by C. C. Hansen<\/p>\n The SCCBB interrupts his indolent summer sabbatical to share several discoveries and note the passing of a seminal L.A. craft brewery after 15 creative, innovative, and significant years.<\/p>\n First, the discoveries.<\/p>\n Eleanorjulieanne and I were in search of kayaking opportunities hitherto unknown to us, which led us to a place in Sunset Beach, between Huntington and Seal Beaches. It was great to get onto the water and paddle, but it was even better to discover an outpost of Green Cheek Beer Co. literally across the street, and take advantage of an opportunity to visit the Riip Brewery, just down the road, for the first time.<\/p>\n After checking with SCCB Orange County correspondent Steph Zinger to get her permission to encroach upon a couple of places technically<\/em> in her territory, she concurred with my assessment that Green Cheek\u2019s beers are just okay, and that Riip has the better beers. \u201cBut Green Cheek has the better vibe,\u201d she added. Stephanie and I agreed that the Brewer Beard Game at Riip is \u201con point.\u201d<\/p>\n Green Cheek<\/strong><\/a> has four locations: Orange, Costa Mesa, Oceanside, and Sunset Beach. Eleanor and I decided to check out the latter, at 16685 Pacific Coast Highway (92649), seeing as we were in the neighborhood. The brewery was founded in 2017. On their website, the two pals who founded the brewery (Evan Price and Brian Rauso) acknowledge: \u201cWe\u2019re not trying to take over the beer world, as there are a lot of great breweries out there, but to remain authentic to ourselves and make the best damn beer you\u2019ve ever had.\u201d<\/p>\n For a deep dive into Green Cheek\u2019s origins, check out this 2020 article from Forbes<\/em><\/strong><\/a> magazine. It\u2019s pretty enjoyable. My favorite tidbit from the article is when Evan reveals he was fired from House of Blues for calling a customer a dick.<\/p>\n In contrast to Steph\u2019s focus on OC beer patios<\/strong><\/a> and kid-friendly brew pubs<\/strong><\/a>, Green Cheek felt strictly over 21 \u2014 it might have even said that on the door as we walked in, but I can\u2019t be positive. I have a vague memory of visiting the Orange location with Eleanor, BeachRock Bill, and Bill\u2019s son, Carson. Problem is, I have photo documentation of our stops at Noble (where Evan and Brian worked and met, incidentally), Bottle Logic and a strange out of the way place called Hoparazzi, but no photos of Green Cheek.<\/p>\n I remember the parrot logo, and a venue that was like a converted school cafeteria, but that\u2019s it. Don\u2019t remember the beer.<\/p>\n Visiting Green Cheek\u2019s Sunset Beach location was different. I\u2019ll remember my <\/em>beer. Don\u2019t know if Eleanor will remember hers. On the left, above, is \u201cUncle Dave\u2019s Fave,\u201d an English bitter on Nitro (more about that later). As it turns out, I like an English bitter. I\u2019ve had them all over the country, but not in England \u2014 yet. This one was creamy and flavorful with a delicate coppery malt and hop combo. Perhaps because it gets its name from Welsh-born collaborator (Uncle) David Naylor, whose Instagram bio (@ladave66) describes him as a surfboard laminator, falconer and So Cal craft ale brewer (from Llanrhidian, Wales), Dave\u2019s Fave seemed particularly authentic. <\/p>\n According to Food & Wine Magazine<\/strong><\/a>, \u201cGuinness\u00a0famously developed and popularized the process of infusing\u00a0beer\u00a0with nitrogen gas \u2014 a marriage that subtly alters a beer\u2019s aroma and flavor while lending it a silky, creamy mouthfeel.\u201d Green Cheek does it better than some. <\/p>\n On the Green Cheek menu board the day we visited, a number of single-hop brews were featured, with clever names to help you keep it all straight.<\/p>\n Eleanor was trying to decide between \u201cNectaroni? In This Economy?!\u201d, a pilsner brewed with 100% nectaron hops, and \u201cPeacharine! (It\u2019s What We Like Here)\u201d, a West Coast IPA featuring 100% peacharine hops. She opted for the latter, in part because I\u2019m pretty sure she secretly suspects that pilsner is a waste of her precious beer allotment. <\/p>\n According to nzhops<\/strong><\/a>, nectaron hops impart an \u201cintense tropical pineapple, passion fruit and stone fruit character\u201d to a beer. Peacharine hops, also New Zealand bred and grown, sport \u201ca rich peach\/nectarine character with an appealing citrus backbone\u201d (according to Freestyle Hops<\/strong><\/a>).<\/p>\n As our friend and NorCal beer aficionado Sir Ted of Sonoma would say, the Peacharine IPA was a \u201cworthy\u201d thirst quencher on a beautiful summer afternoon. Bottom Line? My impression of Green Cheek was elevated (at least as high as their second floor Sunset Beach brew patio!)<\/p>\n As the Riip Beer Company website<\/strong><\/a> tells you on its website\u2019s homepage, it\u2019s an award winning craft brewery, but more than that, when you drink their beer, it\u2019s \u201cNot Just a Beer, It\u2019s a Lifestyle, an Attitude, a State of Mind. Take a Sip and Transform into a Riipper, Get Riipped & Embrace the Riip Lifestyle.\u201d<\/p>\n I\u2019m a word guy, and so I like to know where words come from. Before doing research, I mused that \u201criip\u201d might be a surf term \u2014 like, riiping <\/em>a curl, or riptide. Allacronyms.com suggests that riip <\/em>stands for \u201creserve integrated information project\u201d (some kind of Canadian military term), \u201crural infrastructure improvement project,\u201d and R\u00e9seau International des Instituts Pasteur<\/em>. RIIP is also an acronym for \u201cReduce Injury, Improve Performance\u201d (a type of neuromuscular training used in sports medicine), and the Urban Dictionary says that it means \u201crest in internet peace,\u201d a term applied to \u201ca poster permanently banned from a site.\u201d<\/p>\n Finally, a website called \u201cThe Mayor of Old Town<\/strong><\/a>\u201d (a Fort Collins, Colorado beer bar) claims, \u201cThe word itself does not have any inherent meaning but the experience is what matters most.\u201d<\/p>\n Okay, we\u2019ll go with that.<\/p>\n After parking in the lot at 17214 Pacific Coast Hwy, in the strip mall where Riip is located \u2014 adjacent to the 1300-acre Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve (not all strip malls are the same!) \u2014 we made some mental notes and entered the taproom. Perhaps influenced by the detective fiction we\u2019ve been reading lately (any readers wanting to give or get recommendations can email us at socalcraftbeer@gmail.com), we noted the makes and models of the cars in the lot were modest (see photo at the head of this section).<\/p>\n Once inside, we did a quick sociological survey of the age, gender, ethnicity, and sartorial style of customers and servers alike. Hair! And very<\/em> well-manicured beards! In the photo above, you can get a sense of the server facing the camera, but even the server with his back turned at the taps had a gorgeous red ginger beard to match his locks.<\/p>\n And the menu board? Literally<\/em> skateboards.<\/p>\n We stayed away from the \u201cGummiberry Crush\u201d (maybe we shouldn\u2019t have) and \u201cGimpy McGee.\u201d I was immediately <\/em>drawn to the renderings of Mike Myers (\u201cWayne\u201d) and Dana Carvey (\u201cGarth\u201d) from Saturday Night Live!\u2019s <\/em>\u201cWaynes World,\u201d and chuckled at the name of the beer \u201cNibbed for Your Pleasure,\u201d a triple chocolate imperial stout.<\/p>\n Except for the stout, we encouraged the Red Ginger Bartender to make our selections for us. Not everything was represented by a skateboard. Left to right, we sampled \u201cRiipers on a Half Shell\u201d (a West Coast blonde \u2014 kind of like the predominant demographic at the taproom), \u201cFaiir Enough\u201d (a West Coast IPA), and Raider Bob (a double IPA @ 8.5% ABV). All were worthy. I\u2019d have them all again.<\/p>\n We were sad to learn that after 15 incredible years in business, L.A.\u2019s true craft pioneer Eagle Rock Brewing shut its doors on June 28, 2024.<\/p>\n On June 17, Eagle Rock\u2019s Instagram feed announced, \u201cWell friends, the time has come for us to hang up our hats and say farewell. It feels strange to say these words after nearly 15 years of operations, but we know in our hearts it is time.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat an incredible privilege it has been, to be among the first few brewers of the Twenty-First century to plant seeds in Los Angeles soil! To cultivate those seeds and protect their growth. To watch that growth proliferate an entire county and to watch the fruits of that effort earn respect from around the world.<\/p>\n \u201cThe community of good beer in LA has grown far beyond our humble, early goals. And just as beer itself is alive and continuously evolving, so too is Beer Culture. We are grateful to have contributed to that evolution, but we also recognize our role in it. We have given our all to this effort, and now we must step aside to make room for the next generation of brewers with new energy, new ideas, and new contributions. The future of beer is in their hands as much as it is in your hands, friends. We pass this torch so that you may keep that future shining bright!\u201d<\/p>\n I lived in Eagle Rock during the time I attended Occidental College, and so the appearance of Eagle Rock Brewery in my early days as a craft beer blogger not only brought a smile to my face, but gave me an excuse to re-acquaint myself with the old stomping grounds.<\/p>\n Just a year ago, I wrote a post for the So Cal Craft Beer Blog, \u201cHats Off to Venerable L.A. Breweries.\u201d As an encomium<\/a><\/strong> to ERB, I\u2019d like to reproduce a few paragraphs from that post.<\/p>\n When I was the Ventura Craft Beer Examiner for the now-defunct Examiner.com, I interviewed craft brewers up and down the state. Jeremy Raub\u00a0<\/strong>of\u00a0Eagle Rock Brewery<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0was the very last of the brewers I interviewed before leaving the Examiner. At the time, the Eagle Rock brew pub on Roswell Street had been open for just a few months.<\/p>\n Jeremy started the brewery with his wife, Ting Su, and with help from his dad, Steve. Street artist-homebrewers Lee Bakofsky and his brother, Andrew, were among those involved in these early days. I was introduced to them by long-time friend, street artist, and inspiration\u00a0Eric Junker<\/a><\/strong>, who is also a fellow USC faculty member.<\/p>\n I attended a \u201cSession Beer Festival\u201d at ERB in April 2011 that featured no less than 11 lower alcohol, i.e. \u201csession,\u201d beers. Quite bold, I thought, in the days when the level of hop bitterness was reaching ghost pepper discomfort. Lee and Andrew were responsible for several English-style ales, as well as a couple Belgian-style\u00a0petite saisons<\/em>. Steve Raub brewed a cream ale and \u201cWinter\u2019s End\u201d mild, while Jeremy offered ERB\u2019s signature \u201cSolidarity\u201d English dark mild.<\/p>\n Among the many incredible innovations that ERB introduced over the years were a high-end brasserie-style \u201cPublic House\u201d on Colorado Blvd in Eagle Rock (which closed during the pandemic) and a hugely popular Women\u2019s Beer Forum. For a number of years, I offered extra credit to writing students who attended the forum and wrote a blog post about it.\u00a0<\/p>\n I, myself, would make it a point to visit the ERB Roswell brewpub anytime the Lobsta Truck was in residence, inviting emigr\u00e9 East Coasters who might be missing such New England summer must-haves as lobster rolls.<\/p>\n Best of luck on your next adventure, Raubs! Thanks so much for your dedication and the memories I have of your always upbeat, innovative approach to the business of independent craft beer! <\/p>\n Cheers! Until next time,<\/p>\n \u2014 Chauncey B, aka the So Cal Craft Beer Blogger<\/p>\n Instagram and Threads: @socalcraftbeer by C. C. Hansen The SCCBB interrupts his indolent summer sabbatical to share several discoveries and note the passing of a seminal L.A. craft brewery after 15 creative, innovative, and significant years. First, the discoveries. Huntington Beach Incursion Eleanorjulieanne and I were in search of kayaking opportunities hitherto unknown to us, which led us to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":47711,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[137],"tags":[3171,3767,6710,28674,2171,28676,14325,496,28675],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-47710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beer","tag-beer","tag-blog","tag-cal","tag-cheek","tag-craft","tag-erb","tag-farewell","tag-green","tag-riip"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/socalcraftbeerblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/hacienda-summer-2024.jpg?w=1024\")
<\/figure>\nHuntington Beach Incursion<\/h2>\n
Green Cheek Beer Co.<\/h3>\n
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<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nRiip Beer Company<\/h3>\n
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<\/figure>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/socalcraftbeerblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/riip-flight.jpg?w=1024\")
<\/figure>\nRIP (not RIIP) Eagle Rock Brewing<\/h2>\n
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Facebook:\u00a0http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/socalcraftbeer<\/a>
Mastadon: @socalcraftbeer<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"