Tag: Sean suggests

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Sean Suggests for August 2015

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We leave the state of California behind in this month’s shopping list as we hit up three very different styles and ABVS.

~LIGHT
Boulevard Brewing/ Pop-Up Session IPA 4.30% ABV
“Boulevard Pop-Up Session I.P.A. joins its big brothers Single-Wide and Double-Wide in our trailer park of hop-centric beers. This “session” model is built for frequent excursions, with a very drinkable character and relatively low bitterness tucked behind a big, fruity hop aroma”

~MEDIUM
Left Hand Brewing/ Oktoberfest 6.60% ABV
“This is no festivus for the restuvus – on the contrary – we start brewing in the Spring and it takes a full two months to reach lagered perfection. Biscuity, malty goodness dominates upfront while the noble pedigree hops lend a properly spicy, dry finis”

~DARK
Sound Brewery/ Tripel Entendre 9.90% ABV
“Complexity and balance from a simple recipe of the finest ingredients obtainable. Clear and light in color, this strong Belgian ale drinks smooth and easy but has the complexity to complement the finest meals or to savor alone at the end of the evening.”

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Sean Suggests for April 2015

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The theme this month is numerology. You have the 5th Game of Thrones beer with a menacing raven, the third addition to the Zymaster Series and the 2015 edition of some funkiness. A relatively heavy group of high ABV beers.

~LIGHT
Brewery Ommegang / Three-Eyed Raven7.2% ABV
” Three-Eyed Raven harbors a deep dark brown, almost jet-black color with a light tan head. Yeast forward aromas are packed with peppery phenolics and fruity esters. Despite what you might expect from a dark hued beer, the flavor brings to mind a traditional saison: a light, malty body with a hint of sweetness, and roast accentuated by herbal and spicy hops, yet underpinned by pleasant yeastiness. Finish is crisp, with lingering notes of herbal hops and Belgian yeast.”

~MEDIUM
Anchor Brewing / Flying Cloud 7.4% ABV
” Anchor brewmaster Mark Carpenter’s recipe for our export stout (7.4% ABV) is more Dublin-style than London-style, which helps distinguish this black-as-night brew from our Anchor Porter (5.6% ABV). Our grain bill for Flying Cloud San Francisco Stout includes Maris Otter pale, two black malts, and flaked barley. Goldings hops provides the perfect complement to the dry, dark-chocolately flavors from the malt. And now this export stout, inspired by the stouts shipped around Cape Horn to San Francisco in the 1850s, ships—with delightful irony—to London, allowing our Anchor Brewery to return the 164-year-old favor!”

~DARK

He’Brew / Funky Jewbelation 9.4 % ABV
” The 2015 incarnation of Funky Jewbelation will hit your glass as a deep, groovy brown, with a thin white head that dissipates quickly, leaving behind a funky tart aroma that comes after allowing a blend of certain beer to chill in a collection of far-out barrels for anywhere between a few months to over a year. The flavor of 2015 Funky Jewbelation is going to provide more hop character than most funky beers have seen, this dynamite quality comes from American hops we used to bitter and flavor one of our base beers, allowing a truly gnarly experience for all to geek out on!”

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Sean Suggests for December 2014

header_beer_shopping_listThis year, my suggestions are for beers to bring over and share on Christmas Day.  And that doesn’t necessarily mean that it has to be a barrel-aged imperial stout.  You don’t want to be blotto before you fish the last gift out of the stocking do you?

~LIGHT

Anchor Brewing/ Winter Wheat 7.00% ABV

“Anchor Winter Wheat is made with a unique blend of malted barley and five wheats from Belgium, Germany, the Midwest, and a family farm just 75 miles away, where we get our soft red winter wheat.”

~MEDIUM

Cascade/ Gose 7.50% ABV

“This NW style sour ale is a re-creation of a historic German beer style, spiced with coriander and sea salt to replicate the water in the town of Goslar where the beer originated.”

~DARK

Brasserie Dupont/ Avec les bons Vœux de la brasserie Dupont 9.50% ABV

“A coppery blond beer with aromas of hops for the Bon Voeux is a beer tasting combining mellow bitterness and fruity. Our selection of yeasts and a long maturation phase with hopping gives it flavor and a characteristic and complex taste. The true fermentation in the bottle , which can be extended very long in your cellar, resulting in a balanced and harmonious beer, surprising and complex aromas .”

 

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Sean Suggests for August 2014

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The August selections are all California brewed but that is where the similarities end. All three breweries have wildly different cultures and I assume yeast cultures as well.

~LIGHT

Firestone Walker / Oaktoberfest 5.00% ABV

“A proper German Märzen bier. Traditional imported malts offer subtle honey-like aromas with hints of Noble hop spice. The stars of this brew are the imported Pilsner and Vienna malts that offer malty sweetness that carry through to the end. German Hallertau hops add rich Noble hop character to balance this exceptional Marzen.”

~MEDIUM

Modern Times/ Phalanx 7.50% ABV

“At 7.5% ABV & 100 IBUs, Phalanx is somewhere between a single IPA & a double IPA. It prominently features Australian Summer hops, which bring a very distinctive peach/melon character to the beer. That awesome fruit character is balanced by some citrusy Chinook hops & a touch of dankness from Horizon.”

~DARK

Lagunitas/ Imperial Red  7.80% ABV

“This Special Ale is In Reality, the Exhumation of the Very First Ale We Ever Brewed Way, Way Back, in 1993. Brewed With a Big Head, a Muscular Malty Thorax, a Silky Texture & All Strung Together With a Hoppy Sweet Nerve Sack… Ick. A dank and roasty treat.”

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Sean Suggests for July 2015

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Last month was a little light on the ABV, for June, we are cranking it up a notch. Starting with a dry hopped beer that is not to be missed followed by a pair of collaborations on the darker side. Enjoy!

~LIGHT

Alaskan Brewing/ Freeride APA 5.30% ABV

“Alaskan Freeride APA features a lush, green, almost tropical hop aroma paired with the unique taste combination of these three, distinctive hop varieties, making it both full in flavor and crisply thirst-quenching.”

~MEDIUM

Ska Brewing/ Modus Hoperandi 6.80% ABV

“Strong citrus aromas followed by pine rise from the glass. As it moves across your tongue… bitterness… following close behind is a melding of citrus and pine with light caramel sweetness.”

~DARK

Almanac/ Farmers Reserve Citrus  7.00% ABV

“melding the intensely aromatic zest of Buddha’s Hand citrons with the bracing tartness of Bergamot oranges in a sour blonde ale aged in wine barrels. ”

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Sean Suggests for June 2014

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Last month was a little light on the ABV, for June, we are cranking it up a notch.  Starting with a dry hopped beer that is not to be missed followed by a pair of collaborations on the darker side.  Enjoy!

~LIGHT

Brasserie Dupont/ Cuvee Dry Hopping 2014 6.50% ABV

“Every year Dupont’s Master Brewer, Olivier Dedeycker, makes a special dry-hopped  version of  the brewery’s world famous Saison Dupont. For 2014, he chose the famous English hop, CHALLENGER, renowned for its balance of bittering and aromatic qualities. Importantly, they were cultivated in Belgium by the farm that supplies Olivier’s Golding hops. Using only hop flowers (no pellets, please), he added them to the late boil and dry hopped in cold maturation. ”

~MEDIUM

AleSmith with Cigar City/ Ramblin’ Rye Brown Ale 8.50% ABV

“Alesmith and Cigar City have once again partnered up for our second coast-2-coast collaborative brew, a delicious rye brown ale.

Worn out and tongue-tied from rhyming countless beer-centric names with “rye,” we knew it was finally time to quit rambling on and figured “Rye bother”…let’s brew. The result is a rich, malty Roggenbier that is riddled with notes of chocolate and biscuit that perfectly compliment the soft spiciness of the rye. Grab a pint and toast to the coasts.

This balanced and complex brew pairs best with smooth cigars and life-long friends.”

~DARK

Unibroue for Trader Joe’s/ Vintage Ale 9.00% ABV

“Unique and limited edition, this Belgian style ale is crafted once a year as a special treat for those of you who appreciate flavorful, bottle-conditioned ale with character. This year’s vintage: a rich, dark and full-bodied ale with a fine and generous coffee-colored, beige foam. It’s ready to enjoy right away and you may also wish to cellar a few bottles. It will evolve interestingly well, developing more complex flavors as the years go by.”

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Sean Suggests for May 2014

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May flowers bring beer showers?  OK, lame, I know but May in California means drinking outside and here are three beers that you can chill out with without getting blitzed.

~LIGHT

Firestone Walker/ Easy Jack 4.50% ABV

“Brewmaster Matt Brynildson went to the mountain and returned with a vision for a different kind of Session IPA, one that would be brewed and dry hopped with a globetrotting selection of new hop varieties from Europe, New Zealand and North America. ”

~MEDIUM

Modern Times/ Fortunate Islands 5.00% ABV

“Fortunate Islands shares the characteristics of an uber-hoppy IPA and an easy drinking wheat beer. A massive dose of Citra and Amarillo hops gives it a blastwave of tropical hop aromatics: mango, tangerine, and passionfruit.”

~DARK

The Commons/ Madrone 6.00% ABV

“Madrone is an amber saison with a hint of tartness and a big burst of fruity west coast hops. Citrus and tropical fruit in the nose this might be the closest to an IPA we’ll get.”

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Sean Suggests for April 2014

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A very SoCal list for April.  We roam from 10 minutes from my home to Golden Road, then take a looooong drive to Redlands for a new IPA and then pick up one of my favorite beers of the year so far, made with a nut that I wouldn’t touch if you handed one to me.

~LIGHT

Golden Road /  329 Lager 4.8% ABV

“Medium-bodied, crisp and refreshing, 329 Lager is perfectly suited for L.A.’s outdoor culture and a drinkable complement to summer barbecues, beach hangouts, baseball games and everything in between. A balanced combination of Bravo, Tradition, and Opal hops, the merican-style lager emanates a delicate floral finish with notes of honeysuckle and jasmine.”

~MEDIUM

Hangar 24/ Betty IPA 6.5% ABV

“Betty is an American IPA boasting a blend of Mosaic, Citra, Simcoe and Centennial hops. We spent 8 months perfecting this hop blend, and we love the huge range of juicy aromas and flavors we were able to hit: tropical fruit, citrus zest, berries, stone fruit and pine are all packed in… ”

~DARK

Monkish/ Seme Della Vita 9.4% ABV

“Belgian-style tripel brewed with pistachios and vanilla beans”

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Sean Suggests for March 2014

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There are two common threads amongst the choices for this month. Three if you count that they will be perfect for a sunny spring day in Los Angeles. See if you can catch the other two.

~LIGHT

Avery Brewing/ Joe’s Premium American Pilsner 4.7% ABV

“A contemporary rendition of a classic style, Joe’s is hopped with purpose: beautifully bitter and dry with an abundance of floral, Noble German hops.

Über sessionable. Utterly American. This is Premium American Pilsner.”

~MEDIUM

New Belgium/ Snapshot Wheat 5.0% ABV

“Snap! You just captured an unfiltered wheat beer full of refreshment and a flash of tart at the finish. Smile-inducing aromas of citrus hops jump from the nose, accompanied by the sweetness of coriander and grains of paradise. Brewed with wheat and pale malt, Snapshot pours a hazy, lemon-yellow with bright-white lacing. But the real enticement is the snap of tart. New Belgium’s affinity for sour beers led to the in-process blending of lactobacillus to pucker up Snapshot’s base. An extra step to acidify and beautify and get this beer ready for its close up.”

~DARK

Great Divide/ Lasso IPA 5.0% ABV

“LASSO is the new frontier of India Pale Ale. Brewed with a robust roundup of Columbus, Centennial and Cascade hops, its sessionable simplicity proves bigger isn’t always better. But make no mistake – the Wild West hasn’t gone mild. That same untamed IPA spirit thrives, and we reckon this’ll go down mighty fine.”

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Sean suggests for February 2014

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2 out of 3 of these beers were recently seen at the fabulous Sunset Beer here in Los Angeles.  And the El Segundo beer will probably be there soon because they had plenty of others from ESBC.  Check them out and see if you can make it past all the bottles to the draft list.

~LIGHT

Cismontane Brewing/ Malt Series – Vienna 5.1% ABV

“The purpose of the study is to understand the effects of various malts in the brewery, and the resulting beers. We will control all of the variables of the brewing process except the type of grain used. We believe that each grain will affect the following variables that we can measure in our brewery: extraction rate, change in pH, attenuation, and color. This will also affect many variables that only you can measure with your nose and tongue.”

~MEDIUM

Almanac Brewing/ Sourdough Wild Ale 6.5% ABV

“Brewed with a mash of raw and malted barley, oats, rye, spelt and lemon, this beer was fermented in used wine barrels with a blend of Brettanomyces wild yeasts and Marla Bakery’s San Francisco sourdough yeast. The finished beer is dry-hopped with tropical Mosaic hops. This unfiltered ale is alive in the bottle: drink fresh for a bright, passionfruit aroma or age to develop the wild yeast funk.”

~DARK

El Segundo Brewing / Mayberry IPA 7.0% ABV

You want a single hop beer from a hop specialist? Then pick up a 22oz bomber from El Segundo. Their Mayberry IPA is 100% Mosaic hop.