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bottle shops, pubs and breweries
The coffee shop attached to the Mikkeller DTLA outpost, Kaffebaren, is now Kaffebaren & Bottle Shop.
The café that now will offer bottles and cans to drink there or to go. Obviously this will be lead by offerings from our closest Mikkeller brewery, Mikkeller San Diego but the initial press release touts Bottle Logic and Three Weavers as well. All told around 50 bottle options and 20 canned options which seems the inverse of most bottle shops in our canned beer world.
I have intermittently checked in on the draft list at Bottlecraft and their Long Beach location and finally made my way to their Hangar location to have to make the difficult choice of what to drink first.
Here are my initial thoughts…This is a real cool food hall but it is in the middle of nowhere. Unlike Grand Central Market or Steelcraft that is in pedestrian areas, the Hangar is out near the Long Beach Airport. To get to the Bottlecraft bar you enter on the street side of the building. OK, you can enter on the other side and be tempted by Portola Coffee first.
Bottlecraft has a 25+ taps arrayed on their cold box and the variety of beers was good on my visit. And they do half-pours which always makes me happy. I started with Indie Brewing’s Garcon French Pilsner and then did a hazy from RIIP Brewing so you can tell that miles and styles separate those two beers.
I also like that if you want to wander around the food choices, you can get a plastic cup (free souvenir) or if you have already placed your food order, you can get glassware at the bar. The prices were pretty on par but really the location is the issue for me. It is a small hike from even Santa Monica let alone from my normal home base of Glendale. With Steelcraft, you may have less options but you are closer to other breweries if you want to make a day of it. But if you find yourself there, it is great for both food and choices.
Each month in L.A. brings a bevy of anniversary parties. Here are (3) more for you for August…
Enegren Brewing 8th Anniversary in Moorpark on Saturday, August 3rd 11:00 am – 10:00 pm
Chapman Crafted 3rd Anniversary in Orange on Saturday, August 10th 12:00 pm
818 Brewing 4th Anniversary in Canoga Park on Sunday, August 18th 12:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Better than whether the groundhog sees his/her shadow is the day at the Los Angeles Zoo when an animal selects the special ingredients for the Brew at the L.A. Zoo special beer. This year Charlie, a Linné’s two-toed sloth picked pear and roses for the 2019 beer.
The Brewery at Simmzy’s brewmaster Brian Herbertson will add those two ingredients to the German Kolsch style, which will be named, Slothen Bräu,” According to Herbertson, “This light beer will have bright pear notes and some subtle cherry-like flavors and pair well with a range of pub foods that will be served that evening.”
You can taste this special beer at the Brew at the Zoo on Friday, August 2, 2019 from 7-11 p.m with VIP Early Access and Lounge from 6-11 p.m.
Alamo Drafthouse finally opened in L.A. yesterday! But more importantly, we have a first look at their beer choices…..
Heavy on hops and pilsners which is to be expected. Mostly CA based breweries but also a smattering of LA (though I wish there was more) and speaking of wishes, it would be nice to see an Alamo beer brewed for this location only. Maybe Indie Brewing since indie films and fests will be playing on the screens. My two suggested picks come from the Dark & Malty section. The Smog City Sabre-Toothed Squirrel and the Three Weavers Deep Roots ESB would be my go-to’s.
That is the “tallest” building in Los Angeles below me and in the distance. Normally heights scare the bejesus out of me. A fear that I did not know I had until I visited the Grand Canyon and found out that looking down was not something that my brain likes. But strangely, on top of the US Bank building in the new OUE Garden Bar, the feeling was more of fascination and looking for the iconic L.A. landmarks. Over there is Dodger Stadium, Union Station over here, Echo Park and its fountain here and the 110 Freeway cutting through like a ribbon.
And with a glass of ur L.A. beer Craftsman 1903 Lager in my hand, it was very cool. Never mind the influencers and their phalanx of camera people. Never mind the swag bags. Overlook the Michelob Ultra Women which seems a little un-2019. Point your gaze all around blot out the rest and you can really see the city.
And the beer list, despite the numerous Golden Road taps does have some gems that you don’t usually find like Mumford, a sour from Eagle Rock, Silva Brewing….
Of course you have to pay the Skyspace cover charge to get to the 69th floor on top of the beers. But, this could be that place you take out-of-town guests to orient them to the city, or a special after dinner drinks for an anniversary. That view is worth it.
Not to toot my own beer horn or to impose my L.A. brewery bona fides but I recently did a little Excel work to keep track of the breweries that I have visited of the Official (currently) 90 breweries in the L.A. County Brewers Guild orbit.
Here are the statistical takeaways…
As Los Angeles draws closer to the century mark in breweries, it will probably mean an increase in the “just once” category and I expect the not visited yet total to stay around the 10 mark since many will probably head the way of selling from their taproom only. Of course this does not count the breweries not part of the guild that I have been to or the bottle shops frequented. There is room for improvement. I hope to knock off a couple from the unvisited list before summer is over.
Say what you will about the naming conventions used by Modern Times or the large expansion they have undertaken but in the end it comes down to the beer and the experience in your spaces. And I felt it was time to re-visit the Dankness Dojo in DTLA to answer those two essential questions.
I finally got a day when it was not super packed. The small amount of bar stools means that unless you get there at the stroke of 11am, you probably won’t find a seat there is similar to finding parking in the DTLA central core.
There has never been a shortage of beers on offer here which I truly like. If you want to go IPA, well you will be busy but sours and stouts and even a dopplebock were also on offer. There is also a goodly number of collaborations from Wayfinder in Portland and Automatic in San Diego. Of all the beers, my absolute favorite was the Old Economy Oak Aged Dopplebock. Straightforward with a lovely burnished brown color. This is a big ABV beer that toed the line of sweetness and also was one you had to watch how fast you drank. The IPA’s all differentiated themselves though I was underwhelmed by the Max Single Hop IPA. This version was with Strata which I have been really digging lately. But this one fell flat for me. Wasn’t as bad as the Pastry Stout, Shadow Temple which was just a coconut conveyor belt.
I like the art, the ambience and though I wish the space was a touch larger, they have put in as much seating as possible and the beers were uniformly well made (if not to my taste).
Burbank to Vegas flights are popular already. Now beer is making the quick hop to the The Grand Canal Shoppes at The Palazzo Las Vegas. As Trustworthy Brewing is opening BBQ and Beer in Nevada. Not quite open yet, but follow their social media to see when you can have California Craft while spinning the roulette wheel.
You have less than a week to jump on the Early Bird pricing for this year’s California Craft Beer Summit. This is a great chance to learn, try a wide range of California brewed beer or to visit the thriving Long Beach beer scene.