There is an area of SoCal I have largely neglected in my writing—the Inland Empire.
There are a few reasons for this. Firstly, Andrew Smith (an erstwhile Independent contributor) has covered it extensively in Beer Paper. He knows a ton about the breweries from Yucaipa to Claremont and Rancho Cucamonga to Corona. Secondly, I’ve slowly been gathering information from Andrew and others to find out what I should check out in the limited span of a day trip to “The I.E.”
Thirdly … I’ve been lazy. Well, that and the competing calls of San Diego and Orange County’s beer scenes were just too strong to ignore.
I finally got in my car and took a day trip—specifically, to Rancho Cucamonga. My first stop after a pastrami dip at The Hat (if you haven’t been, I can’t recommend it enough) was at the brewery I’ve been most looking forward to visiting in this area. Ever since I got a taste of one of Bryan Doty’s Belgian-style sour ales at an Ace Hotel beer festival, I knew I’d have to go to Sour Cellars. I talked about Sour Cellars in a column earlier in the year, but I’ve given myself too few opportunities to try what’s being done there. When it comes to Belgian-style sour ales (or Belgian styles of any kind, really), it takes multiple talents: great patience to let beer mature in barrels; a knowledge of local yeast and bacteria in the air; and the skill to discern what barrels will blend together with whatever additional ingredients you might want to throw into the mix. In some cases, these beers spend three or more years in a barrel, where the slightest flaw can make a beer undrinkable.
I entered the taproom, nestled in the midst of a commercial-park area of Rancho Cucamonga, and walked into a cozy, almost Victorian-style parlor. I found ornate wallpaper, couches and chairs of various kinds, and a lovely wooden bar—where I parked myself and talked to Chintya, Bryan’s wife and co-owner of the brewery. The beer list had me cross-eyed due to the possibilities, so I picked a beer flight from the extensive menu and tried a few other two-ounce pours that they conveniently offer for $3. The highlights:
• Fizzle is a blend of two different batches each of barrel-aged (BA) golden sour ale and barrel-aged coolship (an open-topped, shallow tank where lambics traditionally gain the yeast and bacteria from the environment for fermentation) saison that’s been refermented with apricots and organic plums. Get ready for descriptions like this, because these beers often have taken years to get to the glass. Fizzle had a pleasant sour flavor and fruity aroma, with the plums coming through more at first, and then the apricot poking its head out as the beer warms.
• Pyrotechnic Pleasantries is a blend of a 54-month BA brown ale, a 26-month BA golden sour ale, a 19-month BA saison, and a six-month BA spontaneously fermented golden sour. Then it was refermented with strawberries. The result is absolutely glorious, with so many subtleties; the strawberry aroma and flavor give off a strawberries and cream vibe.
• Bellywengins is a 34-month, unblended BA Berliner-weisse style sour ale served with your choice of pomegranate or woodruff syrup. I chose the latter, because it’s more traditional, and it’s hard to find anyone serving the style this way. It had lovely fruity tartness, with the syrup adding herbal, almost cider-like flavors and aromas—with a hint of, believe it or not, Play-Doh.
• Turn Turtle is a blend of spontaneously fermented golden sour ale from 2018 and 2019 that’s been refermented with organic California nectarines. This offers a gorgeous sour nectarine experience, with a very dry finish that I loved enough to buy a bottle so my friends could try it as well.
These were just four of the 15 they had on tap; they also pour a handful of non-sour ales and bottled sours. If you like sours at all, you must visit, because this place is an absolute gem, serving world-class sour ales in the middle of Southern California.
The tap list includes 10 beers, five seltzer slushies (including a non-alcoholic green-apple one for the kiddos and designated drivers) and two more regular seltzers.
A mile down the road, I ducked into Hamilton Family Brewery. As I walked in, I noticed the back patio, with benches spilling out into the driveway between buildings in their industrial park. What’s more, the majority of its customers were in their 20s and 30s. This was clearly a place for young people (with just as many women as men—always a welcome sight in the craft beer world). A big reason for this is their tap list with 10 beers, five seltzer slushies (including a non-alcoholic green-apple one for the kiddos and designated drivers) and two more regular seltzers.
But I wasn’t there for seltzers—and I ordered a flight of four beers. The Oktoberfest was toasty, floral and a little on the bitter side, but overall a solid representation of the style. The Kokua IPA is Hamilton’s version of a beer recipe offered up by Maui Brewing Co. to money to help those affected by the recent wildfires in western Maui. Many breweries have participated, and I had a nice version at Burgeon Beer Co. last month. Hamilton’s was a cloudy, light-bodied, floral and fruity session IPA with some tropical fruit and floral notes. Considering the 4.2% alcohol by volume, it had a good amount of flavor. The Double Mango is, unsurprisingly, a double IPA with mango. I couldn’t really taste a lot of mango, and it had quality that reminded me of barley tea, but it was pretty easy-drinking, with a light bitter finish and a little warmth to remind you it was an 8.2% ABV beer. The winner of the bunch was the Young Fool, a West Coast IPA made with Cashmere and Mosaic hops. It was citrusy, dank and tropical, with a nice, crisp finish. It was good and fresh enough for me to buy a pack.
I would have loved to explore more of what the IE has to offer, but it was not to be on this trip. Expect to read more from me on this area in the future. Until then, go explore for yourself—and enjoy.