I wonder if there is cheese FOMO. Because Heady Topper from the Alchemist is a bucket list beer then this…
…must be a bucket list cheddar.
The name is just classic.
Cheddar on Top
A Bar of Utopias
1st Visit – Glenwood Smokehouse
I took a walk through Glendale over to Brand Boulevard to the recently added Glenwood Smokehouse yesterday to eat some BBQ and check out their curated craft beer list.
1st off the BBQ aromas are great when you walk in and even better when the food hits the table. This is really good brisket, pork ribs as well as chicken (roasted or fried or winged). The sides and appetizers are elevated and tasty. The fried pickles were great and that is not something that I usually would order.
Now that the quality of the food is settled, let’s dig into the beer list. 24 taps on the wall leading to a cooler with the tell-tale red tubing that means that care and expense were taken to have the beer at proper temperature.
There were five Beachwood taps, three Radiant Beer Co. taps and a pair for Riip Beer as well. Right there is a big time savings for me. No need to travel to Orange County. I can walk.
The style mix is good and there is a good balance of rotating taps to fixed beers including three house beers. With nods to seltzer, cider and kombucha too. There is a cocktail program as well.
Plus, if you sit out front, you get a view of the people streaming in and out of the Americana Mall.
Not Just Disgusting Food
The Disgusting Food Museum in Malmo, Sweden has some very strange items that people have actually eaten. They have branched out a bit…
So the next time that you think a milkshake beer or pastry stout or some other weird beer is too weird, remember the far of the spectrum is still far away.
The Beer in the Jerky
If you want a little beer in your jerky, there is a purveyor for you in Boozy Jerky. And maybe, just maybe, this time the code will be cracked so that you can taste beer and jerky in harmony.
I am a little worried though. Pilsner gets paired with Rosemary and Garlic. Spice wins that. Generic “ale” gets paired with Mango Habanero. Spice wins. Lager with Montreal Maple Spice. Sugar wins. IPA with Spicy Citrus might be a push. Peppered Stout is the best bet for balance in my opinion.
Melrose Bandit
As we come out of our cocoons at our own pace, we will find some new beer places out there. Heading over to Melrose (which I have not been too in quite sone time) is the new Bandit Brews, “a taproom and restaurant serving locally sourced beer, wine and food…
Bandit Brews will have a rotating tap which currently features beers from HiDef Brewing with eight beers on tap and another eight in cans. The menu showcases a variety of locally sourced meat, fish and produce (within 200 miles), of which many items are cooked using a Santa Maria.”
Proof
I have heard of beer floats and beer slushies but straight up Alcohol Ice Cream?
The second surprise is that most of the flavors from Proof start with moonshine! Then bourbon and rum. I have to assume that gin and tequila and wine will be represented down the line.
Jake is Trustworthy
Second location alert. Burbank’s Trustworthy Brewing now has a burger and beer spot in Pasadena…
Hard to go wrong with that combo especially after walking up a hunger in Old Town Pasadena
Trademark + Scoopie
L.A. breweries like to collab with ice cream. I put that down to the Beer Float competitions that Food GPS would do back in the day.
Now Trademark Brewing has teamed with another Long Beach business, Scoopie’s Ice Cream on a Burnt Caramel beer, Pint Party. Have a pint of both, I say.
A Highland Park Fling
You may remember Maximilliano, the restaurant that was an interesting an unofficial Craftsman Brewing outlet. That concept closed but the next tenant will keep the restaurant with a side of beer theme.
MacLeod Ales will be taking over the space and hope to open this time next year. Their pizza business next door to their Van Nuys brewery was a great success and now they will try to replicate it.