Sleeping Car Giants
Oakland United Beerworks

While I had three brews from Linden Street about eight years ago, Oakland United deserves another micro-review because their story is good and almost unique to my knowledge of studying crafters for much of this century. Many micros have closed and more will as the market tightens. But Linden came back as OUB and, if I can judge by this Baltic, they know how to brew.

Sleeping Car Giants Looks appetising; its head could almost be a root beer float, but it sticks around the glass. Smells are mostly malt roasted well. Tastes are close to balanced with the roasting seemingly making a very dry finish. Full-mouthed in a mostly full style.

As for my very good Overall Hugs, that's for OUB for their second act; but also for their repositioning themselves in the Oakland brewing tradition (which I didn't know much about.) Also being Oakland-centric may be a good business strategy since there is so much competition in the Bay Area and Oakland is, after all, the region's third largest city and without rivals.