Category: About the Search Party

General information about the blog.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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The Firkin for October 2022

Lego nights at breweries. Yes, it is a thing. And if you allow me to hop up onto my well-worn soapbox, why?

Let me start by acknowledging that I understand that you need to drive business to you. And if it is a logo emblazoned cornhole game or stein holding contests than go for it.

I also get that trivia nights and musical guests create a sense of community that is much better than people dully staring at phones. We probably need a hit of people after the stay at home times.

But maybe we can add a night in or thirty minutes for the old school beer fan who wants to talk about the actual beer with friends old and new instead of yelling over a pinball machine and crashing jenga blocks.

It can all be just too loud and too busy. Maybe it is the introvert in me that needs the thinking space but when I have a beer reverie interrupted by a barking dog going from table to table, I drink my beer a little faster and head home.

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In the Tap Lines for October 2022

Each year, I give my royal blessing for the beer loving masses to drink pumpkin beer now that we have reached October.  So run and buy a pumpkin, hollow it out, pour a pumpkin beer or three inside and put a tap on that gourd.

~ e-visits to (3) breweries from around California

~ special featured reviews of Autumnal 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 Less by Andrew Sean Greer

~ A Podcast & A Beer listens to Scam Likely

~ 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.

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In the Tap Lines for September 2022

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This month I will be making my first ever trip to Kentucky, specifically, the Bourbon Trail from Louisville to Bardstown.  So get a snifter out, there is going to be some bourbon talk this month.

~ e-visits to (3) breweries from cities that also distill spirits
~ special featured review of Kentucky
~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 Bourbon Empire by Reid Mitenbuler
~ A Podcast & A Beer listens to Bourbon Pursuit
~ 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.

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In the Tap Lines for August 2022

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August is a non travel outside California month so I will take the weekends to play catch-up with L.A. breweries that I haven’t been to in a bit. But if you do travel, maybe layover in NewJersey and show support to their breweries who have been burdened with some truly galling laws.

~ e-visits to (3) breweries from New Jersey who have been handcuffed by anti-beer laws
~ special featured review of pilsners and lagers
~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 Blacktop Wasteland by S.A. Cosby
~ A Podcast & A Beer listens to A History of Coffee
~ 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.

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Happy 4th

Instead of fireworks this year, how about we all have a good hard look at what independence truly means. That deep dive can be about topics large or small.

But since this is primarily a beer blog, how about we think about independence as the ability to make the beer we want and drink the beer we want. And that independence is granted to ALL who are here.

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In the Tap Lines for July 2022

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Even though I have lived in Los Angeles for quite some time, I never like the sweaty season.  July is the start of the heat that beats me down.  But I will be escaping to Portland this month and will relay any NW beer news I find. But before that, a quick interview with brewer Brian Waters from Figueroa Mountain about him and the big L.A. news.

~ e-visits to (3) breweries from the Pacific Northwest
~ special featured review of Morning Phase Sour from Eagle Rock Brewery
~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 Tracy Flick Can’t Win
~ A Podcast & A Beer listens to Betwixt the Sheets
~ Great Beer names and Best Beers of the Month
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world.

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In the Tap Lines for June 2022

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We have made it to Summer.  Or as close as we can get what with climate change making things hotter and colder and just plain weather weird.  Here is what June has in store for you on the blog.

~ e-visits to (3) breweries related to June
~ special featured review of Nectar Creek Sting Ginger Mead
~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 When I’m Gone, Look for Me in the East by Quan Barry
~ A Podcast & A Beer listens to Doctor Who: Redacted
~ Great Beer names and Best Beers of the Month
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world.