Verdugo Bar celebrated their 6th anniversary in Los Angeles. Their powerhouse beer line-up included well-crafted whales like Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA and Hangar 24 Pugachev’s Cobra. Those beers are typically hard to find. Since it was a warm day on Verdugo Bar’s Glassell Park patio. I wanted to enjoy more than one beer from the roster without passing out on a communal picnic table, I started with a lighter beer: Drake’s Brewing Aroma Prieta amber-hued 6.5% IPA.

The Bay Area brewery has supplied three L.A. breweries with head brewers in the past year: Golden Road Brewing (Jesse Houck), Haven Brewing (Brian Thorson) and Kinetic Brewing (Alexandra Nowell). Despite that considerable talent drain, Drake’s Brewing still seems to be going strong with John Gilloly helming the tanks. They’ve even opened a barrel house and tap room in San Leandro.

Let’s get back to the beer at hand. Aroma Prieta is a cousin to American-hopped Aroma Coma that features a grassy, aromatic New Zealand hop backbone. I would have gladly had another pour, but when Verdugo Bar co-owner Ryan Sweeney curates an anniversary tap list, there’s no way I’m limiting my glass to one beer. I continued to imbibe more great craft beers.