Ohana Brewing will soon be releasing one of their biggest beers to date when their barrel-aged Imperial Stout, To Play Us Out hits store shelves. Releasing a 12.4% ABV stout now is probably the right play as we actually/hopefully fall into autumn.
The Fruit IPA Killer?
I have my pet beer peeves. Pumpkin beers before October is a big bugaboo for me but this year, the sudden emergence of fruit IPAs had left me, at the least, underwhelmed. There are exceptions but even those pale against the originals they are riffing off of.
Then on a non-surprisingly hot August day, I decide to return to Ohana to see what is up in their satellite tasting room. Sadly, the City of Alhambra inexplicably STILL won’t let them do anything past tasters and growlers to go. Insert snarky response about government and its lack of craft beer understanding here.
What I found were two Sencha tea based IPAs that were wildly aromatic. Tropical and tannic and fruity and grassy. All without any damn fruit. While most IPAs struggle to differentiate themselves, these two, a Honeydew Sencha and Lychee Sencha did with maximum effect while still holding onto the IPA base. The Honeydew tasted of ripe melon and tea tannin while the Lychee tasted and smelled like a hop pellet to me.
A) Get to Ohana and taste these two beers
B) Expect Fruit IPAs to be eclipsed. Maybe not by Sencha but by tea or other additions.
The Tap Room is Open….
…and Ohana Brewing has taps flowing.
With a caveat. You can only order tasters and you are limited to four of them. Even though they have six taps. Which puts smart decision making at a premium.
I had three tasters to test drive their system and they are ready for action. Again with a caveat, the bar space and the space on general is limited. It doesn’t take many people to fill up the space and the space to set your beer down.
As of now, it is geared more to filling your growler and going and it is less a social meeting place. And speaking of, they have plain growlers. Unlabeled 32oz and 64 sizes. Which should be fillable at other participating breweries.
In the future, once they have proven themselves to the city, you might find larger pours and even music (which is now verboten). It will be interesting to see what happens if/when that changes because the space may prevent long stays more than a city limit can.
Oh and the beer was it’s usual strong self. The coffee Black IPA was a nice jolt of caffeine and the Hollenbeck Amber is a smooth and easy ale to sip on. My favorite? The Saison Miel aka the honey saison. Strong and not overly sweet but you get the honey taste for sure.
A Peek at the future Ohana taproom
Tucked away right smack dab against 38 Degrees in Alhambra used to be a Gas Company payment office. Now a much better use for the small space has been found. As a retail outlet for Ohana Brewing.
Due to Ohana’s mandate of not repeating beers (a rule that is bent on occasion) and their small size it can be a touch more difficult to find a representative sample barring a tap take-over event. But now you will be able to get (for now) four ounce pours of multiple Ohana beers at once. Growler fills and merchandise will also be available.
You might even see a combo like this…..
Wee Smokey, Saison Noir and Pacific Blonde.
LA Beer Bloggers + 2014
The L.A. Beer Bloggers are hitting the ground running in 2014 with an event featuring a triumvirate of sources. From the web, will be The Full Pint, from the bar is 38 Degrees and from the brewery is Ohana. BE THERE…..to get three different perspectives on the world of craft beer here in Los Angeles
Ohana in Alhambra
Thank you Ohana Brewing for not putting a tasting room in an industrial park!
Instead, Ohana will be right next door to another great SoCal craft beer venue, 38 Degrees! Now before you go asking if that is kosher. Ohana and 38 talked before the For Rent sign went down in Alhambra. Plus as an added bonus, you might just find some L.A. Aleworks beers here as well!
Now we wait for it to open!
Ohana Pint Night
City Tavern in Culver City has a great line-up of beer nights and Thursday’s Ohana Brewing night was epic.
You see correctly, that is 9 big tasters of the full Ohana range (minus the sours, which I will talk about later). It looks even prettier with the glasses full.
Of this group, my top three would be the Accomplice Belgian Style Golden which had a really soft edge to it and a lovely vanilla spice note at the end, followed by the Grateful Hophead which had a wonderful aroma and nice kick of bitterness and then in third place the Noir with Coffee. Third because the coffee taste was fabulous but ran roughshod over the IPA part of the bill.
It is good to see that the Ohana taphandles are getting space. They are distinctive. You can’t miss that tiki vibe but also it means that all the hard work that Andrew and Chris have put in is paying off with great beer.
I also got to sample three of their sour beers. Blueberry, wine grape and cherry. The wine grape offering was the least sour and the one with more toasted grain notes and I really liked it but the cherry had a tart hit to it plus had the aroma of a cherry pie out of the oven.
Thanks to Ohana and City Tavern for a grand introduction to Ohana’s full set of beers.
Editor’s note : the two better photos are from Rich Rosen
City Tavern Pint Nights
Tonight starts the first of an impressive roster of pint nights being held at City Tavern in Culver City. Kicking it off with Noble Ale Works is a strong start but I am marking the calendar for the Ohana Brewing night. And if past beer dinners are any indication, the Monkish Beer Dinner should be amazing.
If you haven’t had a pint at City Tavern, any of these nights would be a great way to introduce yourself.
Thanks
I will be posting any and all Ohana news that I can because it is a “fresh face in beer”. So here is another beer from L.A. for you to be on the lookout for. This one might be made with Bill Walton in mind.
FoodGPS Teaser – Ohana interview & more
Ohana Brewing is featured tomorrow in my weekly column over on FoodGPS. I e-mailed some questions over to the crew that are working hard to get some Ohana beer into our pint glasses. Some of which you can see on their blog post HERE.
You will also see a lemony beer of the week from a certain brewery in Escondido and your homework will involve logging into the interwebs and reading about what Girls Who Like Beer
andThe Beerista
have to say about craft beer.