Get tropical in Hawthorne as Los Angeles Ale Works will celebrate their 7th anniversary or thereabouts with all sorts of Tiki treats and a new IPA for the occasion.
L.A. Ale Works 7th Anniversary
Leaping
Never got into the Scott Bakula show, even though I like the time travel. So let’s look past to the Leap Year part and to the hops in this Feb. 29th beer from Los Angeles Ale Works. This new West Coast Triple IPA has your Cashmere, your Azacca and Bru-1. It should put a little spring in your step if not leaps to your bounds.
Ales for ALS
One of the many great charity campaigns is the Ales for ALS. You will mainly see these beers on draft but some, like this from L.A. Ale Works…
…is canned. This year Yakima Chief has a new hop blend that features Mosaic, Simcoe, Sabro, Loral and HBC 630. Be on the look-out to support this cause.
Aquanut
The latest IPA craze is yeast based with Norway being the source. L.A. Ale Works is on v2 of their Aquanut that comes out today and this is what they say about it, “This yeast produces intense tropical and citrus fruit flavors, and mild acidity. We double dry-hopped this beer with Idaho 7 and rare Sabro hops. The beer pours bright and hazy and immediately throws off intense pineapple, coconut, grapefruit, and stone fruit aromatics. The body is full and there is a touch of citrus pith on the finish.”
You won’t miss the blue feather adorned can.
The Orange Tile
If you haven’t watched either Fyre Festival documentary or read about it then the following beer from L.A. Ale Works might not make much sense (except for the hops, of course)
I am sure that this beer will stand on its own but a little backstory never hurt. Orange Crushed Dreams will release on 2/9/19.
Raise the (Pacific Brewers) Cup
L.A. Ale Works has been upping their can design game and this new holiday / home brew competition winner shows that off in a simple but effective way. That’s not to mention that the beer inside is less noteworthy. It has been duly added to my beer shopping list.
A Podcast & A Beer – Song Exploder
There are plenty of podcasts that go on forever. The kind where you decide that you won’t start one because it is better to listen to the full hour and not in snippets. But when you find a podcast that is 10-15 minutes and is really cool, that is bliss.
Song Exploder in that short time frame has a musician, member of the band, producer talk about one song. They explain the genesis of it. You hear the separated tracks (stems) and you basically hear the entire song taken apart and then played at the end.
The host and creator is Hrishikesh Hirway and he is not front and center. I would call him more of an editor. You hear from the guests which have included Björk, U2, Metallica, Solange, Spoon, REM and even composers.
For the beer, go out east to Homage Brewing and pick up some crowlers of Sound Dust or Ride the Fader. Or you can scan your beer shoppe shelves for beers that have musical names to them. One other option is the recent L.A. Ale Works L.A. Phil Brut IPA.
#LABW10 Unity Beer(s) review
For 2018, LA Beer Week has sibling IPA’s. Here is the official BSP reviews:
Juicy IPA
Pours a pretty and barely hazy orange. This one has Mandarina over the west coast Simcoe. Has a full, fuzzy mouthfeel to it. Aroma is piney and dank to me. Little tingle on the mouth. I did not store the can upside though so maybe that is the issue. Getting a bit of mango and pineapple but not in heavy doses.
West Coast IPA
Pours a super clear and very light orange. Has a lovely floral meets citrus aroma. Honeysuckle maybe. Smooth and medium bitter. Getting orange zest notes. Very easy drinking. Hops coat the roof of the mouth.
The Verdict – Go for the yellow orange can.
Featured Review – Lunar Kitten from L.A. Ale Works
The second of two IPA releases from Los Angeles Ale Works has a kitten in a spacesuit. Not driving a Tesla though.
This IPA pours a yellowish orange color with a bright orange and melon aroma. Very soft and pleasant. Fruit forward but with a really good kick of hop bitterness that sticks around. Doesn’t taste like 7.5% at all.
In the Tap Lines for May 2018
Lots of good stuff on tap for May (now that the blog is back up and viewable). There will be weekly nods to the upcoming Firestone Walker Invitational as well as a report from Oregon where I will be heading back to the alma mater.
~ e-visits to three breweries from the New England area.
~ special featured reviews of two new cans from L.A. Ale Works
~ 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 whatever the library finds for me from my long list!
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world.
Here are two events to get your May started in the Los Angeles craft beer world:
1) May 4th – System of a Stout Release at Beachwood
2) May 13th – Mother’s Day at Boomtown Brewery