The OC/LA release thread.

I mean, you say you're not a huge IPA fan but Beachwood has more than a couple of standouts. Outside of Amalgamator, I'm not a huge fan of the standard IPAs they bottle but the one offs that they have bottled have been nuts. If you add the stuff that doesn't get bottled, I'd say they easily have 8-12 standouts. But if you don't like that style of IPA, you're going to disagree.

 

I love the Beachwood IPAs. I just think we (So Cal) have so many breweries and enjoy such a high quality that we may tend to be more critical.

 

How 'bout those OC/LA releases?

 

There are player haters but I'm a flavor hater!

 

My go to IPA/DIPA is still the Elder. It is not my favorite these days. But I compare all the other IPAs I've had in the last 8 years to the Elder. It is a well balanced DIPA. Not too sweet. Not too bitter. Just a well balanced meal (beer). I hadn't had a Pliny in almost 2 months. Picked up 2 bottles last week for Super Bowl. Couldn't wait. Opened a bottle on Monday. Freaking delicious. Again, not my favorite. But still in my top 10. I think the east coasters never really experienced a really good IPA in till recently with the IPA explosion there. They've always had Heady, but like Pliny it was very hard to get. The east coast Brewers had to make an IPA that would change the way they drink beer on the east coast. They did just that with the more juicier, citrusy unfiltered IPAs. When I first had Green Diamonds in NYC back in summer 2014 I thought this was a totally legit and different IPA than what I've been drinking here in the west. A change. I still trade and fly back to Brooklyn for OH IPAs. It's a different mix to my west coast IPAs.

 

What about em? Still some of the best. World class.

 

So anyways, looks like Whole Foods DTLA is getting Hopslam on Monday 2/8. Must purchase a flight to be able to purchase a 6 pack of cans.

 

Nothing. If you lived in the NE you should drink those, they're some of the best in that area.

I'll just say when I've had Other Half / Tree House / Trillium fresh and close to the source (while visiting the NE) I've found them to be stellar. Trading for them, trying those that others have traded for, or even bringing them back myself and having them a week or two later, and they don't seem all that special.

My FIERY HOT TAKE is that insane freshness and proper handling (spending most or all of their time in cool / cold conditions) can make all the difference. I don't doubt that those beers are legitimately great, I just doubt you can ship them here to California and expect them to be at their best. And, as you say, SoCal has a near infinite number of IPAs that are just as good if not better without any of the hype, why would you ever bother? I can't imagine ever running short of amazing IPAs to drink around here, it's an embarrassment of riches, and we're all the better for having breweries capable of producing them in volume and (mostly) without the crowds and hassle that accompany hype.

I know I'm probably speaking entirely to the converted but hey, why do work when I could waste my time writing this?!

 

all Whole Foods Socal, 20% OFF Select 12pks this weekend! friday - sunday ( 2/5 - 2/7) cheers!

 

WF El Segundo has lots of BCBS & BCBW yesterday when I was there. I talked to their beer guy about the infection and he "confirmed" their batches are not infected. I'm saving my receipt!

 

Any idea if it includes those Sculpin Variety packs?

 

Working in DTLB for the past 7 years I can honestly say I've tried every Beachwood IPA ever made from that place and believe they are brewing some of the best IPA's on the West Coast. With that said, I recently took a trip to (Vermont/Mass/Maine) and had a chance to visit Treehouse and the stuff that is coming out of that place is amazing.

Had Green, Julius, TWSS and Curiosity 24 and all were delicious. I think the biggest difference is their dry hopping, where these TH IPA's are murkier and don't have that see through characteristic these West Coast IPA's have. I also stopped by Trillium and I think they are just as good if not better than Treehouse . One thing is for sure, these TH cans are nothing like the stuff that is sitting on our shelf here on the west coast. Put a ISO:TH Cans FT: Knuckle Sandwich and let me know how that goes.

 

Nobody in the current "trade economy" wants an old dog like Knuckle Sandwich or Pliny the literal Elder... they want that new-new...

 

Well said, except your only mistake was responding to a well known troll.

 

Whaaa? Variety packs? Grapefruit, Habenero, Regular and Pineapple?

 

Grapefruit, Regular, and Pineapple 12 pack. Seen it at TW Long beach, pricey at 28.99.

 

Thats what I'm talking about......thanks.

 

It'd be cool if it included all variants but the more that I think about it the more I am okay with an extra reg, grapefruit, and pineapple over three habañero haha.

 

I'm cool with it just having beers that I'd like to drink in it. Ballast Point pepper beers just taste like straight over-powering pepper to me, of which I'm not a fan. But as always, taste is subjective so YMMV.

 

I just went to one costco and they didn't have it. I had them check for nearby costco's... and he couldn't find sucaba found in their system.