California beer news: New lagers, IPAs and a Napa hop train
After a long, rainy winter and spring, we can’t wait for summer — and not just for the weather. Summer is also when the most thirst-quenching, satisfying beers come into their own. Here’s what’s new in Northern California’s beer world.
New sips: Parabola is a great bourbon barrel-aged beer, but Firestone Walker may have outdone itself with its new Napa Parabola version. The brewery aged Russian imperial stout in French oak barrels from a prestigious Napa winery. Which one? The winery didn’t want to say, so all we can do is speculate, but we do know that the barrels once held cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc and merlot grapes. The result is an imperial stout with very different flavors: cedar, clove, mocha, ripe berries and dried chile peppers. And 2019 vintage dated bottles are available now.
On the lighter side, Lagunitas just released Lagur — not a typo. It’s a summer lager brewed with Loral hops. The beer is crisp and clear with floral notes, and it’s available now in, as the brewery wonderfully puts it, “12-ounce mini-kegs.”
Meanwhile, San Francisco’s HolyCraft Brewery has partnered with Scoma’s seafood restaurant on Pier 47 to create Scoma’s Blonde, a single-hopped blonde ale made with Cascade hops exclusively for the restaurant. (You can find it on tap at the brewery, too.)
Last year, I reported on a new collaboration between San Francisco-based clothing brand San Franpsycho and Anchor Brewing to create San Franpsycho IPA, a 6.3-percent ABV beer with floral hops and peach and apricot flavors. The beer found such a strong following, Anchor is releasing it in 12-ounce cans, just in time for summer.
Lots of lagers: Thanks to the new business arrangement between Brooklyn Brewing and 21st Amendment Brewery, Brooklyn beers will finally be available in California, starting with Brooklyn Lager.
But perhaps the biggest news for old timers in the Bay Area is Pabst’s recent announcement that they’re re-introducing Lucky Lager, whose roots lie in post-Prohibition San Francisco. Better still, the lager has been reformulated as an all-malt beer brewed by 21st Amendment Brewery at its San Leandro production brewery. It’s a 4.2-percent ABV lager which should be ideal for summer.
Beerventures: Beginning June 3, the famous Napa Valley Wine Train is spinning off a happy hour Hop Train ($80) on Monday evenings that includes pints of Napa Palisades Beer Company beer. The train leaves the station at 6 p.m. on Mondays for a two-hour train ride that also includes live music and snacks. Reserve your spot at winetrain.com/events/hop-train.
Contact Jay R. Brooks at BrooksOnBeer@gmail.com.