Saturday comes and I am trundling down to Long Beach from Glendale for the third time for the festival that ends the California Craft Beer Summit…
First, the line of tents for this festival was an impressive sight. It just kept going off into the distance. So, yes, there was a lot of California beer being poured
Let’s dive into my best and worst of the small percentage of beers that I could safely sample:
My Best in Show
1. Temescal Brewing Belgo Belgian Pale Ale
2. Cellarmaker Wild Gooseberry Chase IPA
3. Original Pattern Scotch Ale
The Belgo was so good, that I almost wanted to camp at the Temescal booth and have all three of their beers (I did have the Pils which was quite good). It had a big Belgian yeast character married to a Pale and touch hoppy ale. Cellarmaker had a trio of IPA’s in cans. I tried two and again almost went back for number three. Gooseberry was a crushing hit of Nelson Sauvin hops. Lastly, Original Pattern brought a freshly kegged Scotch Ale that was lovely and balanced.
The M’eh List
1. Karl Strauss / Russian River New California IPA
2. Flatland Brewing Middle of Somewhere Else Sour
When you pair anyone with Russian River, the beer should be great. This IPA would have been boring for a British IPA. No hop presence at all. The dry hopped meets apricot sour from Flatland was just butter and apricot. Pastry sour?