Smog City Brewing will be celebrating their 12th Anniversary (almost a teenager) this month and if past parties are any indication there will be fun beers to be had and cans and bottles to grab for later.
Smog 12
Cold in the Park
Smog City Brewing is bringing back their Park Hopper IPA as the first beer in their 2023 1 Percent for the Planet Community Impact Series.
The new Park Hopper is now a 6.6% cold IPA as opposed to last year’s hazy version.
Here is some further (quite important) info, “for the 3rd year in a row, we’ve partnered with Parks California to make Park Hopper IPA to highlight & support the work they do to make our parks more welcoming, inclusive, and climate-resilient.”
California Craft Beer Summit – Report 3
First bit of business is last nights quick and rainy trip to Moksa Brewing in Rocklin.
The beer list was just a skosh unbalanced with one lager and about six IPA’s of various stripes and six stouts of various adjuncts. The Chai Times spiced Stout was excellent and beer buddy Rich had a very rich in chocolate stout that I thought was great. The lager, Da Bier was just the antidote after a day of drinking. Moksa also won the weirdest beer award with Freshie Freeze that was super citrusy but it also had a strange diesel note as well.
Back to Wednesday, the 1/2 day. After a visit to fuel up at the Pancake Circus we headed to a Sensory Session with Omega Yeast. This is where the thiol learning from the day before came in handy, I sampled a test brew and boy was it as advertised. Huge grapefruit and passion fruit, almost too much. Amazing to taste what genetics and Crispr can do.
I also sample the Sierra Nevada kombucha with pizza and had a beermosa with Smog City’s Mango Pango.
Today was the day to hear from Pink Boot’s members who talked about the many benefits of the organization which was a welcome upbeat talk before we got the final session where the Cilurzo’s (Natalie and Vinnie) flanked Ken Grossman to talk about what they did with their breweries in the pandemic times as well as what they have in store for the future. More lagers from Russian River and more alternative drinks from Sierra Nevada.
While they spoke, the audience was treated to two special beers. Special being a bit of an understatement. First up was a 2010 Bigfoot that we tasted alongside the newest version. Next was a little bit of newly bottled Pliny the Younger, this year with Nectaron hops in the mix. Not a bad way to call the Summit to a close.
New Look for Spring
Smog City Brewing along with Ryan Cochran, their label designer who brought to life the original labels and characters for Smog City IPA, Amarilla Gorilla IPA, Coffee Porter, and Sabre-Toothed Squirrel will be refreshing the art for 2023. You can see a sneak of the IPA look below…
Amazing to realize that these beers were all originally released in 500ml bottles many moons ago. I like the dominant blue look and the house style and whimsy is still there too.
Infinite 2023
Smog City will make wishes come true March 17th through 19th with Infinite Wishes Weekend. I bring this up now because the pre-sale of bottles starts this month on February 26th.
I will follow up with more Wish Weekend information when those details are made public.
Review – Frost Flowers Hazy IPA from Smog City
Let’s dive into a new hazee from Smog City Brewing in Torrance, Frost Flowers in the colorfully bright can….
Haven’t seen a flower with even a smidgen of frost on it here in L.A. but I will take Smog City’s word for it. This Hazy IPA is 6.4% and pours with a decent amount of orangey haze. It is the first Smog Days Series beer for 2023. Hopped with Amarillo, Ekuanot and Azacca, I get orange peel and tangerine initially. More bitterness here than pillowy haze. A secondary hit of black tea. Tastes quite strong.
Frosted
The end of 2022 brought the first of the 2023 Smog City rotating IPA series, Frost Flowers.
The artwork will be new this year and all offerings in this year will be hazy.
A Smog City Duo
Smog City Brewing has been a big proponent of 1% for the Planet and their next beer in community impact series benefits The Bay Foundation. It is Forgotten Forest Hazy IPA. Buy a 4-pack to help the environment.
As much as charity beers are my favorites, Smog has another beer coming soon that intrigues me even more, ” The creative masterminds (mad scientists?) behind our Wood Cellar collection of beers have done it again! With Dubbel Old Fashioned, our latest Wood Cellar beer, they’ve pushed the boundaries on what a beer can be.”
Smoggy Stereo
Smog City is going Kiwi with their friends at Stereo Brewing Company with Hāpi Mirumiru, a New Zealand-style IPA with three New Zealand hop varietals.
Review – 3 Festbiers
Who will be the Fest Winner? California, the U.S. or Germany?
The Contestants
Smog City Smogtoberfest – dark orange in color. smells hoppier than the other two. simple and crisp. lots of malt flavor here with a bit of a spice kick.
Half Acre Lager Town – pours a dark orange with a malty and orange peel taste. a bit heavy to me with caramel notes. minerality here too as well as a viscousness.
Weihenstephaner Festbier – the lightest of the trio. bubbly in the glass. a bit of malty sweetness with a tiny touch of minerality. very clean and crisp.
The Winner
I think I have to choose the SmogtoberFest. It is the lowest ABV but also the fullest of the three beers.