As luck would have it, I married a beautiful woman.

As even better luck would have it, she went to school in the Bay Area, and has several friends in California. One of them got married this weekend in Anaheim.

As even more luck would have it, she gave me a couple of hours to check out the craft beer scene. So, with a free pass in hand, I went to work.

Stop #1 – The Bruery

717 Dunn Way | Placentia, CA | 92870
Hours: 12 Noon – 10 pm Daily
Tap List
Tours on Saturday and Sunday (reservation required)
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

@thebruerytr. The road to manna. #cabeer #craftbeer.

A photo posted by BeerGuysRadio (@beerguysradio) on


You may be familiar with the Bruery. They distribute in Georgia, and you can usually find their stuff in any decent bottle shop around. Their Autumn Maple is a great Thanksgiving Choice, and the Share This Coffee Stout was a Tim Dennis Whale Pick of the week. Founded in 2008, they specialize in barrel aged and experimental beers.

I arrived on a Friday evening around 5 pm. Already, the space was packed. It was a pretty large space in an industrial park, with a long bar  and separate tables with plenty of seating. A food truck was parked out front, which was a nice touch. I had the foresight to send out an email to Ellen, the Tasting Room Manager. She arranged to hook me up with Mark, the assistant manager.

This was a good choice.

When you arrive, you queue up and get a slip of paper with the tap list on it. From there, you can pick your poison – flights, pints, growlers or (shocking!) buy a bottle to go. On the front is the list of “regular” beers, and on the back were the “Society” tap list, available only to club members. I happily started to check off which ones on the regular menu that I wanted to try, but once I was able to check in with Mark, he said, “You want to try some of the Society beers?”

Yes please.

So here’s what I got:

Tart of Darkness (with Cherries and Vanilla) – Bourbon barrel aged Sour Ale with (drum roll) cherries and vanilla. Shocking, I know.

Quadruple Tonnellerie – A Belgian Quad.

Melange #14 – American Strong Ale.

Black Tuesday PB & J – Imperial Stout. 19.8% ABV. Let me repeat that. 19.8%. Tons of peanut on the nose, with boysenberry throughout. This was one of the best things I’ve tasted all year.

As I was sampling the beers, I got into a great conversation with a regular beer nerd about the Bruery, so we decided on another flight. This one was to commemorate Orange County Beer Week, which started that Saturday.

Filmishmish 2016 – Sour ale with Apricot. I’m not as much of a sour guy as Tim is, but this one is enjoyable. Light and refreshing. A nice palate cleanser after that Black Tuesday.

Tout Mais le Coller – Cream Ale. This wasn’t no Genny Cream Ale. Very malty and heavy and flavorful. It wasn’t at all what I was expecting, but it was delicious. 

Autumn Maple – Pumpkin Ale. I’ve had this one before, and it’s a great Thanksgiving beer. Nice maple flavor, I wanted turkey.

Cuir – Old Ale. Here’s my tasting notes on this one: “Holy crap.” That’s a good thing.

Black Tuesday Port Barrel Aged – Another big Black Tuesday beer. I was getting some serious port on this one, for obvious reasons. This was really nice, and would be a perfect cigar pair.

@thebruery PB&J Black Tuesday. Yes please. #cabeer #craftbeer

A photo posted by BeerGuysRadio (@beerguysradio) on

Verdict: This is a must-stop for any beer nerd. Or even the casual beer fan. The tap list is amazing, and there’s not really a dud in the bunch. You could spend all night here, and Uber would be your friend.

 

Stop #2 – Bottle Logic

1072 North Armando St. | Anaheim, CA | 92806
Hours: Varies. 
Tap List
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

Bottle Logic is newer on the scene. They specialize in more hop-forward beers. In fact, here’s a look at their tap list when I was there:

 

I told you it’s on. @bottlelogicbrewing #cabeer #california

A photo posted by BeerGuysRadio (@beerguysradio) on


That’s 5 IPAs and 1 IPL from what I see.  Here’s what I sampled:

Double Actuator – DIPA. I’m starting to believe that Double IPAs are my new jam. And this one delivered nicely. I grabbed 2 bottles of these to take home.

Haze Flux – IPA. This one was pretty awesome. Hazy, juicy and delicious. The only knock against this one is that they didn’t have any bottles to go.

Set to Stun – Session IPA. I’m going to be honest here. This one just wasn’t doing it for me. But I blame myself.  With all of the big beers I tried, my tastebuds were completely shot. I want to give this one another chance on its own.

Calf Life – Milk Stout. Again, this was my last beer of the night, so my impressions will be off. I do remember it being on the sweet side.

 

Verdict: Hopheads rejoice. They make some really nice, hop-forward ales. 

Off to dinner.

Skip forward to Saturday night, and the wedding after party was held at….

Stop #3 – Hopscotch Tavern 

136 E. Commonweath Ave. | Fullerton, CA | 92832

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

This place was a touch too busy, but of course it was Saturday night, so there’s that. With an amazing whisky list, and 25 taps, this is a solid place to be. Food was good too. The only complaint I had was their tap list did not have the name of the brewery, only the name of the beer. So I had to Google some of them to figure out exactly what I was getting. Still, I was able to sample:

Alpine Duet – A nice west Coast IPA.

Modern Times Monster’s Park –  This was a nice, big, boozy 12% imperial stout. More please.

Valiant Alpha Drive – I enjoyed this DIPA as well. On the dank side, it had a nice smooth finish. This is another Orange County brewery that I’d like to check out next time I’m out there.

 

A little @moderntimesbeer Monster Park @hopscotchtavern #fullerton #craftbeer

A photo posted by BeerGuysRadio (@beerguysradio) on

Verdict – good beer bar. Probably want to go on a non-weekend evening if you prefer peace and quiet.

There are several more places that I wanted to check out, including Noble Ale Works, Hoparazzi and Phantom Ales. But frankly, after that trip down 19.8% boulevard, I wasn’t going to be in much shape to meet my wife’s friends and relatives. So they will have to wait.

Anaheim and Southern California may be a little behind their craft brewing brethren in the Bay Area and San Diego, but the quality of their beer is definitely on point. As anyone who has tried the Bruery’s stuff can attest, theirs is as good as it gets.

I’m hoping for another road trip to SoCal, and maybe an extra day or so. If you’re traveling to the area, perhaps taking the kiddos to Disneyland, it’s definitely worth the time and effort to seek these places out. The vibe is chill, and you’re not forced into the farcical “tour and souvenir” disaster we have to deal with in Georgia. California may have terrible traffic and a crazy high cost of living, but when it comes to beer? It may be one of the happiest places on earth.

 

https://beerguysradio.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/IMG_2720-1024x1024.jpghttps://beerguysradio.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/IMG_2720-150x150.jpgAaron WilliamsBeer BarsBeer ReviewBeer TravelBrewery OnlyBrewery ProfilesUncategorizedanaheim,Beer,beer laws,beer release,bottle logic,Breweries,bruery,California,News,orange countyAs luck would have it, I married a beautiful woman. As even better luck would have it, she went to school in the Bay Area, and has several friends in California. One of them got married this weekend in Anaheim. As even more luck would have it, she gave me a...Cold beer, hot conversations, stupid jokes.