[John B]

Hi there fellow Belgian Beer Boarders,

As I briefly mentioned in another thread, about a month ago I made a move to Orange County California due to starting a new position at my place of work.

One of my work duties now is to drive my 18 year old Honda Pilot with 360,000 miles on it (worth about $4000 at best) to Newport Beach to the CEO's house of the company I work for. I then drop off my old vehicle and drive him in his car, a 2025 Bentley Bentayga Azure Edition (worth about $280,000) to our company headquarters in Upland, about 45 minutes to an hour drive depending on traffic. It's been interesting to say the least.

But now to the important details. The beer scene here in Orange County, my new home. Well, I say home, but right now it just feels like a place to live and not really feeling like a "home" yet. Maybe with time that will change. On a side note, I actually did live not far from here before ... when I was about 5 years old, nearly 60 years ago.

But back to the beer ... The beer options here are incredible, maybe only possibly matched in California by San Diego or way up north in the Bay area of San Francisco/Santa Rosa.

There is Monkish who has a location in Anaheim. They are one of the most highly sought after breweries in the country.

There is Radiant Beer Company, who won the Great American Beer Fest small brewery gold medal as best in that division in the entire country. I'll vouch for that, they are excellent.

There is Green Cheek Beer Company, who have won countless awards for their beers. Again, I'll vouch for that. They have made some of my favorite beers of the last few years.

There is Everywhere Beer Company, who have also won a "Brewery of the Year" award at the Great American Beer Festival. Once again, I've had many of their beers and have never been disappointed.

There are a number of other breweries here, both large and small that I've tried that have impressed me, and a few that haven't.

For instance Docent Brewing, who have a few locations, and Judge Brewing who is only but one very small location in a business park.

Here are a few pics I took, nothing that would rival the incredible shots taken and shared here by Filip, Jay, Viv and others. I apologize but a few of the places I neglected to take picture of. Hopefully the ones I did take will give some idea of what the beery scene (that I've enjoyed here in the past few weeks) is like. I'm hoping to discover more gems as time goes by.


From Docent Brewing in San Clemente: Double Nickels Pale Ale. it won the Gold Medal for Pale Ales at the World Beer Cup, and I really liked this one.



On tap at Windsor Homebrew Supply in Costa Mesa: Holy Goat from Dundee UK : Altar of Plagues : Sour with British Chuckleberries. A beauty



Inspired by Jay's post in another thread, a visit to:



From tap I had April Showers, a Dry-hopped Oaked Imperial Belgian-style Golden Ale. it was delicious.



They had a countless number of bottles to offer, only about a third of which I captured here, but some that might be of interest:







That Black Tuesday Reserve Edition looked oh so tempting, but if I recall correctly they were asking $31 for a bottle. A bit more than I wanted to spend at the time, but maybe on my next visit ... 

I did pick up a can of this at about one third the price. It was excellent.



Oh, and that glass ... well I picked that up today at a local retailer because the couple that I have already are still in storage. Take a look at the name of the glass. I think I picked the right one. 



On the way between The Bruery and my next stop which was about 7 minutes away I saw this place, so decided to give this small local brewery a try. Broken Timbers Brewing. Here's a sign to greet you in the entrance:



I did not have anything from tap, but did try a can of their "Aces and Eights" double saison weighing in at 9% . But that wasn't the only thing heavy about this beer. The price for a single can was outrageous. $14 plus tax. Well, I decided that I'd do it once, to help support the small local brewer. Sorry to say, the beer most certainly did not live up to the price tag. 3 or 4 dollars would be the most I'd ever pay for this beer again. It was nothing more than just ok at best. oh well, live and learn.



Finally my last stop, just a few minutes away, and again inspired by one of Jay's posts.



I had a pour of Paisely Cave Complex stout at 14.4% which I felt every bit of that, but boy was it ever smooth as silk. I also picked up some cans of a Berliner Weiss called Perfectly Preserved which really was a great thirst quencher in this warmer weather.



Hope you enjoyed my small report of some of the local breweries here. All the ones I showed here are within 20 minutes of me. Next time I go to a few more of my favorites such as Green Cheek, Everywhere and Radiant I'll try to remember to get some pictures to share here.

Cheers! - John











 

[Jay]

What a wonderful report John, it's one thing being lucky enough to drink the beers but to see the breweries really adds the finishing touch.

This is the list of breweries that were pouring at this year's MBCC, there's quite a few from your side of the pond mate 




Last night I had my first beer from the stash that I brought home from Copenhagen, it's from Equilibrium out of New York and their 8.6% DIPA Tidal Balance and what an amazing beer this was.

You can buy DIPAs of a similar strength in almost every supermarket here in the UK but these are brewed to a budget, when you try a REAL DIPA - like the ones from CloudWater, Track, Rivington etc (and these amazing American breweries) you'll see the difference is like night and day, these beers explode with juicy hops...just like the Equilibrium

It was thick with creamy citrus, bitter sorbet, lemon zest, tropical guava. A real hop soup as Linda described it and a million miles away from the thin supermarket imitations





It's also great to see that things seem to be on the up for you, I couldn't be more happier for you mate.

Cheers
Jay 

[Trappist]

It's also great to see that things seem to be on the up for you, I couldn't be more happier for you mate.

And that's ofcourse the most important part of this great article         
Great to see you back on track John 

I see the Black Tuesday showing up again.
But after some research, this is not the same as the one you showed us Jay.



Triple Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout

This imperial stout embarks on a three-year odyssey, aging in bourbon barrels from Buffalo Trace, Heaven Hill, and George Dickel 14-year bourbon barrels. Aromas of oak, vanilla, and dark chocolate give way to notes of roasted fig and a lingering boozy finish; this stout demands to be savored.

Sensory Profile:

Visual: Black, Dark Foam
Aroma: Oak, Vanilla, Dark Chocolate
Taste: Roasted Fig, Dark Chocolate, Vanilla
Mouthfeel: Full Body, semi-sweet finish
Suggested Food Pairing: Bacon Wrapped Filet Mignon, Chocolate Cake with Espresso Ganache

All together with all the beers you showed us John this is one of the all-time better beer regions worldwide. California!!
You are privileged to work there 

Thanks for sharing John and Jay 

Cheers,
Filip

[Viv]

Hi John,

Great to see you enjoying a higher volume of beers again!

And great that your life has improved dramatically too!

Cheers!



Viv

[John B]

Thank you so much Jay, Filip and Viv. I truly appreciate your kind words of support.

It's been quite a change lately for sure. Starting a new and completely different position for work, with completely new workmates, and working much different hours. Also moving to a new area and renting a room in an unfamiliar house with unfamiliar roommates.

It's like starting all over again, and especially at my age it's been somewhat of a struggle so far without going into all the details now.

But yes, I am thankful for the way things are going right now, and as mentioned before very lucky as far as my beery options go around my new living area.

Thanks again for your very kind words, and I hope to add more beery and non beery reports in the future.

Cheers! - John

[John B]

First, my apologies for starting this thread in the BELGIAN beer abroad section. Silly me, I've been posting non Belgian beers. But these are all Belgian INSPIRED beers for sure, well most of them anyway.

So, with that in mind, please indulge me in one more Belgian inspired beer here from a brewery that I used to drive an hour and a half from where I lived to visit because I like their beers so much, but now only have to drive about 15-20 minutes. Radiant Beer Company.

This one is the second in a series they are doing in collaboration with St Michael's Abbey, located in Silverado California not too far from where I am now living.

I don't know much about St Michael's Abbey other than what I have just looked up online, nor do I know how much input they have in this collaboration. This one is the second collaboration between Radiant and St Michael's. The first one came out a month or so ago, I tried it and like it quite a bit.

So, I decided to give this brand new one a try. It's called Sanctus Norbertus, and it's in the Biere De Garde style, and weighs in at 7.4 % abv.

This is another winner, although I must say that this style is not my favorite, and I liked the previous collaboration better, but this one is very well done as has been nearly everything that I've ever tried from Radiant which is probably now about 20 different beers of theirs.

All in all, very good, and from what I understand they are planning to do at least two more collaboration beers between Radiant and St Michael's. Can't wait to try them out too.

Cheers! - John



 

[Trappist]

Great article John,
Needed some research though because one don't see that many beery collabs going on with Norbertine abbeys.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DHbnkj8yvae/

Introducing The Abbey Series.

We partnered with our friends at @st.michaelsabbey for a year of beer collaborations. St. Michael's Abbey is housed in Silverado Canyon in a building only a few years old, but one that honors traditions stretching back over nine centuries.

We look forward to the storytelling of this unique series over the coming months, but you can enjoy this first collaboration, a Hoppy Belgian-style Blonde Ale, in just a few weeks.

https://untappd.com/b/radiant-beer-co-the-abbey-series-sanctus-florianus/6242104

https://www.instagram.com/p/DKxUQsAyUnA/

The Abbey Series continues...

The second installment in our collab lineup with @st.michaelsabbey is now available in cans and on draft. This new collab drop continues our Eurocentric inspiration with our friends in cloth, taking a nod from the oft-forgotten French style Bière de Garde, or "beer for keeping".

And in the spirit of that translation, we'll have a special edition of Sanctus Norbertus dropping sometime later this summer. Stay tuned for that avant garde resurrection 👀

But for now, come by and try...

🙏 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗯𝗯𝗲𝘆 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀: 𝗦𝗮𝗻𝗰𝘁𝘂𝘀 𝗡𝗼𝗿𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘁𝘂𝘀 - 𝗕𝗶è𝗿𝗲 𝗱𝗲 𝗚𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗲 - 𝟳.𝟰% 𝗔𝗕𝗩
Radiant Beer Co. and St. Michael's Abbey joined forces to celebrate four much venerated saints: this is the ABBEY SERIES. Our second entry, Sanctus Norbertus, is a spiritually-crafted 7.4% Bière de Garde. This is a complex fermentation, one prompting notes of dried apricot, bosc pear, ginger, and white pepper, backed by a delicate baked bread malt profile and noble hop character. The sunset golden pour boasts eggshell white foam and high carbonation among dry but warming sips, floating between stone fruit and light grass. Come drink like the monks of new.

Here some nice off-topic side info:

Jubilee Year Icon of Our Holy Father St. Norbert:



This icon was commissioned by Abbot Eugene Hayes of St. Michael's Abbey in Sil- verado, California, to celebrate the Order's 900th Jubilee in 2021. The icon, written by Fr. Peregrine Fletcher of St. Michael's Abbey, depicts St. Norbert in a central panel surrounded by twelve scenes from his life and the life of his infant Order.

The Cover: St. Norbert (rendered Sanctus Norbertus in Latin) holds the newest abbey church of his Order, St. Michael's Abbey Church of Our Lady of the Assumption, dedicated during the Jubilee Year on May 4, 2021. The date of its dedication providentially landed on the same day the mother church of the Order, begun by Blessed Hugh around 1140, was dedicated at the Order's mother abbey of Prémontré on May
4, 1232. That day was celebrated annually by the entire Order until the abbey of Prémontré was lost in the French Revolution (1790). In this panel St. Norbert also holds his archiepiscopal staff and wears the archiepiscopal pallium of white wool with its black crosses (he was made archbishop of Magdeburg in 1126, five years after founding the Order). He also holds the olive branch, entwined around his staff, as a symbol of his gift for making peace in the turbulent times in which he lived.

Cheers,
Filip

[John B]

Great research Filip! Thank you for adding this information here, it really gives a good background behind this collaboration.

Cheers! - John