift too far to coffee or too far away when a happy medium needs to be found.
Sunday in El Segundo
So I returned 24 hours later to pretty much the same spot in El Segundo to attend the debut of Mountain Goat beers in the U.S. at Rock & Brews.
Goes to show that great beer can come from anywhere. One of those came a little bit further though.
Both the Australian Pale Ale and the Hightail utilize the galaxy hop which we here in California don’t see a lot of examples in the craft beer market. Due to my recent preference for lighter ABV brews, the Australian Pale was my favorite. It really showcased the galaxy and had a nice bitter kick to it. The Hightail should win some barley wine fans though. Much bigger and maltier. A muscular beer for sure.
The third beer that was poured was the intriguing Coffee IPA. To me it had three stages on the palate. First was a hit of bitterness followed by a red bell pepper flavor that melted into a mild coffee note at the back end. Quite different from the usual coffee/porter combo. This would really work well with Japanese food.
You will be seeing their beer at BevMo’s around town and I strongly suggest picking up a bottle (or two). SoCal beer geeks (myself included) need to continue to taste what the entire world has to offer our lucky cosmopolitan city. We need to remember to support any and all craft beer.
Thanks to Cam and Tom for making that long flight out to talk about their beer. It was great to here their story and to taste their fine beers.
Coffee + IPA = Mikkeller
File this under, might work. Two distinct flavors that may fight each other to a standstill. The coffee is called Guji Natural and is roasted by a by Koppi of Sweden. The hops in the other corner are Tomahawk. And it was brewed at Mikkeller’s default brewery De Proef.