Category: About the Search Party

General information about the blog.

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In the Tap Lines for February 2021

header_attractionsYes, this here blog is California centered due to my LA living.  But this month, we will kick it up a notch since California Craft Beer Week is taking over the SF Beer Week slot this year. Plus a hush-hush secret beer review is coming too  

~ e-visits to (3) breweries here in California
~ special featured reviews of beers of (4) special beers from The Bruery
~Heads-Up on Los Angeles Beer Events (Far in the future events)
~ Three suggested beers to buy this month. One light, one medium and one dark
~ A Book & A Beer reads Deacon King Kong by James McBride
~ A Podcast & A Beer listens to KingCast
~ 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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Return to Flavor Wheel

I haven’t used a flavor wheel in some time. But I got swagged with one and decided to take up the hobby again to see if it would add nuance to possible future beer reviews. The above photo is the 33 Beers version.

My conclusion after just a few entries is that I would like to see this in the “cloud” as it were. On the page, the info is fine but I can’t really compare anything or sort by rating or by highest toffee count or lowest burnt count. I do not know if an online version exists but it would be really helpful to be able to see what my highest ranking flavor wheel looked like and which beer style it belonged to. That would then lead me to finding beers with approximate flavors.

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2020 Beer Drinking Stats

Time to delve into my beer drinking statistics for last year. Frankly, there was not a lot of variance when you are drinking primarily 16oz cans. No tasters, no half pints, no magnums this year. Let’s do the numbers…

Let’s get some basic stats out of the way first. The average ABV over the course of the year was 6.79%. I drank on average just shy of 160 ounces per 5 day week.

Style wise IPA made up 52.85% of the beers. Sour and/or barrel aged a measly 7.6% and the Other category was 39.55%. Next year I might try to add more styles to the mix to see more detailed data.

My top ten most drunk from breweries starts with my favorite Firestone Walker, then to Sierra Nevada and Stone in the next two spots. All three regionals that could be found anywhere one shopped. Local Eagle Rock was fourth leading the LA parade. Followed by Los Angeles Ale Works, Smog City, Angel City, Boomtown and Brewyard. Tied for tenth was Santa Monica Brew Works and The Bruery.

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In the Tap Lines for January 2021

header_attractions2021 is here, finally, to save us from 2020.  These early months are going to be tough though.  Congress helped out (for once) and gave breweries permanent tax breaks and maybe the finally released second stimulus will break the negative economic cycle.  

~ e-visits to (3) breweries that I hope to visit this year
~ special featured reviews of holiday seasonals
~Heads-Up on Los Angeles Beer Events (Far in the future events)
~ Three suggested beers to buy this month. One light, one medium and one dark
~ A Book & A Beer reads Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu
~ A Podcast & A Beer listens to the sci-fi fiction of From Now
~ 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 Taplines for December 2020

header_attractionsHappy last holiday of 2020!  The rollercoaster year started high and then Covid cases went higher so it is a tough time for breweries so make this a give beer as gifts year.

~ e-visits to more GABF medal winning breweries
~ special featured reviews of holiday seasonals
~Heads-Up on Los Angeles Beer Events (Far in the future events)
~ Three suggested beers to buy this month. One light, one medium and one dark
~ A Book & A Beer reads The Midnight Library by Matt Haig 
~ A Podcast & A Beer listens to The Christmas Podcasts Podcast 
~ 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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Tweaks Complete!

OK, I think I have done enough tinkering with the website for now.

Time to explain the changes…

Instead of a three columned beast, down to two columns with the Cellar inventory appropriately at the very bottom of the page. Hopefully this makes things a skosh prettier to the eye.

I have whittled the other pages down to four and have refreshed those pages with more up-to-date info and images.

Lastly the top o’ the page will now rotate images to liven things up a little.

As always, thanks for stopping by!

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In the Tap Lines for November 2020

header_attractionsOnly two months left in this dreadful year and maybe the twin holidays of a Thanksgiving and Christmas will raise the spirits.  Speaking of the latter, as per BSP tradition, I will begin posting Christmas beer labels after Turkey Day.  Have a great month!

~ e-visits to (3) breweries from GABF medal winning breweries
~ special featured reviews of the (3) Black Tuesday variants in their virtual tasting box. 
~Heads-Up on Los Angeles Beer Events (Far in the future events)
~ Three suggested beers to buy this month. One light, one medium and one dark
~ A Book & A Beer reads The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford
~ A Podcast & A Beer listens to You’re Wrong About
~ 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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Off Book

A quick housekeeping note: Normally, I am not troubled by Facebook as much as other people are. I always scoffed at those who said they had to take a break from the social media giant. I always felt that I had curated the friends list well enough to avoid issues. But due to the election, I have to press pause. Even the well-minded and well-thought out are making me scroll faster than usual.

For beer, this means I might miss some really cool stuff that you, faithful readers, might wonder if I have lost my touch or interest. Rest assured, I will continue to search out nuggets of fun beer news.

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Fantasy Drinking

The Fantasy Football draft is complete and I think I did OK considering I had the last pick….

The goal is to have a beer from each city that one of my players is passing, rushing, kicking or catching for. Or to find at least a thin tie back to the team. I usually don’t win, so I have to find some other fun.