Here are some photos from the recently opened City Tavern in Culver City. You know the one. It has the tableside taps.
City Tavern
SoCal Beer Co.
I have yet to try any beers from this new-to-me brewery which brews in Modesto and is headquartered in Tarzana. Hopefully their Seismic IPA, Angelino Pale and Red Carpet will make their way into one of my local beer bars.
They have a nice website and a good roster of beers (even though some aren’t produced yet) They also have a charitable bent to them which is a plus in my book. Count me as cautiously optimistic.
Have YOU tried SoCal’s beers? If so, let me know your opinion of them.
UPDATE
I sampled the Seismic IPA and Red Carpet Ale last night at Blue Palms. Part of the SoCal tour that takes them to a beer bars here in LA. I and my beer buddy, Richard both preferred the IPA over the red but both made us hopeful for the rest of the line-up.
Beer Chick + Rustic Canyon =
Here is all the information you need about the upcoming ……
2011 Rustic Canyon Spring Beer Bash
Featuring Deschutes Brewery
“The long-awaited Beer Bash is back at Rustic Canyon Winebar & Seasonal Kitchen. Hosted by Beer Sommelier and Author Christina Perozzi and Proprietor Josh Loeb and featuring a beer inspired menu from Chef Evan Funke & Pastry Chef Zoe Nathan, paired with craft beers from Oregon’s preeminent craft brewery, Deschutes Brewery.
The menu will feature as well as the award-winning, highly limited, hard to get Deschute’s specialty beers The Dissident and The Abyss 2010.”
Tuesday, April 12th, 2011
$75 per person
Rustic Canyon Winebar & Seasonal Kitchen
1119 Wilshire Boulevard
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Because space is limited,
PLEASE CALL 310-393-7050 for available reservations.
Tax and gratuity not included.
Credit card is required to hold spaces.
Menu
Amuse:
Fried Oyster
First Course:
Shaved Asparagus and Artichoke Salad with Parmigiano-Reggiano
Paired with Black Butte Porter
Black Butte is rich in flavor yet easy to drink, with a creamy, smooth mouth feel with distinctive chocolate and roasted finish.
Second Course:
Beer Laquered Free Range Wings with Farmers Market Carrots & Homemade Buttermilk Dressing
Paired with The Dissident
This limited beer brewed in September of 2010 spent eighteen months in isolation. A wild yeast Flanders-style brown ale made with whole cherries
Third Course:
Chestnut & Buckwheat Mandilli with Braised Vittellone
Paired with Inversion IPA
Named for a local Oregon weather phenomenon where the clouds hug the base of the mountain revealing clear skies further up, Inversion is Deschutes’ answer to the siren call of the hop.
Fourth Course:
Crispy Pork Belly with Southern-style Veggies
Paired with Green Lakes Organic Ale
A finely balanced certified organic ale with a mellow malt profile and subtle hop leading edge that you can enjoy in good conscience.
Dessert:
Vanilla Napoleon
Paired with The Abyss 2010
This highly coveted, rare specialty beer was brewed in November of 2010 and makes its Southern California debut this week in Los Angeles.Full-bodied with hints of molassas and licorice.
American Craft Beer Week is coming…
EXIT 9
I love breweries that really explore their place geographically and Flying Fish literally explores New Jersey with their Exit series. Exit 9 is for Rutgers University!
Here is their description of the brew: “To celebrate Exit 9, we brewed a richly flavored red beer crafter with a variety of domestic and imported malts and a classic American yeast strain. Assertively hopped with Amarillo, Centennial, Chinook and Citra, the bouquet has complex notes of citrus and tropical fruits, with an appropriate bitterness in the finish.”
Happy…..
Session # 50
Fifty. Five. Zero. That means something for Canadians… and guys like me in their late forties. It’s the balancing point. The line between passing and failing. Your share of the draw. What topic to pick for such an important moment in beer blogging history?
I posted a few days ago about the topic for this month’s session and gratefully received comments as well as emails in reply. While meta-blogging was discouraged, some themes were there. I like ideas around service, respect and good value. It’s the cornerstone of any healthy consumer-producer relationship as far as I’m concerned. And, interestingly, Mark Dredge wrote a typically well-written post this week that speaks directly to my interest in that intersection between value and obsession. So, based on all of that, here is where I am going: what makes you buy someone’s beer? Elemental. Multi-faceted. Maybe even interesting.
* Buying beer. I mean takeaway. From the shelf to you glass. What rules are dumb? Who gives the best service? What does good service mean to you? Please avoid “my favorite bar references” however wonderful. I am not talking about taverns as the third space. Unless you really really need to and contextualize it into the moment of transaction at the bar. If you can crystallize that moment of “yes” when the bartender is, in fact, tender go for it.
* What doesn’t work? What fad or ad turned you off what had previously been turned on about some beer’s appeal? When does a beer jump the shark? When does a beer store fail or soar? When does a brewery lose your pennies or earn your dimes?
* Go micro rather than macro. You may want to explore when you got tired of “extreme” or “lite” or “Belgian-style” but think about it in terms of your relationship with one brewery rather than some sort of internet wave of slag… like that ever happens.
* What is the most you paid for a great beer? More importantly – because this is not about being negative – what is the least? I don’t mean a gift. What compels you you to say this is the quality price ratio (“QPR”) that works best for you? When does a beer scream “you would have paid 27% more for me but you didn’t need to!”?
Just ideas. I hope you see what I am suggesting. Let me know if not and I maybe can refine it. It’s for the fifty. Half a century. The last real milestone any of us will ever hit.
Check out the responses today HERE
At first, I thought this would be an easy topic. What makes me buy THAT beer? Obviously it is because of….ummm. Then I went back to the question. Then I started to analyze the thought process of why I buy the beer that I do. Then I started researching the beers that I have imbibed this year. Then I found myself at Whole Foods staring at the beer selection for an uncomfortably long time. (I got so caught up with trying to answer the “why” that I haven’t even touched the “why not”)
Suddenly I was in a craft beer choose your own adventure. And confronted with a generous bounty of beer either on tap or bottle, I was often times randomly selecting either something new or an IPA.
That realization was a bit disconcerting because each craft beer purchase is a monetary vote for not only the store or bar you buy at or the brewer who brews it but for the myriad of people in between as well. It is a tacit, if temporary, approval of their work.
Now I’m not going to require anybody or even myself to know every last detail of the beers journey from raw ingredients to the glass before you can enjoy a beer. But I do need to figure out what I deem as most important to the present, past and future of craft beer and reward those brewers and publicans who are on the same wavelength as me with my precious beer money.
Importance can be many things. Too many to list here. For me, I want to support the local breweries and bars as much as possible. I also want to support brewers who take chances and aren’t stagnant. And most importantly, I want to sample a wide swath of beer styles. These items of importance hopefully won’t induce paralysis by over-thinking and will allow for spontaneity.
I could come up with a clever mnemonic device using the word firkin or mash tun to shoehorn my criteria into but instead I am going to go completely ego centric and say that I now (thanks to this session) am going to be more mindful of why I am choosing THAT particular beer.
It may take me a little longer in the store or at the bar now, so I apologize, in advance, to anyone stuck behind me.
In the Tap Lines for April 2011
This is no joke! April brings showers of beer posts from the Beer Search Party. 60 total in the works. Here are the highlights:
~ e-visits to three breweries based in the state of Washington
~ video reviews of beers from Grand Teton Brewing
~ Three suggested beers to buy this month
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my opinion on the craft beer world
~ my 2011 Beer challenge will be expanded, again…
~ … and an update on last year’s challenge
~ plus many more posts about new beers, beer products and breweries
The Firkin for March 2011
I had a nice little opinion piece set for March. I was going to talk about constructive criticism. Then Goose Island happened.
First, all beer bloggers and beer pundits need to take a deep breath. (Except for Andy Crouch and the New School who have written well thought out pieces)
Because what happened is not the end of the world. The worst case scenario of ABInBev owning Goose Island is that their beers will become worse over time and a landmark Illinois brewery will fade away. Certainly sad and worth lamenting over. But is it going to derail the craft beer train? I don’t think so.
But why is that the first thing that people think about? From what I have read, you would think this is the beginning of the end. And anyone not willing to boycott Goose Island beers is glossing over the mercenary tactics of the Busch clan and does not understand the severity of the situation.
But I return to my initial question, Why is disgust and horror the first thing that people think about? And why isn’t it opportunity?
Yes, opportunity. Is it so in the realm of science fiction that the beers might be just fine? God forbid, maybe even improve! Yes, ABInBev has proven time and time again that they can’t make a decent beer. And even more damning it seems they don’t want to. I fully understand their money grubbing part in this equation.
But maybe this will get Bud to stop their horrible half-efforts at craft beer. Maybe Goose Island can get more and newer equipment and the ability to grow. Maybe together they can distribute more good beer to a wider audience.
All I am saying is that with each change comes BOTH positive and negative possibilities and we should take both into account before frothing at the mouth instead of the pint glass.
One last thought to take with you, my dad was fond of the corny, hillbilly sayings. Usually involving animals for some unknown reason. He said, on many occasions, “Even a blind squirrel can find a nut once in awhile”. Maybe Budweiser is that squirrel.
California Growlers
The March edition of my 2011 Beer Challenge is going to go all legal. I apologize if this puts anyone to sleep.
BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS CODE
SECTION 25200-25206
This is the main section that hurts the growler cause
25200. All beer sold in this State shall have a label affixed to the package or container thereof, upon which shall appear the true and correct name and address of the manufacturer of the beer, and also the true and correct name of the bottler of the beer if other than the manufacturer. No manufacturer, importer, or wholesaler of beer shall use a container or carton as a package or container of a beer other than such beer as is manufactured by the manufacturer whose name or brand of beer appears upon the container or carton, or use as a package or container of a beer a container or carton which bears the name of a manufacturer of beer or the brand of any beer other than those of the manufacturer of the beer contained in the container or carton.
If I am reading it correctly. The container must have the brewery name on it and the beer inside must be made by that brewer. Thus a growler is stuck. It can’t be blank. And once Brewery A puts the logo on and then only A brand beer can go in.
In my mind that leaves only one option. An addendum exempting Made in California growlers needs to be attached to this section of code.
25202. Manufacturers’ names, brand names, print, or markings first placed on returnable beer containers or cartons made of wood or fiber board shall not be obliterated, mutilated, or marked out without the written consent of the manufacturer whose name, brand, or printed markings is to be obliterated, mutilated, or marked out. This section does not apply to wood or fiber board containers or cartons of a beer manufacturer who has discontinued business and production and is no longer a licensed beer manufacturer.
This section rules out stickers as I read it. So the path of least resistance would be one standard California growler with a tag tied to the handle with the brewery name and beer name with ABV. That way we only need to amend one rule.
Let me know what your interpretation of these two rules are and what may be a good way to proceed. I am ready to hear all opinions.