The beer is flowing in Suds Clemente, celebrating Artifex Brewing and Oggi’s Pizza and Brewhouse recent wins at The Great American Beer Festival — with a bronze medal for Artifex and Oggi’s taking home silver, the two breweries continue to add to the county’s plethora of award winning brews.
South County IPA is a collaboration between Left Coast Brewing, Artifex Brewing and Pizza Port San Clemente, a collab that’s been going on since 2015 which makes this IPA a fall seasonal. Available at local retailers and on draft, South County IPA 7% ABV is brewed with Mosaic, Nelson, Simcoe, Columbus, Centennial and Cascade hops, so we can safely say it is hop forward. Ha! Also included in the brewing process is premium two row pale malted barley. There’s plenty of citrus to temper the hoppiness with orange and grapefruit lingering on the nose, the finish is clean with a hint of sweet tropical fruit on the back end. A pint full of hops and juicy fruit make South County a classic West Coast IPA with a nod to the citrus fruits of Orange County.
While you’re patiently waiting for Left Coast Brewing to open their new location in Irvine, we suggest making a day trip to Suds Clemente to visit the award-winning breweries. Hop on the train to Pizza Port, enjoy a flight, then grab a pizza to go and Lyft your way around coastal OC on a tasting room beer hop. Cheers!
Left Coast Brewing is located at 1251 Puerto Del Sol, San Clemente, (949) 276-2699; www.leftcoastbrewing.com.
