As I turned right onto Colorado Boulevard in Old Town Monrovia, I looked for the familiar 38 Degrees logo. What I saw was unexpected, a wooden clad building with no sign at all. But all I had to do was look inside to see the familiar impressive row of taps to see the touch of Clay Harding and his partners.

They outfitted the bar with iPads with a full menu of beers, wine, spirits and the food to pair with them. This is an impressive amount of beer and a super wide variety that makes decisions hard. Smoked peach beer from Smuttynose or an IPA from Berryessa. Locals from Eagle Rock and Beachwood are pouring as well. That is a small sample of what was on tap on just one visit, which is why I suggest going the taster tray route.

5-ounce pours go from $2.50 to $4 and give you the opportunity to test out your beer and food pairing skills with dishes from Executive Chef James Boyle such as the Xotic burgers. You could also pair your beers to the sports on multiple TVs.

While the Monrovia location may be a touch smaller than the original 38 Degrees in Alhambra, it does have a front outdoor patio from which you can enjoy a mountain view while you sip away an afternoon.

Since you are already in Monrovia, why not stop at Pacific Plate Brewing for the Beer of the Week. This brewery is a few blocks from the soon-to-come Gold Line Extension and you can try one of their best-sellers. Perhaps Horchata stout, an English milk stout with cinnamon, cocoa and vanilla.

This week’s Homework is to write a strongly worded letter to Super Bowl Champion Peyton Manning about his choice of beer. Aside from the fact that he pulled a Marco Rubio and repeated the same words twice about his future football plans, the fact that he plugged Budweiser and for free when he could have easily promoted Denver beer is a bit unforgivable.

Find more of Sean Inman’s writing on his blog, Beer Search Party.