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 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. This week, we divide Beer Blast establishments geographically so it’s easier to navigate.
Brew & You
This week in Brew & You: A flurry of Bruery offerings, an order of Cocoa Mole and a new homework assignment to complete in a post titled A Bruery Flurry.
Q&A with Beachwood brewmaster Julian Shrago
Julian Shrago honed the craft as a member of the Long Beach Homebrewers and brewed several beers in professional fermenters, including Tovarish, an Imperial Stout brewed with espresso at Pizza Port Solana Beach; Warrior, an India black ale conceived at Pizza Port San Clemente; a Belgian quadrupel born at Pizza Port Carlsbad; and Laurel IPA, named for Laurel and Hardy and produced at Triple Rock Brewery. He teamed with Gabe Gordon and Gabe’s wife Lena on a multi-faceted spinoff of Seal Beach’s renowned Beachwood BBQ in downtown Long Beach. Shrago now fills 12 of 36 taps with house-made beers. Click Here to Learn More
Hollywood and its environs
Blue Palms taps are temporarily (hopefully) closed currently. Track changes to Blue Palms Brewhouse’s 24-tap menu Here
Draught beers on Fairfax include Bruery Saison de Lente, Knee Deep Citra Pale ale, Moylan’s Hopsickle, Bruery Mischief, Port FNG, TAPS Roggen bier and Lost Abbey’s Serpent’s Stout.
Lucky Devils
On tap at Lucky Devils this week are Craftsman Scotch Isle Ale, Stone 15th Anniversary Imperial Black IPA, Stone 2011 Belgo Anise Imperial Russian Stout, Firestone Double Jack, Smog City XPA, Wandering Aengus Anthem Cherry Cider, Duvel Single, along with 7 other great drafts. And in bottle we got Alpines Pure Hoppiness, Pliney The Elder, Blind Pig, and lots of other great bottles to chose from.
From Andrew Kelley, “On tap – Midnight Sessions – Port (Black Lager), Angelino Weisse – Craftsman (Berlinerweissbier), TAPS Barleywine and Cask: Sculpin – Ballast Point (American IPA).
On deck – Winterbraun – Lost Coast (Winter Warmer), BeRazzled – The Bruery (American Wild Ale w/ Raspberries) and Rumpkin – Avery (Rum Barrel Aged Imperial Pumpkin Ale).”
Beaches – North
According to a rep, “New beers on draft are Smog City XPA and Port Brewing FNG Pale Ale. We have some new beers in cans for you including Oskar Blues Brewing G’Night Imperial Red Ale, Old Chub Scottish Strong Ale, The Gubna Imperial IPA and Golden Road Brewing Heffeweizen in a pint can. We also have Brouwerij West No.5 Blonde Ale on deck.”
According to Alex P. Davis, “This year, we wanted to allow our loyal customers to avoid the Pliny the Younger madness. When our friends down at Beachwood BBQ in Seal Beach and Long Beach announced that they were raffling the beer off for charity, we loved the idea. So, in cooperation with Beachwood, we’re getting in on it too. Come to the Alehouse between February 3rd and February 18th and purchase as many raffle tickets as you like for $5 each, cash only. Proceeds from the raffle will go to the Melanoma Research Foundation in Memory of Tony Carbone. Raffle winners will be guaranteed the right to purchase one of fifty glasses of Pliny the Younger at the Alehouse from February 21st through March 1st for every winning ticket they hold. (Purchase price being a mere 25 cents) Winners will be drawn on February 20th and notified by email. The only limit on how many times you can win is the amount of beer we have, so buying more tickets increases your chances and your donation to a worthy cause.” Check the Library Alehouse Facebook page for updates.
The latest from general manager Micah Schiesel: “Next Wednesday February 8th @5 pm we will be tapping a keg of the Victory at Sea!!! Drink well pirates…” Track changes to Simmzy’s tap list Here
Beaches – South
Beachwood chef-owner Gabe Gordon currently features St. Bernardus ABT 12, Upright 5, Monkey Paw American stout, Bootlegger’s Doctor Tongue and Ballast Point Smoke Screen lager in Seal Beach. Track changes to Beachwood BBQ’s 24-tap menu via Hop Cam.
On February 9th Naja’s will be hosting a barrel night featuring The Bruery, Firestone-Walker, Alaskan, Deschutes, Russian River, Black Diamond, Ballast Point, New Belgium, Lost Abbey, Sierra Nevada, Allagash, Marin and more breweries.
Black Market Brewing Bavarian Style Heff, Steigl Golden Premium Pilsner, Prickly Passion Saison by New Belgium Brewing, Lost Abby Red Barn Saison, Humming Ale by Anchor Brewing, Celebration Ale by Sierra Nevada Brewery, Mongo IPA by Port Brewing, 24th st. Pale Ale by Strand Brewing, Seduction by Ommegang, Old Chub by Oskar Blues Brewery, Steelhead Scotch Porter by Mad River, Black’s Dawn Imperial Stout on Nitro by Cismontane Brewery. On deck: Atticus IPA and the Last Keg of New Belgium Grand Cru.
Also We Have Over 300 Bottles That are available to go, or can be opened and enjoyed on site.
Long Beach
The Long Beach location of Beachwood has Tool Black Ball Porter, Triple Rock Laurel IPA, Allagash Odyssey, Lost Abbey Deliverance and Craftsman Edgar’s ale. Track changes to Beachwood BBQ’s 24-tap menu via Hop Cam.
On tap recently are Old Speckled Hen, Sierra Nevada Ruthless Rye, Cismontane Smokin’ Santiago and Heretic Shallow Grave.
The Factory
The latest info according to Eric Gutenkauf, “The Factory Gastrobar in Long Beach, is pulling out all the stops for Super Bowl weekend. Going into the weekend we are pouring: Port Wipeout IPA, Cismontane Oaked Dos Cone Es 2xIPA, Knee Deep Imperial Porter, Ballast Point Calico Amber, Beer Valley Judas Yeast, Drake’s 1500 Pale Ale, Green Flash Barleywine, Sudwerk Dopplebock, and Eagle Rock Manifesto Wit.
But we have a “Super” stash of awesome brews for our big plans for Super Sunday: Bootleggers Lupulin Thrill IPA, Ballast Point Big Eye IPA, Karl Strauss 23rd Anniversary Bourbon-Barrel Aged Old Ale, Knee Deep Simtra 3xIPA, Iron Fist Gauntlet 2x IPA, Bear Republic Red Rocket, Lost Abbey Deliverance, Deschutes Green Lakes Organic Amber, Bootleggers Golden Chaos, and Karl Strauss Full Suit Brown.
If that doesn’t make you “Super” thirsty maybe this will help! Doors open at 3:00 PM for the Super Bowl, $29.99 covers one entree, and all the draft beer, canned beer, cider, sangria, hurricanes and select wine, that you care to consume while maintaining some modicum of self-control–until the end of the game! The Factory post-game show will be brought to you by the legendary Doug Means Project–if you like Sublime, you will love Doug Means! Post game specials include 50% off all food after 8PM so don’t miss out. We are accepting reservations for the game.
Be on the lookout for more information regarding a visit to The Factory by Golden Road Brewery on Thursday, February 16.”
Downtown & Downtown adjacent
According to Echo Park bar owner Elizabeth Fischbach, “Here’s what we are serving on tap this week: Victory Hop Wallop, Stone Levitation, The Lost Abbey Serpent Stout and Sudwerk Pilsner. Thursday is tamale happy hour, 6-8 pm, following by an old time open jam.”
From Erik Huig at Barbara’s: Big Sky Moose Drool, Craftsman Heavenly Hefe, Marin Brewing IPA and Drake’s Black Robusto porter among other tap handles.
Beer Belly
On tap at Jimmy and Yume Han’s Koreatown establishment: The Bruery Saison de Lente, Smog City Groundwork Coffee Porter, Hangar 24 Chocolate Porter, New Belgium “Lips of Faith” Biere de Mars, TAPS Cream Ale, Surf Oil Piers Porter (nitro), Eagle Rock Manifesto, Smog City LA Saison, Cismontane The Citizen, Craftsman Heavenly Hef, and Craftsman 1903 Lager.
On Deck: Craftsman El Prieto, Beachwood Thrillseeker IPA, Eagle Rock Vanilla Solidarity (nitro), The Bruery Mischief, Cismontane Black’s Dawn, Blue House Pale Ale w/ Citra, and El Segundo White Dog IPA.
From Jimmy Smith at the Little Tokyo bar: “Highlights on tap at Far Bar this week are: Bruery Smoking Wood (amazing on draft!), Moylans Ryan Bourbon Barrel Aged Ryan Sullivan’s Stout, Beachwood Thrillseeker IPA, Ballast Point Sculpin, Ten Fidy, NB Lips of Faith Coco Mole Dogfish Head Chicory Stout, Oak Aged Yeti, Cismontane Black’s Dawn, Breury Saison De Lente, Smog City XPA, Firestone Walker Double Jack, Surf Bruery South Swell DIPA, Grand Teton Wake Up Call Imperial Porter, Eagle Rock Manifesto, Golden Road Hef and many others.
On Deck: Moylans Nor Cal IPA, Eagle Rock Vanilla Bean Solidarity, Moylans Heaven Hill Barrel-Aged Old Blarney Barleywine, Uinta Labyrinth, Pugachev’s Cobra (Wednesday) and many others.
We kicked of Bourbon on 1st Street yesterday and it will continue throughout the month. We have six bourbon and rye whiskey/Beer pairings that we carefully picked out after extensive tasting, they’ve been getting great reviews so far, those will rotate throughout the month. We’ll also always have at least two barrel aged goodies on tap that will rotate throughout the month as well as Cajun/Creole inspired food specials all month long.
Join us Sunday for Super Bowl, Happy Hour all day $1 off all Beer(except barrel-aged) and food/flight specials!”
Draft Highlights at this downtown spot include, for a limited time, “Sign up for the Gopher’s Beer Society. They meet the second Monday of every month. E-mail the GM at: [email protected] to be added to the Society e-mail list! Upcoming host brewers: February is Bootlegger’s, and the RSVP list is already full. In March, Tom Kelley of El Segundo will be giving us a hops education! For a very limited time: Bootlegger’s Knuckle Sandwich DIPA is back on draft!
Currently on draught at this DTLA luxe lounge are Craftsman 1903, Brouwerij West 5 Blond, Cismontane Citizen Common, Cismontane Black’s Dawn, Cismontane Brut Du Sauvin, Golden Road Hefeweizen, Hangar 24 Orange Wheat, Allagash White, Allagash Black, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Eagle Rock Populist IPA, Ballast Point Pale Ale, Ballast Point Big Eye IPA, New Belgium Belgo IPA, Bootlegger’s Rustic Rye IPA, The Strand Atticus IPA, Moylan’s Dragoons Dry Irish Stout, Stone Smoked Porter, Anchor Brewing Porter and Lindeman’s Peche Lambic. Craft beer “to go” also available at the Beer Chicks 8th Street Bottle Shop inside the bar.”
On tap: Adoration – Ommegang (Belgian Dark Strong Ale), Avril – Dupont (Biere de Table), Blind Ambition – Ladyface (Belgian Amber Ale) and The Stoic – Deschutes (Quadrupel).
On deck: Duchesse de Bourgogne – Verhaeghe (Flanders Red Ale), Saisonniere – Urthel (Saison) and Allagash Dubbel.
The latest on tap in Echo Park from Paige Reilly: “ Last few days of our Big Sky brews. This Month: Allagash is in the house! Also on tap, Almanac Farmhouse Pale w/ Plums, Midnight Expressions Black Lager, Golden Road Brewing Rye on the Palate and Marin Brewing Witty Monk Witbier. Look out for our Allagash Dinner details in the VERY near future.”
From Alex Macy at Sunset: “We’re featuring El Segundo Brewing this Friday at 7pm, along with the Frysmith truck. And we’ve managed to get a pre-release keg of their Blue House Citra Pale Ale!
On tap now: Mission Blonde Kolsch, Golden Road Hefe, Brouwerij West Blond 5, Golden Road Point the Way IPA, Telegraph California Ale and Cismontane Black’s Dawn.
On deck: Great Divide Espresso Yeti, Ventura Surf Mondo’s Cream Ale and Ventura Surf County Line Rye.
New bottles: Allagash Odyssey, Hangar 24 Columbus IPA, Nogne-O Imperial Stout, Pretty Things Jack D’or, Pretty Things Baby Tree, Pretty Things Hedgerow Bitter, Pretty Things Babayaga and Pretty Things Our Finest Regards.
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