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.

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.

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.”

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.