A Little Taste: Golden Road Brewing At Mohawk Bend

Golden Road Brewing is the highly anticipated forthcoming endeavor from Tony Yanow (Tony’s Darts Away/Mohawk Bend), Meg Gill, and Jon Carpenter.

Golden Road made a special appearance at Mohawk Bend in Echo Park on sunday night with kegs of their first two brews.

The Point the Way IPA and an as-of-yet-unnamed Hefeweizen have been popping up at premier craft beer bars around Los Angeles this week, so when I caught wind of the Mohawk Bend launch, I knew I needed to make my way over there.

I was curious as to how these brand new beers would taste with the research and hard-work that this team has put into their first releases. Gill’s worked with notable brewers such as Speakeasy and Oskar Blues, while Carpenter was most recently the Assistant Brewmaster at Dogfish Head. Unsurprisingly, these two new offerings were delightful, refreshing, and definitely to the quality and caliber that I would expect from such experienced and dedicated folks.

The Golden Road Hef (4.6%ABV) was very light with a beautiful cloudy golden color that reminded me of yellow summer peaches. Offering a good balance of wheat and yeast, this beer had some nice citrus on the nose and had an impeccably clean finish. I’m not usually a big fan of hefs because often I don’t enjoy too much wheat, but this beer was definitely well-rounded.

The Point the Way IPA (5.2%ABV) was much more my speed. This low alcohol session IPA had inticing subtle hops on the nose, a beautiful deep amber color, and was clean and highly drinkable. More often than not, California brewers are known for going big on the hops;breaking new ground for hop heads alike. However, the Point the Way was more on the delicate end; a deep hop profile on the forefront with a touch of maltiness and a tickle that reminded me of grapefruit and wood nuances on the finish. I was a fan of this and was pleased with seeing a solid IPA that you can easily have two, three, or four of without overwhelming your palate or your blood alcohol level.

Overall, Golden Road Brewing is definitely a promising newcomer, definitely worth checking out. For those interested, they will be rolling out a few more launches at several bars around town before their big brewery reveal in October.