Follow Sean Inman to the best in craft beer
There are not many transatlantic collaborations and of those, us L.A. beer fans don’t see them on store shelves. But maybe we will see the West Coast IPA, Under the Trees from Thornbridge and Urban Roots since they are from the state capital.
When I saw the label for this beer from Harland Brewing, before I looked at logos, I said to myself that it has a touch of Brouwerij West to it. By golly, it is a collaboration beer.
I do like the lava lamp look.
Russian River’s Fonio will be a Belgian-style blonde ale in a collaboration with Brooklyn Brewery. The beer will be a Belgian-style blonde ale that will be releasing in August.
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.
Now here is a throwback beer for ya’. Little Beast Brewing has teamed with Funky Fauna from Sisters, Oregon, to create a Brett IPA. “Story Forest was primarily fermented with Chico ale yeast, then aged with Brettanomyces anomalus var. clausenii (widely called Brett C) for several months. To bring out more flavor, we dry-hopped it with Nectaron and HBC 586 to add the final touch to this new elixir.”
Hard to believe that Daisy Cutter from Half Acre Beer is 15 but time does fly. In honor of that anniversary comes DC Select Double IPA, a collaboration with Sierra Nevada Brewing.
“For Daisy Cutter Select Double IPA, both teams hand-selected special lots of freshly harvested Centennial from CLS Farms, a fifth-generation family hop grower in the Yakima Valley. All agreed on a selection that presented punchy notes of sweet, bright citrus, with a touch of background earth. We used it to build a recipe that echoes the ages – Classic IPA.”
Sorry for putting that song into your head but it had to be done for the collaborative beer from Beachwood Brewing and North Park Beer Co.
It’s always good to have some positivity in your beer collaborations and that spirit is certainly found in the name for new PNW IPA from Gigantic and Ruse Brewing in Portland, “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood IPA”.
It starts “with a base of Northwest Pale and Munich malts, then layered in the classic and still great citrusy Cascade hop, paired with the newly released Comet hop, and elevated the experience even further with Oregon-grown Chinook hops. All this leads to an IPA loaded with citrusy notes of grapefruit, sweet orange, and a hint of pine, all backed by a beautiful malt profile.”
Pizza Port / Ghost Town Forbidden Beach is certainly filled with enough hops for two breweries: Riwaka, Mosaic, Columbus, Simcoe and the yet un-named HBC 586.
Time to play, one of these things is not like the other. I am a fan of collaborative beers and so that is two-thirds of the theme this month.
Enegren Brewing / Bierstadt Lagerhaus American Reinheitsgebot – 4.8% – “Being two breweries that share a passion for exceptional, filtered, and crisp German lagers, we decided to brew one of our all-time favorite beers for this year’s American Reinheitsgebot: an American Helles Lager. This classic beer is crafted with American malt and hops, staying true to its style. Make sure to swing by Frühlingsfest and grab a taste before it disappears!”
Santa Monica Brew Works Todo Chido Mexican-Style Lager – 5% – “this crisp Mexican-style ‘surfveza’ is pure golden refreshment. Enjoy the bright, well-balanced taste with delicate notes of orange blossom and a touch of tangelo.”
Wagon Wheel Brewing / Tarantula Hill Wagon Full of Tarantulas – 6% – “We set out to brew a Hazy Single IPA and the resulting brew is a Tropical fruit bomb that is out of this world! Wagon Full of Tarantulas is a Hazy IPA featuring HBC 630 and Mosaic hops. This beer is layered with flavors of papaya, grapefruit and pineapple.”