#micro breweries

So you could say that I grew up with beer. But I never really started enjoying it until somewhere around late 2010, after graduating from college. I remember buying a 24 pack of Bud light post-graduation to celebrate my achievement. And looking back now, that was a pretty bad idea.

My profound fondness for all sorts of beer, to visiting a brewery to spending hours browsing through every beer in a local alcohol retailer store, had me thinking, “Why not write about my beer adventures?”

First up is Indie Brewing Company. Located in the industrial area of Boyle Heights, this microbrewery is a local favorite in the neighborhood and neighboring cities for its great selection of beers. From their flavorful and hoppy IPAs to their crisps and light pilsner, Indie Brewing Company is flocked by many Angelenos. My favorite so far is their Beverly Pils. A smooth, clean, crisp Bohemian pilsner brewed with 100% Weyerman malt which makes it pairable with any meal. Bohemian pilsner or Pilsner – Czech is slightly sweeter and has a malty character with a toasted biscuit-like taste.

I’ve had some other batch from their beer selection, like the Pacific Kolsch Highway, IPA Del Ray, Nobody Walks In LA. Preferably,  I mostly enjoy drinking IPA and stouts but their Beverly Pils is my favorite so far. I haven’t been able to sit and have a drink in their tasting room because of the pandemic we are having, but it’s spacious and it’s always bustling the first time I went around. I and my girlfriend didn’t get to find any table first time around because it was packed, so we decided to go to Dry River Brewing. But overall, Indie Brewing Company is a must especially if you from Los Angeles.

When In Rome. . .

Or, Michigan, as it is. 

I have always been a fan of pumpkin anything.

Several years ago, I started enjoying  the pumpkin beer brewed at The Aiken (SC)  Brewing Company.   Now that I live 860 miles away, I was looking for a local, Plan B.

I discovered it yesterday.

Brewed by my new friends at the Saugatuck Brewing Company

Thanksgiving can’t be far away.

As a German Immigrant to New York I do appreciate the richness of pubs, bars and Bier devoted Restaurants, some of them even along with German Food, and the wide selection of beers in stores. I prefer drinking my beer in a quite country setting to a super noisy Manhattan Restaurant, so I can also have a conversation along with my beer tasting.

Most beer lovers don't just drink any beer, people usually prefer Lagers or IPA, or Alt, as we would say in Germany, or stout or.... I am definitely a lager kind of guy. Pils to be precise.

It's not easy finding a Pils in the US. I tried Scrimshaw Pilsner (1) in San Francisco, but it actually tastes more like a IPA. That was a bit dissappointing, because that takes it into a quite different direction as the savory taste I was going for. Captain Lawrence Kolsch (4)  brewed in upstate New York tasted actually almost like a pils, but definitely a good lager. This one I really liked, and lucky for me I can consider it a local beer.

The specialty about American brews is that they experiment with all sorts of spices, fruits and flavoring inventions. Since no beer could probably ever beat my all time favorite Summer beer Erdinger Kristallweizen (on a scale 1-5 it's definitely a 10) for me, (and nobody in this country has even tried to produce a Kristall), I have tried all the  US Weizen that I was able to get my hands on:Blue Moon (4) is a nice mellow version, with a sweet touch, even the regular one, the Honey moon is usually to sweet for my taste. 

I very much enjoyed Pyramid, a great west coast Hefeweizen (yeast wheat beer). Still Erdinger Kristall weizen I recommend as the perfect summer drink with a lemon. Luckily it is available in the great state of New York, however not in New Jersey. Great beer in the field of subtle sweet full fletched lager, is the Curious Traveller by Shandy from Burglington, Vermont, lager with the lemon inside, great refreshing beer and not sweet but with the tartness of the lemon. Same Burlington is also the home of another favorite fruity beer, Longtrail with their Belgian white with sweet orange and even more the Blackbeary Wheat. I visited their Brewery in 2011, where they let you watch the bottling process from a gallery.

It should come as no surprise that a shift to lovingly-produced craft beverages can bring in customers, especially ones willing to pay for quality food, as well. It may take a little more work than signing up with one large distributor, but the extra time is well worth it for many venues.

New Holland ages this craft beer for several years in new American oak barrels, then for three months in those barrels previously filled with their strong Dragon’s Milk beer. They say the process imparts a biscuity, smooth-malt character to the toffee-and-caramel tones of their fine whiskey. The inspired outfit that began as a two-person project in 1997 is now a celebrating success as a prominent regional microbrewery.