2017 SoCal Adventures in Craft Beer, Part 1

Another year, another trip to California in the books. It’s the annual tradition that while I’m out there for an important freelance graphic design project, I have to see friends, repeat some traditions, and try to do something new. As always, my first stop after getting off the plane (and retrieving my baggage and renting a car, of course)…In-N-Out Burger for a 4×4 and fries (no, not animal style…I’m just not that into Thousand Island dressing).

Revisiting the winner…

One thing I knew I had to do in Southern California this year was make a repeat visit to my winner of “Orange County’s Best Burger” from last year’s visit. Slater’s 50/50, as a chain, has experienced some hard times since I was last in town, but the original location was still where I left it and still offering a fantastic lunch special that featured a 1/4 lb. burger, fries and a craft beer for about $15.

I opted for the BBB Burger…it starts with their signature 50/50 patty with half ground beef and half ground bacon, add some thick cut bacon slices, then some Bacon American cheese, bacon island dressing, brioche, and finish it with a fried egg. Good? Ridiculously good! I wanted to try a beer I hadn’t had before—I’ll get to “why” in a moment—the Paul Bischeri & Patrick Martinez/Abnormal Beer Company/Stone Neapolitan Dynamite. The name is a mouthful and so is the beer.

I honestly didn’t think a stout brewed with chocolate, vanilla, strawberries and coffee would be that good…I just had to try it! But it was great, too. Full and rich like any good stout should be, but with a complex sweetness.

After lunch, I hit Embassy Cigars a couple miles down the road and discovered a Paul Garmirian Lancero from 1996 or so…about the time they first started making that brand! It was smooth and mellow…aged well but because Dominican leaf ages so well, it still had plenty of kick and some pepper spice at times.

About that beer…

So, my friend and co-worker, KJ, has been able to convince me to try various and diverse craft beers this year. In an effort to keep up with them a little better, I decided to sign up for Uptappd, a social networking app for beer explorers. I’m not going to exhaustively detail every beer I had on the trip, but I run down a few…

Monday on the way to meet Vern at Island’s Cigar Lounge, I picked up some Ballast Point Fathom, a new IPL…India Pale Lager?…yes, as a matter of fact, an IPL! The regular was good, but the Orange Vanilla version was even better. Look for it.

Taps Tuesday…

Tuesday I met many friends at Taps in Brea. They brew their own beer and I went for a flight of samplers. The BoppelDock was my favorite. I ended up giving it a 4.5 out of 5, which is about my highest rating so far.

We ate heartily, talked loudly and smoked many fine cigars…some of which were courtesy of Jeremy, the national sales director for Caldwell Cigars. He showed up to talk a little business and have a little fun…and he brought sticks! The Caldwell/Matt Booth collaboration Hit & Run is available in the Pyramide size only at events, but we apparently rated as an event that night…honestly, if you have to go to an event to get these, you should.

It was great seeing Keith, Vern, Ray, Paul, Michael, Dale, Jim, and the rest again (I’m forgetting at least two people, I think). Dale, Vern and I made plans for a taproom crawl for Thursday…and that’s what I want to focus most on this year…

Ballast Point

I’ve stated it before…Ballast Point is my current favorite “craft” brewery. They are owned by Corona, but so far they have remained fairly independent when it comes to making the brews. It’s just that they have massive amounts of marketing money and the cash to build multiple taprooms around Southern California. We went to the one in Long Beach.

The main room is absolutely enormous, with seating for 100 or more around a massive bar with about 30 taps on each side. Off to the left there is a lower patio overlooking the entrance to the marina and to the right, behind glass, there were massive tanks for the brewing of beers that are exclusive to that taproom.

Upstairs is another (smaller) bar and more outdoor seating with a beautiful view of Catalina Island just 27 miles or so away.

We settled back inside, ordered some lunch (good burgers) and flight samplers of beer.

I started with something called bOOb Check Ale, a slightly sour fruit beer. It was good, but my tolerance for sour beers is pretty low and I’m guessing this one wouldn’t impress any true sour fans.

Up next was Habanero Sculpin. Sculpin is a very hoppy IPA that I honestly didn’t care for…way too bitter and way too much grapefruit flavor. I wanted to step out of my comfort zone, though, and I’m glad I did. The hoppiness in the IPA was balanced here with tons and tons of pepper spice. I’m not sure I’d want to drink a whole 12 oz bottle, but the taster was great. Definitely something I would split a bomber bottle with 2 or 3 other guys.

The last sampler was Cinnamon Raisin Commodore, an American Stout. It was very cinnamony…almost like a cinnamon bread, but the raisin note was just a hint. I described it as “thick, dark and rich.” I enjoyed it, but again probably wouldn’t want to drink it frequently.

Before we left, I got a full pint of Calm Before the Storm, a Cream Ale with coffee and vanilla. I’ve had this a few times and fell in love with it. It’s my favorite Ballast Point offering to date and is only available at certain times of the year, so I made sure to get a pint on draft while I was there. One bartender told me he had heard they were no longer going to bottle it and ship it nationally. If that’s true, it’s a real shame.

With that we headed out (no…I wasn’t driving…Dale limited his beer consumption for this trip) and back to the OC and Bruery Terreux…and that’s where I’ll pick up next time…