Follow Sean Inman to the best in craft beer
As gladdened as I am that the Food Section of the L.A. Times is back, I opened the Food Bowl schedule with trepidation. Beer is not usually on the menu when it comes to this month long event. I found one beer dinner, with a Colorado brewery and a movie about tequila. Wine had a page of dedicated events and spirits were on practically every page. As they say in sports, “Wait until next year.”
Apparently hazy ain’t going away and considering that as I type this, a cloudy day is above me, might as well heed the omens and recommend some….
~LIGHT
Upland/ Juiced in Time6.5% ABV
“Juiced in Time is a New England-style IPA that’s absolutely dripping with ripe tropical fruit and bold juicy citrus flavors. Wheat and oats were added to the malt profile along with a special mineral treatment to the water to create body and smooth texture. Virtually all the hops were reserved for after the boil to minimize bitterness and amplify flavor and aroma. From the glowing orange appearance to the soft creamy mouthfeel and delicate sweetness, this beer is everything delicious about tropical fruit juice embodied in a dangerously drinkable IPA”>
~MEDIUM
Arrow Lodge/ Pinball Wizard6.7% ABV
“Hazy India Pale Ale brewed with Citra, Nelson, and Amarillo hops.”>
~BIG
Boomtown/ District Haze7.5% ABV
“Ultra-fresh and and packed with notes of pine, citrus, and stonefruit.”>
All of these beers can be found at Sunset Beer Co. (unless they got bought up real quick)
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
This month we focus on sours from established breweries. Sometimes chasing new leads us to forget the classics. Well, and one new beer but from a classic brewery.
~LIGHT
Firestone Walker Barrelworks/ Bretta Rose5.3% ABV
“Thirty miles north of Barrelworks lies the fertile Santa Maria Valley. Its warm days and cool marine layer-fed evenings allow for a cornucopia of fruits and vegetables to be grown in its rich soil. One of Santa Maria’s crown jewels is locally grown raspberries. We jumped at the opportunity to ferment fresh local raspberries with one of our Barrelworks creations. Behold Bretta Rosé! A low-alcohol Berliner Weisse style ale, acidified and matured in French oak puncheons for 6 months, is the foundation for this gem. Add 1000 lbs. of fresh raspberries, allow a secondary wild fermentation for 4 more months and voila (!), we have a crisp effervescent concoction, bursting with raspberry perfume and flavor, a rosé color, bracing acidity, and a clean and refreshing finish.”
~MEDIUM
Ommegang/ Pale Sour6.9% ABV
“Pale Sour is an elegant, drinkable sour beer, unique in that it’s not wood-aged. It has a well-balanced blend of sweet and sour. Liefmans is such a historic, iconic brewery and having the opportunity to work with them has been an honor and very enjoyable. Pale Sour begins with a mixed culture fermentation in open copper vats. Aged over several months in stainless tanks, master blenders blend new batches with older ones until the optimal balance of flavors is reached.”
~DARK
New Belgium/ La Folie7.0% ABV
“La Folie, French for “the folly,” is a beer steeped in New Belgium brewing tradition. This wood-aged, sour brown spends one to three years in big, oak barrels, known as foeders. And when the beer finally hits the glass, La Folie is sharp and sour, full of green apple, cherry, and plum-skin notes. Pouring a deep mahogany, the mouthfeel will get you puckering while the smooth finish will get you smiling. Not a beer for the timid, La Folie is a sour delight that will turn your tongue on its head. Find out why it’s considered one of the best sour beers around. “
All of these beers can be found at Sunset Beer Co. (unless they got bought up real quick)
Maibock time is upon us. Wait, no IPA’s are still the shining light that most drinkers seek. This May BSP will be covering the following while having a Saison. Saison’s are still cool, right?
~ e-visits to three breweries from Washington DC, since I saw so much posted during CBS this year. Stops at Right Proper, Hellbender and Atlas.
~ special featured reviews of a grab bag of local beers.
~ 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 Lincoln in the Bardo
~ 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 3rd – Boomtown Brewing Tap Take-Over at Stout-Hollywood
2) May 5th – Flan de Leche Release at Pacific Plate Brewing
Let’s head to the farmer’s market for this month’s suggestions and pick up some fruit beers raspberries, strawberries and pears make appearances this month.
~LIGHT
Avery/ Raspberry Sour 6.5% ABV
“Luscious ripe red raspberries are elegantly intertwined with a bountiful amount of lactic acidity and delicate barrel nuances to cultivate this stunning sour ale.”
~MEDIUM
Almanac/ Farmer’s Reserve Strawberry 7.0% ABV
“A celebration of the summer harvest, this blond sour ale is loaded with coastal Seascape Strawberries grown at Dirty Girl Farms in California’s Santa Cruz Mountains. These delicious juicy berries are swept by cool evening ocean breezes and drenched in warm daytime sun before being hand-picked and added to this tart and refreshing ale.n”
~DARK
New Belgium/ Pear Ginger Ale 7.0% ABV
“Our latest Lips of Faith release updates the Victorian-era ginger beer with whimsical additions of pear and lemon peel, creating a zesty, invigorating summer sipper crafted for beer glasses and mixologists’ cocktail shakers alike. Warming, spicy ginger punctuates a lively wash of sunny lemon, pear and bready white wheat for a sip that starts sweet, but finishes with just the right amount of heat. Drink it straight, no chaser, or put a new spin on a classic gimlet.”
Festival season in full bloom. There are no practically beer festivals every weekend once the calendar turns to May. Personally, I prefer the smaller, niche festivals that circle around a theme, like Session Beers (check below) but if you are in L.A. there are lots of beer fest opportunities so get out there and a get a wristband and a taster glass….
~ e-visits to three breweries along in Florida such as Pensacola Bay, Props Brewing and Idyll Hounds
~ video reviews of two beers from the Sierra Nevada Hopped Up Variety pack. But which ones?
~ two more beers will come up from the BSP cellar to be reviewed. This month Deschutes Brewery is in the spotlight
~ Heads-Up on Los Angeles Beer Events
~ Three suggested beers to buy this month. One light, one medium and one dark
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world
~ … and Session # 87 will converge bloggers onto a single topic, this month Local Brewery History is the topic
Here are two events to get your May started in the Los Angeles craft beer world:
1) May 10th – Eagle Rock Brewery’s 4th Annual Session Fest starting at Noon
2) May 17th – Bite at the Beach craft beer and food pairings in Manhattan Beach
~ e-visits to three breweries that other beer bloggers think you should know
~ video reviews of three beers from Pyramid Brewery
~ Three suggested beers to buy this month
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my opinion on the craft beer world
~ … and Session # 63 will converge bloggers onto a single topic
~ plus many more posts about new beers, beer products and breweries
Here are two events to get your May started in the Los Angeles craft beer world:
1) May 16 – Bruery Night at Beer Belly benefiting Share Our Strength
2) May 18 – Eagle Rock Session Fest
This month we travel from Pennsylvania to Colorado to Utah while covering three distinct styles of craft beer for my suggested beers to sample…..
Click May 2011 suggestions then click one more time (cause I want you to be sure that you want it) to get a one page print out to take to your good beer shop!