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: We crawl towards beer, go back in beer time and assign more craft beer homework in a post titled Walk Don’t Crawl to Downtown L.A..
Interview with Heretic brewmaster Jamil Zainasheff
Heretic Brewing recently started pouring their beers in the L.A. area and after meeting brewmaster Jamil Zainasheff at Ladyface Alehouse, he answered a few questions about his journey with craft beer. Click Here to Learn More.
On August 12, from 6-9 pm, join twenty California craft beer breweries and plenty of animals at the Los Angeles Zoo for the new annual “Brew at the Zoo.” According to a rep, expect “Five ounce beer samples, pub-style food, local live bands, and animal highlights including Elephants of Asia. Proceeds will benefit the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association, supporting the Zoo in its mission to nurture wildlife and enrich the human experience.” Participating breweries include Bayhawk Ales, Belmont Brewing Co., Bootlegger’s Brewery, Brouwerij West, The Bruery, Cismontane Brewing Co., Eagle Rock Brewery, El Segundo Brewing Co., Hangar 24 Craft Brewery, Indian Wells Brewing Co., Inland Empire Brewing Co., Left Coast Brewing Co., Noble Ale Works, So Cal Brewing Co., Stone Brewing Co., Strand Brewing Co., Firestone Walker Brewing Co. and Karl Strauss Brewing Co. Click Here to Purchase Tickets.
According to Echo Park bar owner Elizabeth Fischbach, “Here is what I have on tap this week: Cismontane Black’s Dawn, The Great Divide Titan, Sudwerk Pilsner and Ommegang Hennepin. Back-up kegs that are ready to tap include Nibble Bit Tabby ESB and Port Brewing Wipe Out.”
Beachwood chef-owner Gabe Gordon currently features draught beers such as Reissdorf Kolsch, Airdale Angry Panda, Hair of the Dog Fred, Moylan’s Kiltlifter and Craftsman Oyster Stout in Seal Beach. And in Long Beach, options include Evil Twin Soft DK vanilla stout, Stillwater Debutante sasion, Hofenstark Berliner Weiss, Moylam’s Hopsickle and Rubicon Maggie Brown. Track changes to Beachwood BBQ’s 24-tap menu via Hop Cam.
Beer Belly
On tap at Jimmy and Yume Han’s new establishment: “Craftsman 1903 Lager, Eagle Rock Solidarity, Bootlegger’s Wildfire Wheat, Craftsman Smoked Black Lager, Craftsman Heavenly Hefeweizen, Craftsman Oyster Stout, Craftsman Fireworks Saison, Ballast Point Sculpin IPA, Lagunitas Lucky 13.alt, Cismontane Dos Cone Es, Craftsman Triple White Sage, Craftsman Sour Braggot.”
Blue Palms taps are pouring Magnolia “in with the new” IPA, Avery Joe’s Pilsner, Black Market 2nd Anniversary, Cismontane Dos Cone Es and Sierra Nevada Vienna Style Lager among many others. Track changes to Blue Palms Brewhouse’s 24-tap menu Here
“Also, tickets are on sale for the Blue Palms 3rd Anniversary Festival & Outdoor Beer Garden on August 13. If you know about us, you probably know how epic our anniversary parties are…and this year’s will be no exception. Tickets will be $45 for 10 x 5oz tasters (with more tasters available for purchase at the fest). This also includes a complimentary first edition Blue Palms logo’d glass.”
BoHo
Coming soon to Hollywood & Highland is Theobroma from Dogfish Head and Conflux 2, the Deschutes/Boulevard collaboration.
From bar manager Rory Snipes: “New beers on tap this week include Duchesse de Bourgogne, Speakeasy White Lightning, Cismontane Dos Cone Es Triple IPA, Stone Smoked Porter with Vanilla, Black Market Rye IPA, Russian River Pliny the Elder, Drakes 1500, Biere du Boucanier Gold, Lost Abbey Witch’s Wit, Avery Maharajah, Westoek Blonde, St. Bernardus Witbier, Great Divide Claymore Scotch Ale, Abbaye des Rocs Grand Cru, and Bruery Batch 300.”
BottleRock
In Culver City on August 15th there will be Unibroue Beer Tasting from 7 to 9 pm. There will be 6 different beers to taste for only $20 including Blanche de Chambly, Apple Ephemere, La Fin du Monde, Maudite, Terrible and Trois Pistole. You will also receive a souvenir glass with the tasting.
The Bottle Room
Pouring at the Bottle Room are Mikkeller Warrior IPA, Maui Flyin’ Hi. P. Hay, Port Brewing Way Heavy, Bruery Batch 300 and Speakeasy Double Daddy.
City Sip
Here is the latest from owner Nicole Daddio: “City Sip LA is pouring the following this week: Allagash Curieux, The Strand Beach House Amber, Maes Pilsner, Schneider Hopfen Weisse, Cismontane Blacks Dawn and Unibroue Blanche de Chambly.”
In the last two days, Bear Republic’s Pete’s Brown ale and Cismontane’s Blacks Dawn have been the taps of the day. Telegraph’s Petit Obscura is arriving today.
Coney Dog LA
Here is the list from this new spot on Sunset: Eagle Rock Manifesto wit, Sierra Nevada Torpedo, Green Flash Fizzy Yellow beer, Lagunitas New Dogtown Pale Ale, Lost Abbey Road to Helles and Schmaltz Mermaid.
Since last Thursday, Phil McGovern’s iconic Santa Monica bar has added Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA, Lucifer Belgian blonde and Firestone Walker Double Jack to their beer list.
On tap beer wise are Solidarity, Vanilla Bean Solidarity, Manifesto and a Pilot Batch of Belgian Strong Ale. On the Food truck front, tonight brings the Buttermilk Truck and Barbie’s Q rolls in on Friday night.
The Factory
According to Eric Gutenkauf, “The Factory has a superb selection of beer on tap right now in Long Beach: Ballast Point Sculpin IPA, Stone Belgo IRS, Strand 24th St. Pale Ale, New Belgium Abbey Grand Cru, Sudwerk Maibock, Bootleggers Hefeweizen, and our competitors in our IPA Tournament: Black Diamond Jagged Edge IPA and Mate Veza Yerba Mate IPA!
We also have an amazing amount of delicious backup brews including: Avery Maharaja Imperial IPA, Grand Teton Lost Continent Double IPA, New Belgium Trippel, Bear Republic Hop Rod Rye, and Ballast Point Yellow Tail Pale!”
From Jimmy Smith at the Little Tokyo bar, “Man vs Beer is going down tonight at Far Bar in the lounge at 8:00pm 20 tastes for $25 bucks! Come on out and taste some of the best Japanese craft beer available..and if you conquer the challenge you may even get your picture on the infamous Wall of Fame!”
Draught beers on Fairfax include Sierra Nevada Torpedo, Avery Maharaja, Hair of the Dog Blue Dot IPA, Port Older Viscosity, Ommegang Witte, Bruery Humulus and Rugbrod and two from Craftsman Fireworks saison and 1903 lager.
According to Ladyface rep Robyn Britton, “Cask of the Week is “Rye on Rye”, our Ladyface Red Rye with Sazerac Rye Whiskey-soaked oak chips. The latest batch of Ladyface IPA should go on tap Friday and joining our list of ales are Ballast Point Sculpin, Drake’s Denogginizer, Great Divide Titan, Port Mongo, Firestone Union Jack, Lagunitas IPA, North Coast Pranqster, Heretic Tafelbully and Green Flash Imperial IPA.
Hope we see some of you at this Saturday’s LA Craft Beer Pub Crawl. Ladyface will be pouring at Cana Rum Bar on Olympic. And there’s jazz this Sunday, and every Sunday through the summer, at 5pm on the Ladyface patio. Aah, summer.”
Here is the latest from Alex Davis at the Library Alehouse: “First off, we’re happy to announce that we’ll be throwing a party to celebrate Stone’s 15th Anniversary this coming Wednesday, August 17th at 6pm. The taplist will be as follows: Stone Pale Ale, Stone IPA, Sublimely Self-Righteous, Double Dry-Hopped Ruination, Vanilla Bean Smoked Porter, 15th Anniversary Escondidian Black Ale, and the Stone / Baird / Ishii Collaboration Green Tea IPA. There will likely be a promotion or two as well so keep an eye on the facebook page. A good time will certainly be had by all.
As for this weekend, we had events with 12% Imports and Lagunitas this week and we still have awesome beer leftover. We have Evil Twin Biscotti Break (Porter w/ Espresso and Vanilla), Stillwater Debutante, Lagunitas IPA, Lucky 13.alt, Fusion VI and PILS. Rounding out the current taplist are Allagash Vrienden, Duchesse de Bourgogne, Ballast Point Sour Wench and Eagle Rock Populist.
On deck I have Stillwater Stateside, Port Wipeout IPA, Ballast Point Piper Down, Ballast Point Tongue Buckler, Ladyface IPA and a few others I’ll try to sneak on, space permitting.” Check the Library Alehouse Facebook page for updates.
“Mark your calenders for our very popular Belgian Beer Festival starting Saturday August 13th. We shall have over “80” different beers on tap rotating over the 2 week festival! All 3 of our location will be holding their own. New t-shirts available and if you have your 2011 Cuvee de Trolls glass – bring it in for discount refills on all the Belgian beers! We will be celebrating Dubussion brewery and we’ll have all their beers on tap!”
Mediterraneo
Adam Aro reports these new brews on tap: “I currently have these up: Reissdorf kolsch, Weihenstephaner hef, Craftsman 1903 lager & Triple White Sage & Honesty Ale, Ommegang hennepin, Old Speckled Hen, Flying Dog Gonzo imp. porter and Ballast Point Sextant oatmeal stout on nitro, Ballast point calico amber and Sculpin ipa, Brewdog Tokyo, Maui coco porter, Wandering Aengus Apple Anthem cider, Strand 24th st. pale, Blanche de bruxxels, La Chouffe, New Belgium Dunkelweiss, St. Bernardus tripel, Avery Joe’s pils, Maredsous 8, Rogue dry hopped red and Stone SSR, Dogfish Festina peche, 120 min, 90 min, theobroma, palo santo, olde school barley wine, and life and limb (sierra collaboration). Coming soon- Cismontane Dos Cone Es IIpa, North Coast Le Merle saison & Grand Cru, Avery Collaboration not Litigation. Cask this week is Strand 24th st pale dbl dry hopped with amarillo. Casks coming from Cismontane, El Segundo brewing, and Ballast point.”
Tomorrow at the latest, LGO Hospitality’s latest restaurant will tap a keg of the Sierra Nevada/Dogfish Head collaboration – Life & Limb.
Pouring at the recently opened Mohawk are TAPS Thomas Jefferson, Craftsman Fireworks saison, Moylan’s Orange & Black, Ladyface unfiltered Chesebro IPA and Hangar 24’s Black Rye IPA.
Tonight: “Facebook 4K Fan Appreciation Party (8pm till closing) With 4,000 rockin’ Facebook fans (and growin’)… it’s time to tip our caps and say THANK YOU!!! This is an evening not to miss! We will feature 10 awesome (rare, archived goodies) on draft including Port Older Viscosity, The Bruery Cuir, BrewDog Tokyo, Samichlaus Bier (2008), North Coast Grand Cru (’11), and many more! As before, we will have Imperial Stout ice cream floats, cool giveaways, bottle specials, a surprise food special, and more! If you’ve attended the previous Fan Appreciation Parties… you know what it’s all about. We promise to make this bad boy the baddest one yet!”
From Justin Blake at Dave Furano and Michael Zislis’ El Segundo biergarten: “This week we are pouring Mort Subite Blanche, Sierra Nevada/Dogfish Head Life and Limb 2, Port Brewing Mongo, Ommegang Aphrodite, St. Bernardus ABT12, The Bruery’s Seven Grain Saison, and Dogfish Head Festina Peche among many others. We also have bottles of Stone/Troegs Cherry Chocolate Stout, Firestone Walker Parabola, and Russian River Pliny the Elder. On deck, we have Ballast Point Piper Down, Bear Republic Big Bear Black Stout, Firestone Walker Double Jack, Iron Fist Dubbel Fisted, and St. Feuillien Saison. Also, next Wednesday, August 17th, we are a having a Lagunitas pint night where we’ll be pouring Lucky 13.alt, Lagunitas IPA and Lagunitas Pils, we will also being giving away Lagunitas glassware.”
The latest from general manager Micah Schiesel: “Fun and interesting stuff first, New Belguim’s Hoptober has arrived, Stone’s Oaked Arrogant Bastard, (damn good brew) Craftsman’s Fireworks, Alesmith’s Horny Devil, hey if you mix the Horny Devil with the Oaked Bastard you could end up with a Horny Bastard. For our Belgium beer lovers we got in Scaldis Tripel (12 abv) and Rodenbach Grand Cru, a fine Flemish Red Sour to join our other Belgium standards. Also arriving today we got in a few kegs of Midnight Suns Panty Peeler and just one very hard to get just released Stillwater Debutante Saison. We just finished up our keg of the Dogfish 120 but we still have some of the Tokyo Stout left, come and get it!!!” Track changes to Simmzy’s tap list Here
For the month of August, Marlene Samaniego and husband Sam are featuring Sea Dog Blueberry Ale, Lindemans Framboise, Dogfish Head Aprihop, Jolly Pumpkin Oro de Calabaza, Unibroue Ephemere Cassis, Liefmans Cuvee Brut, Shmaltz Brewing He’Brew Origin , De Proef Monstre Rouge and Russian River Consecration.
On tap at the Surly Goat: Duvel Single, Sierra Nevada California Common, Jolly Pumpkin Mardugad Obscura, TAPS Neo-Colonial Stout and Ballast Point Piper Down Scotch ale among others.
To get the latest tap news, check out the Surly Goat Tap List
Today’s update from Burbank: Stone Cali-Belgique, Port Mongo IPA, Bruery 7 Grain Saison, Anchor Liberty Ale and Iron Fist’s Velvet Glove stout.
Vendome Toluca Lake’s weekly Beer Tasting is from 2-5 pm on Saturday and Sunday. Each week has a theme and this weekend you will be treated to Trappiste ales. “Of the seven authentic Trappist breweries, the only one which will not be featured is Westvleteren, which is understandable when you consider that Westvleteren brews its beers more for monastery sustainability than for profit. Nevertheless, the remaining breweries (Chimay, La Trappe Koningshoeven, Achel, Orval, Rochefort, Westmalle) should be more than enough to satisfy any Belgian beer craving. Therefore, if you have been curious to try these beers but have dissuaded by the price tag, or if you are a fan (like myself) of these “abbey ales,” then plan on arriving early as this tasting WILL BE BUSY!”
Tap highlights from Ryan Sweeney include Green Flash Fizzy Yellow beer, Boulevard/Deschutes Conflux # 2, Sierra Nevada Schwarzbier, Lagunitas New Dogtown Pale, Heretic Tafelbully, Life and Limb 2, Dogfish Head Theobroma with Chateau Jiahu soon to follow. Also on the way is the Craftsman Sour Braggot and Hangar 24’s 3rd Anniversary.
The Yard
Here is what is on tap at The Yard from Sean Norris, “Allagash white, Life and Limb 2 strong ale (Dogfish Head/Sierra Nevada), Cismontane’s Black’s Dawn, Sculpin IPA, Strand’s 24th St Pale Ale, Sierra Nevada pale, El Segundo Blue House pale, Ballast Point Yellowtail kolsch and Lagunitas IPA. Mark your calendars the next Beer Freek is on Wednesday, August 24th. ”
Other Beer-y Events
2nd Annual LA Craft Beer Crawl
On Saturday, August 13, from 3 p.m. – 8 p.m., Hallie Beaune and Christina Perozzi (The Beer Chicks) are re-teaming with Cedd Moses and 213 to feature more than 60 craft beers at seven of 213’s downtown bars: Golden Gopher, Seven Grand, Cole’s, Las Perlas, Casey’s, Cana and Broadway Bar. A VIP Tasting from 1 p.m. – 3 p.m. features rare crafts and beer cocktails. Evan Kleiman is lining the route with a roster of curated food trucks. A portion of proceeds benefits Heal the Bay.
Woodshop Classix
On August 27 from 12 p.m – 8 p.m., the Woodshop Tasting, a craft beer event, is open to the public for the first time at Anaheim’s Club Bravo. According to organizer Chris Quiroga, “Woodshop Classix is the sixth annual Woodshop Tasting, a craft beer festival organized and run by longtime Southern California beer aficionados to celebrate the bounty of locally-produced craft beer, to explore the world of exotic and specialty beers, and to embrace the growing community of like-minded flavor-seekers. This festival is designed as a bottle-sharing party and free-form beer tasting, featuring more than a dozen carefully selected draft beers, pairings with cheese and other small bites, and specialty lunch dishes catered by Friends of The Woodshop Tasting. Additionally, hundreds of the best and rarest beers in the world will be on display, as attendees are encouraged to bring a bottle or few of the best beers from their cellar to share with any and all. Each year the Woodshop Tasting has a theme, and this year that is “World Classics,” beers that are generally regarded to be some of the best and most influential beers ever created. We also include conceptual riffs on that theme like “New Classics” and “Anti-Classics,” covering more recent releases and the more experimental and adventurous offerings available. Attendees will get one tasting glass with their admission with additional glassware available for purchase, but individuals are encouraged to bring their own– there’s a lot of great beer to taste, after all!” The cost is $40 in advance, $50 at the door and $15 for designated drivers. For more info and to buy tickets, Click Here.
Public School 612 is offering a Hops 101 class on August 16th at 7:30 pm. Class size is limited so call 213-623-1172 for reservations.
According to a rep from the Four Points LAX, “On Friday August 12 our Monthly Beer Appreciation Night will feature a Mac & Cheese Trio with beer pairings. The Mac & Cheese will be prepared by acclaimed Mac & Cheese Chef Larry James. We will start the evening off with Uinta Wyld and cap it off with a demitasse cocktail of Old Rasputin and Graham’s Ruby Port. This will be a Poolside event! I hope you can come and bring friends.” RSVP at 310-649-7024.
L.A. Beer Blast compiled by Food GPS Beer Editor Sean Inman
Leave a Comment