Follow Sean Inman to the best in craft beer
As much as I try to promote the L.A. Beer Community, there is also a greater California community to also to talk about.
With that in mind, I visited the soon to open Valiant Brewing and Noble Ale Works in Anaheim and you can read about it tomorrow over on FoodGPS.
For now, these photos will have to do….
The taps and beer menu at Valiant
The Valiant brewing system
The initial tasting flight!
A Noble tower!
The taster tray!
The new look of Noble labels.
For Christmas, I received the luxurious gift of membership in The Bruery Reserve Society. I feel like a humblebragger just mentioning it.
Driven by beer buddy Richard down to the excellent provisions store in Old Town Orange, I entered to receive my “initiation package”
Not only did I get a membership card but I also got a hoodie with the 2012 Reserve Society logo and three beers!
Two of which went directly to my cellar which will be 60% Bruery related for the near future and then we headed up to the tap room to try (4) different versions of Saison de Lente. 2010. 2011. 0% Brett and 100% Brett. I don’t know if I should have started with 0% first and moved from there but starting at 2010 gave me the impression at 2011 was the best of the bunch. Still sparkly with the barnyardy-ness mellowed a skosh. It hit my palate the best.
Stay tuned for more visits. Next time, I pick up some new beers including a collaboration with Bootlegger’s.
Tours of beers in L.A.? Who would have thunk that years ago? But now you can hop on a bus (after reserving and paying of course – gas ain’t free) and let LA Craft Beer Tours drive on.
They have three separate tours. The LA, the LA to Orange County and the LA to San Diego. Might be a good Christmas gift for the beer lover in your life.
Looks like Orange County has another brewery. Welcome to the Anaheim Brewery!
Headquartered in the Anaheim Historic District, the version 2.0 of the brewery takes over 90 years later! from the first Anaheim Brewing that was shuttered by prohibition.
They are serving up four beers in their tasting room. A gold, a red, a hefeweizen and the “Anaheim 1888 is based on a style of beer brewed at the original Anaheim Brewery and has a flavor that is popular with today’s beer drinker. Copper-colored, full-flavored and well-hopped, Anaheim 1888 is our flagship beer.”
And this review from the Anaheim Gazette all the way back in 1890 on the original version of what is today 1888 gave me a chuckle, it “appears to be fully equal if not superior to the celebrated Anheuser beer of St. Louis.”
Thanks to the Full Pint for first spotting this new brewery.
We are now a quarter way through the 12 Days of Bruery Christmas with Three French Hens
If you have any spare bottles of A Partridge in a Pear Tree or Two Turtle Doves, then you can have a nice Holiday ale tasting by getting the third in the series from the Bruery.
“The third verse of our ‘Twelve Beers of Christmas’ saga incorporates vinous and oaky notes into a bold and spicy dark ale. 10% ABV.” This years Holiday ale is 75% Belgian-style Dark Ale and 25% ale aged in French Oak barrels.
Today (for no particular reason) is beer shop day. Since my dream job would be running a small craft beer store, I love highlighting places that sell a great assortment of beer.
First up is Hi-Time in Orange County, California.
Be sure to enter in the beer area or you might get lost amongst the wine and spirits. They have a large selection of nicely chilled craft brews. Nice amount of Sierra Nevada, foreign beers and even more than just the Just Outstanding IPA from Kern River!
250 Ogle Street
Costa Mesa, CA 92627-3808
(949) 650-8463
Thanks to the generosity of Josh at FoodGPS, I had the pleasure of trying one of the newer beers from The Bruery, Mischief. Here is my review…
July 29: Beer dinner at Rock Bottom brewpub – Long Beach, 6:00 p.m. rockbottom.com.
Aug. 8: Open house at Skyscraper Brewing, El Monte – 12:00-6:00 p.m. skyscraperbrewing.com
Aug. 19: Beer Showcase Dinner with Boston Beer Company – Tony P’s, Marina del Rey, 7:00 p.m. (different brewery each third Wednesday) tonyps.com.
Aug. 25-31: Sour Beer Festival, Beachwood BBQ – Seal Beach. beachwoodbbq.com
Aug. 30: OC Beer Festival – Irvine Lake, 2:00-5:00 p.m. drinkeatplay.com/ocbeerfest.
Sep. 19: Septemberfest – Paramount Studios, Hollywood, 2:00-5:00 p.m. drinkeatplay.com/septemberfest.
Oct. 17-25: L.A. Beer Week – various locations. labeerweek.com.
The label is a little too Easter trippy but this is a nice light Belgian ale with a taste of lavender. This is my favorite from The Bruery. It is a notch above the usual Belgian. This and Urthel’s Hop-It have been the best of the year for me so far.