Craft beer and collaborating go hand in hand. And across the street from each other, Los Angeles Ale Works and Common Space Brewing each have a beer made with friends out now.
So honey, citrus and spice….
And / Or ice cream…
Hawthorne Collaborations
Do Not Forget
Certain IPA sub-styles have not lasted. Brut IPA, I really liked. Not to be found anymore. White IPA lasted less time. Session IPA had a moment but that momentum faded. But the king of busted IPA dreams was the Cascadian or Black IPA. Rare was the one that balanced dark malt with bitterness just right.
And maybe, Common Space has unlocked it with their new Citra hop version.
Action
Another way to show support to the BLM movement is in canned form from Common Space. Here is what the brewery says about the new beer, “This Citra IPA is brewed in support of the Black Lives Matter movement right here in our community. Common Space support BLM Los Angeles.”
Magnet or Tail
Bottle Logic of Orange County has teamed with Common Space of L.A. County for an Imperial Lager. One with a southern twist. Using southern hemisphere grown hops and malts from South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. This is an unexpected style for both but welcome in my opinion as we cannot have enough lagers out there in the world.
Sean Suggests for August 2019
Let’s stay local and stay hoppy. We will start in San Gabriel and then head to Hawthorne for the bigger IPA’s.
~LIGHT
Ogopogo / Hafgufa 5.80% ABV
“Hazy Pale Ale. Hafgufa is the Icelandic name of a massive sea monster reported to have existed in the Greenland Sea, which was said to disguise itself as an island or pair of rocks rising from the sea. Hafgufa was the mother of all sea monsters and fed on whales, ships, humans, and anything it could catch.”
~MEDIUM
L.A. AleWorks / Digimax 7.50% ABV
“Ella, Citra and Ahtanum lend notes of floral orange, pineapple and dank guava that make for an easy drinking Juicy IPA.”
~BIG
Common Space / Random and Dangerous 8.40% ABV
“Monstrous citrus and tropical flavor and aroma from over six pounds per barrel of hops snap you awake from your boring beer stupor.”
All of these beers can be found at Sunset Beer Co. (unless they got bought up real quick)
1st Impression – Common Space Brewing
I made a mid-week trek to Hawthorne. Not to ride about a Space X Falcon rocket but to check out the beers from the upcoming Common Space Brewery.
Three beers were being poured at Eureka! Burger at the Hawthorne airport but by the time I arrived only the IPA was left of the three. Sixtels of the Saison and Coffee Stout were blown!
The small space was packed with people. A good response for a Wednesday night for sure. I was able to talk to one of the founders, Dave Childress for a few minutes while sipping of the latest iteration of their IPA and they seem excited to finally open up and are crossing their fingers that Super Bowl Weekend might be the time.
The IPA was pretty good out of the gate. Clear with really bright tropical fruit notes. It had plenty of malt backbone to it as well.
Updates to come once I can visit the space and try more of the beers.
Coming this year…
There are some new breweries coming to the L.A. area in 2018 headlined (IMHO) by the Chinatown brewery / taproom of Highland Park Brewery.
But there are more in the pipeline that I will be visiting and reviewing, such as….
…and these are just a sample. There might be more in places as far flung as Pasadena, two new ones in Monrovia, literally right next to each other. One in Burbank, at least one in Long Beach.