Beer Week II
I didn't attend any events during the first week of LA Beer Week. While that could be spun as numeric or linguistic moralism, it was simply a lack of the right coincidence of convenience, cost and appeal. That holy triumvirate appeared last Sunday in the form of the grand opening of Golden Road Brewery in Glendale. Golden Road has a large facility by the railway with a series of three warehouses (pictures here). The building at the north end of this string of building is now the brewhouse. They already have several large tanks at one end, but despite that, the space seemed vast and empty. At the south end of the industrial string is a building being converted into the taproom. It was still very much a work in progress on Sunday, but it looks like it will be quite a nice space, in particular the long communal tables they had in place for the event. In the middle was the final building, left until last because of it's indeterminacy. Perhaps it will be a storeroom?
There were beers as well. First, those of the host:
Most of the beers to be had were being served from a number of trucks scattered around the brewery grounds:
There were also two food trucks in attendance: Mandoline Grill and Flatiron truck. I had a pulled pork banh mi (a vietnamese sandwhich on a French roll) from the former and a serving of bacon mac and cheese from the latter. Both were tasty and decent value, but the banh mi was especially so on that count. The mac and cheese came very quickly, as one might expect.
[1] WOOOO!!
[2] I like Belgian-style beers, but I generally find them too rich to drink more than one in a session.
There were beers as well. First, those of the host:
- Golden Road Point the Way IPA: fruity, not too bitter but what bitterness there was grows over the course of a glass and becomes quite dominant on the palate.
- Golden Road Hefenweizen: a very cloudy Hef without the typical banana esters. I tried this while I was drinking the IPA, so I wondered if that had altered by perception of the beer, but I had another glass last night while watching the rugby [1] and I think my initial thoughts hold. It was smooth and very drinkable, but not your typical hef.
- Golden Road Burning Bush: I didn't realise this was a Golden Road brew until tonight, but this one was of my favourite brews of the day. It's a delightful mix of smokiness and hops.
Most of the beers to be had were being served from a number of trucks scattered around the brewery grounds:
- Hangar 24 India Black Rye:had that rye flavour then a malty-sweetness which became more complex as the glass continued and finishing in a compex palate. It was thick, black and reasonably hoppy. I'll have to look out for this one again.
- Hangar 24 Columbus IPA: Just Columbia hops in this one: not too hoppy for a CA IPA and with an interesting fruitiness. I just had a taste, but it seemed like something I would like in a full serving.
- Hangar 24 Double IPA: Again not very hoppy. A nice fruitiness with a little late bitterness.
(Hangar 24 also had their Helles Lager on hand. I had that a few weeks ago at Mohawk bend. It's fine, but doesn't have anything particularly interesting going on.) - Eagle Rock Brewery's Unity: I'd had a bunch of this the previous night watching the All Blacks beat the Wallabies in the Rugby World Cup Semi-final. It's apparently a "California Common" (what would be a "Steam Beer" if not for IP douchery), but it seemed very like a Belgian-style to me, albeit a very drinkable one [2].
- Firestone Union Jack IPA: I have no notes on this one.
- Thrillseeker IPA: Bam. Hops. All up in your face. It gets a bit fruity towards the bottom of the glass.
- The Brewery Mischief Belgian Golden Ale: No notes on this one either.
- Ninkasi Total Domination (Oregon) Double IPA: If you plan to market an IPA in California don't call it Total Domination unless it has a significant number of IBUs compared to California IPAs. I'll have to try this again when it's no surrounded by Cali IPAs.
- Finally, along with the Burning Bush, my favourite beer of the afternoon was the Stone Smoked Porter with Vanilla Bean. This was a ticket event and with my final two tickets I went back for those two. Stone's Smoked Porter is my favourite of the regular Stone brews, and the Vanilla porter has a definite vanilla bean flavour on top of that, much like a french vanilla ice cream. In fact, that's a great idea. It's like liquid candy, but without the sugar.
There were also two food trucks in attendance: Mandoline Grill and Flatiron truck. I had a pulled pork banh mi (a vietnamese sandwhich on a French roll) from the former and a serving of bacon mac and cheese from the latter. Both were tasty and decent value, but the banh mi was especially so on that count. The mac and cheese came very quickly, as one might expect.
[1] WOOOO!!
[2] I like Belgian-style beers, but I generally find them too rich to drink more than one in a session.