Orange County-based Brew Ha Ha Productions’ annual Brew Hee Haw returned to the Action Sports Arena at the OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa on Friday, July 14.
The craft beer-focused event launched its first tasting session at 6 p.m. on Friday during the OC Fair’s opening day. It was a hot, sweaty afternoon in the unforgiving sun, but once it dipped behind the stage that was set up for a performance by cover band Saved by the 90s, there was some relief — and thankfully lots of cold beer for tasting.
While there were plenty of hazy and regular IPAs, lagers and blondes offered, there were also a number of bubbly hard seltzers, crisp kombuchas and some sweet meads and ciders.
A clear fan-favorite was the Baja Blasted seltzer from Vista-based brewery WestBrew. Its bright blue coloring stood out in the little Brew Hee Haw-branded tasting cups and whenever folks would walk around with a sample they were stopped and asked, “Dude, what is that?” It was a refreshing shot of liquid reminiscent of Mountain Dew’s Baja Blast soda, but less sugary sweet and with 5 percent ABV. Several patrons went back for second or third tastings and even the boldest of beer drinkers had to admit it was tasty, especially on a hot summer day at the fair.
“Dog, I know seltzer isn’t your thing, but this good,” one guest told another as he influenced his friend to give it a try. He liked it and went back for more. Oh, and we all realized later that this little drink made all of our tongues blue, so we knew who had been tasting it as we chatted with others at the event.
Costa Mesa’s Brewing Reserve was serving the really delish OC Tropical, a light Hawaiian Ale that was flavored beautifully and definitely got a second taste. Again, the coloring on this one, a pretty red color that didn’t stain our mouths.
Comedian George Lopez, who is scheduled to appear at Brew Hee Haw over the weekend, had his beer on tap. In partnership with The Brews Hall, which has locations in…
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