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 review of the 2nd Beer Bloggers conference a taste test of Conflux and another craft beer homework assignment to complete in a post titled City of Roses, Beer and Bloggers.
Q&A with brewmaster Brian Strumke (Stillwater Artisanal Ales)
No longer must brewers be constrained by convention, geography, or even walls. In a world with a global economy, a new band of gypsy brewers can make beer where they please with complete disregard for borders. One such individual is Stillwater Artisan Ales owner Brian Strumke, a former electronica musician and IT pro who’s based in Baltimore but has been known to brew as far away as Fanø in Denmark. Click Here to Learn More
According to Echo Park bar owner Elizabeth Fischbach, “Here is what i have on tap this week: Drakes Denogginizer, Avery White Rascal, Nibble Bit Tabby Special Bitter and Cismontane Black’s Dawn. Back-ups that are ready to go include Stone Smoked Porter, Mad River Stealhead XPA and Eagle Rock Populist. I also have a few new bottles, Russian River Supplication, Jolly Pumpkin Oro de Calabaza and Stone 15th Anniversary Imperial Black IPA.”
Beachwood chef-owner Gabe Gordon currently features draught beers such as Mad River Sunset IPA, Uinta Anniversary Barley Wine, Kasteel Cuvee du Chateau, Brouwerij West Tripel and Harviestoun Old Engine Oil in Seal Beach. And in Long Beach, Baladin Nora, Pretty Things Jack D’Or, Stone Brewing’s 15th Anniversary, Fuller’s London Porter and Ballast Point Tongue Buckler. Track changes to Beachwood BBQ’s 24-tap menu via Hop Cam.
September 6 – 11, Beachwood SourFest 2011 will feature over 70 kegs, a trio of Special Brewers’ Nights during the week and special sour-friendly menu items.
Beer Belly
On tap at Jimmy and Yume Han’s new establishment: “Ladyface IPA, Ladyface Trois Filles Tripel, El Segundo Brewing Blue House Pale, Craftsman Smoked Black Lager, Craftsman Heavenly Hef, Victory Prima Pils, Black Market Anglo-American Brown, El Segundo Brewing Blue House IPA, Stone 15th Anniversary Escondidian Imperial Black Lager, Stone IPA, Stone Smoked Porter and Stone Pale Ale.
On deck: Eagle Rock Vanilla Solidarity on nitro-tap, The Bruery Autumn Maple, The Bruery Mischief, Eagle Rock Manifesto, Eagle Rock Populist IPA, Cismontane Citizen Lager, Cismontane Coffee Citizen, Cismontane Black’s Dawn, Cismontane Coulter IPA.
Craft beer needs your help. Chances are you still have that one friend who doesn’t drink craft beer. You know…the one who brings the watered down stuff to parties and calls you names because you’re still enjoying your first beer when he/she is on their third. Grab that friend of yours and join us at Beer Belly because on August 28th, we’ll be holding our first Craft for Crap event. Raid your friend’s fridge and bring in whatever crap beer they have on hand, and in exchange one of our beertenders will hand you and your friend a fine brew from our friends at Cismontane for a discounted cost. Simple, right?…On tap for this special event will be: Citizen (Steam Lager), Black’s Dawn (Imperial Stout) and Coulter IPA.”
Blue Palms taps are pouring Magnolia Kalifornia Kolsch, Lost Abbey Saison Blanc, Lagunitas Fusion 6, Deschutes Abyss 2010 and 50/50 Rouge Baril Baltique among many others. Track changes to Blue Palms Brewhouse’s 24-tap menu Here
Just added at Hollywood & Highland is Port Mongo Double IPA and Stone Belgo Imperial Russian Stout.
The Bottle Room
Pouring according to chef-owner Tony Alcazar: Speakeasy Betrayal, Stone Brewing’s 15th Anniversary, Cismontane Coulter and Great Divide Rumble.
Yesterday’s tap of the day was TAPS Helles and the day before was Eagle Rock Solidarity on Nitro.
Coney Dog LA
Here is the list from this new dogs and beer spot on Sunset: Eagle Rock Revolution, Lost Abbey Road to Helles, Ballast Point Sculpin and Alesmith Speedway Stout.
Since last Thursday, Phil McGovern’s iconic Santa Monica bar has added Sierra Nevada Hips Helles to their beer list. And from July 21st through July 24th they will be celebrating Belgian Independence with a host of Belgian beers.
On tap beer wise are Manifesto wit, Revolution XPA, Solidarity, Nitro Solidarity and Populist IPA. On the Food truck front, Friday brings Deano’s Deli and the Lobsta Truck rolls in on Saturday night.
The Factory
According to Eric Gutenkauf, “Tonight at The Factory Gastrobar in Long Beach is Extreme Beer Thursday! Every tap at The Factory will be pouring heavenly hops including the following tasty brews: Stone 15th Anniversary Double Black IPA, Bear Republic Mach 10 Double IPA, Drake’s Aroma Coma, Beer Valley Delta 9 IPA, Bootleggers Eliminator IPA, and Ballast Point Big Eye IPA!
Through the weekend, patrons will find Sudwerk Mai Bock, Stone Belgo Anise IRS, Iron Fist Renegade Blond, and New Belgium Trippel, mixed in with a wealth of hoppiness.”
From Jimmy Smith at the Little Tokyo bar: “Sierra Nevada /Dogfish Head Life and Limb, Hanger 24 Polycot (brewery fresh with locally grown apricots!), Stone 15th Anniversary Escondidian Imperial Black IPA, Bear Republic Mach 10 DIPA, Dogfish Head Festina Peche, El Segundo Blue House Pale, Jolly Pumpkin Madrugada Obscura, Great Divide Old Ruffian, Lost Abbey Witch’s Wit, Cismontane The Citizen and Hanger 24 Chocolate Porter.
On Deck: New Belgium Lips of Faith Kick and Clutch, Drakes Aroma Coma, Alesmith Speedway Stout, Lost Abbey Road To Helles, North Coast Grand Cru, El Segundo Blue House IPA and Cismontane Antigua Caturra Coffee Citizen (sounds amazing!)
Next Thursday Sept 1st we’ll be kicking off our Ladyface Alehouse month with a Meet The Brewer/Owner Five Course Beer and Dinner Pairing with Dave and Cyrena from Ladyface. Five gourmet Asian/Fusion style plates for only $25! to be paired with: Chapparel Saison, Ladyface XPA (debut), Unfiltered Chesebro IPA, Blind Ambition and Picture City Porter (Nitro).”
Draught beers on Fairfax include Ballast Point Sculpin, Ommegang BPA and Witte, Beer Valley Delta 9, Life and Limb 2, Bruery Autumn Maple, SoCal Red and Craftsman 1903 and Fireworks Saison.
According to Ladyface rep Robyn Britton, “Cask of the Week is “Tropical Storm Gordon”, featuring our Chesebro Imperial IPA with mango and cayenne pepper. Joining the Ladyface ales are Sierra Nevada Torpedo IPA, Anderson Valley Hop Ottin, Marin IPA, Port Mongo, Firestone Union Jack, North Coast Pranqster, and Heretic Tafelbully. And Monday, we’re releasing All-Organic Palo Comado XPA. It’s single-hopped with Cascade which adds with a lovely citrus character. Hemp seeds provide light nutty notes, and with a 4.8% abv, it’s a great session ale.
Flight of the Week, with guest ales for you to sample side by side in 5 ounce tasters, features much hoppy happiness with Marin IPA, Anderson Valley Hop Ottin IPA, Lagunitas IPA & Sierra Nevada Torpedo IPA. Hope to see you soon, maybe at jazz this Sunday 5pm on the patio or Monday 6pm for the monthly meeting of Ladies at Ladyface, our women-only social club.”
Here is the latest from Alex Davis at the Library Alehouse: “Next week at the Alehouse we’ll be hosting a fundraiser for LA Streetsblog with New Belgium. There will be a pairing luncheon at 12:30 with City Council Woman Pam O’Connor and 10% of the day’s sales will go to charity. We’ll have two great raffles that day as well (tickets available day of). One will be for a New Belgium Fat Tire Cruiser and the other will be for all sorts of cool transportation and bike-related goodies. We’ll be pouring La Folie, Abbey Grand Cru, Trippel, Ranger, Hoptober and Fat Tire.
As for this weekend, right now we have Ballast Point Tongue Buckler, Drake’s Aroma Coma, Russian River Blind Pig, Stone 15th Anniversary, Port Wipeout, Lost Abbey 10 Commandments and Rodenbach Grand Cru. The beers for the New Belgium event will probably find their way on over the weekend in addition to Great Divide Belgian Yeti, Russian River Pliny the Elder, Ballast Point Pale Ale, Karl Strauss Boardwalk Black Rye and AleSmith IPA.” Check the Library Alehouse Facebook page for updates.
The Belgian Beer Festival winds down this Sunday at all three of the Lucky Baldwin locations.
Mediterraneo
Adam Aro reports these new brews on tap: “Reissdorf kolsch, Weihenstephaner hef, Craftsman 1903 lager & Triple White Sage & Honesty Ale, Abbot Ale (nitro), North Coast Le Merle, Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial porter and Ballast Point Sextant oatmeal stout on nitro, Ballast Point Calico amber, Russian River Blind Pig & Pliny the Elder, Brewdog Tokyo, Maui CoCoNut 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 Sublimely Self-Righteous, Dogfish Festina Peche, 90 min, Theobroma, Palo Santo, Olde School barley wine, and Life and Limb 2 (Sierra Nevada collaboration). Cask is Cismontane Coulter IPA dry-hopped with Nelson Sauvin. Coming soon- Cismontane Dos Cone Es IIpa, North Coast Grand Cru, Avery Collaboration not Litigation. Casks coming from Cismontane, El Segundo brewing, Strand, and Ballast Point.”
Pouring at Mohawk Bend are Bootleggers Eliminator IPA, Coronado Bugger Brown, Alesmith Lil’ Devil, TAPS Thomas Jefferson and on cask Hangar 24’s Columbus IPA.
From Martin Svab at Naja’s, “No new events on the calendar but getting ready for an epic LA Beer Week schedule.
Here are the new(er) beers on draft: Liefmans Fruitesse, Echt Kriekenbier, La Trappe Quadrupel, Allagash 4, Allagash Curieux, Deschutes / Boulevard Conflux No. 2, Speakeasy Double Daddy, North Coast Grand Cru, Drake’s Betrayal IRA, Drake’s 1500 Marin Raspberry Trail and Lagunitas Lucky 13. We still have: BrewDog Tokio, Samichlaus Bier (2008) and Drake’s Denogginizer”
P.S. 612
Pouring at PS 612 downtown, Brouwerij West 5 Belgian Style Blond, Craftsman Fireworks saison, Stone IPA, Port Brewing Mongo and Hanger 24 Helles.
On stand-by in case any of those run out before 8/29: Grimbergen Double, Telegraph California Ale, Telegraph Reserve Wheat, Alesmith Grand Cru, Great Divide Hades and Bear Republic Mach 10.
From Justin Blake at Dave Furano and Michael Zislis’ El Segundo biergarten: “This week we are pouring Bootleggers Lemongrass Wit, Stone 15th Anniversary Imperial Black IPA, Saison Dupont, Bootleggers Black Phoenix, El Segundo Blue House IPA, Iron Fist Dubbel Fisted, Dogfish Head Theobroma, Alesmith Old Numbskull, and Firestone Walker Double Jack. On deck, we have Bear Republic Mach 10, Lost Abbey Devotion, Drakes 1500, Strand Beach House Amber, The Bruery’s Mischief, and Oskar Blues Old Chub. We also have bottles of Russian River Pliny the Elder, Maui Coconut Porter, Orval, Stone/Baird/Ishii Japanese Green Tea IPA, and Russian River Consecration. Also, next Wednesday, August 31 at 6pm, we are having a pint night with Eagle Rock Brewery.”
The latest from general manager Micah Schiesel: “Sweetness at Simmzy’s. Pliny is pouring but you better get here quick, Dogfish 90, Idiot IPA, Delta 9 Imperial IPA and Stone’s 15th Anniversary 11% Imperial Black IPA is on deck! A very special keg of Ballast Point Piper Down has arrived, it is a Scotch Ale that only comes around once in a very long time. Cismontane Black’s Dawn is holding down our nitro tap, this is one incredible stout.” Track changes to Simmzy’s tap list Here
Steingarten LA
From David Watrous and this new Pico establishment: New on draft: Mahr’s Saphir Weisse, Moylan’s Summer Kolsch, Port Brewing Panzer Pilsner, Beer Here Dark Hops, Port Brewing Wipeout, Port Brewing Mongo Double IPA, North Coast La Merle, Apostasy Double, Bruery Autumn Maple and New Belgium Clutch.
And on Monday the 29th it will be Firestone Walker night at Steingarten with Parabola Batch 2, Black Xantus, Oaktoberfest, Solace, Union Jack and Pale 31. Then two days later on Wednesday, it is El Segundo Night with the Blue House Pale and IPA on tap as well as brewer Rob Croxall.
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.
Some of the tap choices in West Hollywood from Andrew Kelley, “ On tap: Theobroma – Dogfish Head (Chile beer), Devotion – Lost Abbey (Belgian pale ale) and Adam – Hair of the Dog (old ale). On deck: Autumn maple – the Bruery (spiced beer), Black Market Second anniversary (black IPA). To get the latest tap news, check out the Surly Goat Tap List
Today’s update from Burbank, Iron Springs Casey Jones DIPA, Ovila Saison, Moylan’s Barrel aged Hopsickle, Hangar 24 Chocolate Porter and Ventura’s Surf Mondo’s Cream Ale among many other taps.
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 hybrid beer styles. According to the rep, “For this weekend’s beer tasting I selected some experimental beers that blur the boundaries between various styles. A sour stout, a wit bier with brettanomyces (an acetic acid producing yeast that imparts a sour tang), and a chili pepper ale, are just a few of the beers that will be sampled. Eventually, if these experimental beers are brewed consistently by multiple breweries, a new beer style is inevitably born; such was the case with the new Black IPA/Cascadian Dark Ale style.
In any event, this tasting should prove to be an interesting entry into the world of off the wall beers. Partial tasting line-up: Anchorage Whiteout Wit (aged in French Oak Chardonnay barrels w/brett), Bison Brewing Reunion (a Scotch ale fermented with Trappist yeast), Kelpie Seaweed Ale (a Traditional style ale brewed with…you guessed it-seaweed), Jolly Pumpkin Madrugada Obscura (a surprisingly sour stout with enjoyable, funky accents), Dansk Mjod Old Danish Braggot (An 18th century recipe incorporating ginger), Alba Scot Pine Ale (A Scottish gruit/ancient herbed ale).”
Tap highlights from Ryan Sweeney include New Belgium Kick, Stillwater Stateside Saison, Bear Republic Mach 10 and Stone Brewing 15th Anniversary Escondidian Ale.
Beer-y Events
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. Organizer Chris Quiroga confirmed food from Beachwood BBQ, Blue Palms Brewhouse, Stuffed Sandwich, Randy Clemens of Stone Brewing Co., “and some hot items screaming off the grill and out of the kitchen of Club Bravo.” Some beers that will be available right from the start of the event include Craftsman Sour Lavender, De Ranke XX Bitter, Pizza Port (Carlsbad) Revelations Belgian Strong Pale Ale, The Bruery Hottenroth Berliner Weisse, Maui Bourbon Bal-Aged KGB Russian Imperial Stout (courtesy of TheFullPint.com) and AleSmith Speedway Stout (cask-conditioned). They’ll also have “another section of beers that are in a blind tasting area,” “a few kick-ass homebrews,” and “a stable of “extra special” things that will be served at scheduled times throughout the day (like every hour or two).” Attendees 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.
On September 4th, Glendale’s Red Carpet Wine is having a Firestone Walker event with BBQ. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at the shop or by calling 800-339-0609.
B.A.M. Fest will feature 20+ breweries, 4 bands, 3 galleries and food trucks to benefit the 18th Street Arts Center.
L.A. Beer Blast compiled by Food GPS Beer Editor Sean Inman
Leave a Comment