Long Beach Taste of Brews

What’s better than a brewfest (other than a great tap room)?  How about a brewfest, held on a beautiful, sunny southern California afternoon, within walking distance of your house!  That was the treat that I was in for this past Saturday as the Long Beach Taste of Brews was held at Lighthouse Park on the beautiful Long Beach waterfront.  Although there were a few logistical glitches along the way – see a last minute email to ticket holders announcing that the event was not an “all you can taste event” but rather “a taste-for-ticket” event – once the festivities kicked-off and the beer began flowing, the Long Beach Taste of Brews turned out to be a great event.

With the plethora of craft breweries that call southern California home, as residents and beer lovers, it is never too difficult to find a great hand-crafted beer.   However, it is more difficult to find beers from some of the smaller, up and coming breweries located across LA and Orange Counties.  The Long Beach Taste of Brews offered a venue for a number of these up and coming breweries to showcase their beers to the ever-expanding legion of craft-beer lover’s at an equal distance between LA and Anaheim.

The Taste featured quite a few of breweries,  such as Golden Road, El Sugundo, Left Coast, Black Market and Strand  that I have been looking forward to try, as well as favorites such as Old Orange, Karl Strauss and Hanger 24.  With the exception of a few out of place “micros” such as Shock Top, Blue Moon and Sam Adams, the selection at the Long Beach Taste of Brews was great.  Stone certainly did not bring their heavy hitters and even Karl Strauss and Lagunitas didn’t left their A-games at home, overall the selection was great, the sun was shining, and in the end the ticket for a taste rule was ignored.

I was able to try every beer on my pre-festival agenda, and even found a few unexpected favorites, below is a list of some of the highlights from day at the Long Beach Taste of Brew:

Golden Road Point the Way IPA:

A highly sessionable, (5.2% abv) crisp and smooth IPA that pours golden and features an assertive, citrus hop profile.  I was blown away by the amount of hops and pop that this beer delivers at such a low abv, making this perhaps the best beer for a bbq or post-surf or bike ride drink.

Old Orange Brewing Cannonball IPA:

A slightly sweet, orange hewed IPA that is loaded with notes of citrus and grapefruit and finishes with a strong hop kick.  A very smooth and drinkable beer, with great balance at 10% abv.

Left Coast Special K Pilsner.

A crisp, clean and refreshing pilsner, with a nice hop profile makes this beer delicious and appropriate for any occasion.  Special K is what a pilsner should be – imagine one of those “triple-hopped brewed” pilsner s– with an undeniable handcrafted taste. 

El Sugendo Hyperion’s Double Stout.

A dark, smooth and slightly sweet stout with hints of dark chocolate that is balanced by a slightly bitter, roasted finish.   Maybe not the best beer on a hot summer afternoon, but definitely a great one to enjoy with football season just around the corner.