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LA Cabal has posted the link to purchase tickets to their May 9th event. Follow this… http://www.lacabal.org/ . They have also posted a partial list of breweries attending.
Secondly, Good Food last Saturday Evan Kleiman had Nathalie Balandran on the show to talk about beer and the history of women and brewing. Go to KCRW.Com and download the podcast. Nice interview with great info (I just wish it was longer).
Sunday, April 26th at 3pm sharp. Five beers (see list below) will be poured to the first nine that RSVP. For this tasting, I was aiming for lighter beers. For me, a really good pale ale or lager is hard to find. They are delicate in comparison to hop bombs or dubbels. So you can’t overpower a taster. But they are perfect for hot weather climes like Los Angeles. But enough from me, later I will publish the reactions to these brews from my panel of guests.
New Belgium – Mighty Arrow
Port Brewing – Hot Rocks Lager
Ommegang – Ommeggedon
Telegraph – Reserve Wheat
+ Mystery Beer
Mark down May 9th on your calendar. Craft beer, gelato, live music with the proceeds going to one of my favorite charities, 826LA.
When you have had as many beers as I have had, surprises don’t happen frequently and when they do they are usually of the bad variety. But lately, I have had some really good but really odd flavors. Sloeber from Belgium has a sort of apple-esque quality but it has an sweet alcohol back. It is really hard to find the right words for. It is delicate and the most un-Belgian, Belgian beer I have had.
The XH aged in Sake casks from Hitachino is another odd taste. You get a hint of sake but also fruit and grain. It is a beer that at first tastes not like a beer but then all the flavors meld and it is wonderful. I do not know how many people will like either of these but to me they fall into the category of “what is this? It tastes really good.”
Starting in April, I will be conducting Beer Discovery Nights and then posting results and comments right here on the Search Party blog. Details are still to be worked out but there will be 4 beers on the docket either from one style or one brewery plus the St. Bernard Find of the Night and some munchies that pair well with the beer. Space will be limited.
I have heard some good things about this beer and I think this weekend I will have to give it a try. One reason that I haven’t yet is that it is in cans. I have this bias (slowly receding) against cans due to Pabst and Olympia. The second is that I am not a big porter fan. But some times you have to take a leap and try something new.
These two books are musts for any beer library. You had better have a beer library or at least one book by Michael Jackson. Beer School is a great business accented account of how the Brooklyn Brewery was born and nurtured to where it is today. Very interesting on the intricacies of selling beer and creating a entreprenurial mind set.
To cover the beer and food pairing phenomenon, you have to read The Brewmaster’s Table. It is an excellent guide to food and beer. If you don’t learn something new, then you are the one true beer geek god.
If you are in Los Angeles and you venture to the east side, then you must visit the Verdugo Bar. Great, concentrated beer list. Exactly what I would have in a bar. The owner, Ryan knows beer, you can’t go wrong with his list. Corsendonk Apple. Pliny the Elder.
This is one of two breweries that I wish had beer here in Los Angeles. I have had the Belgian Red and the Raspberry Tart and both were beyond excellent. To give you an idea of the styles they have, here are their “unplugged” beers for 2009….Iced Barleywine, Imperial Saison, Eisbock and an Olde English Porter. Makes you want to go to Wisconsin.
As promised, I uncapped the Espresso the other day. Very dark pour. Great foam. Very picturesque. Since I have Portland roots, I have had a few coffee porters and this one is just as good. Rich and malty without an alcohol bite. Perfect for a cold night or a nice cut of steak. It is expensive but it will not dissapoint.