Resurgence

When a brewery closes, the beers and recipes can sometimes just fade away. Maybe to be done in new forms as brewers take their talents to other breweries.

Replicant Shell the now very well known bottle shop / foreign snacks / gas station in Pasadena is doing their part in bringing back some lost beers with their new Resurgence Series that starts with….

I think it is a great idea and I hope it is a lengthy series and I hope that we will be able to find out the mystery beers behind the resurgence as well.

More Replicants

Replicant, the super fun contract brewery from a Shell gas station in Pasadena has another new beer on the way.  But before, I show the label, do plan a visit to get the current Replicant beers.  They have cool Sci-Fi art and are fan fiction beers in the best possible sense.

Coffee IPA is a cool sub-style that, at least for me, has more hits than misses, as opposed to a Black IPA.

1st Visit – Wild Parrot Brewing

Out to East Pasadena to visit Wild Parrot Brewing Company which shares a space with Rosebud Coffee.

photo Richard Rosen

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.

Wet Hoptoberfest

Sage Vegan is L.A.’s connection to fresh / wet hops and this year they are having a hoppy event.

Here is the the info: “Wet Hop beers are made only once a year right around harvest time. It’s when you pluck the hops right off the bine and brew with them 24 hours later. It’s as fresh as you can get for beer and lends a grassy, bright flavor to the beers. This year we decided to celebrate all 8 amazing breweries around town that made wet hop beers with hops from our 18 acre regenerative organic farm in Fillmore, CA. Many of the breweries came out with staff and helped harvest the very ingredient they used the next day. In an age of everyone being so disconnected from their food and beverage this was truly a special experience for all of us involved.”

The event will at the Old Town Pasadena courtyard at One Colorado and $25 will get you a mini taster mug and unlimited pours of the beers.”

Driving to Pasadena

It looks like a brewery is on progress for Pasadena. Social media shows a bit of life to Driven Beer.

Automotive themed from the looks of it. Joining Upshift and All Season in search of car hop pubs and beer names. More to follow.

On the Arroyo

The low gas light pops up on your car’s dashboard, you turn into a gas station to fill up and decide to get a snack too, when what do your beer eyes see? An eclectic selection of craft beers.

Yes, you should follow Arroyo Shell on Instagram. And you should visit as well. Is it an exhaustive selection like the standard bearer for LA, Sunset Beer? No. It covers three cold cases total, most of which seem dedicated to Bottle Logic Brewing. Making this Pasadena spot, near the Del Mar stop of the Gold Line, a de facto second tap room for the Anaheim brewery.

If you visit, expect IPA but that is secondary to stouts, smoothie beers and even craft seltzer. And don’t come looking for a sampling of LA beer, no. You are going to find Great Notion, Brewery X, Barrier, Drekker and frankly a a different curated list than in most places.

You can buy singles, they have holders at the ready and the prices are better than fair. I bought a Great Notion stout for under $7. Cheaper than gas.

Add Arroyo Shell to your beer buying stops.

Featured Review – Curuba from Cerveceria del Pueblo

On Tibet the fourth and final CdP beer to be reviewed this month, and it is a tart fruited Ale, Curuba. This beer pour some a hazy IPA orange color. Tartness is at a really nice level. Nice zing but the fruit notes which are mostly berry, do not get overwhelmed. Balance is there. Getting strawberry, almost Starburst notes. Pretty close but this slides into a second place finish to the Gaviota coffee beer.

Cerveceria del Pueblo – Reviews

A few days ago, I showed a some photos from inside the CPB and now time to taste test the beers….

Kolsch – this is a tricky beer because it can drift closer to other styles that are close to it. I prefer it to be more akin to a blonde ale than pilsner and this beer does that. Though I do get a bit too much hefe to it. Some mineral notes to but overall I quite like it.

California Common – clocking in at 4.9% this is quite flavorful for such a low alcohol beer. Lots of malt taste mixed with a touch of sweetness. This one tastes a touch green to me and finishes a little too heavy on the mineral side.

Pilsner – if blindfolded, I would not have said pilsner. Much like the Kolsch, I am getting that hefe yeast note here. The snap and bubble that I expect is not there either. It even pours a little to dark yellow for my liking.

Wheat – perhaps a little tilted in the sour direction. Lots of wheat character here. Nice and light. Watery citrus note as well. Has a fluffy mouthfeel as well.

I would return for the Kolsch first of the four. There is some room to grow d I hope to taste some of the beers that explore the heritage of the brewer because I think some extra ingredients would bump up the ratings of these beers.

Cerveceria del Pueblo – Photos

Pasadena was set to get a new brewery in May, but now Cerveceria del Pueblo is soft opening with to-go sales of their (4) core beers including a variety pack that allows new customers a taster tray of sorts.

I drove the much quieter streets over to their location on Bellevue to pickup some beers but also to take a safe peek into their little but brightly painted space.

The next post will cover capsule reviews of the Kolsch, California Common, Pilsner and Wheat beer but you should check out this L.A. Times piece that talks about the brewery as the opener and closer to the article.