The L.A. Beer Blast is designed to let Food GPS readers know what’s new at select L.A. bars and restaurants with great beer selections. You’ll also discover beer-related events in the area and meet industry leaders. The L.A. Beer Blast normally arrives every Thursday evening, in time for the weekend rush. Look in the left sidebar, Subscribe to Food GPS and you’ll receive the L.A. Beer Blast by e-mail.
Brew & You
This week in Brew & You: A recap of the Bottle Room’s 2nd Annual Winter Beer Dinner, a guest beer suggestion and some financial homework in a post titled Craftsman and The Bottle Room Pair Well Together.
Echo Park bar owner Elizabeth Fischbach is now pouring Avery Dugana Double IPA, Lost Abbey Red Barn, Nibble Bit Tabby Ransom Brown and Sudwerk Pilsner.
Beachwood chef-owner Gabe Gordon currently features draught beers such as Coronado Mermaid Red, Mikkeller Warrior IPA, TAPS Alt, Foret Organic Saison and Green Flash Double Stout. Track changes to Beachwood BBQ’s 24-tap menu via Hop Cam.
Blue Palms taps are pouring Victory Headwater pale, Cismontane Double Rainbow IPA, Eagle Rock Jubilee, Stillwater/Mikkeller 2 Gypsies and Port Brewing Dawn Patrol English Dark Mild.
“Come out to Blue Palms Brewhouse on Friday March 4th and enjoy some great (and limited!) beers from the Firestone Walker brewery…So far, we know will have Matt Brynildson in house with: Double Jack, SLOambic (will be tapped at 6), Parabola (will be tapped at 6*), Pale 31, Velvet Merlin, Union Jack, DBA (and more!)
Come in Wednesday night, March 9th to Blue Palms Brewhouse for our Jolly Pumpkin night which will consist of some great American wild ales paired with a great flight of cheese samples. This night will hopefully give you a glimpse into Jolly Pumpkin’s self proclaimed ‘land of open fermentation, oak barrel aging, and bottle conditioning.’ They have been one of the longest standing, top quality producers of lambic style sour beers in the US. Their beers exemplify the essence of what a farmhouse, rustic, Belgian style beer should be.” Track changes to Blue Palms Brewhouse’s 24-tap menu Here
According to bar manager Rory Snipes, “New beers this week include The Bruery XPA, Bear Republic Ryevalry Belgo-Rye Double IPA, Speakeasy Ritual Coffee Porter, Lagunitas Cappuccino Stout, and Duchesse de Bourgogne. Also coming up on our beer calendar we’re hosting a beer pairing dinner with Firestone-Walker on March 27th. The dinner will be 4 courses, featuring Pale 31, Doublejack, Parabola and 14th Anniversary, and Firestone’s Jace Milstead will be on hand to talk about the beers. Seating will be limited, and next week I’ll fill everyone in on price, time, and what the food menu will look like. Cheers.”
Current beers include The Bruery Humulus XPA, Lost Abbey Red Poppy, Jolly Pumpkin Madrugada Obscura and Stone Old Guardian Belgo Barleywine. Beers are updated daily on Facebook.
Broadway Alehouse
According to co-owner Eden Noe, “Firestone DBA, Firestone Union Jack IPA, Firestone Double Jack IPA, Firestone Velvet Merlin, Duvel Green, Blanche de Bruxelles, Hanger 24 Orange Wheat, Stone Lukcy Bastartd ale, Guinness, Lost Abbey Judgment Day, Delirium Tremens, Delirium Nocturnum, Leffe blonde, 24th St Pale ale…”
According to Beverage Director Eli Wilson, “Coming up on March 12th is our 1st Annual International Strong Ale Fest! Start marking your calendars, as we will be pouring boatloads of high-octane, specialty brews from around the world collected and cared for over the last 6 months by our resident Cicerone and “Beer Curator”, Brother Eli. More details and disclosure of tap list to follow.”
On tap are Stiegel Pils, a Belgian pale ale from Bootleggers, Edelweiss, Cismontane’s Coulter IPA, Santa Cruz Aleworks Red Ale and Houblon Chouffe.
Since last Thursday, Phil McGovern’s iconic Santa Monica bar has added Speakeasy Payback porter, Stone Smoked porter, Firestone-Walker Velvet Merlin and Stone Sublimely Self-Righteous with Amarillo hops.
Also check out their beery plans for Mardi Gras.
Get a growler fill or stop in for a pint at Eagle Rock Brewing. Great food trucks this weekend include Fresh Fries LA on Thursday, Temaki Truck on Friday and Willoughby Road on Saturday. They are also now open on Wednesday nights!
The Factory
According to Eric Gutenkauf, “The big news from The Factory Gastrobar this week is tonight’s visit from Brian and Nick of Brouwerij West. They will be pouring their Blonde and brand new Tripel, and chatting with patrons about their great brews.
Then on Saturday, (March 5) at 5PM, we will be tapping Bootleggers Knuckle Sandwich! We will be pouring full pints for $6.50.
Currently on tap at The Factory: Port Mongo Double IPA, Deschutes Hop Henge Imperial IPA, Bootleggers Dr. Tongue Imperial Brown, Drake’s IPA, Sudwerk IPA, Strand 24th St. Pale Ale and Eagle Rock Revolution Pale Ale. On Tuesday, for Mardi Gras we have more big brews with Ballast Point Sculpin, Drake’s Denogginizer and Grand Teton’s new Idaho Pale Ale (@90 IBU)!”
According to James Starr at The Golden State, draught beers “Ballast Point YellowTail, Great Divide Grand Cru, Port Mongo IPA, Moylan’s Hopsickle, Drake’s 1500, Highway 78 Scotch ale from Stone/Green Flash/Pizza Port, Bruery Mischief and Honesty ale and Aurora Borealis from Craftsman”
According to Ladyface rep Robyn Britton, “Round Table Pint Night with Sierra Nevada’s Steve Grossman this Monday, March 7th! 30 Series Ales will be on tap along with Outta Town Brown, Hoptimum and Big Foot. Ladyface Brewery Tour at 5:30pm, Round Table with Steve from 6:00-8:00pm.
We just released our 2011 Blue-Belly Barleywine (abv 10.5%) this week, and saved some of the 2010, so you can do a vertical tasting. Growlers are available. The Cask of the Week is “Antidisestablishmentarianism” – Peppercorn-infused, Sauvignon-Blanc barrel-aged Saison Sauvignon. Details on Mardi Gras, St. Patrick’s Day and our upcoming Battle Of The Barrel versus a Malibu estate winery are online.”
According to General Manager Tom Kelley, a certified cicerone, “This weekend we are featuring beers such as, Ommegang BPA, Houblon Chouffe, Russian River Blind Pig, and Redemption, Highway 78 Scotch Ale Collaboration from Stone, and Jolly Pumpkin’s Calabaza Blanca. Also, find Allagash Victor, and Jolly Pumpkin’s iO Saison from the Baudelaire series in the fridge. Limited supply, so get them while they last!
Next Wednesday, March 9th, from 5:30 – 7:30 we will be hosting an evening with New Belgium. Kegs of Le Terroir, Ooh La La (2 kegs in LA), and Ranger IPA. Free NBB globes to the first 24 guests to have a pint of Ranger. Plus gratis pairing bites for each of the beers, to be explained by our new local New Belgium Beer Ranger, Brian Chorn. We will also be releasing 12 bottles3 of 2011 La Folie, get them now as we will be hoarding the rest for aging.” Check the Library Alehouse Facebook page for updates.
Mediterraneo
Matt Husted reports that these new beers on tap: Victory Braumeister pils, Wandering Aengus cherry cider, Port Brewing Mongo, Lagunitas Little Sumpin’ Wild, Anchor Steam beer and Stone IPA with Centennial hops.
According to assistant manager Martin Svab, ” New Beer Rockin’ the Bar: Buckbean Very Noddy, Big Sky Coffee Porter, Hop Ruiter, Abita Purple Haze, Shipyard Double Thumper, North Coast Red Seal, Karl Strauss Flan-Diddly-Anders Red (Flanders Red Ale), Ommegang BPA.
Tonight, we are hosting our fan appreciation party (aka… Facebook Fans 3K). Event goes from 8pm till closin’ time. We will feature a beer and cheese pairing as well as a beer and chocolate pairing. A couple of beer/ice cream floats will be available as well as some limited Naja’s Place pint glasses. We will tap the following archived/rare kegs: Deschutes Black Butte XXI, Rodenbach Grand Cru 2008 (tasting damn good!), Brasserie Dupont Avec Les Bons Voeux, Deschutes Mirror Mirror (2009), Oskar Blues Gubna, Brasserie Dubuisson Scaldis Noel (2010), Firestone Double Jack, Deschutes Hop in the Dark, Lost Abbey Angel’s Share (Brandy-barrel aged), Stone Smoked Porter (w/ Vanilla Bean), Ballast Point Sculpin IPA.”
According to Tuesday night’s update from assistant manager Josh Salinas, “We are currently pouring some badass California beers right now. Like Cismontane , and their very awesome Coulter IPA. Also Telegraph Brewing from Santa Barbara, we have thier Reserve Wheat and their Golden Wheat on deck.This weekend we also have Los Angeles’s own Nibble Bit Tabby Bitter Brown and Eagle Rock’s Revolution XPA.The always great Craftsman 1903 is on tap too, with a small amount of Moylans Tipperary Pale Ale. Last but not least we have on deck, Strand’s 24th ST. Pale Ale from Torrance.”
SideBar
Here is the update from Jace Milstead, a certified cicerone who’s consulting on the beer list, “SideBar! Who doesn’t like Belgians (the beers, not the people)? Communists, that’s who. So, non-Communists will be glad to see we just picked up kegs of Bruery Mischief and Great Divide Belgica. Oh, and I forgot (I didn’t actually), we still have some Speakeasy Ritual Coffee Porter and Persephone Imperial Pils. Oh, and a new English Brown from Telegraph. Be merry, fair citizens…”
According to manager Micah Schiesel, “We got a mean IPA line up going, Avery DuganA, Beer Valley Leafer Madness (sorry can’t smoke this one), Port Mongo IPA, Rubicon IPA, Green Flash Imperial IPA, Hanger 24 and more getting lined up to be tapped in the near future. For the white ale fans out there we got Santa Barbara’s Telegraph White Ale and somehow somebody sneaked us a keg of Hitachino White Nest Ale. Now for some stout fun, we got the Black Dawn from Cismontane and a special release of Sea Monster Imperial Stout from Ballast Point. Nick and Brain from Brouwerij West dropped us off a keg of their triple from their first batch and it is damn good. Come by soon before all of these beers are just a distant memory.”
For the month of March, Marlene Samaniego and husband Sam are featuring DOUBLE IPA’S on draft (plus a few non DIPA surprises!) Here’s the line-up (with a few more waiting to go on):
Russian River Pliny the Elder double IPA, Great Divide Hercules Double IPA, Firestone Double Jack double IPA, Mission Brewing Shipwrecked double IPA, Avery Maharaja Imperial IPA, Bear Republic XP Pale Ale, Port Brewing Hop 15, Abita double IPA and Shipyard Old Thumper Double ESB Ale.
According to Andrew Kelley, “On Tap: Double Rainbow – Cismontane (Double IPA), Chock-A-Mo – Kern River (Chocolate IPA), Red & White – Dogfish Head (Oak Aged Witbier with Pinot Noir grape juice) and on cask: Sculpin – Ballast Point (American IPA).
On Deck: BPA – Ommegang (Belgian Pale Ale), Cuvee de Noel – St. Feuillien (Belgian Strong Dark Ale) and Highway 78 – Stone/Green Flash/Pizza Port Carlsbad (Scotch Ale)”
Bangers & Smashed – Gourmet Mashed Potatoes has a St. Patrick’s Day pop-up booked at the Surly Goat in West Hollywood, where they’ll be serving up special limited edition flavors: Colcannon (mashed potatoes with kale and green onion) and Whiskey Mash (Irish sweet potatoes), along with sausages and mustards from SoNo Trading Co. based in San Diego. To get the latest tap news, check out the Surly Goat Tap List
The latest from Clay Harding in Alhambra, “Fresh tapped brews this week include: The Bruery Humulus XPA, Shipyard Double Old Thumper, Grand Teton Lavender Sweetgrass, Allagash Grand Cru, Iron Fist Velvet Glove, Deschutes The Abyss, Telegraph Reserve Wheat wild Ale 09, Moylan’s Hopsickle, Bear Republic Ryevary, Pliny The Elder, Napa Smith Grateful Dog Barleywine and Black Market Anglo – American Brown Ale to name a few. Will tap some surprises this weekend as well so roll by and don’t forget to hit us up at the new ColLAboration FB page. ColLaboration Beer Gardens will be the best out door parties you will ever attend featuring the finest brews in the world!”
According to today’s update from general manager Paige Reilly, “Iron Fist Double Fisted, Nibble Bit Tabby Ransom Brown Ale, Ballast Point Abandonship Smoked Lager and Speakeasy Ritual Coffee Payback Porter. Also, come to TDA on Tuesday, March 8th at 6pm to help welcome the brewers and owners of Mother Earth Brew Co. to Los Angeles! Taste their new Black IPA and award-winning Agave Brown Ale. YUMMY!”
Vendome Toluca Lake’s weekly Beer Tasting is from 2-5 pm. Each week has a theme and this Saturday you will be treated to Stouts! Here is the line-up: Howe Sound Diamond Head Oatmeal Stout, Ise Kadoya Stout, North Coast Old NO. 38 Stout, Anderson Valley Oatmeal Stout, Harviestoun Old Engine Oil, Rogue Shakespeare Stout, Belhaven Scottish Stout, Echigo Stout, Green Flash Double Stout, North Coast Old Rasputin, Haandbryggeriet Dark Force, Eel River Raven’s Eye Imperial Stout, Alvinne Podge Imperial Stout, Oskar Blues Ten Fidy and Black Flag Imperial Stout.
The Yard
Here is what is on tap at The Yard, “Craftsman Honesty Ale, Oskar Blue’s Old Chub, Lagunitas IPA, Tripel Karmeliet, Strand Atticus ipa, Strand 24th st pale, Unibroue Blanche de Chambly, Stone Vertical Epic, Mikkeller Centennial IPA, Great Divide Barrel Aged Yeti Stout”
Beer Freek #5 is next Wednesday, March 9th
Hair of the Dog Brewery w/Doggie Bites.
Doggie Claws – w/ Rabbit Stew Croquette, coriander chutney;
Matt – w/grilled Pork sate, apple brandy, soy sauce;
Cherry Adam of the Woods – w/macerated berry tart.
The Craft Beer Chronicles
Today, Brand X contributor Steven Armstrong shared his latest installment of The Craft Beer Chronicles, titled Congregation Ale House Expands to Pasadena.
L.A. Beer Blast compiled by Food GPS Beer Editor Sean Inman
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