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Today marks the really of a unique cider from Benny Boy Brewing and Cidery in East Los Angeles, and that is saying something since they are quite creative. Meet Me in the Woods is a spruce tip cider in collaboration with the band Lord Huron. It is a cool label design as well and good to see a large format bottle too.
It’s been a minute since I spoke of Ballast Point, most of it business related but lets get back to the beer and their seasonal …
To DTLA we go for our second holiday beer…
Angel City adds in a pair of off the beaten path items to this new winter IPA.
Not quite sure when the Sculpin brand extension will finally come to a stop and the creation of new beer names (at least) will come from Ballast Point but this is actually an offering that intrigues me more.
Block 15 Corvallis, Oregon brings us an IPA with not only the traditional spruce tips but also fir tips, oh and orange peel too…
Straight from the silver crowler purchased at the pier location of King Harbor comes this golden ale with spruce tips.
This is one of the yellowest beers that I have seen. Crystal clear. When first opened, the earthy pine notes are significant. As it warms, those tree notes fade off a bit but the beer retains a strong back end flavor of spruce tree. At 6.1%, the beer might be a skosh strong for a simple golden ale but the white bread toast notes bring it back into lighter territory.
Haines Brewing is based in historic Dalton City (which is part of Haines, Alaska).
Here is what I would order if I had their line-up in front of me….
Captain Cook’s Spruce Tip Ale – a seasonal ale made with, you guessed it, spruce tree tips.
DMMDI IPA – that is short for Devil made me do it. Pretty self-explanatory after that.