I have a special fondness for southern California beers, and whether it’s caused by my vacations in the San Diego area or just the fact that the beer is always good, I love sampling SoCal beers. I’ll also admit that I enjoy tasting even more when the beers are hard to get on the east coast…so today we’re doing just that as we sample some more beers from Garage Brewing in Temecula, CA. When I featured their beers back in June, I was really impressed by the quality of the beer and even more so by the unique beers they created. And as they say, “In most garages, you can find what people drive. In our Garage, you can find what drives us — quality craft beer".
Opened in 2013, Garage Brewing actually started in an 8-bay garage in Temecula, and just three years after opening, Garage Brewing expanded into a new production brewery in Murrieta, CA where they brew six year-round beers, seasonal releases and some really interesting flavor combinations. This facility features a 30BBL brewhouse as well as an in-house canning line and I’m excited to report that ALL of their bottles and cans feature prominent date codes to ensure freshness and quality (a real pet peeve of mine).
Remember when I mentioned the word “unique” above….you’ll soon see why.
We started the sampling with Garage Brewing Apple Pie Pale Ale. This seasonal release pours a rich amber color with loads of apple and traditional pie-spices in the aroma. We picked out cinnamon in the nose, but the apple dominates (in a good way). The flavors follow with tart apple up front and a clean dry spicy cinnamon finish. If you’re thinking apple pie, you’re on the right track (thus the name). The balance of this beer is nice (from a malt standpoint) and we really enjoyed how the apple flavors balanced between sweet and tart as well. All in all a really nice beer, and at 5.4%-AbV, very drinkable.
Up next we sampled Garage Brewing Chocolate Orange Milk Stout. This limited release seasonal beer has a really nice and someone classic combination of flavors going on. The aromas were as we expected, some sweet chocolate and citrus orange and just a bit of caramel. The flavors really meld nicely with the citrus upfront, the lactose sweetness in the middle and a really pleasant rich chocolate flavor at the end. As the beer warmed a bit, we tasted some roasty flavors at the end, but the citrus / chocolate balance remained true. This beer hits 7.1%-AbV and a sweet 9 IBU and we really think the overall flavor-package works really well. Drink it straight up or as an after dinner dessert beer and you won’t be disappointed.
I’ll admit we held our final beer to last sampling position intentionally, and I’ll also admit I really wasn’t sure I’d like it. The beer is called Peppermint Stout, and I’m never quite sure how mint will work in a beer…so did Garage Brewing make me a believer? This beer is also a seasonal release and it pours a deep dark brown and yes right up front the aroma says “peppermint!” I was pleasantly surprised to see the peppermint take a bit of a back seat in the flavors; instead we found lots of sweet vanilla and dry roastiness. Peppermint Stout finishes with peppermint flavors as you’d expect, and I suspect if your a fan of Peppermint Pattie (the candy not the Charlie Brown character) this beer will be right up your alley. The flavors play well together and I think as a holiday seasonal, the peppermint makes sense. This beer hits 5.9%-AbV and 22 IBU.
A big thank you to Garage Brewing for giving us the opportunity to taste some really unique (and good) SoCal beers. All three of these seasonals are packaged in 22oz bottles so be sure to try them all for yourself…and when you do try them, be sure to let us know what YOU think.
I've also added in the new seasonal can packaging for Raspberry Twist lager with raspberry & cranberry (5.2%-AbV, 12oz cans, 2 label designs), Toasted Marshmallow milk stout (7.1%-AbV, 12oz bottles) and Jasmine Green Tea-Bird lager with tea and honey (5.2%-AbV, 22oz bottles).
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