The Best Beers We Had At Juicy Brews Beach Party
January 27, 2020
Hop Culture brought their festival circuit west this Saturday, bringing the Juicy Brews Beach Party to Brouwerij West in San Pedro. While one could easily craft an exceptional craft beer festival in Southern California using only elite Southern California breweries (my mind is whirling trying to come up with my ideal list), Hop Culture said, “Forget that, we’re upping the ante. We’re bringing elite breweries from EVERYWHERE.” So while the majority of the tables hosted California craft, we were also treated to some of the best from states like Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maine, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and more– making this one of the most impressive craft brewery slates I’ve seen at an LA beer festival in all my years of living here.
Brouwerij West made for an ideal host for a festival of this size– if you’ve never been to their taproom (and you should), it has both massive indoor and outdoor spaces, more than enough to host over two dozen tables and the hundreds of attendees. Hop Culture did a superb job organizing, making sure there was plenty of variety, more than enough water available, and not so many tickets sold that any of the lines got too massive (I don’t think Kenny has the power to control weather, but if he does, then props to him for the beautiful day he drew up). What’s more, they put the couple of breweries that generated the longest lines for the most part indoors, and while perhaps that was just a happy coincidence, I’d like to think it was an intentional design in order to give those drinking all afternoon some reprieve from the ever-present sun. Either way, folks were going inside and out, enjoying the music, the company, and the absurdly great pour list.
It’s always hard picking the best beers of a festival. To start, it’s impossible to try everything: many of the best beers kick quickly before I get a chance to hit them all, and there’s also only so much my liver can take. It’s even harder at a festival where legitimately everything is so top-shelf– by my count, I could’ve easily written about 35 beers that I loved in this list– so if your favorite is left off this list, there’s a strong chance that either (a) I didn’t try it, or (b) I loved it, and if I wrote this article a different day, it would’ve made the list.
Still, in order to try to make this an easier list to read (and a much easier list to write), I pared this article down to my fifteen favorite beers of the festival. Please let us know in the comments below which beers were your favorites, and we’ll make sure we seek them out at future festivals or in future travels. Thanks again to Brouwerij West for hosting, and major, major thanks to Kenny, John, and the entire Hop Culture staff for making this one of the best beer festivals I’ve attended in LA. Please bring these back annually. Or, you know, every month. I’ll be there regardless.
Finally, a special thanks to my good friend Brian McAllister– he’s not just a great guy to hang out with at a beer festival, he also took all of the incredible photos you see in this article. Go give him a follow on Instagram and tell him you want him to take more pictures at beer festivals. That way, my peer pressure to get him to come to more events with me will be even more effective!
Arizona Wilderness: Salome Saison
Usually, you want to reserve judgment before deciding a beer is one of the best of the festival, but I knew the second Salome Saison passed my lips that it’d be on this list. It magnificently balances fresh Meyer lemon juice with a peppercorn kick. Sublime in the warm LA beach weather, sublime in scalding hot Arizona weather too, I’m sure– it’d be sublime in any climate.
Bearded Iris: Chief of Chiefs DDH
We raved about Bearded Iris’s Double Homestyle as our favorite beer from Tennessee in 2019, so when I saw they were at this festival with two fresh IPAs in tow, I was understandably excited. Both were terrific— I give the edge on the sunny day to the tropical Chief of Chiefs DDH, surprisingly light for a 7.5% ABV with a superbly dry finish. Don’t be surprised if Bearded Iris has our favorite beer from Tennessee in 2020 as well.
It’s not every day that you get pours of a New England classic on the sunny shores of Los Angeles. Swish, like Julius and Heady Topper, rarely make their way west outside of trades, so drinking fresh pours of it was a dream. It’s dangerously smooth with big citrus taste and a wonderful pine finish. No clue when I’ll get fresh Swish again, but big ups to Bissell Brothers for blessing the west with their presence.
Cellador Ales: The Carrot King
Every once in a while, you encounter a beer description and immediately think, “Well, that obviously won’t work.” I think it’s fairly safe to say that most people have that response to the phrase “carrot sour.” However, the sour artists at Cellador Ales have created a concoction that somehow manages to have fresh carrot juice blend beautifully with a tart finish and a lambic-style mouthfeel. Cellador could pitch me anything and I’d toss all skepticism aside. They’ve earned the trust.
Creature Comforts Brewing: Tropicália
In 2019, Creature Comforts not only had their beer consumed by Thor, but also found themselves on more than one of our Best of 2019 lists. Now, here they are again with Tropicália, a smooth, medium-bodied, fairly crushable IPA that presents a fruit-forward profile without becoming too sweet or losing too much of the classic IPA bite. Creature Comforts continues climbing the ladder of the best IPA makers in the country.
Green Cheek Beer Co.: Local Import
Green Cheek has been producing some of the best west coast IPAs out there— they’ve medaled for American-Style IPA at GABF two years running— but don’t overlook their crispy boys. When at a beer festival drinking big hazies, stouts, sours, etc., a great pilsner is often just what the doctor ordered. Local Import bring some nice malt and spice action with that glorious crispness. Southern California’s lager game just keeps leveling up.
Horus Aged Ales: Hazelnut Crown
We went straight to Horus the second the festival started, and there was *already* a massive line by the time we found their table. I say this to convey that Horus’s hype is real, but it’s also well-earned. The Hazelnut Crown collaboration with Three Chiefs is thick, fragrant, and rich— like consuming Nutella motor oil. Of Horus’s stout options on Saturday, this one took the crown.
Highland Park Brewery: Griffith J Griffith (Batch 6)
Look, we know you’re sick of hearing us rave about Highland Park Brewery. Yes, they made our Best Sours of 2019 list. And our Best Stouts of 2019. And our Best IPAs of 2019. Here’s the deal: we’ll stop raving when they stop impressing us. Their Griffith J. Griffith is always a must, regardless of the batch or the variant, and this silky, roasty coffee stout remains a standout even at a festival with several of the best stout-makers in the country.
J. Wakefield Brewing: Epirus Bow
Much like you knew a Horus/Three Chiefs collaboration stout would be terrific, a J. Wakefield/Mortalis collaboration stout carries similar weight– too many great stouts have come from these two breweries to have their combined efforts be short of spectacular. The Epirus Bow didn’t disappoint: it’s like a hazelnut espresso with a chocolate syrup chaser. So smooth, so sweet, so sumptuous.
Magnify Brewing: Ugly Sweater Party
The longest line led to one table of three breweries: Horus, J. Wakefield, and Magnify. The aforementioned Horus and J. Wakefield may have led to Magnify going a bit under the radar, but anyone who overlooked them is a fool, because Magnify makes BANGERS. The Imperial Cold Side Double IPA was terrific, and the Ugly Sweater Party, a coffee, cinnamon, and vanilla jawdropper, more than holds its own next to the most hyped stouts of the festival.
Parish Brewing: Ghost in the Machine
One of the most shocking developments of the festival was the relative lack of line at the Parish Brewing booth when they were serving Ghost in the Machine, one of the best IPAs in America. It was wonderful drinking this fresh from the tap on the west coast, savoring its rich citrus juice and grassy bite. Don’t ignore Parish next time you see them at a festival.
The Rare Barrel: Soakin Up Rays
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: we at The Beer Travel Guide love little more than seeing The Rare Barrel at a beer festival. They make some of the most consistently great barrel aged sours in the country, balancing strong fruit flavors with serious sour kick. Soakin Up Rays was another in a long line of Rare Barrel sours I’ve loved, a potent passionfruit puckerer.
We could easily put on here the phenomenal 19.4% heavyweight Black Tuesday Bodhi Leaf Coffee variant, which lived up to expectations— but instead, it’s high time I give love to one of my favorite beers of the last few months, the Ruekeller: Helles. I had this at their taproom in Placentia and was blown away, and I was blown away all over again Saturday. It’s as good a lager as you’ll find in America— clean, crisp, crackery, and effervescent. I’m going to pack my beer fridge with these this summer.
It’s hard to think of a better way to close a sunny beer festival than with Three Weavers’ “sunny IPA,” The Messenger. It’s packed with citrusy goodness— the lemon and orange flavors shine, while the balance is, as you’d expect from Three Weavers, terrific. As a bonus, I learned later that the beer also contains Buddha’s Hand, and I’m a staunch advocate for any drink or meal that includes such a cool-looking fruit.
Wren House Brewing: Spellbinder
Every parent’s dream: an elite craft brewery that shares a name with your child. This led us to Wren House Brewing’s table to consume high-quality IPAs and toast to Brian’s son, Wren. Their IPAs were both aptly named: the Dreamy Draw was… well, dreamy, and the Spellbinder IPA left us… well, spellbound. Forced to choose one, I’ll side with Spellbinder– creamy, grassy, tropical, a little dank, and a lot delicious.
Which of these was your favorite? Which beer should’ve been included on this list? Do you agree that Hop Culture should bring festivals to Southern California on a bi-weekly basis? Leave us comments below!
