Due to a football game in the City of Orange, I had a great excuse to visit Green Cheek Beer for the 1st time. And I had to make some decisions.
I went for a taster tray to taste the beers I hadn’t seen in Glendale. A wide variety ranging from lager to hops to stout.
Of the group, the Bier lager was my favorite, I also tried the Berried in Berlin! but it was too Sangria for me. All berry and orange peel with not much beer oomph to add to it.
The location is not much changed from the Valiant space except for the Drink While Smiling wall which I found to be way cool design and a great way to chill a crowd despite the heat inside. Nothing quite grabbed me though. Maybe my expectations for Evan’s beers were too high but the place was packed and as I looked around no one seemed unhappy.
Green Cheek Beer
Looks like the dust did not have a chance to settle on the (now) old Valiant Brewing facility on Batavia in Anaheim as Evan Price and Brian Rauso, both formerly of Noble Ale Works have taken over the equipment for their coming sooner than you think new venture, Green Cheek Beer Company.
There is no slate of beers announced yet, but there is a collaboration beer with Cellarmaker in the wings and though no logo or web presence of yet but Green Cheek is a reference to parrots found in Anaheim…
…so expect some bird motif.
A New Price
Brewer movement is now an accepted fact of life in craft beer world but even with that foreknowledge, some departures still hold the element of surprise.
Evan Price leaving Noble Ale Works behind is one such move. Price and his staff displayed such an outward fun dynamic and created such goofy beer names that to my eye, it would take something huge to separate.
That huge event is Price going for his own brewery. Kudos to him for taking that plunge and kudos to Noble for being gracious about it.
Because of the crew that Price built up including new head man Brad Kominek, I doubt Noble will skip a beat as it expands into cans with their new logo and it will be great to see what comes next for Price (whatever and wherever that may be)….
