LOS ANGELES, CA – To celebrate the 4th Annual LA Beer Week (Sept 20-30), several local brewers have brewed their own commemorative beers, all incorporating one special ingredient: prickly pears!
Also known by their Spanish name, tuna, prickly pears are the edible and oh-so-tasty fruit from the Opuntia genus of cactus. Prickly pears have long been used as an ingredient in brewing, especially in Mexico, where they are used to create a traditional alcoholic beverage called colonche. Read up on the names and types of beers that will be all over Los Angeles for LA Beer Week 2012.
Eagle Rock Brewery has once again been tapped to create the official beer of LA Beer Week, named “Unity” to pay homage to the good ol’ beer industry folk from around the city who come together every year to help brew it. This year’s iteration is a play on a traditional Berliner Weisse, a refreshing, slightly tart style of beer hailing fromÔǪ you guessed itÔǪ Berlin! Jazzed up with a touch of rye and a healthy dose of red and green prickly pear, Unity will be available on draft at select retailers throughout Los Angeles and Orange County, and will of course be served at the flagship LA Beer Week Festival on Sept. 30th at historic Union Station. Unity bottles will also be available to those who complete the “LA Beer Week Bucket List.” (More details on that to come soon!)
- Cismontane Brewing Company — ”Nopal de Trigo” — hefeweizen brewed with hand-pressed prickly pear juice.
- El Segundo Brewing Company — ”Prickly Dog” — White Dog IPA with prickly pear and a yeast strain swiped from Monkish Brewing Co.
- Golden Road Brewing — “Opuntiale” — honey blonde brewed with prickly pear fruit, cactus honey, and mesquite-smoked cactus paddles (nopales)
- Ladyface Ale Companie — “Opuntia Megasperma” — cask-conditioned Chesebro IPA with locally harvested wild prickly pear fruit. Only one cask was made, which will be available exclusively at the LA Beer Week Festival on 9/30.
- Monkish Brewing Co. — “Sue├▒o Para Los Angeles” — a Belgian-inspired ale brewed with wheat, maize, honey malt, and sour malt, infused with prickly pear puree.
- Smog City Brewing Co. — “LABW Saison” — a light farmhouse-style beer spiked with prickly pear.
