by Guest Blogger Eleanor
Recently my sister-in-law, Krista, more oenophile than zythophile, saw an opportunity to steer her brother Chauncey and me away from binging the new season of The Last Kingdom and get us back in the game of beer tasting and blogging. A week before St. Patrick’s Day, Chauncey and I both received texts with a photo of a poster advertising a St. Paddy’s Day festival at Pocock Brewery in Santa Clarita, Krista’s favorite spot for trivia on Wednesdays. Not only would there be lagers, IPAs, and stouts, but Pocock promised a double bill of The Darryls and The Fenians, two SoCal bands, to celebrate the Irish saint.
Chauncey and I took the bait, purchased tickets, and joined Krista and assorted family members at the outdoor event. It was a breezy evening with a few speckles of rain which didn’t dampen the crowd’s spirits in the least. Our picnic table was clean and polished and we were warmed by the music and good cheer of everyone around.
Chauncey and I started off with Pocock’s Irish Coffee Delay Stout, a hearty 9 pointer with heavy coffee flavor and malty undertones. Luckily, it was served in half-pint cups or that might have been the end of our night. Next, I tried their rightly named Requisite Hazy IPA, with citrus hints and enough alcohol to prompt me to join my daughter and niece in a faux Irish jig. Chauncey, aka the original So Cal Craft Beer Blogger, went out on a limb and tried Trade Secrets: Raspberry & Guava, a sour ale collaboration with Sierra Madre-based RT Rogers Brewing.
My last beer of the evening–a 6.5 IPA known as Rooster Pith– was the winner, in terms of name and taste. Pith, of course, could refer to the whitish cottony layer between the peel and the flesh of a citrus fruit. Pith and foam. Sure. I could see a connection. But then I took a closer look at the graphic that goes with Rooster Pith — a cartoonish rooster in a soldier’s coat with a helmet on its head — and thought that maybe the brewers were referencing the lovely reddish glow of this spectacular India pale ale with a tough guy taste and smooth enough for a gal to love.
Eleanor, the Blogger's Wench
So Cal Craft Beer Blog 