In the Tap Lines for June 2023

June is a special month on the calendar. You have the Firestone Walker Invitational, you have L.A. Beer Week and the weather ain’t like a pizza oven yet here in Los Angeles. This month plenty of posts about the festivals and less about the weather.

~ e-visits to (3) breweries from the Central Coast

~ special featured reviews of beers to and back from Paso Robles

~Heads-Up on Los Angeles Beer Events

~ Three suggested beers to buy this month. One light, one medium and one dark

~ A Book & A Beer reads Lone Women by Victor Lavalle

~ A Podcast & A Beer listens to Vinfamous

~ Sports & A Beer returns with the transfer portal

~ New Beer Releases and Best Beers of the Month

~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world.

In the Tap Lines for May 2023

It has been a colder than usual spring here in L.A., heck the whole West Coast. No joke but it snowed in Portland on April 1st. Let’s dive into a month of beer fun with shorts on.

~ e-visits to (3) breweries from the upcoming Firestone Walker Invitational

~ special featured reviews of whatever is new in my ‘fridge

~Heads-Up on Los Angeles Beer Events

~ Three suggested beers to buy this month. One light, one medium and one dark

~ A Book & A Beer reads Stella Maris by Cormac McCarthy

~ A Podcast & A Beer listens to Doctor Dante

~ Sports & A Beer returns with the proliferation of team jerseys

~ New Beer Releases and Best Beers of the Month

~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world.

Sean Suggests for April 2023

We are going to stick to SoCal but let the styles wander all over the place this month.

Ogopogo Outnumber the Downs Pilsner – 4.5% – A West Coast Pilsner brewed with Northern Pine Brewing.

Trademark Morning Drive Coffee Cream Ale – 5% – “light in body with an aromatic coffee punch.”

Societe Flashback Time IPA – 7.2% – “a virtual collision of juicy flavors and hoppy infatuation.”

In the Tap Lines for April 2023

We just have to get few the April Beer Fool’s Day and then we can re-focus on the search for great beers here in Los Angeles and beyond, along with the following…

~ e-visits to (3) breweries from the State of Washington

~ special featured reviews of whatever is new in my ‘fridge

~Heads-Up on Los Angeles Beer Events

~ Three suggested beers to buy this month. One light, one medium and one dark

~ A Book & A Beer reads Dr. No by Percival Everett

~ A Podcast & A Beer listens to Ringer Food News

~ Sports & A Beer returns for month three with Tanking talk

~ New Beer Releases and Best Beers of the Month

~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world.

In the Tap Lines for March 2023

March, where the national holidays are sparse but a big ol’ beer drinking holiday is smack dab in the middle of the month. Also smack dab is the California Craft Brewers Conference. I will be in Sacramento covering CA Craft from my point of view.

~ e-visits to (3) breweries from around the Golden State

~ special featured reviews of Sacramento brewery beers

~Heads-Up on Los Angeles Beer Events

~ Three suggested beers to buy this month. One light, one medium and one dark

~ A Book & A Beer reads How To Be Eaten by Maria Adelmann

~ A Podcast & A Beer listens to Let’s Make a RomCom

~ Sports & A Beer returns for month three with

~ New Beer Releases and Best Beers of the Month

~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world.

In the Tap Lines for February 2023

Technically the shortest month of the year, unless you know me, then it is sooo long because I really do like my birthday month and I like to find a really cool beer to have for that special day. So there’s that and…

~ e-visits to (3) breweries from the Sacramento area in preparation for the California Craft Beer Summit in March.

~ special featured reviews of my birthday beer!

~Heads-Up on Los Angeles Beer Events

~ Three suggested beers to buy this month. One light, one medium and one dark

~ A Book & A Beer reads The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas

~ A Podcast & A Beer listens to Let’s Make a Sci-Fi

~ Sports & A Beer returns for month two with All Star Games

~ New Beer Releases and Best Beers of the Month

~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world.

2023 Statistics

Being forgetful and also a blogger means that I like to get things down on paper or up on the internet. So I track beers drunk throughout the year.

Then, I like to post about it to put a number to my beer selections. I tasted 622 beers in 2022. 155.55 ounces per week which is a drop of a little over 3% from 2021. The average ABV was 7.23%.

50.8% of the beers were IPAs with that being 44.9% West Coast style and 25% Hazy. The biggest gainer in this category was Cold IPAs which outnumbered triples and imperials and reds amongst the many IPA sub-styles.

The next biggest style was Pilsner/Lager at 10.8% followed by Barrel-Aged at 10.8%. Sours are trending downward so I may have to see if something else should be broken out in its place.

Surprisingly Stone was the most often quaffed beer at 24 times and 385 ounces followed by Firestone Walker at 22 and 249. Rounding out the top five were Smog City at 21 and 339, Sierra Nevada at 20 and 276 and Eagle Rock Brewery at 19 and 301.

I also noticed a few breweries that I had only one or two beers from which fascinated me. Among them were Allagash, Kern River, Lagunitas, Brouwerij West and Drakes.

The 2023 BSP Disclaimer

Each and every year, I start the blogging calendar with a disclaimer. As a beer blogger, I feel it is important to be clear about my rules and morals.

Every beer, brewery, event, restaurant reviewed on this site whether paid for or complimentary will get the same treatment when reviewed. If I don’t like the beer, it will be described as a beer that I did not like, even if it was handed to me by the brewer and I like the brewer.

If I forget, (which probably will happen, because it has before) to mention how I got a beer or a pass to an event, then go back and read the previous paragraph.

I clearly want the Los Angeles local beer scene to continue to flourish and I want craft beer in general to do so as well. So, my reviews will also take that into consideration. Some points in 2023 will require cheerleading and others require harsh sentences. I am not subtle in any way, so I am sure you will figure it out quickly.

I will be as impartial and truthful as I can be while also staying as opinionated as usual.

In the Tap Lines for January 2023

Welcome to 2023! Are the years moving fast for you as well? I know time is a construct of humans but boy does it move fast at times. This blog now enters its 14th year!! Crazy. Let’s start strong with….

~ e-visits to (3) breweries from the Hop Culture Best New Breweries list of 2022 like Fox Tale Fermentation Project, Bizarre Brewing and Mahalo Ale Works

~ special featured reviews of ciders received for Christmas from Portland Cider Co.

~Heads-Up on Los Angeles Beer Events

~ Three suggested beers to buy this month. One light, one medium and one dark

~ A Book & A Beer reads Fairy Tale by Stephen King

~ A Podcast & A Beer listens to Seen Through a Glass

~ New Beer Releases and Best Beers of the Month

~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world.