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Guide to the 2017 O.C. Brewers Guild Invitational

Toast the kickoff of Orange County Beer Week by celebrating the best in local craft brewing at the second annual O.C. Brewers Guild Invitational. The highly anticipated fest, which moves this year to a bigger location in the heart of downtown Anaheim, will offer the chance to sample over 140 different beers from top craft breweries based around Orange County and beyond. If this year's offerings are even half as impressive as what was pouring at last year's inaugural event, attendees will be in for a treat.
General Information
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(credit: William Perugini/shutterstock)

Location
Center City Anaheim
200 West Center Street
Anaheim, CA 92805
Time: 4pm-10pm
 
General Admission – $60.00 ($70.00 at the door, if available) includes:
- Unlimited samplings of over 140 beers
- Commemorative festival glass
- Access to food trucks
- Beer Seminars by OC brewers and industry experts
- Live entertainment
 
Designated Driver - $20.00 includes:
- Everything above (minus the beer and glass)

OC Brewers Guild Invitational - Jessica Rice
(credit: Jessica Rice)

Top Breweries Participating

Alvarado Street Brewery

Making a rare Orange Country appearance, this three-year-old brewery with outposts in Salinas and Monterey is sure to be a main attraction at the Invitational. Alvarado Street has a received a lot of buzz for their "juice bomb" IPAs and while the SoCal faithful may be skeptical, there's a reason the NorCal hop specialist received back-to-back Great American Beer Festival medals. This is a brewery you don't want to miss.

Beachwood Brewing/Beachwood Blendery

Thanks to its recent expansion into Huntington Beach, Beachwood will be making its first appearance at the Invitational as an official OC guild member. Beachwood is essentially the Mike Trout of breweries excelling at basically everything from churning out the gold standard of west coast IPAs to mastering heavenly coffee stouts. Of course, don't sleep on the offerings from the brewery's Blendery offshoot which produces innovative sours en par with Beachwood's stellar main lineup.

Bottle Logic Brewing
(credit: Bottle Logic Brewing)

Bottle Logic Brewing

A brewery so popular it warrants a full anniversary week, this barrel-aged stout specialist continues to produce some of the best (and most coveted) beers on the planet. Bottle Logic is sure to draw some of the biggest lines at the festival and for good reason. Their Stasis Project line sells out in seconds and offerings like the recently released Jam The Radar, a bourbon barrel aged imperial stout finished on cacao nibs and raspberries, tastes as good as it sounds. They're recent canned IPA offerings have shown Bottle Logic isn't a one trick pony.

Green Cheek Beer Co.

Green Cheek is a new player in the O.C. beer scene with a familiar face attached. Evan Price, former head brewer at Noble, has teamed up with former Noble CFO Brian Rauso for this exciting new venture which will take over the Orange spot formerly occupied by Valiant. Don't pass an opportunity to get an early taste of some of the sure-to-be-tremendous brews from the guys that helped put Orange County on the beer map.

nobleAle Works)
(credit: Noble Ale Works)

Noble Ale Works

Speaking of Noble, the Anaheim "stalwarts" are still producing some mighty fine beers. They've even managed to up their already fantastic IPA game with recent can releases that have wrought waits longer than their Disney neighbors. As always, if Noble's phenomenal nitro blonde coffee stout Naughty Sauce (or any of its iterations) is pouring, get some!

The Good Beer Co.

This sour specialist continues to fly under the radar but as great-word-of-mouth regarding this Santa Ana brewery spreads that won't be the case for much longer. Their farmhouse Oro series is sure to beat the Summer heat but virtually any of Good's wild offerings are sure to be great. You'll be hard pressed to find better sours in SoCal.

OC Brewers Guild Invitational- Greg Nagel VERIFIED David
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Other Participating Breweries

  • Acoustic Ales Brewing
  • AleSmith Brewing Company
  • All-American Ale Works
  • Anaheim Brewery
  • Artifex Brewing Company
  • Arts District Brewing Co.
  • Asylum
  • Backstreet Brewery
  • Barley Forge Brewing Co.
  • BarrelHouse Brewing Co.
  • BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse
  • Black Plague Brewing
  • Boomtown Brewery
  • Bootlegger's Brewery
  • Bruery Terreux  
  • Burgeon Beer Company
  • Chapman Crafted Beer Co.
  • Cismontane Brewing
  • Coachella Valley Brewing Company
  • Docent Brewing Co.
  • El Segundo Brewing Company
  • Evans Brewing Company
  • Figueroa Mountain Brewing Co.

  • Four Sons Brewing
  • Green Cheek Beer Co.
  • Gunwhale Ales
  • Honey Pot Meadery
  • HenHouse Brewing Company
  • Heretic Brewing Company
  • Highland Park Brewery
  • Hoparazzi Brewing
  • Huntington Beach Beer Co.
  • Karl Strauss Brewing Company
  • Kern River Brewing Co.
  • Knee Deep Brewing
  • Laguna Beach Beer Co.
  • Left Coast Brewing
  • Legends Beer
  • Lost Winds Brewing Company
  • Mason Ale Works
  • Mike Hess Brewing
  • Mikeller Brewing SD
  • Mother Earth Brew Co.
  • Mraz Brewing Company
  • Network Brewery
  • Noble Ale Works
  • Phantom Ales
  • Pizza Port San Clemente
  • RIIP Beer Co.
  • Ritual Brewing Co.
  • Santa Ana River Brewing
  • Scholb Premium Ales
  • Skyland Ale Works
  • Societe Brewing Company
  • Stereo Brewing
  • Taps Fish House & Brewery
  • The Bruery
  • The Good Beer Co.
  • Third Window Brewing Co.
  • Three Weavers Brewing Company
  • Topa Topa Brewing Co.
  • Tustin Brewing Co.
  • Unsung Brewing Company
  • Urban Family Brewing Company
Article by David Klein.
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