Enbeerment’s Lagerbier of the Week: Perfect Dark Especial

*Originally posted June 28, 2021*

Award-winning South Orange County brewery and one of the major players that accounts for the strong OC Lager-game, GameCraft keeps improving and impressing with their Lagerbiers. Perfect Dark Especial is a beer that might straddle a few styles but seems to fit perfectly in the Lager family, nonetheless.

Perfect Dark Especial began as a Munich Dunkel style that saw some moderate popularity at the tasting room. This version is Vienna Lager-inspired, but with a dash of adjuncts to light up the body a bit and a Mexican Lager yeast strain to make it more reminiscent of the “model” Dark Lagers we may find in stubby bottles. The result is a malty yet refreshing International Dark (or American Dark) Lager.

Deep garnet in color with some auburn highlights and dense, tan head. On the nose, we have aromas of cocoa powder, cracked bread, and a touch of caramel. Flavors are that of dissolved chocolate, lightly toasted bread, with a medium-light body and a semi-dry finish. No guilt with ordering another at only 4.8%ABV.

A wonderful food partner with friend food or burgers. Try with the Bacon Cream Cheese Wontons to create a Mole Poblano flavor on the palate as the spice of the Thai sauce and chocolate notes link up and the fluffy cream cheese adds texture. The bacon harmonizes with the dark malts lifting the salt and letting the pork’s savory nature show itself then the carbonation washes it all away.

Looking a little "sus" there, Perfect Dark Especial

Don’t feel “rare” and let your inner gamer out while taking a sip of Perfect Dark Especial. The warm weather is a noob for this crisp Lagerbier.

GameCraft Brewing
23301 Avenida De La Carlota, Suite C, Laguna Hills, CA 92653
Website, Insta, Facebook

Cheers!

Gilbert “Charlie” Perez, Advanced Cicerone®

Enbeerment’s Oktoberfestbier of the Week (2020): Maß Effect by GameCraft

It may be towards the end of Oktober, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have new Oktoberfestbier’s, right? There have been some breweries that have been notably absent this year (for reasons we are all aware of) with a Märzen/Festbier. Coming off an impressive Silver Medal win at the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) for Umbeereon (Schwarzbier), we can cross one off the list with GameCraft finally releasing their version. Maß Effect is our Oktoberfestbier of the week.

First off, let’s clarify what that “ß” is in the name. The Eszett (ß) is pronounced as an “ss” and the word “Maß” essentially means, as a noun, a measure of one liter of beer and is often referred to as the one-liter dimpled mugs associated with the festival (Krüge, or jugs, is another name they go by). The name is of course of play on the popular video game series Mass Effect.

The beer is a copper Märzen with some Festbier qualities. Toasty and pleasant on the palate with a soft biscuit note and a bit of a bitter finish that’s more suggestive of a Festbier. Good balance of malt and hops with a touch of a tree fruit note that doesn’t hurt the beer in my eyes. It is easy to drink and looks beautiful in the 1L Krüge.

Andrew Moy (Head Brewer) and Mike Ewoldt (Assistant Brewer) keep improving and impressing me with their ales but especially their lagers. Add to that the aforementioned GABF win for a lager. At this rate, I may need to move closer, so I have more of their tasty creations. Keep up the great work, fellas!

Visit GameCraft in Laguna Hills at 23301 Avenida De La Carlota, Suite C, or on the web, Instagram, and Facebook.

Prost!

Gilbert “Charlie” Perez, Advanced Cicerone®

GABF 2020 OC Winners!

There were plenty of newcomers and some very pleasant surprises. With the judging circumstances this year, it was to be expected that we have such a diverse range of winners along with some very notable snubs. There’s always next year. Congratulations to all the hardware winners! (For a complete list, click here.)

OC is always a winner in my book. There was a strong showing for our little group of brewers with 12 total awards. And the winners are…

Gold:

Coffee Stout of Porter: Super Tonic, Docent Brewing, San Juan Capistrano (75 Entries)

Session India Pale Ale: Hefty Fee, Docent Brewing, San Juan Capistrano (94 Entries)

Other Strong Beer: Rico, Chihuahua Cerveza, Costa Mesa (82 Entries)

English-Style Brown Ale: Get Up Offa That Brown, Golden Road, Anaheim (55 Entries)

Belgian-Style Specialty Ale: Tangible Passion, RIIP Beer Co., Huntington Beach (47 Entries) 

-5 Total Gold Medals-


Silver:

Coffee Beer: Golden Stout, Karl Strauss, Anaheim (72 Entries) 

Coffee Stout or Porter: The Riizzo, RIIP Beer Co., Huntington Beach (75 Entries)

American-Style Black Ale or American-Style Stout: Black the Riipper, RIIP Beer Co., Huntington Beach (69 Entries)

-3 Total Silver Medals-

Bronze:

Fruited American-Style Sour Ale: Summer Sun, Stereo Brewing, Placentia (180 Entries)

Wood-and Barrel-Aged Beer: B. A. Dunkel, TAPS Brewery & Barrel Room, Tustin (65 Entries) 

Dortmunder or German-Style Oktoberfest: Funfest, Bootlegger’s Brewery, Fullerton (90 Entries) 

German Dark Lager: Umbeereon, GameCraft Brewing, Laguna Hills (98 Entries)

-4 Total Bronze Medals-

Cheers!

Gilbert “Charlie” Perez, Advanced Cicerone®