Long time readers of this blog know that I Iike to trumpet the lesser seen beer styles and I have another one for you, Biere de Garde.
A Sense of Urgency comes to us from Liberation Brewing in Long Beach.
Urgent
LB Locals Only
Consider my head turned. This is a lovely list of breweries for those like me who are looking into attending a beer festival again. Plus it has an added benefit of having teo breweries listed that I have not had beer from.
Click HERE for further details.
Trademark + Scoopie
L.A. breweries like to collab with ice cream. I put that down to the Beer Float competitions that Food GPS would do back in the day.
Now Trademark Brewing has teamed with another Long Beach business, Scoopie’s Ice Cream on a Burnt Caramel beer, Pint Party. Have a pint of both, I say.
1st Visit – Hi-Lo Long Beach
Count me as a fan of the OG Hi-Lo in Culver City and now I can tick from my to-do list visiting their second location.
Right on Ocean Boulevard in Long Beach is a bright airy spot with more room for the well curated treats that Hi-Lo specializes in from fancy Iberico ham potato chips to the excellent Tony’s chocolate. But what they excel at is fine spirits and craft beer.
Now the only complaint I have is that single cans are not in high abundance. This is a buy a four pack place. If you are good with that, then you will find an eclectic selection. Weldwerks, ForeLand, Cellador and Bottle Logic are there. Sours to pastry stouts. And a nice little watch the foot traffic outside bar area that I would re-visit.
You should certainly add them to your beer shoppe list.
Trust Your ???
Looks like the Belmont neighborhood of Long Beach is pretty darn close to having a new brewery open. Trusted Gut goes for three beverages too. Not only beer but kombucha and hard seltzer as well.
TM Beans
The alcohol and coffee worlds are forever mixing. As I am typing this, I am drinking wine barrel-aged coffee. Modern Times has a whole product line. Now Trademark Brewing in Long Beach has beans. Four roasts are currently on offer.
10 HOUR – “Inspired by the beans in our gloriously-decadent 10 Hour Coffee-Chocolate Stout, this signature blend features notes of dark chocolate, cashew and blackberry.”
ETHIOPIA MARU – “Single Origin featuring blueberry, grape and jasmine notes.”
COLOMBIA TIMANÁ – “Single Origin with suggestions of honey, almond and grapefruit.”
GUATEMALA CUBULCO – “Single Origin with flavors of milk chocolate, hazelnut and mandarin.”
Brewmance
Trademark Crowlers
Took a Saturday trip to buy some Long Beach beers from Trademark Brewing and here is what I got….
Origins has that signature haze to it though it is a bit milky orange. Very grassy, woodsy character. Soft but not very hazy soft. Almost has a white wine nose to it. Getting some pear notes. A weird bit of cattiness too.
Next up is Hat Trick, a Belgian Tripel, a big over 9% beer. I like this beer but it does seem to be a Belgian that is holding back the full effect. It is missing a little spice. The phenols are quite muted. The alcohol sneaks up on you. The cheeks start getting warm. I just wish it had a little extra zip to it. Maybe an herb or some spice to add an extra dimension.
2LB
Beachwood Brewing has recently released a new pilsner, To Long Beach with Love. It is a “Dry Hopped Pilsner w/ citrus and herbal terpenes”.
Per the brewery, the beer is done “In support of the conversations, changes, and actions needed to combat social injustices, we will be donating 100% of the proceeds from “To Long Beach with Love” to the California Conference for Equality and Justice.”
1st Visit – Ficklewood Cider
I decided to chaffeur my wife into her job on a recent Saturday and used the time to hit a couple spots in Long Beach. One was Beachwood Blendery and the other is the new (a couple months old) Ficklewood Ciderworks. I will write more in depth about it for Food GPS next month but suffice it to say that they had two hopped ciders that actually were both hoppy and apple-y at the same time. So, I recommend heading out there. Bonus points is that it is next to a Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles.
