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Looks like another new L.A. based beer is out. Grown Folks’, Front Porch, an American Light Lager at a sessionable 4.5% ABV. Grown Folks has three hard seltzers as well – Peach Cobbler, Ambrosia, and Key Lime.
Grown Folks was founded by Danica Dias in 2021 and takes inspiration from her grandma and her Creole background. The lager will be available in Los Angeles and a few other cities.
For 12 years, the Beachwood Brewing hub was in Long Beach on promenade. Now they are taking leave of that location and re-allocating, as it were over their other spots across South L.A. and Orange County.
From their recent social media posting, “This sale will allow us to move our specialty beer production to our Huntington Beach facility – so all the variety you’ve come to enjoy from Beachwood isn’t going away. With a growing footprint in Long Beach and Orange County, a newly launched distillery with artisanal spirits, and expanded beer production, we are committed to the same ethos we started with 12 years ago ”
Don’t fret though. Former Beachwood and Riip brewer – Ian McCall will bring his eponymous brewery (ISM) and his medals to the space which is quite exciting. A real win-win.
Beachwood – Long Beach’s last week will be October 23-October 29.
Brown Soul Brewing in the South Gate area has cleared the ABC hurdle, so the brewery in progress is now moving toward an opening date. Updates to follow.
Two Oregon titans are combining on a new project that will land in my college town of McMinnville.
Lisa Allen, head brewer at Heater Allen known for fantastic pilsners, and Kevin Davey, who as brewmaster at Wayfinder— led the Cold IPA trend are combining forces.
The Heater Allen brewery in McMinnville, Oregon, will also launch a new venture and line of beers at the facility to be called Gold Dot.
If you are looking for the next hot beer style, it may be born at this new brewery partnership. And Gold Dot is now on the Oregon list the next time I visit.
Stillwater Artisanal Ales has migrated west to Washington State and has teamed with a surprising partner on the way.
Read the full story HERE (which also includes a deeper dive link)
Maybe this means more and fresher Stillwater beer here in SoCal.
Out to East Pasadena to visit Wild Parrot Brewing Company which shares a space with Rosebud Coffee.
The space is adorned with parrots making it a flying twin to Green Cheek Brewing. The brewery just recently opened and has six beers on too plus a SoCal ubiquitous Michelada.
All the beers were solid. No, WTF moments here. Usually new breweries and IPAs don’t mix well but their Pandemonium West Coast IPA was good.
On the other side of the ledger was the Porch Chill Amber which did not build on the momentum from the first two lagers. Was kinda flat and uninteresting to me.
The sour could have been more tart but had a nice lime flavor. The Coffee Stout was more a Coffee Porter but had a good coffee note to it.
The best in show was the Doug Heavy. Light enough for hot weather but Big enough for cloudy skies too.
I tooled down the 5 on a recent Sunday to check out the new Everywhere Beer Co. To get there, I passed by Angel Stadium as well as the Orange County location of Golden Road and a Karl Strauss.
Everywhere is the project of a breakaway group from The Bruery much in the way that Radiant Beer Co. is. And both are happy and colorful places for a beer. Lot’s of colorful painted figures on the wall. A happy little wobbly circle mascot. Actual booths to nestle into inside, outdoor seating as well. Spanish tile creating a warming counterpoint. Views of the brewhouse from most angles.
First beer was Delicious Moments an Italian Pilsner. My half pour came in a cool cylindrical glass that emphasized the dark yellow color. Sharp malty and mineral taste. Not bubbly but not viscous either.
Next up was Gladness, a West Coast IPA is nice a bright. A burst of hoppiness here that is different from the crowded IPA field. I get melon and grape notes. As it warmed the fruit pulled back a bit and the West Coast-iness came out.
The finishing beer was Magnificent Everything a DDH DIPA. Super pillowy soft and fruity. Getting a strawberry note here. Tastes way less big than the Gladness. Getting a wheat note here as well.
The selection on offer was five beers, two sours and two seltzers. A little more style variety will probably come as the production grows. They also have beer to-go as well to round out your choices.
L.A. has another cerveceria to look for on bottle shop shelves. Los Barbones has highlighted three cans from brown to lager to hazy that you can check out the specs on HERE.
I checked their beer finder and The Heights Deli is on their distribution list, so I hope to find their stuff there and review on a future post.
Cool TV show callback from Smog City Brewing with Krieks & Geeks.
Here is the description of this Cellar Series beer, “This oak-aged saison is all about fruit! Deliciously crisp, dry, and tart is the name of the game in this 5.6% beauty. Our little nod to fruity lambic beers from Belgium, we incorporated heaps of Balaton and Montmorency cherries to sweeten up and balance out the saison funk.”
Built in 1903, the Masonic Temple on Pine Avenue in Long Beach will (fingers crossed) become Altar Society Brewing later this year. Brewery in the basement. Coffee shop and restaurant at street level and then more space in the floors above. More news when opening is closer. This project has been in the works since 2020 and was obviously slowed down even more than the usual for a brewery.
