More Rich Beer

Capping off an eventful labor day weekend with a bachelorette party Friday night starting with a pre-party at the SLS Hotel, dinner at Bodega and dancing at My House, followed by the Disneyland 5K on Saturday and then a BBQ at our place Saturday night with some friends from Portland, followed by a bridal shower at the Hotel Erwin on Sunday (cool spot for rooftop drinks on the beach), Rich brought over more interesting beers for us to taste on Monday before heading over to a BBQ at Mel's.  We tried the Karl Strauss' 21st Anniversary Ale Brewed with Zinfandel grape juice and Weihenstephaner's Hefe Weissbier.  I really enjoyed the Hefe Weissbier; I've always liked hefeweizens / wheat beers, and this was definitely one of my favorite ones that I've ever tasted: refreshing, way too easy to drink and not too cloyingly sweet like some wheat beers occasionally are.  It had just enough citrus notes to keep it interesting but not too much to weigh it down.  It claims to be the world's oldest brewery, founded in 1047, which is just hard to even conceive.  I also found the Karl Strauss to be very interesting.  I could definitely taste the zin mid-palate and it was full of rather unusual flavors (hard to pinpoint the exact flavors) in beer.  It would definitely pair well with food; I could see it going well with food with a bit of acid / vinegar, maybe food like Spanish tapas.  All in all, a great labor day weekend.