Dana Point, Oct 15th

Hello guys. It wasn't long ago that we had our premiere event and we had a blast. Outline: Almost everything went surprisingly great with only a few hiccups. There were some incidents that we were not expecting like the shortage of ice at set-up for the brewers, which was solved with a hefty second order. The other thing we did not prepare ourselves for was the mass amount of people that bought tickets at the door. With about 1000 new attendees the day of, the food samples ran out rather quickly. Even though this wasn't meant to be a beer AND food festival, we still would have liked for our attendees to have been able to try at least some of the samples. To help ease this predicament for our Dana Point event, we are going to have food trucks present for those who want a meal on our site grounds rather than having to double-up on samples. That seemed to be the most of our problems, and we had great feedback from those who enjoyed the brews, the music, and the scenery. Evan's came with their dancing inflatable beer guys, Yelp set up some outdoor games, Shock Top parked their mohawked-VW Beetle, Fireman's Brew dressed up their on-lookers, the bands were awesome (Aloha Radio, Gregg Young, and The Dealers), and everyone enjoyed great beers from the many breweries. Success!

Our Dana Point event is coming up soon on October 15th. It's going to have an Oktoberfest theme with festive attire and Oom-pah bands. Like our last event, we focus on the community of the area for that event. We will have samples from local restaurants, cafes, and gastropubs. Some of our breweries will looks familiar to the Long Beach attendee and some will be new to our line-up. Our goal at the end of the day is to introduce new flavors and to savor familiar favorites, as well as to share the experiences with loved ones and neighbors. Not much can go wrong on a beautiful sunny day in Southern California, beer in hand. Hope to see you on October 15th!

Ballast Point/33 Degrees

A few weeks ago the Taste of Brews team went around Long Beach to meet the local restaurants and pubs that are participating in our event. We stopped and had some lunch at 33 Degrees, a gastropub located in Shoreline Village.

33 Degrees offers great food and most importantly, craft beers, in a beautiful waterfront setting. The menu features healthier pub grub with influences from cities that fall near the 33rd latitudes around the world, which is where their name stems from. I ordered their trip-tip sandwich which had a great flavor and was served and a yummy brioche bun. Their beer selection features great breweries like Alesmith, Bootlegger's, Lagunitas, and The Lost Abbey.

Besides bringing samples of their food, 33 Degrees is also bringing Ballast Point brews along with them. What stand-up guys, aye? The creator of Ballast Point, Jack White, actually started with a home brewing supply store. Soon after, he joined forces with Yusseff and opened Ballast Point in the backroom of the supply shop.
Almost 15 years after its inception, Ballast Point Brewing’s dedicated team of craftsmen (and women) is still innovating, trying new methods and ingredients.

A favorite of mine is their Sea Monster Imperial Stout. For a style known to have no shortage of flavours, this one seems to have them all: smokey malt, black licorice, coffee, chocolate, caramel, molasses, vanilla and a few different dried dark fruits. The texture is thick as cream and frothy like steamed milk; just how I like my stouts.

We are looking forward to having tastes from both these guys. See you on the 20th.

Sam Adams

Sam Adams is the latest to sign on to Taste of Brews. My mother was excited to hear this since she always has a Sams Adam variety pack at home, which I am quite thankful for might I add. My favs from this pack are the Rustic Saison and the Summer Ale. I try to claim these before she does, and sometimes I share.

The thing I like about Sam Adams is despite their size and popularity, they don't stray from their roots and continue to make good beer that is widely accessible. While Samuel Adams is the country’s largest-selling craft beer, it accounts for just under one percent of the U.S. beer market. Besides their permanent product line, they make unique specialty brews like their Chocolate Chili Bock and Maple Pecan Porter for those who like to venture off the beaten path.

Samuel Adams keeps their fans involved with their annual Beer Lover's Choice where enthusiasts taste from new beer styles and vote for their favorites, that will then be put into their rotation. Even more interactive is their Longshot Home Brewers Contest, where entrants are encouraged to incorporate unusual and unique ingredients into their recipes. The winners are heavily rewarded by having their recipe distributed in Sam Adams' beloved variety packs. Some of the winners have even gone off to become professional brewers turning their homebrewing hobby into a career.

As you can see, Samuel Adams has a deep passion for craft brewing and sustaining its culture. They encourage its growth and have done a great job on widening the the world of craft beer.

Butcher's Brew

Butcher's Brew is a brewery we have yet to try, but are ecstatic that we will be able to at Taste of Brews. I'm a foodie with an appreciation of creating and cooking everything from scratch. I'm intrigued by the process of creating things that you would normally buy pre-made without thought of what goes behind it all. Fermenting, curing, aging, pickling; these are all specific processes that involve chemical conversions that instill certain flavors along with preservation. The people behind Butcher's Brew must be the same way, for the co-owner previously had a meat curing company. They do not use their name loosely.

The Brewery: Butchers' Brewing was born out of a love for good beer and good meat. A natural progression and exploration in fermentation, it was the vision of former Knight Salumi Company owner and founder, Rey Knight. An avid home brewer who held many experiments with beer yeasts and bacteria's in salami and meat curing, Knight has unleashed his passion for brewing onto the San Diego craft beer scene. 

-Gabriel Tennberg: Raised on the Hawaiian Island of Kauai surfing and soaking up the local food and culture. Now a So-Cal resident Gabriel has carved a career in the Surfing industry, designing for brands like Billabong, Element, Hurley, and DC shoes. Also Creator of his own brand Pidgin Orange, with longtime friend Jeff Yokoyama.

-Rey Knight: With a gypsie childhood moving throughout the Pacific Northwest, farming, hunting, home brewing, and cooking. Rey Attended the CIA (Culinary institute of America) in Hyde Park New York. After which he traveled and worked his way through France back to the US, through many kitchens to hit San Diego, where he established Knight Salumi Company, a artisanal craft, chemical free cured meat shop. A natural progression in fermentation brought Rey to the brewing scene, experimenting with yeasts and bacteria. As a home brewer and not traditionally educated in the arts of brewing the techniques used to create butchers beers aren't always conventional.

Alaskan Brewery

I'm just gonna get straight to it. Alaskan Brewery was a great smoked porter. It  pours nearly black with a mocha brown head that fades quickly to a small cap in the glass. The aroma is pretty incredible, smoked wood dominates the smell but gives way to coffee grounds, chocolate, and molasses. It reminds me of summer beach bonfires. The smoke taste is a little more like a rauchbier. Hickory smoke flavor with some bitter chocolate notes. Hops are even slightly present. With all of that going on it still has a mild sweet finish, without any aspect overwhelming another. With its smooth and smokey finis, its a very drinkable beer and I had no issue of polishing off the bottle myself.

They recommend "Alaskan Smoked Porter may be enjoyed with smoked seafood, cheese and other robust foods and as an after-dinner drink. It pairs beautifully with everything from bleu cheese to vanilla ice cream and raspberries. This unique beer is also a wonderful flavoring ingredient in sauces, seafood dishes and even cheesecake." I highly recommend doing one of the pairings or just sip one all by its lonesome, it'll be great whatever you do.

Green Flash

One of the newest additions to the Taste of Brews line-up was Green Flash not too long ago.  Green Flash is one of those breweries I keep going back to because they manage to make their (at-first-glance) basic styled beers incredibly memorable. I've had the pleasure of trying their Double Stout, Hop Head Red Ale, Trippel, and West Coast IPA.

One of my favorites from Green Flash is their Double Stout. It pours a rich black with a tan head that looks like chocolate whipped cream [mmmm]. It has chocolate and coffee aromas with a subtle earthiness. But the best part is, of course, its taste. Such a rich and smooth stout, balanced by a slight smokiness from the roasted malts. Another note is that it's not overpowering. Sometimes stronger stouts can be harsh with a astringent mouthfeel, but this is not at all the case.

Another one of their greats is their Hop Head. Most red ales I've had are mellow in hops, but as the name shows, Hop Head embraces it. It poured an amber red color with a foamy head. It had a sweet, candy-like aroma with herbal hop smells. It had a refreshing citrusy taste along with some creaminess; grapefruit drizzled with caramel and a pile of hops dumped on top pushing it to an IPA level.

I'm excited to find out what they'll bring to Taste of Brews. Whatever they are, they will be delicious.

Stone's Sour Fest 2011

I had the opportunity to attend Stone's Sour Fest, one of their events featuring sour beers from around the world. Sour beer is a beer style characterized by an acidic, tart, and of course a sour taste. The style has increased in popularity but remains somewhat of a niche style. Souring is achieved through certain yeast strains like brettanomyces or bacteria like lactobacillus or pediococcus. Sour beers can be difficult to brew however, and breweries must be willing to commit the space and expenses and then patiently wait for an unpredictable aging process. I'd like to state that the final product is well worth it.

Maybe even less than 10 years ago, domestic sours were nonexistent. But now there is a vast lineup of American brewers who have stepped into this territory. Stone helped bring them along with many international breweries all together yesterday. They featured most of the sours from New Belgium's Lips of Faith series; La Folie being the first to fill my sour-beer void some years ago. Always a favorite, the Russian River wild ales were on draft as well. The Bruery has been put in the spot-light for their sours lately. I appreciate that they have been making them accessible as well as delicious (and close to us Orange Countians). From these breweries, I wouldn't expect less. I already know they make good stuff. They have all presented me with some of the best beers I've had and therefore will have a special place in my little heart. But like all Stone events I've attended, Stone brings beers I'd never get to try otherwise.

The beer I kept coming back to was by Craftsmen. I had both the 2010 and 2011 Sour Lavender. Oh-my-gosh. The aroma was of course - lavender - along with some spiciness. The taste was sweet, sour, and herbal. Both batches had the same undertone of flavors, but the older one more rounded and mellow in sourness. It was one of the more unique beers I've had the chance to taste and I REALLY recommend it.

Another great taster came from one of the breweries in our lineup, Grand Teton. Their Sourgrass was one to remember. I think it'd be safe to say my significant other was in love with this one, whom had maybe three rounds of it. Behind the citric-sourness was an earthy feel that contrasted itself from most of the sours having fruity profiles. Recommended as well.

For those who have yet to try a sour, I'd say give it a try. For me, it was love at first sip but it does take some getting used to for it does not taste like your "average" beer. But isn't that the point of craft beer, going above and beyond what one may expect? So taste outside the box and explore the off-beaten-path brews that are gaining popularity or deserving of an initiation.