Today, West Coaster has an announcement to share that is nothing short of groundbreaking. The efforts of a renowned local brewery are about to be realized in a development that is totally without precedent. This could very well establish an entirely new paradigm in the craft brewing industry. But before I get to all that, I’d like to share some of my thoughts on frozen yogurt.
Frozen yogurt (also referenced as “froyo” by the worst sort of people) is a dessert-like substance with two primary modes of distribution: self-service and full-service. The former places the onus on the customer to make a decision on what constitutes a consumable volume of frogurt, while the latter is a despotic regime bent on denying our God-given right to eat ourselves stupid. For the purposes of this article, we’ll pretend we live in a world where such indulgence-based fascism doesn’t exist.
The primary benefit of frogurt isn’t so much the confection itself, but our ability to shape its experience to our whim. Should I desire no more than a tablespoon of eight different flavors, that is precisely what I will dispense. Short of trying to split the frogurt molecule, the possible combinations are virtually limitless. I could even leverage the native swirling apparatus to combine flavors, were I the sort of cretin who didn’t realize that homogenized approach to creativity was the domain of cowards.
These frogurt-based outlooks are applicable in many walks of life, but perhaps none so perfectly as the world of barrel-aged beers. The barrel-aged beers we embrace are not simply birthed by a brief stasis in wooden confines. They represent a mix of variable outputs, refined to achieve an optimal blend of aromas, texture, and flavors. This alchemy is typically the domain of experienced brewmasters, but courtesy of AleSmith Brewing Company’s (9990 AleSmith Court, Miramar) newest endeavor you can now cosplay as one to your heart’s content. Having a beard is strictly optional, but it can’t hurt.
Anvil & Stave: A Barrel-Aged Beer Experience is AleSmith’s new tasting-room-within-a-tasting-room, focusing exclusively on the brewery’s barrel-aged offerings. It is located in the northeast corner of the immense hall, adjacent the forthcoming Tony Gwynn Museum (scheduled to open during Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game festivities, July 8-12). It not only offers a chance to sample barrel-aged beers unavailable to the primary tasting room, but provides a more discreet, serene space to drink yourself into oblivion.
The new room cultivates a speakeasy vibe, were that speakeasy abandoned and only rediscovered after significant overgrowth consumed it. The mossy greens that lace through a façade of reclaimed wood slats establish a very different tone from the glare and buzz of the larger tasting room. I found it very soothing, despite the design implication that it’s been found in some post-apocalyptic scenario.
Not only will you be able to sample three- and six-ounce samples (called “Taste” and “Indulgence” sizes, respectively) of most everything from AleSmith that benefits from barrel-aging, guests will be able to request their own blends of those offerings. Further, there will be a rotating Brewer’s Blend that may include items not represented on tap elsewhere. At the time of this report, the Brewer’s Blend was a mix of AleSmith’s Quad Belgian ale, Port Wine Barrel-Aged Wee Heavy and Barrel-Aged Nut Brown, whose palate of dark fruit and nuts amplified the woody accents rather than the boozy ones.
Many of the logistics of this space (e.g. how many will be allowed in, how guests will be cycled through, how many goats must be sacrificed to be blessed with swift entry, etc.) remain to be determined. What is clear is that the space will be opened to the public on Saturday, June 25 at 11 a.m., aligning with the bottle -release festivities for the 2016 release of Barrel-Aged Speedway Stout as well as a duo of Barrel-Aged Olde Ales from 2014 and 2015.