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.
Q&A with brewmaster Dan Carey (New Glarus Brewing Company)
Brewmaster Dan Carey has been a man on a malty and hoppy mission. In 1983, the San Francisco native earned a degree in Food Science, with an emphasis on Malting and Brewing Science, from UC Davis. Four years later, he became valedictorian of the Siebel Institute Course in Brewing Technology. He eventually became a Production Supervisor position for Anheuser-Busch before starting New Glarus Brewing Company with Deborah in 1995, delivering craft beer to Wisconsin. Click Here to Learn More
Brew & You
This week in Brew & You: There is no homework because it is summer. But we’ve got plenty of warm weather craft beer suggestions in a post titled The Beers of Summer .
Check out the interview with the two brewers behind Wilderness Brewing.
Echo Park bar owner Elizabeth Fischbach says she’s got “Bear Republic Red Rocket Ale, Victory Headwaters Pale Ale, Victory Saison, Sudwerk Lager. My back-ups that are ready to go include Great Divide Wood Aged Double IPA and Iron Fist Renegade Blonde.”
Beachwood chef-owner Gabe Gordon currently features draught beers such as Thornbridge Raven Black IPA, Stillwater/Mikkeller Two Gypsies, Avery 18th Anniversary Rye Saison, Bootleggers Rocco Red and Alaskan Summer Ale. Track changes to Beachwood BBQ’s 24-tap menu via Hop Cam.
Beer Belly
On tap at Jimmy and Yume Han’s new establishment: Ladyface IPA, Ladyface La Blanche witbier, Cismontane El Toro Trio Hopperweizen, Cismontane The Citizen, Cismontane 1st Anniversary Black Lager, Craftsman Biere de Blanco, Craftsman Citrus Saison, Eagle Rock Revolution, Eagle Rock Solidarity (both CO2 & NO2), Eagle Rock Populist IPA and El Segundo Blue House Pale. On Deck: Eagle Rock Manifesto, Cismontane Coulter IPA, Craftsman Heavenly Hefeweizen, TAPS Seaward Pale Ale and Bootlegger’s Plum Riot.
Blue Palms taps are pouring Bear Republic APEX IPA, Firestone-Walker Abacus, Big Sky Mexican style lager and two from Pizza Port- Carlsbad Nightrider and Dubbelicious among many others. Track changes to Blue Palms Brewhouse’s 24-tap menu Here
On Saturday, June 11th, Blue Palms will host their 2nd Annual Ultimate Brown Bag Brunch, a unique beer festival featuring 24 great craft beers on draft, all served “Brown Bag Style”– with brown paper bags covering the tap handles and concealing their identities.
BoHo
From Chris Sobolewski, the beer dude at BoHo, “New on tap at BoHo is Port 5th Anniversary, Allagash Victor, Great Divide Chocolate Yeti, Eagle Rock Manifesto and Deschutes Obsidian Stout on nitro. Join us on Sunday for the return of BoHo Brunch! ”
According to bar manager Rory Snipes, “New draft this week include: Bear Republic Apex IPA, St. Louis Gueuze, St. Louis Framboise, Russian River Redemption, Lagunitas Censored (Kronik) Ale, Craftsman Citrus Saison, Monk’s Cafe, Blue House Pale, Schonramer Saphir Bock, Great Divide Espresso Oak Aged Yeti, Great Divide 17th Anniversary Oak Aged DIPA, Firestone Solace and Coney Island Human Blockhead. We also added 2 new bottles – Lindeman’s Cuvee Rene and Bruery Cuir. Sunday June 26th is our next beer dinner with Lost Coast – so far we have Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial 8 Ball and Bourbon Barrel Aged Fogcutter Barleywine lined up…stay tuned for more.”
The Bottle Room
New in Whittier: The Bruery Cuir, Craftsman 4 Cylinder mild, Cismontane 1st Anniversary, La Trappe Quadrupel and Iron Fist The Gauntlet.
Among the many taps pouring are Maredsous 10, El Segundo Blue House Pale ale, Jolly Pumpkin Maracaibo Especial, Green Flash West Coast IPA and Browerij West 5.
Since last Thursday, Phil McGovern’s iconic Santa Monica bar has added Bear Republic APEX and Lagunitas Brown Shugga to their beer list.
On tap beer wise are Solidarity Mild, Manifesto Wit and Revolution XPA along with four guest taps. On the Food truck front, Friday is Mandoline Grill and on Saturday the Ahn JooLA truck will be out front of the tap room.
The Factory
According to Eric Gutenkauf, “Currently on tap we have Alesmith IPA and Lost Coast Indica IPA duking it out in our IPA tournament. Also on tap are Port Brewing 5th Anniversary IPA, Hoppy Brewing Total Eclipse Black Ale, Bootleggers Brandy Barrel Aged Golden Chaos, Strand Beach House Amber, Cismontane Black’s Dawn Stout and Lagunitas Undercover Shutdown Ale. Patiently awaiting their turn are Bear Republic Apex Strong IPA and Sierra Nevada Southern Hemisphere Harvest IPA.
That mix of brews should hold out until Sunday, June 12, also known as Black Sunday, when The Factory will pour 5 incredible stouts together for one night only! The list is fantastic: Stone IRS, Stone Belgo Anise IRS, Great Divide Oak-Aged Chocolate Yeti, Firestone Walker Parabola and Cismontane Black’s Dawn. In addition to offering a 5 stout tasting tray, we will also have vanilla, chocolate and coffee ice cream on hand for a Build Your Own Stout Float Spectacular!
Then on Thursday, June 16, the beer-fueled adventures continue with Evan and Ross from Cismontane Brewing! The guys will be pouring 6 of their fantastic creations including brand-spanking new Double Coulter IPA, regular Coulter IPA, Pandion Pale Ale, 1st Anniversary Black Lager, their Hefeweizen collab with Tustin Brewing, and Black’s Dawn, and chatting with our patrons!”
The Golden State draught beers include Craftsman 1903, Sierra Nevada Southern Harvest, Uinta Dubhe Black IPA, New Belgium Super Cru, Iron Fist Gauntlet, Port 4th Anniversary, Bruery Mischief, Black Market Hefeweizen and Port Older Viscosity.
According to Ladyface rep Robyn Britton, “Our Cask this week is really interesting and different – Brewer Dave was calling it crazy, sexy, cool except that it’s not crazy, it’s actually carefully thought out and it’s not really cool, because it’s served at cellar temperature, so we guess that just makes it sexy.
We took Ladyface Weizenbock, an unfiltered, dark and sultry German-style wheat beer, that has been aging since last October in a Cabernet Sauvignon barrel with wild yeast and dry-hopped it. The result is a wild ale we’re calling “Verrückt Weizen”. That makes 11 Ladyface ales on tap. Joining them are Sierra Nevada Ovila, Stone Old Guardian, Russian River Pliny the Elder, Alesmith XPA, and Taps Barley-wine.
Next Tuesday, June 14th, we host the second in our summer nights’ music series, featuring intimate acoustic covers from Mike West & Dana Zacharia, from 8:00pm on the Ladyface patio. We’ll also be celebrating a certain manager’s birthday, so come on by and enjoy the fun.”
Here is the latest from Alex Davis at the Library Alehouse: “We’ve got Strand’s Atticus IPA and Avery’s 18th Anniversary Saison on tap right now with Drake’s Denogginizer laying in wait. We’ve also added bottles of Bockor’s Omer to the fridge and we’re finalizing a list for Sourfest in June so watch the facebook page for updates!” Check the Library Alehouse Facebook page for updates.
The three locations of Lucky Baldwin’s will be hosting their annual IPA Festival starting on the 11th of this month.
According to assistant manager Martin Svab, new beers include “Wandering Aengus Anthem Pear, Stone Imperial Russian Stout 2011, Black Market Brown and Maui Mana Wheat
Rubicon Brewing tonight from 8pm till 11pm featuring the following great beers on tap: Monkey Knife Fight, Wheat Wine, Purple Maibock, Irish Stout (nitro) and Hop Sauce DIPA (unfiltered!). A limited amount of cool Rubicon glassware will be available.”
According to Tuesday night’s update from assistant manager Josh Salinas, “Here’s the badass draft line-up for the weekend. We are pouring Mission IPA, Eagle Rock Solidarity, Black Market Brown, Craftsman Biere De Blanco, Craftsman 1903, and El Segundo Blue House Pale Ale.
Also make sure you come in this week for the rest of BURGERWEEK!!!”
Here is the latest from Jay at Dave Furano and Michael Zislis’ El Segundo biergarten, “This week we are pouring Port Brewing Anniversary Ale, Rodenbach Grand Cru 2008 Vintage, Bear Republic Apex IPA, Port Brewing Older Viscosity, Drake’s Expedition Red, Great Divide 17th Anniversary Wood Aged Double IPA, and El Segundo’s own Blue House Pale Ale, among many others. On Deck we have New Belgium’s Lips of Faith Super Cru, The Bruery’s Trade Winds Tripel, and Firestone Walker’s Double Jack.”
The latest from general manager Micah Schiesel: “We got a lot of new brews in this week. Firstly we are pouring Mission’s Shipwreck Double IPA, Port’s 4th Anniversary IPA, Hanger 24 Double IPA, Bear Republic’s Apex IPA and more IPA’s are arriving daily. For all the strong beer lovers we got in the Horny Devil from Alesmith (11%), Scaldis Tripel (12%), and what do you know we got a keg of Firestone’s Parabola (13%) We also just got in the Lagunitas Fusion 6, New Belgium’s Super Cru, and Sierra Nevada’s Southern Hemisphere Harvest. We will be tapping into Allagash’s Confluence this weekend and what do you know, we got Craftsman’s Citrus Saison pouring right now, this is one heck of a great summertime beer. We had a very special delivery from Matt Wilson, the man to know at Ballast Point and he brought us a keg of Sextant Oatmeal Stout and the Even Keel Pale Ale. For those of you looking for something dark and strong we got Stone’s Belgo Anise Russian Imperial Stout and Firestone’s Velvet Merlin on Nitro. Come by and don’t be shy, we love beer drinkers!” Track changes to Simmzy’s tap list Here
Steingarten LA
From David Watrous and this new Pico establishment, “Proudly Welcomes: The Eagle Rock Brewing Company. Please join us for a pint night featuring Five Amazing Draft Beers: Populist IPA, Manifesto Witbier, Yearling Flanders Red Ale, Solidarity on Nitro & Vanilla Bean Solidarity on Nitro. Come sample beers from one of L.A.’s most exciting new breweries. On hand from the brewery will be “Great American Beer Festival Gold Medal Winner” and Brewmaster Jeremy Raub to talk about the beers.”
For the month of June, Marlene Samaniego and husband Sam are featuring This month it’s time to celebrate Anniversary Beers from Breweries around the United States!
Here’s the first round of Anniversary Beers now on Draft: Flying Dog 20th Anniversary Ale , Avery 17th Anniversary Lager , Stone 13th Anniversary Ale , Great Divide 17th Anniversary Ale , Rogue 20th Anniversary Ale , Lost Coast 20th Anniversary Ale, He’Brew 13th Anniversary Ale , The Bruery 3rd Anniversary Cuir Old Ale and Gentleman Scholar 1st Anniversary Stout.
Andrew Kelley shares info for The Surly Goat. On tap: Abyss – Deschutes (Imperial Stout), Equinox – Eagle Rock (American Wild Ale) and WTF – Lagunitas (American Strong Ale). On deck: Brewers Reserve – Sierra Nevada (American Strong Ale), Raftman – Unibroue (Belgian Pale Ale) and Maibock – Lost Coast (Hellesbock).
Also, June 14, The DogBrue Head LA stop is coming to The Surly Goat, featuring Dogfish Head, The Bruery, special guests and special kegs. To get the latest tap news, check out the Surly Goat Tap List
Highlights from Alhambra include Uinta Hoo Doo Kolsch, Alesmith Grand Cru, Bruery 7 Grain Saison, Moylan’s Hopsickle and Coronado Hoppy Daze.
From Paige Reilly at Tony’s, “Right now at TDA we have: High Water Brewing’s Hop Riot IPA, Moylan’s Hopsickle DIPA, Lady Face Co-Hoperative Pale Saison, Cismontane’s El Toro Trio Hafer Weizen, Hangar 24’s Black Rye IPA and TAPS Seaward Pale Ale amongst other awesomeness. ALSO, don’t forget to come to TDA this Tuesday for a special North Coast food/beer pairing night! Off the menu specials for you to enjoy. Don’t miss out!!!”
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 Belgian yeast. According to Harley Rogers, “For this weekend’s tasting, I compiled a medley of different beer styles that all have one thing in common; fermentation with Belgian yeast. Belgian yeast generally ferments at a higher temperature (upwards of 75F) yielding an abundance of fruity esters and spicy phenols. Not to mention these yeast strains tend to be pretty resilient during fermentation, often resulting in higher alcohol concentrations. Some of the beers to be featured this weekend include: Jolly Pumpkin Maracaibo Especial, The Bruery Mischief, Fantome Noel and Straffe Hendrik Bruges Quadruple.”
According to Ryan Sweeney at the Verdugo, the following are on tap: Green Flash Fizzy Yellow beer, Anchor Small Beer, Port 5th Anniversary, New Belgium La Folie, Flying Dog Schwarzdog, Dogfish Head Hellhound on my Ale, Jolly Pumpkin ES Bam and on deck are Rogue’s Daddy’s Little Helper malt liquor, Firestone-Walker Parabola and Allagash Victoria.
Craft Beer Chronicles
On June 6 in The Craft Beer Chronicles, Brand X columnist Steven Armstrong wrote an article about how the South Bay’s blossoming beer scene aids in the craft beer revolution.
L.A. Beer Blast compiled by Food GPS Beer Editor Sean Inman
Blog Comments
Sean Inman
June 13, 2011 at 7:58 AM
Thanks for the response. It is the least we can do for the craft beer fans of LA.
Shalimar Zabanal
June 10, 2011 at 10:34 AM
I love your beer blasts! I always forward it onto my friends.
(thx for pointing out I had to comment on another article!)