Beachwood BBQ & Brewing | Four Brewers Podcast

Season 3, Episode 51 – This week, we find out who will rein supreme in the battle between the Light side of the sea, and the Dark side.

Does anyone else smell fish? What is that? Oh, pshht…I know what it is. It’s a Sculpin from Ballast Point Brewing, and an Invasive Species from Beachwood Brewing! We invited both of these underwater dwellers to battle it out on the show this week, with hopes of figuring out which one of these is the bigger fish to fry.

A little back story: once upon a time, Ballast Point Brewing out of San Diego, California, was one the most respected craft brewers in the San Diego beer scene, until the company was sold to Constellation Brands, Inc. for a cool one billion clams (snicker). Since then, many beer geeks have written the brewery off as a “sell out” and stopped buying their products, and some have decided to overlook the buyout and just focus on the beer. But, just because a brewery sells to a larger macro brewery or company doesn’t necessarily mean the quality of their product will suffer, although sometimes recipes and practices tend to change over time to drive down cost and increase profit. In the case of Ballast Point, the beers are still pretty great for the most part.

Enter Beachwood Brewing. Beachwood has been very vocal about their brewing independence and dedication to true craft beer. In a very tongue-in-cheek move, they decided to brew a series of beers that were inspired by Ballast Point’s Sculpin IPA and variants thereof, that positioned Beachwood to both comment on and snub Ballast Point and their wildly popular fruited beers. While they didn’t come out and blatantly say “fuck you,” to Ballast Point (for whatever reason, outside of the obvious craft vs. macro battle cry), the line of beers they brewed and subsequently named “Invasive Species” (with a depiction of a dead fish on the beer bottle’s label) sure did imply it. Fight!

So, here we are. We purchased the freshest Sculpin IPA and variants of Sculpin IPA (and Even Keel) that we could find and put them up against the two-week-old bottles of Beachwood’s Invasive Species IPA and variants. Who will prevail? You can probably guess who we’re rooting for…

BREW THE SHIT OUT OF IT.

Beers from this week’s episode:
Beachwood Brewing – Invasive Species
Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits – Sculpin IPA
Beachwood Brewing – Mango Invasive Species
Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits – Mango Even Keel
Beachwood Brewing – Grapefruit Invasive Species
Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits – Grapefruit Sculpin
Beachwood Brewing – Habanero Invasive Species
Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits – Habanero Sculpin

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4B Theme Song: The Sleeping Sea King

Season 2, Episode 44 – This week, we’re at The Beachwood Blendery with Gabe Gordon and Ryan Fields drinking the first two bottle releases from The Blendery, Propagation 001 and 002.

Propagation 001 and 002 go on sale TODAY, November 1, at 11:00 am. If you’re not already in line, get down to The Blendery and pick up some bottles ASAP!

The time has finally come, and we couldn’t be more excited. Beachwood BBQ and Brewing‘s new sour/wild beer project is finally off the ground. They’re releasing their first two beers today, Propagation 001 and 002, a petite saison and a Berliner weisse, respectively. Beachwood has quickly become one of the best breweries in southern California, garnering awards at the World Beer Cup and medals at the Great American Beer Festival. When they announced The Blendery back in December of 2014, beer geeks everywhere knew they were in for something special.

The Blendery at Beachwood BBQ and Brewing

This week, we’ve got owner and chef, Gabe Gordon and brewer/barrelmaster Ryan Fields on the show with us. We’re kicking it off with the first Propagation series beer, a petite saison made with 12 different strains of brettanomyces. We talk to Gabe and Ryan about the process and the inspration behind the beers and the brewery itself, as well as what Gabe thinks a really good gueuze shouldn’t be (spoiler: it shouldn’t be an acetic vinegar bomb. Word.).

Propagation 001: Petite Saison with Brettanomyces

One of the coolest things about The Blendery is their dedication to figuring out why Belgian gueuze is what it is. Is it possible to make these world-class, well known styles of beer in downtown Long Beach? Their approach to the process is both scientific and playful. Restrained experimentation and a structured, scientific process is the heart and soul of The Blendery. Ultimately, their goal is to make beers that even Belgian brewers could appreciate.

Propagation 002 is the next beer on deck. This beer could easily be considered a reference for the Berliner weisse style of beer. It’s damn near perfect, and refreshingly delicious. While many might scoff at such a “simple” offering, Ryan reminds us that if you can’t even brew the most basic of beers in a particular style, then maybe you shouldn’t be brewing them at all.

Jason Harris, Gabe Gordon, Matt Becker, Ryan Fields, Greg Nagel (left to right)

Big thanks to Gabe and Ryan for having us at The Blendery. Additional thanks also goes Beachwood’s creative and marketing manager, Aaron Carroll, for setting this show up with us.

BREW THE SHIT OUT OF IT.

Beers from this week’s episode:
The Blendery: Propagation 001
The Blendery: Propagation 002

Direct audio: MP3

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