Beer

[St1ck]

Deschutes Fresh Squeezed to be in 6 packs year round starting in March:

 

 

http://beerpulse.com/2014/01/deschutes-brewery-announces-slew-of-beer-lineup-changes-for-2014-2227/

[tdawg87]

Had Palate Wrecker for the first time the other day. I was actually a little disappointed, though it was a very good beer. I expected it to be more like Green Bullet x2 but it was much milder.

[mrwicked]

was at bay area brew festival on saturday.

great times as always.

lots of beer and great food.

 

http://bayareabrewfestival.com/

Edited January 15, 2014 by mrwicked

[James]

Wicked, I will be up for the release of Hopcalaypse at Drakes on the first and at the Double IPA fest on Sat the 8th as well as the opening gala on the 7th for SF Beer Week. Going to be a great time.

[Hot Damn!]

Grabbed some enjoy by racer x just outstanding and far out today

[mrwicked]

Wicked, I will be up for the release of Hopcalaypse at Drakes on the first and at the Double IPA fest on Sat the 8th as well as the opening gala on the 7th for SF Beer Week. Going to be a great time.

 

sweet.

yeah opening of beer week party is always fun. 

hit me up when youre in town dude.

[Hot Damn!]

[Brandon]

Awesome, and true. lol@black history month ale.

[Brandon]

Nothing new or exciting, but hit Bootleggers and The Bruery for my b-day last weekend and did Noble tonight.

 

Bootleggers: Phoenix on nitro.....dulls it down too much, but ok.

 

Bruery: Berazzle, this was a good mellow and fruity sour. Griffon, too tart. Both smooth though and good.

 

Noble: They are out of just about everything. Only had six beers on tap. Had the scotch ale which was actually really smooth for a strong ale...good beer. Did the Bruery colab that is essentially an orangesicle beer. It was alright.

 

Ironically, tasted the orangesicle on at Bruery on Sunday and the Noble one tonight. The Noble one is nitro, so it's flatter. The Bruery version is CO2 and a bit stronger....I think it also has a different name.

[James]

Nothing new or exciting, but hit Bootleggers and The Bruery for my b-day last weekend and did Noble tonight.

 

Bootleggers: Phoenix on nitro.....dulls it down too much, but ok.

 

Bruery: Berazzle, this was a good mellow and fruity sour. Griffon, too tart. Both smooth though and good.

 

Noble: They are out of just about everything. Only had six beers on tap. Had the scotch ale which was actually really smooth for a strong ale...good beer. Did the Bruery colab that is essentially an orangesicle beer. It was alright.

 

Ironically, tasted the orangesicle on at Bruery on Sunday and the Noble one tonight. The Noble one is nitro, so it's flatter. The Bruery version is CO2 and a bit stronger....I think it also has a different name.

Yep, the Bruery has some pretentious name to attract the snob crowd. It isnt that good especially when you have has Blood Orange. Had a few great beers that the bartender at Beachwood shared with me. Eclipse Java Stout, Commons Farmhouse Ale from Portland and Alpine Pub Cat are all crazy good.

[James]

Bruery/Bottle Logic collab is amazing. It will be coming out in a month and is one of the best beers I have had from the Bruery so far.  

[Brandon]

I was having a convo with one of the dudes at Bootleggers and I don't remember names, but he was talking about his favorite brewmaster and the tree from that. I don't remember who the favorite was, but it spawned off Noble, I believe Bottle Logic, and another brewery. All three breweries have brewmasters that learned from the same dude.

[Hot Damn!]

Was the other one Ritual? I think they all learned from the brewmaster at BJs in Brea.

[Brandon]

I think you're right.

[red321]

Just popped open a growler of Stone Enjoy By 2/14/14...going to be a nice evening.

 

Heading up to Portland in a few weeks...any suggestions on must hit breweries, outside of some of the more obvious ones like Deschuttes and Full Sail.

[tdawg87]

God damn I love Lagunitas Sucks so much

[Brandon]

Just popped open a growler of Stone Enjoy By 2/14/14...going to be a nice evening.

 

Heading up to Portland in a few weeks...any suggestions on must hit breweries, outside of some of the more obvious ones like Deschuttes and Full Sail.

 

Rouge (obviously), Upright (seems to be a standard brewery as far as selection, but really good), Cascade (the king of sours. they only do sours and sour/fruit blends....probably my favorite brewery).

 

It's cool because Deschuttes, Rouge (tasting room), Upright, and Cascade are fairly close. There is another brewery or two that are also close, but we didn't plan properly and had too much fun at the others to visit.

 

Enjoy, Portland is beautiful. Can't wait to go back.

[mancini79]

We were just up there and had dinner and some beers at the Deschutes Brewery. It was cool.

Red, just don't forget that Portland has more titty bars per capita than anywhere in the world. Full nude with booze. You are welcome.

 

That's because at a Portland titty you need the booze.

[James]

Brandon gave you a good list but I would add The Commons Brewery in Portland, it is outstanding

Edited January 18, 2014 by James

[Brandon]

The ladies had that creamsicle beer, but bottled and the Bruery version. And an Oude Tart with cherries.

 

Had the Allagash Interlude. I think I had a bad bottle as it was flat, but even flat was pretty good. I think a normal bottle of this would be great.

 

I don't know if I have mentioned this before, but I know the owner of Wicks Brewery in Corona and went there last night. I went there before they were open to the public, but had a guest beer. Last night was my first chance to try their beers and I'm really impressed. I've had strangers mention this place that seemed to know their beers, but never thought to try it until now. The beers mentioned by others that seem to get praise are their stouts and I think one porter. If you're into these kind of beers it's a definite checkout. They do a chocolate stout on nitro that is pretty awesome. I also had an ale that was mixed with two popular hops, citra and another that escapes me.

 

I'm pretty sure this place is going to blow up soon. The owner made a shitload of money next door owning a hydro store (I think him and his family actually own the entire pad of commercial buildings) and talking to him there they are scaling back the hydro operation. My guess is they are going to close the hydro store at some point and start bottling there. I think they have only been there a year. I indirectly know the brewmaster and he is good at his craft, plus they have the money to throw around for exposure, etc......I know they are a headline coming up for a charity event with Stone, Golden Road, Ritual, and other big names.

 

Just impressed and they have a very nice tasting room worth checking out if you're in the area.

 

Also had the new Enjoy By there. I think I only had half and just left the rest there to be thrown away. Better than their other versions, but mediocre. 

[James]

Had some guys come by with Wicks a few weeks ago. Thought it was alright but nothing great. The Imperial Porter was probably the best, Red Monk was good too. Not sure about blowing up very quickly, so many reasons why that is difficult to accomplish out of the gates. The best thing any brewery can do is to just focus on crushing their local market and forming relationships within the industry to do collaboration beers to further expose your brand to new markets. The problem with Wicks and breweries like them is that they seem to be ignoring the fact that any successful local American style brewery has a few very solid IPA's on their profile. The problem with porters and brown ales is that most consumers will only drink one at a time, which limits your ability to effectively reach the necessary targeted sales figures when it come to canning/bottling. You basically need to look at those beers as strictly tap sales in the beginning until you can afford to distribute to a larger area such as the Western United States.

 

The key is to make an IPA such as Sculpin that is very "sessionable" and easy to drink where people will buy multiple units at a time on a weekly basis. If the brewery is a Belgian style brewery all of this is thrown out the window. It has been quite a learning experience to see all of the games that are played in the beer industry and just how difficult it is to grab a hold of a segment of the market. It is near impossible to just get top tier hops at a consistent level in order to produce a desired product until the brewery is a few years old. If I was to open a brewery I would keep it very small for the first two years and only keg therefore I can obtain those hops since I would only be buying a limited supply at a time.

 

The Dudes were named by Zagat as the most highly anticipated tap room of 2014, last week all of the contracts to begin construction were signed. The pilot system is going in as well. There will be a home brew competition coming up soon for those here who are interested. Whoever wins will have their beer on tap in the tap room.

[Brandon]

That imperial is the chocolate one. Didn't have the red.

 

It's going to take a while, but my blow up comment was how far they've come just within a year....but like I said, they have a lot of money. Another thing is the GM there has really good ties as the hydro store is about 1/3 home brewing and various supplies.....one of the only places out here when they first opened. They just seem to be on the right page, Inland Empire Brewing isn't killing it and probably the closest brewery doing well in the area is Hangar 24. I just know the capital they are working with. I figured if they could get a signature beer, like they may have with the imperial porter, and get big locally, which doesn't have much competition...it's possible. I need to try more of their beers as well.

 

Really looking forward to more Dudes and their future. Bummed to have missed Friday there, buttoning up things here and hoping to come out this Friday.

[Hot Damn!]

We've been to Wicks twice. Wasn't impressed either time.

[James]

Ironfire in Temecula is the one to watch out for out that way. Everything tried this way has been good.

[Hot Damn!]

Knuckle Sandwich release is today. Growlers and bottles at the brewery. Bottles will be in stores as well.