Category: Guide to better beer

how to discover new beer to try

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LA Beer Week – Beer dinner at McG's

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One of my goals after looking over the imposing list of events for LA Beer Week was to attend a beer pairing evening. Mission accomplished. The evening at McG’s started off very nicely with a large glass of German lager from Weihenstephan.

Here are the highlights:
Best pairing:
Boxty Potatoes with Salmon Mousse was a surprise and the Blanche de Namur witbier with its citrus overtones really contrasted the starch in the potato pancake and the creaminess of the mousse.

Best Individual Beer:
Weihenstephan lager was bright and sparkly. Served in the brewery’s own logo’d glassware. Just a great lager that American’s should be drinking instead of BMC.

Best Individual Food course:
For me it was the Shepherd’s Pie. Good portion size. Gravy was good. And the meat had a nice spiciness.

All in all, I was surprised that the courses that, on paper, would not be my favorites were better than the ones that I thought would be great. I was anticipating that the lamb course would be my favorite followed closely by dessert. Both were dissapointing. The lamb was charcoal outside and close to raw inside and the sponge cake had a great Framboise reduction but was dry. Beer wise, the Xingu lager seemed off to me. Much more sweeter than normal, almost honey-ish. And the beers from St. Peter’s Brewery were solid but not spectacular. They didn’t really add anything to the dishes they were paired up with. But the Irish Green mussels were great with the kellerbier which I did not expect.

So, thanks to all at McG’s who made it a memorable night with all of their hard work.

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LA Beer Week – 38 Degrees

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When I first moved to Glendale, I was shocked that there was little to no access to good beer. Now this was (dare I say) around 15 years ago and I was a spoiled Portland boy. One of the few places available along with Lucky Baldwin’s (which was nearby) was Crown City Brewing. It was a friendly place and I could easily get to it on the bus which was my main mode of transport out of college. As the years passed and more avenues for beer became available, I went less, but still held a fondness for Crown City.
When I drove by one day and saw that they were out of business, I was sad but not surprised. Their beer had been eclisped by bigger and bolder brews. I wished that I could have raised a final pint to the brewery that got me through the lean times.
And last night I did, a type of wake was held for Crown City (as well as the Dodgers as it turned out). Two of their beers returned, Arroyo Amber and Oatmeal Stout, and the large crowd got to see familiar faces and remember the Around the World beer club and sample from a special tasting menu created for this party.
The Oatmeal stout was mild but very nice after the extreme Green Flash beers from last night. The amber could have used a little more punch to it but was right on style wise. In the end, it was a fitting tribute

Click HERE to get to the LA Beer Week site

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LA Beer Week – Descanso Garden event brewery list

A mighty impressive list (I highlighted what I am excited about)…

Abita Brewery
Allagash Brewing Company
Ballast Point Brewing Co
Bayerische Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan
Belhaven Brewery
Bières de Chimay S.A.
Bootlegger’s Brewery
Brasserie d’Achouffe
Brasserie Lefebvre
Brewbakers
Brewery Ommegang
Brewery St-Feuillien
Brouwerij Het Anker
Brouwerij Huyghe
Brouwerij-brasserie Van Honsebrouck
Cerveza Cucapá
Coronado Brewing Co.
Craftsman Brewing
Dale Bros. Brewery
De Koninck
Duvel Moortgat
Eagle Rock Brewery
Eel River Brewing Co
Firestone Walker Brewing Company
Fuller Smith & Turner (Fullers)
G. Schneider & Sohn
Green Flash Brewing Company
Greene King
Hacker-Pschorr Bräu München
König Ludwig Schloßbrauerei Kaltenberg
Lagunitas Brewing Company
Lost Coast Brewery
Malheur (de Landtsheer Brouwerij)
Moosbacher (Scheuerer Brewery)
Newport Beach Brewing Co.
North Coast Brewing Company
Paulaner Brauerei München
Port Brewing Company
Schloss Eggenberg Brewery
Shipyard Brewing Co.
Shmaltz Brewing Company.
Skyscraper Brewing
Spaten-Franziskaner-Bräu
Speakeasy Brewery
Steelhead Brewing Company – Irvine
Stone Brewing Company
Taps Fish House & Brewery
Telegraph Brewing
The Bruery
The Lost Abbey
Unibroue
Wells & Young’s Brewing Company
Wychwood Brewery

Click HERE to get to the LA Beer Week site

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Eastburn

Blue Palms is a great place for LA Beer so I thought I would spotlight another great beer spot. As if Portland needed more places to go, Eastburn has come on the scent to provide beer and food (oh and wine too).

Eastburn should be on your list of Portland haunts or must see’s on your next visit to Beervana.

eastburn

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LA Beer Week – Green Flash @ Blue Palms

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Hollywood got treated to an awesome line-up of Green Flash beers last night. I had a tasting flight of four beers and I still could have had two more flights of just their beer. Chuck Silva came up from Vista to talk with the drinkers in attendance.

Green Flash is known for using teheir fair share of hops but the beers that worked best for me was their 30th Street Pale which was almost a session IPA. It had a great citrus taste without a bitter hit at the end. The other beer that I enjoyed was the Coffee Stout. It had a nice blend of coffee, chocolate and bourbon flavors mixed into a nice smooth brew. The other hit of the night amongst my drinking companions was the Saison. Nice and light with an excellent light yellow look.

Click HERE to get to the LA Beer Week site

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LA Beer Week – Freaktoberfest

The Blue Palms hosted the Coney Island Freaktoberfest and I would have to say that the beers were freakier than the guy pounding a nail into his nose or the lady who was carrying a large snake around.

So I started with the titular beer of the evening. Freaktoberfest which pours red due to “Zombie blood”. It was a crisp amber lager at 6.66% abv. A fine way to start the evening off.

Then because the list at Blue Palms is so impressive, I went for a sampler tray. First was the Jew’belation Bar Mitzvah. 13 Grains. 13 Hops. A big imperial stout. This is a sipper beer. There are bourbon notes in this dark black beer. Next was Speakeasy’s Mickey Finn. Another imperial but this time of the red variety. It is really hoppy up front then it fades and the alcohol takes over. Number three on the list was the Avery Piglet Purgatory. A 1/2 version of their popular IPA. It is a really nice beer. A good citrusy hop taste that is perfectly balanced. My favorite of the night. Next was St. Feuillien’s Printemps which was the weirdest beer of the night. There was a distinct candy / licorice flavor to it. It was light and sparkly but that sugar taste really skewed the palate. Lastly, I had a taster of the Midas Touch from Dogfish Head. It was a cross between a witbier and a hefeweizen and it worked for me. It was the lightest beer I had and quite good. My 2nd place finisher for sure.

A loud shout out to Paige who alerted me to the event. And if you act quickly, the Schmaltz and Coney Island crew will be at Boneyard Bistro tonight and the Freaktoberfest will be at the Other Room in Venice on Wednesday. Don’t miss out.

Click HERE to get to the LA Beer Week site

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LA Beer Week – The Bruery & Matt Denny's

A glass of Snickelfritz
A glass of Snickelfritz

Yesterday’s installment of LA Beer Week was a chance to introduce the Bruery and their Belgian concoctions to another friend.

First up was the Rugbrod. A Danish winter warmer. Pours dark brown. Gets sweeter the more you drink. Taste wise this is a departure from the normal Bruery line-up. It doesn’t use the funky yeasts that I associate with the Bruery. Next was this years holiday seasonal, Two Turtle Doves. It has a really strong taste at first. Just hits the tongue. But then the flavors sort of melt away. Slight bourbon taste to it.
Autumn Maple was next and it was the winner of the day. Had a nice little fizz to it after a mellow sweet taste. This time around I think I noticed a certain starchiness from the yams. We also had the Orchard White and the Cuvee Jeune to contrast against the heavy malty beers. The Cuvee Jeune is one of my favorites. Lovely sour tang to it but it also has a lovely wine flavor to balance it out. The gang also took the short tour of the operations lead by Head Brewer Tyler. We got to hear about their current and future expansion plans. This place is growing by leaps and bounds.

Then we headed up the 57 to Arcadia for our first ever visit to Matt Denny’s. The German band was playing loud. The crowd was large but not packed and their was a selection of six or so German Oktoberfest beers. I had the Spaten version. It had all the hallmarks of the Okto style but it could have been a shade or two drier. A little to sweet for my taste. And sorry to say but the sausage platter that I ordered with it was pretty sorry for a sit down meal. I have had better Dodger dogs.

More reports to come!