Apparently, September is National Breakfast Month, so happy National Breakfast Month, everybody! But instead of writing another list of breakfast restaurants (which you can read here), here's a list of all the best Orange County beers that would be pretty great for breakfast. Note: I'm not telling you to start every morning with a drink, but football season is kicking off soon and those East Coast games do start kind of early…
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5. Dusk Till Dawn — Pizza Port Brewing Co.
Dusk Till Dawn, served only in eight-ounce glasses, is a pretty heavy beer but hot damn if it isn't a beer to wake up to. Despite tapping in at 10.3 percent ABV, Dusk Till Dawn is pleasantly drinkable. This imperial coffee porter gives off those great coffee notes that will clear any caffeine headache with a mere whiff. Brewed with freshly roasted coffee from Caffe Calabria, it's basically an iced coffee in a pint glass and is the perfect pick-me-up.
4. Green Tea Hanamachi — Bottle Logic Brewing
Believe it or not, some people actually don't drink coffee and abhor anything resembling the taste of the stuff (Strange, I know). But it's okay, Bottle Logic has got your back with their Green Tea Hanamachi. They took their Jasmine rice lager made with sake yeast and threw in some green tea for a clever new take on their staple Hanamachi (Read more about Hanamachi here). This bubbly and crisp brew has you drinking green tea like you never have before. While the beer is not always available in the taproom, the brewery does a great job of rotating their selection so that you never go too long without one of your favorites, and you can always try something new.
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3. Cinnamon Roast Crunch — Noble Ale Works
Noble Ale Works has all your childhood breakfast fantasies coming true by the glass with their Cinnamon Roast Crunch. This beer pays homage to the good ol' days of Saturday morning cartoons, superhero pajamas and cereal box prizes. The beer emulates the milk left over from your Cinnamon Toast Crunch. A take on their famous Naughty Sauce, a golden milk stout made with Portola Coffee Lab coffee and poured on nitro, this beer is the closest thing to a bowl of the classic cinnamon cereal just for adults.
2. Mocha Stout — TAPS Fish House & Brewery
Mocha Stout, with all its creamy deliciousness, is only available about once every blue moon, but it's worth constantly pestering the bartenders to see if it's on draft. This stout, on nitro, pours a thick, dark walnut brown and tastes like a roasted chocolate milk. Of course, the coffee notes are present but not overpowering. Each ingredient comes through the beer but nothing takes too much prominence. At 6.8 percent ABV, this beer will also get your day started on the right foot.
1. Mocha Machine — Beachwood Brewing
Holy coffee and cocoa, Batman. The rich and bodacious Mocha Machine from Beachwood Brewing is a porter to end all porters. Chocolate porter drinkers have all tried Samuel Smith's chocolate brew and tend to set the British beer as a standard, but those drinkers clearly have never tried Beachwood's Mocha Machine. Made with Portola coffee and cocoa nibs, this beer hits every roast-y, fudge-y and coffee note, and its 9.2 percent ABV doesn't prevent it from going down like your morning iced mocha. If you don't believe me, then believe their bronze medal from the 2013 Great American Beer Festival.
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