Season 3, Episode 27 – This week, beers from AleSmith Brewing Company and Bottle Logic Brewing.

Happy Independence Day! This week, we’re keeping the blog post short and sweet. There are vegan hamburgers to be grilled and beers to be drank.

This week, we’re drinking some pretty hefty beers from Founders, AleSmith, and Bottle Logic. 

Before we get too deep into it, we’re gonna start with a trip inside the 4B Mailbag with some Founders Backwoods Bastard. Speaking of which, we’re asking for your beer haikus. Feeling creative? Send us yours at [email protected].

Next up are three beers that really showcase what’s going on in the SoCal beer scene. AleSmith Brewing Company’s Private Stock Ale and Mexican Speedway Stout are first up. Private Stock Ale is an Old Ale that was made for aging. AleSmith even encourages you to do this. Why? Because, man, IS IT HOT! So much booze on this beer, it’s crazy! But, that’s by design. AleSmith knows what they’re doing and when they tell you to age this beer, you should. Buy a few bottles and open them over the course of five or six years. The booziness should mellow out over time, allowing the beer to really shine. Drink a bottle fresh as a baseline for comparison and then another in a year or two. Hell, buy a case and really geek out with cellaring…

AleSmith makes killer stout—probably the best in the world, according to certain folks. Speedway Stout is a classic coffee stout that lends itself well to barrel aging. This version, Mexican Speedway Stout, is a blend of fresh Speedway Stout and tequila barrel-aged Speedway Stout with cinnamon, Mexican coffee and Mexican Chocolate. The balanced of these particular ingredients in beer is critical, and AleSmith nails it—this beer is fantastic.

We end the show with a beer that needs no introduction, Bottle Logic Brewing’s Fundamental Observation. This beer is the whale-iest of SoCal whales. It’s a fantastic blend of barrel aged stout that literally smells like alcohol infused brownies. While drinking this beer, we talk about beer geeks and beer culture in general and how the scene has changed over that last five years or so. Spoiler: John goes on a rant…

BREW THE SHIT OUT OF IT.

Beers from this week’s episode: Founders Brewing Company – Backwoods Bastard AleSmith Brewing Company – Private Stock Ale AleSmith Brewing Company – Mexican Speedway Stout Bottle Logic Brewing – Fundamental Observation (2016)

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4B Theme Song: The Sleeping Sea King

Season 3, Episode 26 – This week, the Fat Tire & Friends “collabeeration riff pack” and Going In Blind with Nagel.

As you may remember, a few weeks ago we sampled the Sierra Nevada collaboration Beer Camp 12-pack. We were marginally dissatisfied with most of the beers. It’s not that the beers outright sucked (there were a couple wins), but they just weren’t noteworthy. This week, we decided to try another collaboration mixer. New Belgium’s take on their collaboration “riff pack” differed from Sierra Nevada’s Beer Camp in that every beer is a take (riff, if you will) on New Belgium’s classic Fat Tire Amber Ale. This should be interesting…

Fat Tire is a well known beer. Its classic label, depicting red “retro” bicycle, can be spotted from a mile away (well, maybe not a mile…10 feet?). It’s safe to assume that even the most experienced beer geek among us has tasted Fat Tire at least once. Fat Tire is ubiquitous, but it also tends to get overlooked by beer geeks in search of something more, whatever that may be.

To celebrate their 25th anniversary, New Belgium called upon their closest beer industry buds to take the classic Fat Tire recipe and mix it up. Maybe change the yeast, add MOAR HOPS, or throw in some apple juice? Rhinegeist, Firestone Walker, Allagash, Avery, and Hopworks all participated in the collaboration. Each beer in the Riff Pack is a unique take on Fat Tire.

Did the beers exceed our expectations? Did New Belgium play it safe or did they really try to brew outside the box and make an interesting group of beers? Listen and find out!

BREW THE SHIT OUT OF IT.

Beers from this week’s episode: New Belgium Brewing Company – Fat Tire New Belgium w/ Rhinegeist Brewery – Fat Pale Ale New Belgium w/ Firestone Walker Brewing Company – Fat Hoppy Ale New Belgium w/ Allagash Brewing Company – Fat Funk Ale New Belgium w/ Avery Brewing Co. – Fat Wild Ale New Belgium w/ Hopworks Urban Brewery – Fat Sour Apple Ale

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Season 3, Episode 25 – It’s L.A. Beer Week! Let’s drink some beer from Los Angeles breweries.

L.A. Beer Week is upon us! This yearly celebration of Los Angeles beer, bars, breweries, homebrewers, restaurants, eateries, food trucks, and beer drinkers has evolved into one of the best celebrations of beer culture in southern California. From Long Beach to Pomona to Gorman, the expansive and densely populated county of Los Angeles has become a destination for beer geeks far and wide. Today, we celebrate L.A. beer by drinking eight beers from L.A. breweries.

The 2016 #LABW8 Kickoff Festival was Saturday, June 18, and it was pretty amazing. Not only were Los Angeles breweries pouring, but breweries from Orange County, the Inland Empire, San Diego County, and even the Bay area and beyond were participating in the action. There were so many awesome breweries, and they brought their A-game. Fundamental Observation from Bottle Logic Brewing was “secretly” being poured, Beachwood Blendery brought bottles from their Propagation series of wild and farmhouse inspired ales, while newer breweries like Mumford Brewing impressed folks with their hoppy and juicy IPA. The entertainment was spot on, the lines were short for the most part, and the event overall was very well organized. Props to the Los Angeles County Brewers Guild for organizing such an awesome event!

L.A. Beer Week is this week! So many events are happening all over southern California that you’d be hard pressed to not find something that’s happening in your neck of the woods. A full listing of everything that’s going down this week can be found at the L.A. Beer Week website, or by downloading the DoStuff app [iOS | Android] and searching for “LA Beer Week”.

We’ll see you around and cheers to Los Angeles beer!

BREW THE SHIT OUT OF IT, LOS ANGELES.

Beers from this week’s episode: King Harbor Brewing Company – The Swirly Phantom Carriage Brewery – Muis Beachwood Blendery – Propagation No. 128 Highland Park Brewery – Help Yourself Monkish Brewing Company – Days of Underoos Three Weav3rs Brewing Company – Unity 2016 El Segundo Brewing Company – Hop Plunge Smog City Brewing Company – Infinite Wishes (2016)

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Season 3, Episode 24 – This week, Jason brewed a Heady Topper clone, and The McNew’s brought us beer from Texas.

This week, we are joined by homies Jessica and Sean McNew who recently returned from a trip to Texas and brought back some brew for us to try. But first…

Can you believe it? Jason finally got back to homebrewing and came out swinging with a Heady Topper clone! We kick off the show with this juicy wonder, and Jason sure did deliver. He paid particular attention to his yeast health and fermentation temperatures, and it really paid off—his beer was great!

Next up are three beers from Lakewood Brewing Co. out of Garland, Texas. The Temptressis a really unique Imperial Milk Stout that comes in at around 9% ABV. It’s a great beer, so great that Lakewood also brewed a couple variations of it, Sin Mint Temptress and Raspberry Temptress. Again, like The Temptress, these beers are both interesting and delicious.

We end the show with two beers from one of our favorite Texas breweries, Jester King Brewery. 

Thanks to Sean and Jessica for the brews, cookies, hanging out…yeah. They rule.

BREW THE SHIT OUT OF IT.

Beers from this week’s episode: Lakewood Brewing Company – The Temptress Lakewood Brewing Company – Sin Mint Temptress Lakewood Brewing Company – Raspberry Temptress Jester King Brewery – Ol’ Oi! Jester King Brewery – Funk Metal

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Season 3, Episode 23 – This week, we follow suit with all of the other beer podcasts and try the six beers from the Sierra Nevada Beer Camp 12 (six?) pack.

This week, we’re going to beer camp! Not really, but we’re gonna imagine we are by drinking the six beers from this year’s Sierra Nevada Brewing Company Beer Camp collaboration variety pack. 

Our very own Greg Nagel went to Sierra Nevada’s Beer Camp. For a while, it was an actual event that select homebrewers from all over the country participated in at Sierra Nevada’s brewery in Chico, California. Each team would concoct a recipe and brew it as a pilot batch. Following that and some recipe tweaks, the final recipes would then be brewed at scale by Sierra Nevada for the variety pack. 

This year, the Beer Camp variety pack is comprised of 12 beers, two bottles from six different regional brewery collaborations. The breweries involved are well known within their local markets, as well as with hardcore beer geeks. Expectations are always high when it comes to big brewery collaborations, and rightly so. 

Does the Beer Camp variety pack meet expectations? Listen and find out!

BREW THE SHIT OUT OF IT.

Beers from this week’s episode: Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. – Sweet Sunny South Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. – Pat-Rye-Ot Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. – Moxee-Moron Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. – West Latitude Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. – Stout of the Union Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. – Family Values

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Season 3, Episode 22 – New Zealand’s Garage Project recently became available in our local California bottle shops, so this week we’re seeing what the hype is all about…and the hype is real!

Before we start the show this week, it should be noted that Matt wasn’t able to make it to Session 35 of Four Brewers due to personal affairs, and thus will not be on this episode or the next one. See you at Session 36, Matt!

The first time we heard about Garage Project was at the Firestone Walker Invitation Beer Festival. A hyped brewery that came all the way from New Zealand, making insta-whalez that seemingly nobody in the States could get their hands on. Time has passed and the brewery has grown, and we’re happy to say that Garage Project is finally distributed in the United States. While awesome, there’s a price to pay for these imported brews. Garage Project doesn’t skimp on quality, so expect to fork out a little more cash than you normally would for an American craft brewery of the same caliber. 

One thing that should be noted about this week’s beers is the freshness of the hoppier brews. Experience with imported IPA and DIPA tells the seasoned craft beer buyer to generally avoid them. Usually, it’s a very real case of #HopsSoFaded because the beer doesn’t hit shelves at its peak freshness. Garage Project’s importer, Craft Imports, seems to be on top of their game, delivering fresh IPA to our local bottle shops in such a timely manner that it tastes like they were bottled last week. This also speaks to the quality of Garage Project brews—they know how to maximize the hoppy freshness we all demand. #ThumbsUp

The beers on the show this week range from hoppy, as mentioned above, to strange, but delicious. This week’s episode is a strong juxtaposition to last week’s in that Garage Project’s core is experimenting with unusual ingredients and making creative beers. 

Garage Project is making interesting beer, and we’re stoked to finally have them available in California.

BREW THE SHIT OUT OF IT.

Beers from this week’s episode: Garage Project – Hops On Pointe Garage Project – Venusian Pale Ale Garage Project – Pernicious Weed Garage Project – Tsuyu Saison Garage Project – Umami Monster

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Season 3, Episode 21 – This week on the show, 4B listener and super-fan, Mike Kirshner, is at it once again and sent us some really tasty brew from Woodstock, Georgia.

Before we start the show this week, it should be noted that Matt wasn’t able to make it to Session 35 of Four Brewers due to personal affairs, and thus will not be on this episode or the next two. See you at Session 36, Matt!

We begin by reading our (long overdue) thank you list of Four Brewers’ supporters and podcast reviewers on iTunes. We haven’t read thank-yous since November of 2015, so if you’ve left a review or supported the show since then, you’ll hear your name on this episode!

Today, we’re drinking beers from Woodstock, Georgia’s Reformation Brewery. Trends in the craft beer scene over the last decade or so have been what could mildly be described as “experimental” by many, many breweries. On one hand, that’s what craft beer is—innovation and experimentation. On the other hand, things can get out of control when it comes to adding ingredients to beer. Reformation’s stance is to make quality, classic beer styles, while at the same time throwing their own spin on it. It’s certainly a noble approach to beer. (Tap’s Fish House, anyone? They’re winning medals left and right…)

Mike sent us four Reformation beers: Union, Cadence, Atlas, and Stark. These beers basically cover the spectrum of classic craft beer, from Belgian witbier to Porter. These beers were pretty fantastic, overall. 

Big thanks to Mike for once again hooking us up with some great east coast brew!

BREW THE SHIT OUT OF IT.

Beers from this week’s episode: Reformation Brewery – Union Reformation Brewery – Cadence Reformation Brewery – Atlas Reformation Brewery – Stark

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Season 3, Episode 20 – Sour IPA. It’s a thing apparently. But is it a good thing? We’re gonna find out this week on the show.

Sour IPA. I don’t know about this. I mean, IPA isn’t supposed to be sour. Sure, there are massively over-hopped sour beers out there that are deliciously awesome, but what exactly is a sour IPA? Is it a standard IPA recipe fermented with brettanomyces, or bacteria? It’s not that simple, right? WHAT’S HAPPENING?!

Not all of the beers on the show this week are sour IPAs. But, we’re gonna easy into this. A little bit of foreplay, if you will…

First up is a beer from a brewery that is always a safe bet in terms of quality and execution, Monkish Brewing Company’s Soul Foudre. While this beer has no place in a sour IPA show, it’s our way of telling our palates, “hey…this is what a good beer tastes like.” Not that we think the sour IPA will be bad, but it’s called SOUR IPA. Anyway, Soul Foudre is great. Monkish will have some fruit variants of Soul Foudre up for sale this week, so check that out. Monkish is 4B approved! *ding*

Alright, now to the nitty gritty. The first sour IPA on deck is Epic Brewing Co.’s Tart N’ Juicy Sour IPA (marketing, anyone?). This is an unusual beer, to say the least. Without giving too much away, it’s tart…and juicy. Yep. It is definitely those things. 

Next up is Odd 13 Brewing’s Vincent Van Couch. They call this a “session sour” and it’s made with Citra and Mosaic hops. So while technically not an IPA, it kinda is? This is so confusing…

We wrap up the show with two more beers that take us back to the funky side, Prairie Artisan Ales’ Funky Gold Simcoe, and first-timer to the 4B podcast, The Rare Barrel’s Forces Unseen.

Sour IPA has arrived, beer geeks, for good or bad. Godspeed.

BREW THE SHIT OUT OF IT.

Beers from this week’s episode: Monkish Brewing Co. – Soul Foudre Epic Brewing Co. – Tart N’ Juicy Sour IPA Odd 13 Brewing – Vincent Van Couch (Session Sour) Prairie Artisan Ales – Funky Gold Simcoe The Rare Barrel – Forces Unseen

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Season 3, Episode 19 – This week we’re drinking some brews form New York and New Jersey and a new Grapefruit IPA from our friends at Refuge Brewery in Temecula, California. Natalie DeNicholas and John Ryti are also back with us.

Four Brewers has the best listeners. It’s true. Just putting that out there. I say that because four of the five beers we’re drinking on the show this week were graciously provided by Four Brewers listener Robert Perry. Getting east coast beers is tough for us, but fans like Robert have been stepping up lately and sending us some killer stuff. 

Carton, Newburgh, and Plan Bee Beers

The first two beers are from New Jersey’s Carton Brewing Company. Unbeknown to us, Carton is actually a great get for us here on the west coast, and the two IPAs we got from Robery were fresh AF. That’s how you do it folks: ship ’em fast and fresh!

Plan Bee and Newburgh Wax-Stamped Bottle Caps

Next up are two beers, both from two breweries that we had no idea even existed, Plan Bee Farm Brewery and Newburgh Brewing Co. The two beers are what they call a “100% NY Sour Ale” and are made with locally sourced ingredients from around the state of New York. Both beers are the exact same recipe, but each was fermented with two different yeast strains–one from Plan Bee and one from Newburgh. These beers were really great. Folks in NY/NJ are lucky to be able to get this magical juice…

Refuge Brewery – Grapefruit IPA

We wrap up the show with a new beer from a local favorite of ours, Refuge Brewery out of Temecula, CA. Temecula’s beer scene has really been blowing up lately, and Refuge was there at the beginning of the boom. Their Blood Orange Wit is well known in these parts, and since they nailed the fruited witbier category, they decided to try their hand at an IPA with grapefruit.

Much thanks again to Robert Perry for the beers…Hail Satan. 😉

BREW THE SHIT OUT OF IT.

Beers from this week’s episode: Carton Brewing Company – IDIPA Carton Brewing Company – 0077XX Plan Bee Farm Brewery / Newburgh Brewing Co. – Cross Pollination #1 Refuge Brewery – Grapefruit IPA

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Season 3, Episode 18 – This week: ALL HOMEBREW. Natalie

It’s been a slow year for the 4B gang in regards to homebrewing,

Maltose Falcons – Saison du Mai

First up is John’s triumphant

Next up is a beer from one of our special guests, Natalie

Next up are two beers from Greg. One is a variant

Next up is a Red IPA from long time friend of the show, John

We wrap up the show with a canned homebrew (how rad is that?!)

BREW THE SHIT OUT OF IT.

Beers from this week’s episode:

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