Biggest Dissapointment in CA Beers for 2017

38 Miles.

 

Fo me, it's the "local brewing" phenomenon.
With few exceptions, most of the "local" brews I've tasted have fallen far short ... not that they have been total disasters, and a select few have actually been decent....but it's the fact that they by and large don't live up to the implied promise of higher quality (at a higher cost) that turns me away. And quite a few of them serve drek.
Mercifully, many of these places will be gone before long.

 

Can you provide examples of CA "local brewers" who are serving "dreck"?

 

For me, the biggest disappointment has been the increased focus on “independence”.

 

Track 7's 6th Anniversary brews. For my palate and preferences I don't particularly care to revisit any of the four. I hope they return to a collaborative model for future anniversary recipes. They had many 'hits' for my tastes in their 5th Anniversary recipes.

 

Smog City hasn't really produce anything new and exciting. Use to give me a reason to visit Torrance but not no more.

 

One of the biggest letdowns of the year in 2017 for me was coincidentally also the #1 highlight.

Valiant wasn't one of top SoCal breweries when they made what was obviously a wrenching decision to shut their doors in early 2017. But I thought they were starting to mature as a brewery and came out with a candy sour series that I opined was rather unique and tasty. And then Valiant abruptly disappeared from the beer landscape.

As sad as it was to watch one brewer's dream evaporate, it was amazing to see another man so quickly step into their shoes. Same location, same vats, in a matter of a few months Green Cheek was succeeding where we were used to seeing breweries take a year or more to get off the dime.

There were many reasons for that - Evan Price had found success as a headbrewer at Noble along with former Noble cohort Brian Russo and I'm not going to get into the many whys that made GC an insta-success. I'm just glad it happened.

So instead of writing about it, I'm going to lift the tab off a crowler I bought at GC last weekend and drink to having one decent brewery morph into another. Prost!, I say, and a HNY!

 

Any brewery who has to collaborate with local business companies to sell some useless shit merchandise with their beer to make a profit errrrrrr I mean to provide the local beer community with exceptional "style" and "taste" of high quality products.

Also this..but include Phantom Carriage in this post too..

 

The proliferation of lines. Although, I guess that predates 2017.

 

As an individual, sure... But beer being independent really doesn’t mean a whole lot in terms of quality.

 

1. The lack of progress in Noble's expansion.
2. The quantity vs quality dichotomy that is happening in Anaheim. (Leisuretown will obviously help in the quality department for sure)
3. I thought that the Bruery had a lot of misses this year. Especially in their collaborations. Both Funky Buddha collabs were drainpours for me.

 

Congratulations on the first hipster comment of the year.

 

???

Hipsters love their independent shit...movies, music labels, bands, health food markets, coffee shops, etc.

 

Your skepticism of independence within the context of craft beer (which is by definition independent) is reminiscent of the same rejection of bourgeois conventions by hipsters.

 

for me it was definitly beachwood forgetting to buy cans for their 11 anny neipa after psyching me up for it

i heard it was excellent tho

 

They don't do hazy ipa's at all but I was really dying to see Three Weavers and El Segundo do at least two to three juice bombs because they're really close to me especially Three Weavers. I still support but man can we get some juice in the hood?

 

"Hazy IPAs are here to stay"

...I SERIOUSLY hope not! I'm tired of seeing some of my favorite breweries put good old west coast hop bombs on the back burner to make yet another can of alcoholic orange juice.

I really want to see what places like Monkish, Green Cheek and Offshoot can do if they are willing to get over this fad and brew a damn good dank hop bomb!