Love those hops from New Zealand? Well you can stay in LA and taste them in….
…or…
So fly away or get the legs moving to Trademark Brewing in Long Beach or Highland Park Brewery in Chinatown or your favorite bottle shoppe.
NZ Hopping in LA
World Beer Cup – Los Angeles medals
The World Beer Cup spent Cinco de Mayo passing out medals.
Beachwood was the big local winner with three medals. Figueroa Mountain picked up a pair which I count as L.A. because of the Westlake Village outpost. Below are the Los Angeles area medalists:
Gold
Highland Park Brewery – Hello, L.A. – International Pale Ale
Silver
Lincoln Beer Co. – Mosaic Pilsner – American-Style Pilsner
Cellador Ales – Akimbo – Fruited Wood and Barrel- Aged Sour
Beachwood – Full Malted Jacket – Scotch Ale
Bronze
San Fernando Brewing Co. – Imperial Death Star – American-Style Imperial Stout
Beachwood Blendery – Funk Yeah – Belgian- Style Sour
Beachwood – Mocha Machine – Coffee Stout
THE Party
Just in time for your Omicron safe celebrating for New Years…
Highland Park Brewery has The Party for you. In a classy labeled can.
Highland Brave
Finally seeing an L.A version of Brave Noise. From Highland Park Brewery.
“Brave Noise is a worldwide collaboration with one big goal: a safe & discrimination-free bee industry. HPB is very proud to be a participating brewery in the Brave Noise campaign & hope it helps push for continued growth & accountability in our industry.
It is a 6%ABV hazy west coast pale ale hopped with Citra, Copper, & Nelson hops. We’re very excited to be using Michigan grown Copper hops from HopHead Farms for the first time ever, such a rad hop! This beer explodes with aromas of tangerine, lime caviar, green gummy bear, & bright lemon zest.
A portion of proceeds from Brave Noise will be going to support @ihollagram. An organization that has a mission aimed to end harassment in all its forms by transforming the culture that perpetuates hate & harassment. They carry out this mission by building the power of everyday people to create safe & welcoming environments for all. Check out their page to learn more about Hollaback & to see how you can support.”
Best Beers of July 2021 + IPA Ranking
Let’s go straight to the top, my favorite beer of the month is Natural Born Shredders from the combined talents of Beachwood Brewing and Highland Park Brewery. This IPA has a Wonderful aroma. Bright with dried fruit and pine. As it warms sone cat pee notes creep in. Loads of tangerine flavor. Overall light mouthfeel. Nice bitterness bite that lingers.
So let’s update the IPA rankings before mentioning a couple honorable mentions.
3 – Crooked Stave Idaho 7 IPA
2 – Offshoot Beer Co. DDH Visions
1 – Beachwood / Highland Park Natural Born Shredders
Two other really great beers wowed me this month. Total Boss Red IPA from Smog City was malty and hoppy and filling in equal measure. Radiant Beer Co. and their Can Down By the River Motivational Lager which from can design to flavor was great.
Timbo Week
The Timbo is upon us…
From July 16th through July 23rd, get your Pils on with Timbo Week at Highland Park Brewery.
Here are the details: “a whole week dedicated to our beloved Timbo Pils! We’re gonna be celebrating this west coast Pilsner for a whole week with special releases, merch (yes, Timbo Pils glassware! Yes, Timbo Pils shirts!), Timbo inspired food specials, 4 different canned Timbo style beers, one off draft only Timbo style beers, & even a Timbo cutout so you can be a can of Timbo! Woo!
Timbo Week kicks off Friday July 16th with a can release of what else… Timbo Pils! We’ll have special releases each day that you won’t want to miss.”
Dynamic Duo
There are collaborations and then there are super collaborations. Highland Park + Beachwood, well that is the level above super.
Here are the double details…
“Natural Born Shredder – West Coast-style IPA, our version of the previous beer collab released at Highland Park Brewery.
No Chestnuts in This Beer – Hoppy & crisp Italian-style pilsner, just in time as the warm weather creeps upon us for this pilsner.”
High Seven vs Double High Seven
Whichever High Seven reaches higher? Let’s dig into the two anniversary IPA’s from Highland Park Brewery.
H7 – pours a darker yellow color. Spicy and grassy aroma. Light and lively for 7%. Grapefruit pith is the first flavor identified. Getting a rye character as well. Has a medium hop bite to it.
DH7 – this was a gusher. I set the can down, turned away and eruption. After the cleaning, the beer was super hazy. Sweet tart and lactose. Soft with a fruit punch spike. Tongue scrape action like in my first hazies.
OK. And You?
Got a triple collab of hazy coming your way and it has a question for you…
How You Doing? Hazy IPA has an interesting ingredient list of Galangal, lemongrass, orange, coconut, and citrus peel that was brewed by cohorts Modern Times Beer, Highland Park Brewery and Green Cheek Beer Co.
You can probably tell by the label that this beer was canned by MT.
7 for HPB
This week Highland Park Brewery is celebrating turning seven with a trio of beers…
#1 – “High 7 IPA is a 7%ABV hazy west coast IPA hopped with Chinook, Riwaka, Citra, Simcoe, & Citra Cryo. Popping with big aromas of grape Big League Chew, mixed berry Skittles, & giant tropical fruit aromas. Four packs of High 7 IPA are $19 & will be available for pickup or delivery this Tuesday through the link in our bio.”
#2 and 3- “Keep an eye out for more releases this week, including High 7 DDH Hazy DIPA & High 7 Blended Barrel Aged Anniversary Ale.”