Follow Sean Inman to the best in craft beer
The Trappists of Mount St Bernard produce their flagship Tynt Meadow ale but they also have a blonde ale, described as “a lighter, refreshing English style blond with hints of clove and peppers on a layer of delightful bitterness.”
There are numerous Rodenbach riffs from brewmaster Rudi Ghequire but one I just was made aware of is the Rodenbach Evolved Grand Cru at 6.0% and it has quite an age statement.
“Instead of the usual 18 months being matured in oak barrels, the base beer is a whopping 10 years! Then blended. Complex and mature. This Flemish red-brown mixed fermentation beer has the intense flavours of sour cherry, red fruit, balanced acidity and woody oak.”
We head to the Eastside to encounter a species that I had never heard of before, a Beavercat. This upcoming brewery doesn’t have much information yet but maybe in the coming months more details will be leaked as to the origin story.
New breweries are a tiny bit easier to track now, but even I can fall behind on the news. Ikasu Brewing helmed by Masahiro (Masa) Kitano is in the planning stages and certainly has a different look from other L.A. breweries but has a renowned home brew club education (SoCal Cerveceros).
Follow on the social media and hopefully more news about this in process brewery will emerge.
…instead try Red Hearted. Bell’s Brewery is adding to their Hearted Collection with Red Hearted. I am a fan of the Red IPA sub-style but I think Bell’s could have found a new name as this line has been quite extended. That said, if I see it in a variety pack here in L.A., I might just have to try it.
There is the potential that beer labels will have to squeeze in a lot more information onto them in the future. More specifically, allergens and nutrition information. Which is not good for those, like me, who need major magnification just to read what hops are in the beer. And though I like the idea of a QR code that leads you to more detailed information, what percentage of people are going to use that and then what percentage of those will understand the governmental gobbledygook that passes for information?
You can read more HERE from the Brewers Association.
What do you get when you add 702 + 303 + 630 + 586 ?
You get Radiant Beer Co.s By The Numbers DDH West Coast IPA. It is collaboration with Yakima Chief Hops with “advanced hop products from YCH like Citra 702 flowable extract and 303 Trial (a blend with Phantasm®), while also featuring HBC 630 Cryo and HBC 586 T90 pellets.
With “hop character with fresh pineapple, ripe strawberry, guava and orange zest flavor.”
One of four barrel-aged expressions of a Scottish Ale, the Single Malt Whiskey matured version might not have the spirit geek cred of Caribbean Rum or Islay casks, but the issue is how does the base Innis & Gunn beer react with each cask.
Though I am afraid of the combination of clear bottle and non-refrigerated bottles, I picked up the lone bottle to try and the aroma is nice and Scotch-y but then the flavor turns a little too sweet. Almost cola sweet but that aroma keeps pulling the affair back to center. I like the subtle smoke note here as well. I wonder how this tastes fresh, would it have less caramel?
For Q1 (plus a little), past trends hold for the most part with IPA netting 68 of 148 total tasted beers and 32 of that 68 was straight up West Coast style. Below are other findings…
Heading north now to Escondido and the Jacked Up Brewery. Where we will start with two of their core (and canned beers) before adding a few others to fill out the taster tray.
El Gato Lager – “El Gato Lager is our newest addition to our core four beers. This light and airy lager is an easy drinking, but still unique in taste.”
Hazy Talk – “The juiciest hazy IPA that you’ll find. This beer is crafted to perfection, giving an orange juice like appearance.”
Then try the Seven Accusations Pale Ale, the Dragon Fruit IPA and then finish with Gallus Scottish Red Ale.