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This month, i gave a lukewarm review of one German tinged restaurant only to find out that there is another down in Long Beach and from a quick perusal of their tap and bottle list, it seems a little better.
I saw the following strong choices:
Kloster Andechs Dunkelweizen
Brouwrij Rodenbach Grand Cru
Weltenburger Kloster Asam Bock
Though it is hard to break out of the Beer Belly, Beachwood, Congregation core. This might be worth the trip.
…well, you will have another opportunity to test out Concrete Jungle this weekend as they have another “speakeasy” planned…
If you want to meet the brew team from Simmzy’s and get a special limited release beer then you are in luck. Especially you Westsider’s.
Brewing Partner Greg Bechtel (LA’s only Advanced Cicerone), Head Brewer Brian Herbertson, and Founder Mike Simms will be touring…
Tuesday, August 22 at 5pm at Simmzy’s Huntington Beach
Wednesday, August 23 at 5pm at Simmzy’s Venice
Tuesday, August 29 at 5pm at Simmzy’s Manhattan Beach
Wednesday, August 30 at 5pm at Simmzy’s Long Beach
Saturday, September 2 at 2pm at Lil’ Simmzy’s El Segundo
I have been meaning to check out the WeHo adjacent Loreley German Biergarten for awhile now. Finally, I made my way to La Brea Avenue and a condo row to rival Glendale’s to render my 1st visit verdict.
There is a really nice and nearly tropical garden touch to the entrance which leads to an overly wooden, untreated wooden, inside. Including a little roofed snug in one corner. There was a good number of beers on tap. A couple at $7 and the majority in the $8-$10 range which makes for a spendy drinking day. I tried the Braufactum IPA which was OK. A bit caramel-y for my taste. Possibly a bit aged. The second beer was from Schneider and their Tap X series, Marie’s Revenge. That was much better. Clove and ABV strength and malty.
But as I scanned the beer list, the German options were a bit limited. I compared to Der Wolfskopf in Pasadena which had a much deeper list from German. The patio was too hot but looked nice if you wanted the sun with your rustic surroundings.
Overall, Loreley is fine. But the combo of prices, and thinner beer list place it far below Der Wolfskopf or even the fairly close Surly Goat.
It is almost that time of the year! The California Craft Beer Summit is fast approaching. 1 month out as of today.
From September 7th through the 9th there are “educational seminars on the state of the industry, strategies for growth, the nexus of marijuana and beer, women in the craft beer industry, industry compensation data, food and beer pairings and chef demos in the “Culinary Marketplace” and even sensory training. “TapTalks” on the floor of an experience-based hall include industry leaders and influencers, including Ken Grossman (Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.), David Walker (Firestone Walker Brewing Co.), Jay Goodwin (Rare Barrel), among many others.”
Now that may be too “in the weeds” for the casual beer fan. But I found the seminars to be full of information and the marketplace hall food and beer pairings were a highlight from last year’s visit too.
You can always just focus on the big beer fest at the end. 165 breweries from Yreka to San Diego will be pouring, right in front of California’s Capitol. With one quick flight to Sacramento you can taste beers from everywhere in the Golden State. It is too much beer (in a good way).
Back when I went to college, McMinnville had not one brewery. My grades were probably the better for it. Now you have Heater-Allen, a branch of McMenamin’s, Golden Valley and Grain Station.
Add Allegory Brewing to the mix. You can read the full “story” over at the New School blog HERE but my take-aways are that there has been a lot of collaborating done by a secretive brewery and that having a pickles and biscuits cart is genius.
When is that next reunion?
It is ticket time! This fest is a bit easier than say, the Firestone Walker Invitational, but you do have to be on the ball.
It is Great American Beer Festival time again! Tickets for the public go on sale via the ever so much fun Ticketmaster on August 2nd 10:00 AM MOUNTAIN TIME!
So be prepped and logged in and have a separate tab to immediately look for hotels in Denver cause that race is even harder sometimes.
…Lithuania. Bet you weren’t expecting that from this blog. Torrance maybe or DTLA but not some foreign land near the election meddling Russians.
The country has an age old tradition of brewing and to make it easier for those who travel and have already hit easy targets like Belgium, Germany or the Czech Republic, heading to the capital of Vilnius would be a true beer badge.
Out of the blue recently, I was e-mailed with information about Vilnius in Love (a local city tour company) employs beer enthusiasts to guide travelers “through some local brewpubs and bars, serving local brews from all over the country.”
You will run into a different yeast strain and adjuncts such as peas, flowers or raspberry stems. As well as possibly meeting Ragutis, the god of beer.
With Dry River Brewing selling out their 1st weekend preview of their taproom, I thought I would give you all a peek inside so you will know your way around when you go.
Each LABW9 year that Tomm Carroll hosts his “So You want to Open a Brewery” event, I look over the list of invitees to see which new breweries are coming down the pike. Because I keep my ear to the ground, I usually have heard of most. But this year, there were three that I had not heard about! And number one on the list, I had heard the name, but it was from Tomm himself!
Surprisingly, Torrance and Burbank are not on the list. Make note of the following, you might see them pouring at #LABW10.
Burnin’ Daylights Brewing (Lomita) – Brendan Lake
Common Space Brewing (Hawthorne) – Brent Knapp
Tortugo Brewing (Inglewood) – Joe Kovach
Two Coasts Brewing (Gardena) – Jan Dreier