High Societe


It is hard to single out one brewery in San Diego but whenever my next trip takes me south from L.A., Societe Brewing will be at the top of the list to visit. One reason could be to try their take on “Feral” ales and to check out some of the newer beers that they have produced like….

The Fiddler San Diego-style IPA – “Playing off lyrics from Alabama’s “If You’re Gonna Play in Texas”, brewmaster Travis Smith says, “If you’re gonna brew in San Diego, you gotta have an IPA!” Societe is highly regarded for its lengthy lineage of IPAs, and its latest harnesses the attributes of a trio of hops—Simcoe, Eureka and Idaho 7—to bring something newBeer Styles and unique to its Out West family of hop-driven beers. Those hops were selected through Societe’s single-hop IPA program.”

The Statesman Pale Ale – “Crafted to bring forth a distinctly West Coast hop profile balanced by substantial yet subtle malt character, this beer is a modern interpretation of an American pale ale and Societe’s first foray into this venerable beer style.”

The Bachelor with Cashmere hops Single-Hop IPA – “The latest in Societe’s rotating line of IPAs exploring the world’s hop varietals, this beer exclusively utilizes Cashmere hops, a recently developed, en vogue cross between the Cascade and Northern Brewer cultivars.”

The Damsel Belgian-style Table Beer – “This New World take on the lowest-alcohol variety of monastic, European “abbey ales” is crafted to be highly drinkable and light in body, but big on floral and spice character imparted by our house Belgian yeast strain.”

The Thief Feral Beer with Locally Grown Grenache Blanc – “Grenache Blanc grapes harvested from North San Diego County’s Vesper Vineyards lend a brilliant vinous essence to this effervescent, layered and award-winning specialty ale, which is available in bottles for the first time.”

The first four on the list are draft only while The Thief is also on-sale in corked, caged, 500-millileter bottles (available only at the brewery).

New from Brouwerij West

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If you haven’t made your way to the Navy Warehouse that is the cool new home of Brouwerij West, well, here are three more reasons that this weekend (or the next) might be opportune times…

…they have added three new beers including an IPA for those insatiable hop monsters.

Spoonful: “A Belgian farmer’s table beer (or, if you prefer, a Belgian single or Patersbier or Enkel – it goes by many names in Belgium), this beer is earthy, fruity, rustic and has been aged 4 months in stainless.

Grapefruit Radler: We first made this beer two weeks ago and it sold out quickly… but we just got another 600 pounds of grapefruits so it will be back again this Friday. We took a blonde base beer and added a whole lot of fresh-squeezed grapefruits from a farmer friend of ours.

Pinkerton: Yes, it’s an IPA! We were being asked almost everyday in the tasting room to please make an IPA. We had never intended to make one but we thought it would be a fun project. So our goal with this IPA was to incorporate the malts and yeasts we use currently into a Brouwerij West IPA. It sure was fun to make. Pinkerton is brewed with a blend of Dingemans Pale Malt, Bohemian Floor-Malted Barley and oats. Entirely late-hopped in the kettle and then dry-hopped with over 3 lbs per barrel of Wakatu, Dr. Rudi, Cascade and Denali hops. We combined an English ale yeast with our house Brett for primary fermentation. Super fruity and hoppy aroma with soft bitterness and a dry pallet. Hazy gold in color with a soft creamy mouthfeel.

More Gigantic!

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Count me as a big fan of Gigantic. I have had the opportunity to visit their tap room and try quite a few of their beers considering I am in Los Angeles and they are in Portland.

End of Reason is according to the website, a “Deep and malty Belgian-style petit quad.” where the second beer is being called a “transporting porter.” Both have the crazy and off kilter comic book-eqsue artwork that graces their labels.
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