Huske Hardware House

I pretty much talk about every brewery I have been to and rank their beers. I have been slacking a bit and missed one or two... Actually just two, but hey. I have been to The Huske Hardware House a few times now... Actually, quite a bit for how often I was expecting to go here.

I was surprised to find out it was a brewery the first time I heard about it. I literally thought it was a Hardware House. Come on! I moved to a new area and everyone has their own local shops. The guys I talked to about this town before I moved out here only brought up The Mash House, never The Huske. So how was I supposed to know?



The first time I went there I did what I always do when I go to a brewery. I ordered the flight with all of their beers. They only have 6 on tap so that made it easy. The task was to figure out what beer I was getting a growler fill of since I try to leave every brewery I go to with a piece of glass. I deemed their best beer at that time was the Sledgehammer Stout. Though, they had a Watermelon Wheat beer that completely blew the 21st Amendment version out of the water.



This most recent time I went they had 2 new beers. Clearly I had to get a taster of each... even though I should not have been drinking then because it was literally the day after I got my wisdom teeth pulled. They looked identical and the server was pretty sure that I would get the two confused... Yeah, no way. One was The Raspberry SourPatch and the other, The Honey Badger.

I had very little information about either of these beers but, as the name would imply, The SourPatch was sour and as for The Honey Badger, that beer was aged in Jack Daniel Barrels and clocked in at 13% ABV. I told the waitress I hated it and to bring me a glass of the SourPatch. She told me The Honey Badger was one of their most popular recently... Yeah, at 13% and from what I know of the people that live in this town, NO SURPRISE!

I took home a growler of The Raspberry SourPatch this time just because it was different. It was pretty good and quite a big change from anything else on their menu. I think both of the breweries in this town had very decent food, but this one definitely had the better beer selection. I would not mind drinking their blonde again...

Cheers!

Mash House

Being I am new to North Carolina I thought it only made sense to try and figure out what this place has to offer for beer. I know being stuck in Fayetteville is probably not the best place to try and figure out what the state has to offer, especially after having been to an event like Twin City Taps but this brewery was local to me, and that is what it is all about. I have had a few people suggest The Mash House to me. They talk about the beer that is served there and the burgers that they make. It only made sense to me... Though, I ordered a steak... so of course I am going to do it. I guess I will have to pick out a burger next time but here we go...



I am pretty sure you can see what the beers are going around the circle so I will just tell you I started at the top, and worked my way around clockwise. The first beer, was obviously the blonde. I wrote out short hand notes on a napkin while eating haha. I just had to be sure of everything when I went back and decided what I wanted for my growler.

The Blonde was pretty decent. I have been falling for this style and the Kolsch a lot recently. I might even brew one. I mean, why not? I tried once before with the Kolsch but that was way back when in my early days of brewing before I knew that simple things mattered... like sanitation lol. Anyway, the straw color, not much could be picked out of the nose in that environment and glass though it was sweet and crisp. Lemon and wheat stood out. Very dry and light. Decent beer.

The Hefe was very hazy and kind of reminded me of milky orange juice. Not very attractive. Though orange, lemon, some spiciness of clove really hit the spot. The orange flavors kind of blended into vanilla and banana. It drank pretty light but felt a bit heavier than that... if that makes sense. I thought it was decent even though it went through some radical flavor changes.

The Red Ale was really malty. The finish of the hops though was quite harsh. Not a fan of that or the high level of carbonation. This beer was pretty much passed on. The IPA was next. I kind of wish I got the names of all these beers, but oh well. I guess that does not matter. This IPA apparently won gold at GABF in 2001. I am not going back to look in the record books but this gives me some expectations. The bitterness in this was very mellow. I appreciated that. Grapefruit came through quite a bit and it soothed out with a touch of lemon that followed into the finish. I thought this was an all around good beer. Well balanced.

Now we are getting to the darker beers. The porter was nice and malty. Pretty robust and had a sharp malt bitterness followed by a caramel sweetness. The stout, dark brown and a mellow head. Dark roasted coffee like flavors and caramel overtop. Pretty full bodied but not syrupy. That was nice. This beer was given to me on Nitro. I usually do not like beer on nitro. I don't know how to describe it but it has a funny taste... this was the first I did like... maybe, the others I have had were served on dirty lines? or I became accustomed to that flavor of the gas? I don't even know if that makes sense... I thought the gas was flavorless??? What do I know... Lets go with the dirty lines things...

I guess now that I have had a porter and stout they feel that my palate has been cleansed they are going back into the amber ale. I thought I picked up some green apples in this one but not too sure. I may have been losing it because I also got bananas... interesting for sure. The maibock was pretty hoppy and grassy. Just ok. The last beer to taste was the Cherry Blonde. I got maraschino cherries when I was drinking this one. They were all over the nose and into the taste. Cherry cordials is predominately what I thought of when drinking this. The chocolate, the cherries... I think the idea of the blonde was lost completely. It was funny because it was light bodied but still syrupy. I wondered how they brewed this one.

Now that I am at the end of this selection I guess I would say that this place has some damn good food. No doubt about that. I guess I only had one meal so I can't be too quick to judge on that but it was pretty fancy establishment as well. The beer did not really stand out to me. I mean, I did not find much that was very bad. Everything was drinkable. There were a few standouts like the IPA but I am not big on take the IPA every time. I like to experience other beers and that lead me to my decision on the Blonde to take home.



My first local brewery trip, though it was not what I would consider a typical brewery. I will get to some more soon and report back on those as well... but you already knew that.

Cheers!

New Belgium Brewing Company

Has there ever been a time in your life where you did the one thing that you thought you would never do? No matter how small or trivial that thing was. It did not require a lot of extra effort, just being in said place at said time... Well, I personally never thought I would get to New Belgium. The brewery of my dreams was just that. Nothing but a dream. I guess I could have had more romantic or say, exotic dreams. Like actually going out to Belgium, but that is just a bit different. New Belgium has been my Beer Love since the dawn of my Craft Beer life. 1554 quickly became my favorite beer and from then on I made it my mission to taste everything they released. From the Lips of Faith series, to their year round releases. So you know how I felt when I actually got the email...

It is destined: Touring New Belgium is in your near future. On Wednesday, June 06, 2012 at 3:30 PM, we’ve reserved 2 tour tickets under the name Allen.

I could have cried at this moment... Though, I guess I needed to start planning the road trip. I know that this was quite a while back, but it took some time for me to get settled into my new place, so blah! Trying not to be biased, I would have to say this was the best tour that I have been on. Truth!

I mean, what other tour let me pour my own beer? And that was not ever the start of it...



In order to make it to Fort Collins on time I left Seattle at about 9am the previous morning and had one hell of a drive for almost 24 hours stopping only to sleep at rest stops for a few hours at a time. Nothing was going to make me late to this day. When we finally arrived there it was about 10am and we found a motel just a few blocks away and crashed until about an hour before our tour. We got up, got ready, and left because I wanted to have a few beers before it got started. Right as we are getting near the brewery we are held up by a train! Who does that? Runs a train right through the middle of the city? It didn't really affect anything other than my drinking time but I had no idea how long this thing was.



Luckily, my first flight was everything I hoped for and more. Finally I fell into the world of my favorite brewery. I had Ken's Hefe, Valentine's Day Ale, Lost Abbey Brett Beer Collab, and La Folie 2012! La Folie is actually a beer in my 1001 Beers series, but since I have a bottle of 2011, and 2012 in the cellar, I will hold on for that for later. La Folie is actually a beer that inspired me to brew a Flanders Red. But more on that later. All of these beers were amazing. I took crappy notes on them but I was more just into enjoying myself at the brewery than anything else. The lady liked Valentine's Day Ale, so that is a plus and I got a bottle of Brett Beer for home too!

The coolest thing I thought before the tour is that the ticket was a 1554 Label... I should have kept it but they collected it pretty much at the start. 1554 is one of my favorite beers of all time. Everything about it is just amazing. I am really surprised I did not have one before we got going. The first beer of the tour was Abbey. I had seriously forgot how good this beer is. It was always one of my favorites but I only picked it up in a Folly Pack. During the first section of this tour they did the usual. Told us about the company and brewing and yada yada yada. You know, the stuff that every beer geek already knows, and those who make beer know even more about. But it was still a good time. They even gave out prizes for answering trivia questions.

The next part of the tour was extremely awesome. This is where we got more in depth information about all of the beers that the company releases. Some were held back for other parts of the tour but we also got to pour our own beer. Fan-Fricken-Tastic. That is where the video from above is. I decided to get myself a Cocoa Mole. I had this beer once and was not really sure what to think. On my second go around... I am kind of stuff in the same boat. It was not bad but it was just so different. I also got a pour of Sunshine Wheat. Another really good beer from this company. I believe they said they brewed this one originally under the name of Wedding Wheat... or something like that but changed the name because only females were drinking it.



Our next stop was the Barrel Room. Again, we got to pour our own beer here, and the beer on tap? Tart Lychee. I had just had this not too long ago and instantly fell in love. This is yet another bottle I have home with me as well. I guess I should show them all off at some point being I keep bringing this up... I really wanted to run around and try to find stuff in here but I am pretty sure that was not allowed. I am really hoping for a rerelease of Le Terrior. Now that would be great.

The next part of the tour brought us to Fat Tire, and 1001 Beers Number 18. This was seriously the best Fat Tire I have ever had. I am usually not a fan of this beer, and maybe being at the source had some magical voodoo over me but just every layer of this beer came through and made me remember why I first started drinking the beer from this company. The biscuit, the crystal, just everything that makes this beer what it is was very well showcased here. I should have taken some of this home with me too. I guess I can easily find it at the store though. Not sure if it can ever taste this amazing again.

The last stop of this tour was around their bottling line area and the last beer of the tour was Somersault. This was my most drank beer last summer. It is great for a nice warm day... or hot because that is pretty much how it always was in the San Fernando Valley. The citrus flavors plays really well on the light body that this beer presents. They gave out a couple of cans of Shift. There was a lot of cool things we saw on the way, the windmills were not one of them :( I guess we were too far away to actually see them but it is alright. They sustain themselves pretty well. Before we finished the tour, we had one last piece of fun... I will never forget this moment.



After the tour I picked up a few more beers. I mean, how could I not? We still had some time before the Liquid Center closed and I wanted to spend every minute possible there. This time around I got a big Valentine's Day Ale for the Lady and a Bier De Mars, Prickly Passion Saison, and 1554 for myself. I also had to get a Cascadian Dubbel and Billy's Beer just to say that I have had every Lips of Faith released and that was possible to get in my area since I got into beer. I love the series and I wish it was easier to get my hands on, but maybe that is part of the allure.



Once I got outside I noticed this cool trailer that was numbered after my favorite beer and pretty much told the whole story of New Belgium from the beginning. It even included a miniature scale of the facility. I wonder what the new one in Asheville will be looking like. We have had some announcements but nothing too big at the moment. I just hope that I can be there opening day. I think the whole moving to North Carolina thing was not such a bad idea in this respect but we will see how the road goes in general.







Here are a few of the bottles I kept talking about and I still have from some time. I hope a few are not past their prime and I wish I could have found others. Like another bottle of Fresh Hop Ale. I plan on turning them all into cups because that seems to be a fad now. If only I did not get rid of my old collection of bottles...

The New


The Old

I wish they would rerelease Sahti, and let Belgo out in that bottle once more instead of the year round one they have now. But anyway, no trip to a brewery, especially my favorite brewery, would be complete without me grabbing some glassware. I was kind of disappointed with the style they had but I guess it works. Each of my favorite breweries had a different style. Deschutes the Euro top, Sierra Nevada the Bulb. I filled this one with Trippel. Another great beer. Again, one I usually only get around the holidays but I did not have it while at the brewery so I had to make sure I got it. I was kind of disappointed that I did not taste Ranger while I was there or Blue Paddle but I guess I just have to make the trip back :D.



983 Bottles Of Beer To Go!

Cheers!

The Brave Experiment

As coined by @bjornidentity from Twitter,I recently opened a random ass growler that I had lying around my room from before I left for basic training. It doesn't really give you a good overview of the beer, but you can read about my journey of that day here.





Doesn't that picture look familiar? Anyway, wow... this beer was just bad after so long. The greatest thing about this was the head... check it out.





Other than that, shitty. Wow, I honestly can not remember how this beer tasted but wow... if it was anything similar to this, I cannot believe that I got myself a growler... wtf? The picture of this beer is so blurry because it is a direct representation of how it tasted. Very sour, smelled funky as hell. I expected it to be a lot bitter but I think when the hops died, it turned this beer to piss. I have no explanation.

Though, I went up to Seattle in order to get my niece a birthday present and I happened to come back past the brewery. I figured, you know, I want to know what I liked about this beer. There had to be a reason I wanted a growler... well, here it is.





It was actually pretty good fresh. It had a very herbal essence to it. A nice hop bite and sweet in the finish. Definitely a beer that I would love to have again and again. I guess my taste were not that bad but I still messed up by leaving it to waste. I have kept a few growlers for some time... ok, only like a week, but I will never again let this happen. Geez, unless... this becomes an experiment haha!

Cheers!

Elysian Brewing

One of the main things I wanted to do in Washington that was brewery related and that I have been looking forward to for a long time is Getting over to Elysian Brewing and Tasting one of their Trips!

The Trip is a collaboration between New Belgium and Elysian brewing, and being NB is my favorite brewery, I had to get out there and try what ever I could. I wish I would have been able to try all 9 trips, did I forget to mention that they are at nine beers with New Belgium now?, but getting to try one of them would be good enough at this point.

I figured that this brewery was pretty good and established being that they have done some pretty big collaborations. Another one that is going on with them, or has, I don't really know is a collaboration between them and Stone. That really peaked my interest and I had to see what this place was all about.

On our way up there we stopped by this awesome Bottle Shop that just recently installed Taps in the place in order to sell growlers in the shop. I KNOW RIGHT! Washington just passed a new law that allows you to sell any beer, anywhere (well almost), in any glassware. Pretty kick ass if you ask me... and guess what? NO CRV!!! That annoyed the hell out of me in CA. I hated CRV, I mean, seriously? Why?



I was completely overwhelmed with the amount of beer that was in there that it made it so very hard for me to collect a six pack. There were specific beers that I was looking for that I could not find and a ton of local beers that I never even heard of. It was just awesome. I picked up some New Belgium, and some Local brews like Scuttlebutt Hoptopia. When I am back in this area, I have some craft beer research to do.

Once we got to Elysian, all I really wanted was a flight of their brews but since I was pretty hungry too, I figured I should eat. Service was slow but my beer finally came. The thing that I thought was funny is that when my flight was presented to me, it came with a card naming all of the beers that I had got but it was completely inaccurate. They crossed out two of the beers and replaced them with others. This was not an issue for me because I was going to drink whatever they gave me but I just assumed if they were taking the time to give it such a display, they would at least have the correct listing.



Most of the beers I thought were just average, which is the same experience I had of most of the beers I had that are from Washington, (at the time I am writing this I had already had the Scuttlebutt Hoptopia, and that was damn good. As you probably know, I am not a fan of most IPAs but this Imperial IPA was something worth finding and enjoying. I want to find more from this brewery), but maybe I am just looking in all of the wrong places.

The best beer I had from here was the Dragons Tooth Stout. This one was actually damn good. The server told me it was their best selling beer, and even if he was lying to me, I see why. This was my growler fill for the night.



As for The Trip IX, I was really happy with this "Down Under IPA". It was brewed with New Zeland hops and was not like the typical West Coast IPA that everyone brews and loves, which I feel is kind of killing beer... I mean, be innovative and create something instead of trying to be bigger and hoppier than the rest. Some people do it right, and well, so kudos to them. I drink your IPA but not everyone gets it and they should stop... Not every beer in the world should be Imperial this, barrel aged this, Why can't somebody brew a low ABV session anything that can just be enjoyed for what it is... but then again, I guess that is why I homebrew.

Anyway, it was more like what a True IPA would be like. The style was not meant to be drank fresh. The hops were added as preservatives so they mellowed out quite a bit during the voyage to India and it was kept for sometime before drinking... This beer aknowledged that. Very Happy about it. I even think they used Galaxy hops. This was my first experience with them but now I have been seeing them all over the place. I realy hope that they are used well and do not become the new Cascade...

Deschutes & Hair Of The Dog

I wish I could have made it to Bend and check out the brewery there but I did not really want to make the 5/6 hour drive vs the 2 hour drive. Parking was ridiculous but who cares at this point. I had another Beergasm as we drove by the place.



It was really hard picking out what I wanted to drink. I ordered 2 taster trays since they did not have a preset taster menu and each came with 6 beers. They had about 20 on tap at the time. What made it really hard is I wanted to taste all of my favorites at the source, but they had so many limited and special brews that are only available at the brewpub too... I don't even think I looked at the food menu. I just ordered the special that my server told me about.

He was a really funny guy and was confused as hell when it took me about 15-20 minutes to decide on 12 beers. I decided to break it down by Malty and Hoppy Brews... sort of.





They had a weird beer with lemonade in it and I was not a fan HAHA! but I am so happy that I finally got to try Conflux 2. I wish I could have had one but 2 was great. It was very mellow and flavorful without being overpowering for an IPA. I loved it, again.

I really hate Deschutes for releasing Black Butte XXIII. I am sure all the previous years were amazing as well, but this was the first one I had. It totally ruined Black Butte for me. Not saying Black Butte is not good, it is actually one of my favorite Porters but after having XXIII, it is just not the same. The flavor profile seems out of this world. I wish it was a year round release but I understand why it is not.

Again, I ran into another brewery that did not have any growlers :( this made me very sad because I was so looking forward to getting one from here. You know, being it is one of my all time favorite breweries. I will make it out to the Bend Pub one day though and do the tour and get a Growler! To make up for my misfortune though, I bought a Bottle of Black Butte XXIII and the pint glass :D It will suffice for now...

My next stop was Full Sail Brewing. I have never had any of their beers but decided why not go there. There are so many breweries in the area and I could have gone to anywhere and I did not do enough research to just move on. Not that I thought Full Sail would have been a bad choice.

We got to the location and guess what I found out... I WAS AT THE RIGHT PLACE!!! but they do not have a tasting room at their MAIN brewery... sucks... I am so glad I did not pay for parking even though I drove around for like 10 minutes trying to find a spot... Since we were just in Portland for the day I figured that we would just head home (and later that night I found out that people were heading into town for BBC11... Beer Bloggers Conference... ugh, if I knew that I would have planned this trip so differently. Oh, well... there is always next year right?

Traffic was out of control so instead of staying on the Highway, we got off and headed to Hair of The Dog because it was right off of the exit. I recognized their labels but have never had any of their beer. I ordered their whole collection of Beers, aka Walk The Dog and The Little Dogs Too.



I heard some great stories about their beers and their brewing schedule, (5 brews in one day to fill the fermenter) but the beers did not really stand out to me. Some of them had this taste that I had before in the Hermitage Brewing Beers that I cannot stand. They were a lot more minor in these brews. I have to figure out what it is... I have not had it often though.

I paired the beers with their Chuck Norris Duck Wings. I was told they were supposed to be really hot but meh, they were nothing really. They had some good flavor though. I think the description said something about kicking me in the mouth and punching my throat.

I thought these small samples were very doable but I do not think I could have a whole pint of any of these beers... that being said... I asked for a Growler :p they were out of glass as well, but I did take home one of their glasses. Again, another trophy for my collection.

Pike Brewing Co

Pike Brewing Company is totally one of those places that you have to go to if you ever visit Seattle and are at Pike Place Market. Honestly the beer was just ok in my opinion. I really appreciated that they brewed a Scotch Ale.

We headed up here to meet up with an old friend since we finally made it back to Seattle and I was very hungry by the time we got there already. I figured if I was going to eat, why not do it at the brewery :D

I ordered the Fish and Chips, which seems like one of those things you have to do if you are eating on the water front. It was a great choice. I got my growler and then ran away. It was a totally over sized growler and that was awesome. They sold the standard one too but I did not want another twist top growler. I don't really like the style but whatever. This was one expensive piece of glass though.



After this we went and did a few other things, like took a look at The Famous Gum Wall. It was so gross and you could smell the bums in the areas. I wish I was chewing some gum to add to the wall but NOPE! I haven't chewed since High School. I was addicted to Ice Breakers back then. There is an antique shop not that far from Pike Place and I found some real gems there.

I found some Carboys with plugs and airlocks still intac, VHS tapes of Star Trek, and Tap Handles from numberous breweries. I found a Sierra Nevada one, Pyramid, and a New Belgium among others. Guess what I did...


TOOK IT HOME!!!!!!!!

I cannot wait to get my brewery set back up again and put this on my kegerator.

Sierra Nevada

Wow... Just Wow...



I don't really know what to say about this place. It was a beyond amazing experience coming here. I really wish that I would have gotten into town earlier or was able to stay another day here but yeah. I really wanted to do the tour and see everything hidden in that place, especially since I didn't get into Beer Camp :'(

The restaurant and tasting room were fricken ridiculous. It was like a 5 Star Restaurant... or at least what I image one to be like. It totally fits the brewery but I was expecting something a lot different. I don't really know, but not what I saw. It was sooooooo nice... and I was amazed by the beer.



As if you did not know that already. I got to taste several beers I have been looking for and found one of the worlds most secret, amazing tasting porters. I understand that the Pale is their Flagship beer, but people should really find this Porter. I used to only drink their Pale and Torpedo, being they are also more widely available than any of their other beers. In my area anyway. I finally got to taste Life And Limb and retried Big Foot 2011. I really have to find bottles of L&L and get a 6er of Big Foot 2012 to taste against my 2011 and future batches.

I thought it was pretty damn cool too that the whole parking lot was filled with Solar Panels. The lot also looked into their hop fields. I wanted to just run through them but I figured hopping the fence would have been more trouble than it was worth. I cannot wait to go back there again. I got my growler filled with their Porter and next time I go, I want to ride my bike.

Drink What You Damn Well Please Day

WOOT! West Coast Circle Jerk! I mean, wait... The first International IPA Day or something like that. My original intention were not to drink a single IPA today but I guess my plans totally messed this one up. I planned to head to a brewery today... Bear Republic.



The one thing that makes me mad about my visit here is I FORGOT TO TAKE A PICTURE OF MY AMAZING HAMBURGER!!! Before I go on, This burger was A Half Pound, Jalapeno Poppers wrapped in Bacon, with Onion Rings, Pepper Jack, and some crazy sauce. LOVED THIS BURGER! I want to have it again.

I loved this Brewery. As we were walking by I found some very delicious treats.


I kind of wanted to steal this spent grain to make something with, or remash and make a small beer.



Here is the spread. Some very awesome, awesome brews. Racer 5 got me my IPA Day Badge and there were many great beers to be had after that. Honestly though, Racer 5 has never tasted so good. As we left I saw something very exciting...



Guess where I decided to go!



I think this may have been a bad idea. I had very many, many great craft beers. Take a look.



18 4oz pours... This did not end well, well it did not end bad I survived though my palate was beyond crashed. The Beer Sanctuary was very nice... a few too many dogs for my taste, especially seeing as that there was never a dog for Lagunitas (learned that one on the tour), several of their beers were named after towns and apparently all of their beers start as seasonal releases and then if they are liked they move into the year round sector.

I got about halfway through this taster tray before I figured that if I were going to make it all the way, I would have to taste everything right now. I tried to take the best tasting notes possible but after a while everything began tasting like toffee. I love toffee but it did not seem right.

There were several beers that I went back to the next day in order to actually find out what I was tasting. I thought their growlers were kind of a rip, I mean it was cool that they gave it to me in a Mason Jar but they did not even brand it... wtf?

Russian River and Random Brewery Run In

After arriving in Cotati I did not waste anytime finding the breweries I added to my list. My first Stop ended up being Russian River... Yum. We were supposed to be meeting our Cousin there but she was running really late and I decided I was not going to wait any longer to experience the mind explosion waiting to happen.



A few people from Twitter were giving me a major break down on this brewery and what to do and what to order. Not that it would have been hard to figure out what I wanted to drink, I WANTED IT ALL!!!!!!!!!!!



But one thing I did not know about this place that was brought to my attention was the New Albion sign that was right above the bar, (I did not get a picture of this. I tried to make a trip back in order to get it but it did not happen in the time that I was there. I will get back in order to get it now that I have learned so much about it. I don't think that parenthesis are supposed to go this long.)Apparently they were the first brewery to brew a stout after the end of Prohibition. The company went under but they still have a place in the brewing world today. Just last year Sierra Nevada released Jack and Kens 30th Anniversary BarleyWine, (have a bottle in the cellar), that is based off of the New Albion recipe from so long ago... man, I wish I would have snapped that picture... Oh well,... for now...

Anyway, drinking here was a delight, and the pizza was pretty damn good too. I remember I was looking forward so much to Consecration... and I was not really a fan. Let me know if you or anyone else had got these notes, but I swear I tasted Tobacco in this beer... It was very weird... Though, I did find and love Supplication! Highly recommend! I was in love with literally all of the beers here and I had some fun.



Finally my cousin showed up... well, kind of. She called us and asked where we were sitting because she was "here" and could not find us. Turned out that she was AT ANOTHER BREWERY RIGHT DOWN THE STREET!!!!!!!! I ordered my Growler of Pliny The Elder and guess where I went next!

Third Street Aleworks!



They gave me a massive flight of 13 4 ounce pours! They had pretty average beer overall but nothing was bad. They only sell their beer at that one location and not in stores so their mission is pretty straight forward. I was surprised with the Kolsch they brewed. Not many people make one, and not everyone should, but there should be more of them out there. Just saying.

I have several more stops here. So it is time to move on...

Brewery Weekend Part Duex!

To think that was not enough...

We went out to The Bruery the next day. I drank all but two beers they had on their menu. Met up with a few Friends while we were there so that made everything that much better... did not limit the amount I drank though.



The Bruery is pretty much a top notch place. There was not a single beer they served me that I did not like. Well, there was one, but it was just not my style. Salt of The Earth. The first Gose style brew I had and it was far too Salty for my taste.

Don't let that keep you from trying it though. I plan to taste everything else in that style I can find until I decide that it is, or is not right for me. Just think if I kept trying to drink BMC. I would not be the Beer Snob I am today.



I ended up taking home a growler of Iniquitous, a "10% ABV Belgian Golden Strong Ale" that is really only 8.1%. As long as they are consistent, right?

Damn good brew though. I will not take that away from them. I honestly did not want to share, and if you knew me, you would know this is weird as hell. I am known as the guy who bring WAY too much beer to everything. I just think it is a wonderous thing and is meant to be shared with everyone. So, if I am in your neck of the woods expect to have too much beer to drink!

This place seems to know exactly what they are doing. I will miss the LA CraftBeer scene once I am gone. Though, I am sure I will find out that the beer where ever I am is just as amazing.

After leaving The Bruery, we went out to 38 Degree's Alehouse and I had a flight of brews there. They have great food, a great atmosphere, and while all of their servers do not know everything about beer, they are honestly trying.



Alex, our server for the night, admitted he did not know everything about the beer there (but to be fair, they have like 40 rotating taps or something and a huge bottle list, I am surprised he knew as much as he did) but he was always tasting new things and learning everything he could. He was very knowledgeable for how little he said he knew. He was also talking to us about the owner and how he was pretty good with beer and picked some of the best ones available for his restaurant.

If you are ever in the area, I would definetly go out there. It will be well worth your time.