Taste of Brews IE Road Trip Part III; Riverside…the IE Launch Pad!

Riverside holds a special place in our expanding event portfolio since this was our first location in the Inland Empire and Taste of Brews was well-received by the community.  We hope to grow the event and turn it into one of the best annual craft beer festivals in Southern California, but not without the support and participation of all the great IE craft breweries like:

Packinghouse Brewery since without them we may never have staged an event in the Inland Empire.  We met PB’s Scot Koury at our first event in Long Beach and he’s attended each one since.  Scot suggested we expand to the IE, chauffeured us to several potential locations and aggressively promoted the concept of Taste of Brews IE every chance he had.  So now it’s essential that we stop by on every trip and refill the office growler.  The tasting room has expanded and now includes a flat screen and more seating, which makes sampling their quiver all the more delightful.  We tried several brews including the famous Riley's Irish red, the cream stout and the Sunburst Blonde Ale; leaving with a growler of the latter.  PB’s distribution is growing in leaps and bounds, thanks largely to Scot.  So whether you drop by after work or attend one of their many outstanding events like the Riverside Air Show, Packinghouse is a must stop on your IE itinerary!  Our team can’t wait to sample their latest IPA at White Park.

The most recent brewery to commit to Taste of Brews is also one of the Inland Empire’s latest additions.  Some of you may know Area 51 an Air Force installation in Southern Nevada that is the subject of myriad UFO conspiracy theories regarding alien life forms.  The all new Area51 Craft Brewery in Riverside has embraced the alien theme and taken it to a whole new level with its Alien Head beer.  They opened earlier this year in February and are experiencing a lot of buzz.  Founder Mike Hawkins gave us this insight, “Earthly beers are brewed in somewhat similar ways and have a common process.  Alien Head Beer is actually brewed in a special process that is unlike other breweries and delivers a taste that is out of this world!”  We stopped by the brewery recently to hang our poster and drop off collateral materials.  We met Mike and his marketing team then had a quick tour or the brewery (really quick since it’s only 1200 square feet).  Among the beers on tap are the Blonde Alien (American Ale), Planet Red (Red Hefeweizen) and their Alien Head (Imperial IPA); two of which they are pouring at our event.  The Taste of Brews’ crew is looking forward to hosting their out-of-this-world beer at our upcoming event and we wish them good luck.

Updates/Mendocino

Well helloooo there friends, hasn't it been awhile? The last you might have heard about Taste of Brews was the event in Dana Point on August 15th. It being our second round of the game, it ran much smoother than before and, guess what, we had food trucks and vendors this time. The samples even lasted through the whole day, hallelujah! But the star of the show was of course the beer. And Dana Point people sure like their beer; it was a fun time.

For those wondering what's next for Taste of Brews, he have a few events conjuring. No official dates have been implanted but you will surely see a Long Beach location in the summer again!  Other locations we are looking at are coming from White Park in Riverside and/or a park in Costa Mesa. We will keep you posted on any further information.

Moving along: I was looking through the Los Angeles Times and to my surprise I noticed a Beer of the Month (How have I not noticed this?) Featured was our friends at Mendocino Brewing (Remember them at the Long Beach location?) with their Black Eye Ale. We picked one up at our local Bevmo because we were all a bit parched... ok we really just wanted some beer, but we were happy we picked this one. This black and tan beer poured a deep dark brown body with a light brown head that quickly shrank to a ring of lace. It smelled of coffee, dark fruit, and burnt caramel. It tasted much like smelled, roasted coffee beans, roasted caramel, bitter hops, and a tad bit of sweetness to round it out. Also it wasn’t too heavy, making it totally sippable throughout the afternoon. Can you imagine this beer being $3 for a 22-oz.? I thought it was too good to be true, but somehow it is in fact the real deal. Thank you Mendocino, thank you.