Follow Sean Inman to the best in craft beer
If you need help in choosing a weekend that would be optimum for visiting San Diego, well, read on….. “The 2nd-Annual SD Beer Weekend presented by the San Diego Brewers Guild will take place Friday, June 9 to Sunday, June 11. The now annual celebration of the local independent craft beer scene is a prelude to San Diego Beer Week in the fall.”
Think of it as a teaser trailer for the full movie.
LABW13 ran its course this month and I have picked a beer tasted at the Cellador Friends Fest as well as an L.A beer as my four best for the month. It’s just not the sane beer.
Non-LA favorites were the Ledge Bier from Great Notion Brewing. It was a very gin and botanical lager to me and it was more silky than I expect a lager to me. And yet, really struck me as good. Staying with Great Notion but with a collaboration with Fremont Brewing, Mr. Sun II. This hazy DIPA ticked all the hazy boxes that I have and was just fruity all the way.
In LA, Chilloo IPA re-gained the winning ways of Brouwerij West and revived an interest in driving down to their coastal brewery. That leaves North Park and my favorite beer of the month with a fantastic name as well, Ancient Civilization West Coast DIPA which I liked more than its sibling, City of the Future Hazy DIPA.
Our last stop is in Rome and Eternal City Brewing. How is that related to June, you ask? Sources claim June is named after Lucius Junius Brutus, founder of the Roman Republic.
Tiber Beer – “Light beer, golden in color with white and fine foam. Drinkable and thirst-quenching due to the low alcohol content which also makes it easy to drink. The herbaceous and slightly fruity aromas of the American hops used blend with the flavor of the malt and make it an unmistakable beer, different from all the lagers you have tasted before.”
Dea Golden Ale – “La Dea is a Golden Ale with a classic golden color. Apparently it is a “simple” beer but the floral and slightly fruity scents denote a special and brilliant character.”
XXI Quattro – “Blanche with a characteristic straw yellow color with white and compact foam, the XXI QUATTRO on the nose takes us to the Mediterranean scrubs due to the intense scent of rosemary. On the palate we find the balsamic of rosemary and the citric of lemon that make it a fresh and thirst-quenching beer.”
Cinzia Bock -“This bock faithfully follows the style of belonging. Deep ruby color, compact foam, very present malty notes, red fruit and caramel on the palate, make it a round and pleasant beer. On the nose we find red fruit, caramel and a light herbaceous given by hops.”
North to Alaska and JUNEau to visit Barnaby Brewing Co.
Let’s grab a couple taster trays to try out the following from the BBC.
OMG I Love Trees – Imperial Spruce Tip Blonde
Theresa’s Meadow – Altbier
Jiggle Jiggle Wiggle Wiggle – Tropical Stout
Rodeo Clowns – Flanders Red
Slack Tide – BA English Barley Wine aged in Cherry Brandy Barrels
Guava Blood Orange – Imperial American Sour Aged in Tequila Barrels
It is a bit of a silly theme this month, but the world can always use more silly. Breweries with June in the name or a beer name. Let’s start in California with June Lake Brewing.
Here is what I would put in my taster tray…
Lager for Joggers – “Classic North American Light Lager, JLB version of Hamms.”
Archimedes Red Ale – “medium body, well balanced, malty and biscuity.”
Oishii Japanese Rice Lager – “Floral, notes of jasmine rice, extremely crushable.”
Potter’s Porter – “Smooth Porter, Mild Roastiness, Brewed in Memory of Keith Potter.”
We have made it to Summer. Or as close as we can get what with climate change making things hotter and colder and just plain weather weird. Here is what June has in store for you on the blog.
~ e-visits to (3) breweries related to June
~ special featured review of Nectar Creek Sting Ginger Mead
~Heads-Up on Los Angeles Beer Events
~ Three suggested beers to buy this month. One light, one medium and one dark
~ A Book & A Beer reads When I’m Gone, Look for Me in the East by Quan Barry
~ A Podcast & A Beer listens to Doctor Who: Redacted
~ Great Beer names and Best Beers of the Month
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world.
Here is your next recommendation for helping women during this reckoning on abuse in the craft beer world.
Acknowledge it.
Acknowledge that it has happened, is happening and will happen again. This is an ingrained problem but to many it is either invisible or not “that bad”. You don’t have to throw out innocent until proven guilty but you DO have to allow the case INTO court.
So whatever you can do to acknowledge privately and publicly needs to become second nature. If your favorite bar is considered unsafe by good friends, you would believe them, right? It shouldn’t matter if these good friends are all big burly dudes or petite women.
Once we men acknowledge the problem, we can ALL then tackle the problem. We can’t spend all our time stuck at the beginning of the process, we need to move forward.
Don’t count me a fan of two thirds of the Brooklyn Nets superteam. Durant I like though so let’s talk Brooklyn beer for him…
Below are some beers that I would like to sample at Circa Brewing Co.
Desperate Pleasures – “Get a taste of summer with this red(ish) ale with a hint of strawberries.”
Spacelab Weisse – “We straddle the European continent with this brew. Combining the grist bill of a Belgian Wit with the yeast and fermentation of a Bavarian Weiibier, this beer bursts with orange peel, banana, nastercium, and vanilla.”
In Defense of the Genre – “Believe it or not, there was a galaxy long ago where double IPA’s were bitter. Like tongue coating, face puckering, eye watering IBU levels that dared you to have another. This beer is the modern mutation of that bygone era. Aggressively triple dry hopped with Cascade, Centennial, Chinook, and Columbus, this brew bursts with pine, citrus rind, and juicy fruit flavors and aromas. Hints of toasted sugar and honey smooth out the high octane ABV.”
Two shots down and the world is opening up. Took more time to get here than I thought last year but plans for trips are already being made and they will probably include some beer. Now let’s take a trip into what is coming up on the blog.
~ e-visits to (3) breweries NBA Playoff cities.
~ special featured reviews of beers from Eureka Brewing
~Heads-Up on Los Angeles Beer Events (not as far in the future now, events)
~ Three suggested beers to buy this month. One light, one medium and one dark
~ A Book & A Beer reads Time Lord Victorious – All Flesh is Grass
~ A Podcast & A Beer listens to My Dad Wrote a Porno
~ Great Beer names and Best Beers of the Month
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world.
This month, I am picking some fruit fun beers. Maybe I will feel brave enough to visit one of SoCal’s excellent farmers markets and pick up some of the great array of fruit they sell.
Light
Modern Times Mai Tai Fruitlands – “is tart, fruity, & frighteningly delicious. The sour, salty base beer lays down a stellar foundation for heavy doses of orange, lime, & pineapple, yielding a ridiculously tasty wall-to-wall tropical fiesta. It’s a marvelous mix of elements that collides with your mouth like a fruit-filled asteroid of flavor traveling at the supersonic speed of party.” ABV 4.8%
Medium
Thorn Brewing Cherry Sour – “The Low Hanging sours are fruited American-style sour ales. They are each made with the same golden ale base, but the real fruit added during fermentation rotates every three months.” ABV 6%
Big
Ogopogo / Mason Aleworks Hodgee – “Pastry sour with pineapple, vanilla, and milk sugar.” ABV 8%