Follow Sean Inman to the best in craft beer
A cryptic Facebook post from Chris Walowski, formerly of a bumblebee costume at Smog City hinted at a late 2016 opening for a brewery in Burbank.
Verdugo West doesn’t pop-up in Google searches yet but as the opening draws closer, that will probably change and we will learn more about this latest addition to the brewing scene.
I have driven over the Ross Island Bridge many a time in my day and now there is a brewery at the end. Ross Island Brewing on SE Powell is the home of former Alameda Brewing brewmaster Carston Haney and his Ross Island Brewing.
Delays have pushed the opening back to late 2016 for the small on-site taproom. The beer line-up is not specified yet. But it will start off small and tap only.
Those in South Minneapolis will get to look through a wall-sized window and either watch the paint dry or look at the foudres where mixed-fermentation magic will be going on inside the wood. Wild Mind Artisan Ales beers will be aged for anywhere from six to 12 months.
Brewer/Founder Matt Waddell has plans to dedicate most of his 16 draft lines to the wild and farmhouse-style ales. Amping up the sour and brett as time passes and customers acclimate to the beer.
Since they literally opened a day or so ago, those fancy beers like barrel-fermented saisons won’t be at the tap room now but you will be able to try their Table Beer, Hoppy French Saison, Hoppy Rye Wild Ale among others.
All thanks to the foudres and Waddell’s “Carefully chaotic” style.
Looks like Santa Barbara has added a new brewery to the mix with the cool name of Third Window Brewing and if a recent taproom list is any indication…..
l’Eveaire #1.0 Berliner Weisse co-fermented with Winter Raspberries.
Batch 002 #1.0 Light Lager
III #1.0 Belgian Blond
Saison #1.0 Farmhouse Ale
Walkabout #1.0 Stout with Foraged Oranges, 24 Blackbirds Cocoa Nibs and Madagascar Vanilla Bean
…they aren’t afraid to try multiple styles. Plus, if the website photos are to be believed, it has a rustic sort of wine tasting room charm that is much different from the usual industrial chic of many brewery taprooms.
When/if, I visit, I will duly report back on the quality of the beer itself.
The speed of craft beer growth leaves me behind the curve many a time. At first, I thought I was not paying enough attention but now I know that is not the case. I could spend hours combing the interwebs instead of watching Flash and Arrow and still miss events, beer releases or even the opening of a new brewery.
Which is where we come to the point of this post, catching up with a new brewery in the mecca that is Torrance. Scholb’s Premium Ales. I have sent interview questions out to the wife-husband x two group that will appear in Food GPS later this month.
So this is more of an announcement that their taproom is open with beers such as….
Columbia Street Pale – Honey Rye Pale Ale
Not Lyin’ Rye – Rye IPA
Bat Ray Red – Red IPA (RIPA)
Dark Void – Imperial Stout
Endless Kisses – Rye Saison
…on tap.
If you have visited their brewery and/or tasted their beers, let me know what you think. I have put them on the “visit” list and will report back what I find.
In what seems like eons ago, I along with other members of the media, toured the empty warehouse space that would be the home of Brouwerij West in San Pedro.
It is a really huge spot with endless possibilities but news out of the brewery was scarce. But now it appears that it will arrive this month on the 27th! With a tentative beer list: “new versions of our classic beers like Saison, Tripel, Mør Mør (quad), My First Rodeo (100% Brettanomyces saison) and Dog Ate My Homework (blackberry saison), we’ll be introducing a handful of new beers, like a hoppy bitter blond; a traditional Wit with sour oranges.”
Check out what Farley Elliot has to say about the upcoming opening right HERE.
So Tweet Master Tony dropped this on the social media…..
If I had been told that Lagunitas was coming to L.A., I would not have been shocked at all. Chicago is up and going and that means that sights could be turned to another location for the fast growing Petaluma based brewer.
But Azusa was a shock. If they were going valley, I would have liked them to come to Glendale instead of the umpteenth bleeping condo project.
Questions abound. What will this mean to the L.A. Beer scene? Do they join the L.A. County Brewer’s Guild? What kind of taproom are they envisioning? How will they co-exist with the Congregation’s, Alosta’s and Sanctum’s that have already set up shop?
Answers to come in 2017, I guess.
I did a profile of three on-the-way L.A. breweries for the latest Beer Paper LA that didn’t reference Hand Brewed, Arts District Brewing or Iron Triangle which are also in stages of development. At least, I knew about the existence of them though.
It was in a Brewyard Brewing newsletter that I learned of yet another brewery in progress, Indie Brewing.
So, head to their website and sign-up for their newsletter so you can be reminded automatically when these 4 entrepreneurs have their casual taproom spot ready for us LA craft beer fans.
Slowly but surely, I have been visiting the new breweries of SoCal. And now it is Absolution Brewing in the spotlight.
As per craft usual the brewery sits in a big warehous-y space. Nice wooden bar with a dark wood on top and the base made out of barrel staves. Big chalkboard cpvered walkin with large wooden tap handles but only four of the beers on tap when I visited. Lots of kegs sit in a row like soliders. Since their soft opening in the first weekend of March they have had big crowds which makes the pew sitting seem like a bad choice. It forces you to stand at the bar with your taster tray. And that is what I ordered….
Sinner Stout – Which is light with a good roast taste. Their porter has more ABV to it. Could use a little more backbone.
Possessed porter – a little on the root beer-ish tip to me. Too light to me. They use it as a base for other experiments but still needs more oomph.
Fallen Angel – This was a citrusy soapy creamsicle of a beer. Not much hop bite to it. More XPA than IPA to my palate
Cardinal Sin – Another so so offering. Not much to it. Not bad. But nothing jumps out at me.
I will have to visit when more of the line are unveiled to see if the others are better representations of the brewer and also to see how they grow. They are currently behind the other Torrance breweries and I would suggest them before Absolution. (for now)
Three Weavers Brewing Company has been busy and will be getting busier as it prepares to open sometime this year.
They (Lynne and Alexandra) have participated in three collaborations: “Two with Golden Road Brewing, one exclusively for the United Kingdom in a series that brings the best craft beers from America and the second, a Stateside version called Cross the Pond. The third collaboration (The Messenger) was with Noble Ale Works to celebrate their anniversary earlier this month.”
And on March 6th (That’s TODAY!), Three Weavers’ Kickstarter campaign launches.
If you haven’t tried their collaborations yet, they will be at the Glendale Tap on March 6th and tentatively at Cinco (Playa del Rey) March 7th to celebrate kicking off the Campaign.
PS – I am now waiting to try the beers and will report back in a PSS.
PSS – I tried both and I really dug the Messenger. Had a nice bitterness backed by what I can only describe as lemonade notes. The Cross the Pond tastes very much part of the Golden Road family but is a welcome addition to the Session IPA trend, if you can find either, I suggest you try it.
