S
Stormy2213
Lurker
Valiant Brewing
We had a great time at the inaugural Seven Sisters Festival the weekend before last. Very good time due to the modest turnout for a number of great beers, ciders, and wines. Highlight for us, besides getting unlimited FULL pours of Lagunitas Little Sumpin' Sumpin' and Anniversary 13 were the beers being poured by Valiant Brewing.
I had never heard of them so those of you in OC, please forgive me. Standout brew for me was the Mounds of Grounds: Imperial Black Espresso Saison (9.6% ABV). It was simply delicious - great mouthfeel, coffee/heavy roasted malt nose, nice and dry like a good Saison should be, just a hint of hops. For a very hot day in the sun, this one was simply divine. They were also serving Fields Ablaze: Saison (7.2% ABV) - very delicious, and Jericho: Imperial IPA (10.8% ABV) - what another treat.
To have a brewery bring 3 high gravity beers to a festival is something I've never run into in the past. One, sure. Two, rarely. Three? ****ing awesome! I got to talk to the brewer, Brian, for quite some time and he clearly LOVES what he's doing there at Valiant.
I would recommend taking the trek down to Orange and finding these guys. He told me they're a little hard to find as they're not downtown Orange. But man, they certainly appear to be on the right track as far as bringing great beer to the table. Highly recommended!
We had a great time at the inaugural Seven Sisters Festival the weekend before last. Very good time due to the modest turnout for a number of great beers, ciders, and wines. Highlight for us, besides getting unlimited FULL pours of Lagunitas Little Sumpin' Sumpin' and Anniversary 13 were the beers being poured by Valiant Brewing.
I had never heard of them so those of you in OC, please forgive me. Standout brew for me was the Mounds of Grounds: Imperial Black Espresso Saison (9.6% ABV). It was simply delicious - great mouthfeel, coffee/heavy roasted malt nose, nice and dry like a good Saison should be, just a hint of hops. For a very hot day in the sun, this one was simply divine. They were also serving Fields Ablaze: Saison (7.2% ABV) - very delicious, and Jericho: Imperial IPA (10.8% ABV) - what another treat.
To have a brewery bring 3 high gravity beers to a festival is something I've never run into in the past. One, sure. Two, rarely. Three? ****ing awesome! I got to talk to the brewer, Brian, for quite some time and he clearly LOVES what he's doing there at Valiant.
I would recommend taking the trek down to Orange and finding these guys. He told me they're a little hard to find as they're not downtown Orange. But man, they certainly appear to be on the right track as far as bringing great beer to the table. Highly recommended!
U
UnholyGoalie
Lurker
That's great news! I've seen a total of about 2 KRBC bottles of beer on shelves here in LA in the past couple years. I read a post from one of the KRBC guys that they had stopped distro outside of Kern County for a while now which would explain their absence. To put it bluntly, their distro can't get any worse, so I hope this new partnership will make things better. Still, with their limited capacity, I'd imagine it will still be quite tough to get some Class V. I read a tweet that their winter seasonal is about ready to be tapped however it's brewery only (which blows). I managed to luck into one bottle of it last year and I swear I'd put it up against any world class DIPA out there. I'm definitely bummed I probably won't get a taste of it this time around, barring a weekend trip up to the brewery.
But at the end of the day I can't be too mad. There's still a metric crap ton of solid brews that are readily available. Heck, having moved offices outside of Agoura Hills, I owe the guys at Ladyface a visit soon.
But at the end of the day I can't be too mad. There's still a metric crap ton of solid brews that are readily available. Heck, having moved offices outside of Agoura Hills, I owe the guys at Ladyface a visit soon.
so many beers, not enough time.
after staying away from Golden Road's Point The Way just to sample other beers on the market, I finally went back to PTW the other day and, boy, how could I not be drinking that beer every day or whatsoever? it now joins my personal list of highly coveted beers, which includes KRBC's Citra DIPA (of course), Stone's Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout, and a few others that I couldn't name right off the top of my head.
after staying away from Golden Road's Point The Way just to sample other beers on the market, I finally went back to PTW the other day and, boy, how could I not be drinking that beer every day or whatsoever? it now joins my personal list of highly coveted beers, which includes KRBC's Citra DIPA (of course), Stone's Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout, and a few others that I couldn't name right off the top of my head.
DMAN3474
Prospect
Happy IPA day!!!!
Tried Bear republics Cafe Racer 15 yesterday at Tonys, that was a mighty fine beer (also pliny went on tap at tonys today). Has anyone had the Stone Coconut IPA Collaboration yet? Its on tap at the Newhall Refinery as of last night and I don't know if I will be able to get in and try it before its gone.
Tried Bear republics Cafe Racer 15 yesterday at Tonys, that was a mighty fine beer (also pliny went on tap at tonys today). Has anyone had the Stone Coconut IPA Collaboration yet? Its on tap at the Newhall Refinery as of last night and I don't know if I will be able to get in and try it before its gone.
S
Stormy2213
Lurker
Happy IPA Day!!!
Just found 3 bottles of Drake's Aroma Coma at the liquor store down the street. Hoping they have more in the back fridge - the dude at the counter didn't know. One of my all time favs so what better way to celebrate IPA Day than to knock back 1 or 2 or all 3 (probably)...
And that is great news on KRBC. It's been at least a year since I've had a Just Outstanding b/c they stopped bringing it over here and everybody that takes a road trip there keeps it for themselves (I don't blame them, I would too!). I just hope their capacity issues don't keep that distro deal from really taking off. Their beer deserves a greater audience. World class stuff.
Just found 3 bottles of Drake's Aroma Coma at the liquor store down the street. Hoping they have more in the back fridge - the dude at the counter didn't know. One of my all time favs so what better way to celebrate IPA Day than to knock back 1 or 2 or all 3 (probably)...
And that is great news on KRBC. It's been at least a year since I've had a Just Outstanding b/c they stopped bringing it over here and everybody that takes a road trip there keeps it for themselves (I don't blame them, I would too!). I just hope their capacity issues don't keep that distro deal from really taking off. Their beer deserves a greater audience. World class stuff.
CraftBeer.com | CraftBeer.com’s Great American Beer Bars 2013
Lucky Baldwin's Trappiste gets my vote. then I realized this is about the AMERICAN beers.
Lucky Baldwin's Trappiste gets my vote. then I realized this is about the AMERICAN beers.
U
UnholyGoalie
Lurker
Went to the bottle shop to peruse the selection and got guilted into doing the weekly beer tasting.
Orkney Dragonhead stout - good
Fuller's London Black Cab - good
Hambleton Nightmare (yorkshire porter) - good
Samuel Smith Taddy Porter - good
Carnegie Stark Porter - good
Grand Teton 5 o'clock shadow (schwarzbier) - very good
Midnight Sun Brewtality (schwarzbier) - excellent. Super malty and sweet. Close to cloying.
Anderson Valley Bourbon Barrel Stout - bourbon came through loud and clear but a tad bit thinner than I thought it would be
Brouwerij Kerkom Bink Grand Cru (belgian strong dark) - cloyingly sweet
Bruery Tart of Darkness (sour stout) - like the bottle I had from last year, overly tart for my tastes.
Nectar Ales Black Xantus (BB imp stout) - the belle of the ball. Excellent. Then again, it's brewed by FW, so what would you expect?
Just polished off an Alesmith Yulesmith DIPA and thinking about a bottle of Lagunitas Sucks in the fridge (but not before some awesome Chinese take out).
Orkney Dragonhead stout - good
Fuller's London Black Cab - good
Hambleton Nightmare (yorkshire porter) - good
Samuel Smith Taddy Porter - good
Carnegie Stark Porter - good
Grand Teton 5 o'clock shadow (schwarzbier) - very good
Midnight Sun Brewtality (schwarzbier) - excellent. Super malty and sweet. Close to cloying.
Anderson Valley Bourbon Barrel Stout - bourbon came through loud and clear but a tad bit thinner than I thought it would be
Brouwerij Kerkom Bink Grand Cru (belgian strong dark) - cloyingly sweet
Bruery Tart of Darkness (sour stout) - like the bottle I had from last year, overly tart for my tastes.
Nectar Ales Black Xantus (BB imp stout) - the belle of the ball. Excellent. Then again, it's brewed by FW, so what would you expect?
Just polished off an Alesmith Yulesmith DIPA and thinking about a bottle of Lagunitas Sucks in the fridge (but not before some awesome Chinese take out).
The Continental
Prospect
Hop Juice DIPA at Left Coast in San Clemente. Hoppy (of course), not too bitter, and 9.7 ABV.
:chums:
U
UnholyGoalie
Lurker
You know Wade's is less than a mile away from Ladyface Brewery (and to a lesser extent The Lab Brewery), right?
U
UnholyGoalie
Lurker
Not a fan, but it's been close to a year since I last tried them. Their beer has been very underwhelming the few times I've had a flight. Hopefully they've improved. I always kinda wondered why they seemed to be more known around the area when I worked nearby than Ladyface. Between the two breweries, it ain't even close. Again though, it's been a while since I've tried their stuff.
Now Chirping
- No one is chatting at the moment.