Last year, when I attended the Cheers Beverage Conference in Irvine, California, just outside of L.A. in the direction of San Diego, I was denied the time and opportunity to venture much beyond the confines of Hyatt hotel complex in which the event was held. This year, returning to the same conference at the same hotel, I vowed that things would be different. So I booked an extra day into my travel plans and called on the able assistance of Dr. Bill Sysak, southern Californian beer cognoscenti par excellence and minor legend in amateur (ie: unpaid) beer tasting circles.
Among the breweries that the good doctor and I visited was the big beer specialist, AleSmith of San Diego, where I was able to talk beer with owner and brewer Peter Zien while sampling his full range of ales.
While I enjoyed several of Zien's beers, including the Horny Devil and the intensely burgundy hued Bloody Valentine, it was the Grand Cru that really impressed with its plum colour, fruity, raisiny aroma and rich, spicy, floral body. At 10% alcohol and packaged in a 750ml bottle, it really is a beer for sharing, which is exactly what I did with a group of drinks writers at the conference the very next day. To a man, they were blown away, too.
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