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I am a sucker for a niche beer festival and Green Cheek Beer Co. has one on tap for the middle of the month….
Those who have had Phantasm (thiol) beers will know that they are the real deal. This new hop – yeast combo is well potent and delightful so this looks to be a fun event.
A few days ago I saw a cryptic post about the timing of the sale of Barley Forge. It seemed on its face as a simple explanation for fans who might want to schedule last visits to the Costa Mesa brewery, but it also was a foreshadowing that the brewery was changing hands. Greg Nagel from OC Beer Blog broke the news that new that….
It looks a strategic parry to their neighboring brewery, Gunwhale Ales which opened a second location near Green Cheek and now Green Cheek is returning the favor. Also, it is interesting that this will be the second brewery space that Green Cheek will take over.
There is a brewery casualty coming from Costa Mesa and it is the five-year old Barley Forge. There were signs in the tea leaves. They recently had a “work walk-out” which garnered a little press, and there was a Facebook post from the founder talking about returning to full-time work at a law firm but from responses to the news, it seems like many claim that the tap room was full and that the closure is based purely on the rent being raised to a non-workable level probably due to the fancy mixed use shopping area across the street that the landlord thinks he can get a piece of.
More than likely, it is a combination of all of the above. Anytime someone goes back to a day job means that something went wrong. If you were a fan, best to buy what you can while you still can.
I don’t usually combine a 1st visit to a brewery with a 1st (or even 2nd or 3rd) anniversary, but plans change and I trekked south to see what Gunwhale Ales was celebrating…
After finding myself on a toll road and getting a little lost, I finally located Gunwhale and their Coastal Ales. The beer was smartly splitt between three stations. The taproom with the basics, if you can call a pretty lengthy list basic. Then one smaller side with a mix of variants as well as an outdoor station with even more variants. Watermelon, fennel, cranberry, clove and many other ingredients too were to be found in the combo of table beer, saisons and IPA’s.
Gunwhale has a good sized patio facing Randolph Avenue and I wish more places had them. On the downside, I am not big on the wildlife trophies in the main taproom or the auxiliary one. Though the latter was offset by a cool farmers hositing cold ones mural.
This is a great location near The CAMP warren of stores and restaurants. I wonder if any cross-over or if that would be too much OC walking.
But on to the beers that I tried:
Chickabiddy – Table Beer – medium good
Pau Brah IPA – with grapefruit and white tea – too much tea not enough hops.
Old Rackatee Farro Saison – little bit of orange in the way back more menthol
Cockrow Breakfast Stout – with Brauhaus coffee not bad.
Chickabiddy with guava ginger raisins and rum soaked oak chips. – maybe some ginger. Just a jumble to me.
Polarized DIPA – tropical aroma. Not bad but didn’t really hit me.
Hop for Mama Belgian IPA – nice funky aroma. Less IPA and more Belgian. Little thin.
Flooded Fields with jasmine tea and milk sugar – low ABV. Will the tea overwhelm here too? Yup. Way too much jasmine. More tea than beer. Super dry.
Costa Mesa is adding Bootlegger’s Brewery to their line-up.
Bootlegger’s has a been a bit out of earshot for us L.A. drinkers as the market fills up in our neck of the woods so this new locale might make a good re-introduction to the brand.
Costa Mesa, CA. adds another brewery to their list with today’s opening of Gunwhale Brewery on Randolph Avenue. (They also have a cheeky “About Us” section on their website.
Barley Forge, the Costa Mesa based brewery is making their anniversary a week-long celebration. Spanning October 24-30th, there will be a special beer release each and every day.
Wednesday is Patsy Night, Thursday will unveil barrel-aged Black Dahlia, Friday is a Fugue State end of the week and on Saturday, Two Louder is released. All of this before the official party on Sunday.
You have to look for and grab any lagers that aren’t hopped or imperialized. And if you want to dig deeper to Vienna or Dortmunder Export, you have to search further.
Thankfully the refurbished beer aisle at my local Whole Foods recently had two bottled offerings from Barley Forge in Costa Mesa. One of which is the excellently named Grandpa Tractor, a Dortmunder “style” export lager.
This beer is a bit too mineraly and salty to me but otherwise is close to the style mark in my mind. It has a nice hit of malty sweetness to it and drinks easy. The initial aroma was a bit off-putting but it soon rounded into form. I would categorize this offering as better with food than without. It offers some compare and contrast flavors that would work in the pairing arena.
Today (for no particular reason) is beer shop day. Since my dream job would be running a small craft beer store, I love highlighting places that sell a great assortment of beer.
First up is Hi-Time in Orange County, California.
Be sure to enter in the beer area or you might get lost amongst the wine and spirits. They have a large selection of nicely chilled craft brews. Nice amount of Sierra Nevada, foreign beers and even more than just the Just Outstanding IPA from Kern River!
250 Ogle Street
Costa Mesa, CA 92627-3808
(949) 650-8463