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SoCal Cerveceros follow up to their highly successful Coldchela 2018 was held on October 21, 2018 at the Plaza de la Raza in Lincoln Park. Coldchela 2018 put the Latino Homebrew club on the map with recent articles in the Los Angeles Times, BeerPaperLA, L.A. Taco, a mention in TIME magazine’s Beer issue and I’ve been covering them since June 2016 as the former beer critic of that infernal rag, the OC Weekly. The Cerveceros have grown in leaps and bounds and now boast over 80 members throughout Southern California, they are the largest Latino Homebrew club in the United States and at this rate should be the largest in the World. Dia de los Cerveceros y Cocineros was a benefit event with all proceeds going to the Vision, Mission and Service program at El Centro de Ayuda and Plaza de la Raza, featuring craft beer, food, live music and vendors, this review will be primarily on the beer, I was so impressed with the quality of the beer I didn’t get a chance to sample any food. Fijate!
I was fortunate to have been a judge at Coldchela 2018 so I am very familiar with the groups in Socal Cerveceros and their suds. It’s been great seeing the group grow and now Brewjeria Beer Company is slated to open their own brewery sometime next year in Pico Rivera. The weather was perfect for a craft beer festival, sunny with a light breeze, the event started at 1 p.m. and we arrived shortly after, right away I saw the folks from Maltitude Brewing Company, Phil Limon and Sandra Toledo, they brew out of Long Beach, I went for their Mexican Chocolate Stout, yummy! it was rich, smooth, not too sweet, looking forward to the batch they have aging with Madagascar Vanilla and Bourbon Tincture! Julianna had their Spicy Tamarindo Saison, Deeeelicious! So good and it didn’t last long. I then saw the Brewjeria boys and made a beer line to their booth. We talked a bit about their new brewery and let’s just hope they can get it open without too many setbacks, the city sounds like they will expedite things but you never know. Hop on the 110 West Coast IPA with Amarillo, Cascade and Columbus hops sounded good and it was very refreshing, hop forward but not crazy bitter, Julianna prefers the lighter brews and A Blonde Moment was perfect, light but full bodied, crisp and fresh this also went quick. I spotted my homies Cerveceria Ortiz across the way, Alex and Desiree Ortiz from Silverado Canyon in Orange County, their Oktoberfest was calling my name, I love the maltier beers, the Oktoberfest was spot on! Rich with malts it went down smooth with tons of flavor, I offered Julianna a taste and she liked it! I’ll convert her yet!
At this point we sat down to enjoy our beers and listen to the DJ, the strolling Mariachi came by the stage and played a few songs to kick off the live music. I was thinking out loud and told Julianna that I could tell that the quality of the beer was better than Coldchela, the first five or six beers were all very good, not just good but very good like this isn’t home brew good this is brewery good. From judging the beers at Coldchela I knew there might be some so so beers, it happens, but so far the brews were all 👍, it was still early in the day could this trend continue? Hmmmm…
Stopped by Norwalk Brewhouse to see what Ray had brewing, his Bidi Bidi Blonde Blonde was another hit with Julianna, I had the Hef with Pomegranate which I really liked and I’m not a fan of hefs. Next up was the food vendors, this is when we decided to keep drinking! Yeah! We walked in to the vendor hall to say hi to Alfonso Zuniga Jr. from Flight Tours, he will set up a custom craft beer tour for you and your friends, hit him up! Micho and Mary Premium Michelada Mix was another vendor you might want to look up, their michelada mix was 🔥🔥🔥🔥. Ha!
A new face in the group was Rueben from Rue’s Brews, he’s been brewing for about 4 years and this was his first event with Socal Cerveceros, I tried his Mango IPA and BOOM so good! I hope to see/drink more of his brews soon! Another new brewer I met was Sarah Flora, Flora Brewing, she brought a couple of tasty brews, follow her on Instagram @flora_brewing. South Central Brewing Company and Hub City Brewers were sharing a booth, South Central had You Down w/IPP an India Pale Pilsner! What the who? A hoppy pilsner sounded good to me and Ding! Ding! Ding! it was my favorite beer of the day. Today would have been a tough day to judge all these crushable brews, they were all so consistent, just all solid across the board but You Down w/IPP just separated itself from the crowd, it was different in a good way, clean, crisp, hoppy, Wow, this brew didn’t last long either. One more brewery and I was done, Big Boys Brewing out of Downey, David Garcia and his crew brought 4 beers and I had to try them all. Black Ring Coffee Stout, super rich, very delicious, hints of chocolate and coffee, YUM. Fiesta Saison w/ Jalapeno, WOW, nicely balanced Saison and you get the spice on the back end, it doesn’t hit you right away, wait for it, BOOM. ESBorracho, a style you don’t see often enough, ESB, excellent! El Pelirojo IPA, an IPA with malt, right up my alley, hop forward with a malty backbone. Another good showing by Big Boys Brewing, 4 different styles, all very consistent.
Dia de los Cerveceros y Cocineros was another success, SoCal Cerveceros know how to throw a party! The event was well organized, location was perfect, plenty of room to roam around and in addition to everything else Plaza de la Raza was hosting the art exhibit El Velorio presented by Antonio Pelayo. In it’s ninth year of production this was a great addition to the festival. If you missed out don’t worry Coldechela 2019 is coming up next year! Cheers! BobbyKnowsBeer!
Last modified: November 14, 2018
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