A Book & A Beer – Tilt by Emma Pattee

Being from Portland, I have heard the warnings about the big one in Cascadia and going through earthquakes in Los Angeles gives me a tiny bit of experience so I was primed to read what Emma Pattee imagined could happen to the City of Roses and to one heavily pregnant woman walking through the aftermath and aftershocks, in Tilt.

Annie is our guide through this landscape and at best she is real, in the sense that she is working through shit now and from the past in messy real-time.  She is no hero, though her stamina is damn impressive throughout. But a lot of the time she is so annoyingly millennial.  

Now I can live with that type of character in a novel but when the other main character is her husband Dom, who if you can’t tell by the name is a selfish ass who would not be as far as he is without Annie.  Which, spoiler, ain’t that far. It makes a reader start looking for anyone to latch onto.  For me, it was Taylor, the Ikea employee who is there at the start and then re-appears later.  She has an arc and emotions to wrestle with. Or I could root for the earthquake.

It is a propulsive read and I liked the alternating chapters and the way the timelines came together and though some may not like the ending, I thought it was kinda inevitable and hit the mark. Overall, I was hoping for at least some revelation but I fear that Annie and Dom are still in Portland and stuck in their lives and in their heads.

For beer, instead of something specific, I would recommend s bit of a crawl through Portland’s Eastside beer haunts that you should check out like Belmont Station or Beermongers both excellent bottle shops and tap rooms that could easily provide an overview of Portland beer or you could swing by Living Haus beer which is right near the bridges that span the Willamette River that Annie is trying so hard to reach.

Discounts for Raised Elbows

With on-off-kinda on tariffs and weird travel rules that discourage foreign travel, breweries in America cannot catch a break. 

But in Seattle, this is happening….

…. and maybe Los Angeles and San Diego breweries can form an alliance and pitch discounts for visitors? Or perhaps piggyback on Governor Newsom’s campaign for getting tourists to make the risky move of getting through US Customs without being detained.

Canadian tourism may bot be discussed much but when reports of people cancelling vacations at a financial loss and 90% downturn in travel here is not to be taken lightly. It will get ugly. And any incentives will help.

13 Angels

Tattoos are cool but the needles scare the crap out of me, but maybe, with a big enough beer, I might be able to survive, maybe.

If tattoos and the lucky number 13 are better for you, then head to DTLA, Angel City Brewery is the place to be on May 18th.

The Beer Search Party reviews We Love LA beers – Part 6

There has been such a fantastic outpouring of support for Los Angeles by breweries far and wide in the wake of the devastating wildfires of this past January.

The charity program spearheaded by Common Space Brewery has garnered quite a bit of support from California and the rest of the Fractured States of America.

Here are my thoughts on the latest beers that I have had in the worldwide series…

Crowns & Hops with Malibu Brewing – this is my second C&H beer from this charity series and it has a little more sadness attached since the other brewery is Malibu Brewing who are so near the destruction.  It is a West Coast IPA that pours a really light orange color with hints of yellow.  The aroma is quite an astringent lemon and the flavor follows to an extent before going into pine territory.  Very punchy and not for the fearful of hops.

There Does Not Exist – love the little E character from the brewery name logo moved to the We in We Love L.A..  There is a bit of a sweet tart candy aroma in this lager from SLO.  That shows in the flavor as well before the malt notes sneak in all quiet like.  This has more of a pilsner snap to it.  Overall, I do like it.

Wild Stuff

Every twice in a while, I am surprised by a beer that I had not heard of, but Straffe Hendrik Tripel also has “a wild variant of the well-known Straffe Hendrik Tripel. The beer undergoes a refermentation in the bottle with a wild yeast: the ‘Brettanomyces’ or ‘Brett’ yeast. This gives the beer a longer natural shelf life and ensures a special taste evolution over the years. The beer is only bottled once a year, so there is only a limited supply of each edition available.”

Doubt I could get one but it do sound good.

All Agave

There is a reason that there are not a lot of tequila barrel-aged beers out there.  Like gin, it is more subtle than bourbon or whiskey or brandy, thus making it trickier to age.Founded in 2023, 

But All Things Agave is out to change that and has both tequila and beer covered distilling veteran Felipe Soto Mares and Master Brewer Colby Chandler of Home Brew Mart and Ballast Point Brewing fame.

From their social posting, “All Things Agave has been formulating agave beers over the past year and has partnered with Fall Brewing for initial production.  Other agave beers will enter the market soon, as well as mezcal spirits products including Damn Right Cocktails, a mezcal-based RTD cocktail line launching in four bold and refreshing flavors, and our artisanal and ancestral spirit, Cinco Flacos Mezcal.”

Agave beer might be a new niche.

LABW 25 – Unity

Big news was dropped last week in regards to the 2025 Unity Brew for Los Angeles Beer Week.

That news is that ISM Brewing out of Long Beach will be the host…

…which is a strong choice. They have been busting out collaborations and great label design work and holding down that promenade corner in Long Beach very well.

Irish Brewery # 1 – Priory Brewing

Our trip to Ireland and we start in the Tallaght outside Dublin at Priory Brewing where the taproom is situated within the brewery and they are doing the tank bar style like Benny Boy here in Los Angeles. The market they are located in will be open later this year.

Their plan is for “flagship brews, seasonal specialities, and experimental small-batch releases – everything from hoppy IPAs to rich stouts, crisp lagers, and creative sours, all served at their freshest.”