A wide-ranging variety of beer styles is great but there are also a variety of dispensing styles that should not be forgotten.

I was thinking of this when I heard that the fabulous Sunset Beer Co. had added nitro handles to their bar while I was drinking a Nitro Milk Stout from Colorado’s Left Hand Brewing.

Of course, the most prevalent methods of having a beer are via CO2 tanks that should be carefully modulated or via packaged bottles and cans. Nitro handles are usually added to the end of the row of taps. Usually one (maybe two) no matter how many regular taps there are. They usually house a stout or porter. Maybe the occasional IPA will get the treatment. Highland Park Brewery’s excellent Wake Up Session Coffee beer was on nitro recently next to a wide ranging repertoire of other HPB ales.

Even less utilized is the cask (except for MacLeod Ale Brewing which has so many hand pumps that their beertenders must have strong arms). The Randall is another device that gets brought out at anniversaries or special events to infuse a beer with something exotic like candy canes or jasmine.

The next step for L.A. is (barring the opening of all cask or all nitro bars) is for more education and more everyday experimentation with how the beer gets into the glass.

But which glass? Tulip, Nonic pint or stange? That is for another post.

Your Beer of the Week is Red Tick from the aforementioned Highland Park Brewery. This beer was created to pair with the wide ranging and something strange burgers that The Oinkster have created for their annual Burger Week. You should probably pair it with a burger but I won’t ding you any beer points if you want to have it with any of the food at either The Oinkster’s Eagle Rock or Hollywood locations.

This week’s Homework is to start planning for L.A. Beer Week. Because it is back! That means clearing your calendar. Getting rest beforehand. Researching which L.A. breweries you haven’t yet tried and bookmarking the L.A. Beer Week website for easy access. This year the festivities run from June 20-28.

Find more of Sean Inman’s writing on his blog, Beer Search Party.