Follow Sean Inman to the best in craft beer
bottle shops, pubs and breweries
Finally, after months of waiting, Dry River Brewing will start to have limited tap room hours! Now they won’t be the only brewery without fans inside trying the beers.
Days & Hours
Friday & Saturday 4pm to 10pm
Sunday 1pm to 6pm
Specific Days
July 1st and 2nd
July 14th, 15th and 16th
August 4th, 5th and 6th
August 18th, 19th and 20th
September 1st, 2nd and 3rd
September 15th, 16th and 17th
What used to be Ale Arsenal is now Concrete Jungle and before L.A. Beer Week commenced I made a visit and tested out (4) of the beers from their line-up. I started with L.A. Calling which is decent lager. Strange that they call it an unfiltered farmhouse lager though. And the rest of the beer list is just as eclectic as is the temporary outdoor beer garden which has the feel of a former garden center with a few tiki torches and a couple of pallet benches with some hanging plants around.
The next beer was their hazy IPA, Joe Friday It had a little butter to it. It was OK but will have to be better to compete with just the IPA’s in DTLA. They have a pot version too which seems a bit gimmicky to me as well as a beer with the Twit name of Covfefe. Really? I thought that 15 seconds of fame was done. Next was a saison, Urban Camper, it too was decent but Brouwerij West is ahead of them in that game as are other local breweries.
I finished with Bad Actors a rum, coconut and English IPA? More like suntan lotion to me. Would be hard to do whole glass due to the combined sweetness of the rum and coconut. It too has butter to it which means that something was rushed.
Overall, a below par start for this Shelton Brother and his new project. Even the labels seemed as DIY as the beer.
My wife and I ducked into Harlowe’s French Dip a couple months back. We split a sandwich before continuing on with our weekend but I marked down that I would need to re-visit when I could try some craft beer with the food. Because if it is a Tony Alcazar restaurant, that HAS to be done.
So with some State Brewing and Craftsman beer on the table, I settled into some great food that my photos do not do justice to like this salad with edible flowers, avocado and cucumbers
and this asparagus starter
but the best was the pastrami French Dip. Simply done, with great meat, cheese and bread.
There is a fancy burger list as well to complement the tap list that rotates quite a bit but always has a little bit for everyone. Harlowe’s is a great little spot on Union Street.
A few years back, as part of a trip to Paso Robles put on by Firestone Walker, I had a lovely evening eating food and having cocktails and even practicing creating my own blend of gin at the Re:Find distillery. (It was not good). I finally returned up the windy road and windier driveway to this time taste wine and spirits.
For the fantastic price of $15, a visitor gets four splashes of wine and then tastes of spirits in the room next door, right in front of the beautiful shiny still.
Of the four wines on the flight, my favorite was a Cuvee Blanc from 2016. Sharp and strong with great grape taste to this amateur wine drinker. But I was there to taste the gin and limoncello and decide which I wanted to bring back home with me.
The Vodka was clean and strong but surprisingly the barrel-aged Vodka [e] was even stronger and I noticeably was struck by it. The Limoncello is perfect as a base for cocktails. On it’s own, it was too sweet for me but that lemon taste was magnificent.
The Gin is made of a proprietary blend of botanicals including juniper berry, coriander, orris root, lemon & orange peel, grains of paradise, and lavender. And the aroma was heavenly. This is a gin that could be drunk straight and would reveal different nuances. In a cocktail it really adds a set of spice notes and alcohol heat that was amazing.
Re:Find is part of the distillery trail in Paso Robles but I could have sat on the hill and just drank G&Ts all day.
Earlier this month, I headed over to Simmzy’s Burbank location to try the first batch of beers from their brand spanking new operation that spans two floors of the restaurant.
Three beers were on tap out of the gate. A blonde, porter and IPA. I decided to try the first two on the first visit and save the IPA for a later trip. The really cool tall glasses show the beers off nicely. In the battle between the Beach Cruiser Blonde and the Porter, the blonde came out as my winner. It was bright with a restrained but noticeable touch of hops. Bringing it out of the boring realm that some blondes fall into. This is a really promising start for the beers and I expect that the other beers in the line-up will be up at his standard that has been set.
Last year after FWIBF16, I made a too brief stop at Third Window Brewing in Santa Barbara. With an extra day added to my itinerary, I was able to make a proper stop and see the progress of one year.
I came away even more impressed and glad to see that 22oz bombers were on sale and that distroto L.A. is happening too from their wooden focused bar on Haley
My favorite that first trip was Walkabout, their orange/chocolate beer. I saved that for last and was not disappointed. It was as good as memory served and clearly outshine a well-done coffee beer. The main attraction was a face off between a hazy IPA, June Gloom and a West Coast IPA, Xexo. The latter being a mere 17 IBU’s but hopped generously nonetheless. I voted for Gloom, though, it had a juicy bitterness without the palate scratching that I associate with the style.
The room was bright and sunny and plenty of info about the beers were available, as were pretzels. I also really like the fact that there is a charity tap. Why more places don’t have one is beyond me.
Third Window has now become a ritualistic stop on the way home from Paso Robles.
Last year, Silva Brewing wasn’t quite ready when I was in Paso Robles but this year, they certainly were and I made a beeline there first.
The small rectangular location is either in the Pour House bar or attached, or off the alley. Either way it is easy to find and I quickly had a flight in front of me in nice metal taster trays from the requisite tattooed bartender.
The taproom had the remaining strong shell of brewed beer even at 3pm the day after. Sweet wort aroma filled the room as the floor was being hosed down.
My taster tray included the Suite B German amber which was quite bready. There was both a sweetness and lightness that I don’t normally associate with altbier. A bit cloying and some green/young notes plus a malt/water combo that seemed to pervade all of the beers.
Paso Pale grain forward. Light hop bitterness. Grapefruit.
Next was the 525 Pine which had same malt lightness to it and not the hops of Green Flash while the Hop Maniac is bigger when it boils down to IBU’s but that same house malt flavor was there though the bigger hop aroma covers it better.
Lastly, the Nut Farm Nitro had a really nice aroma. It utilizes walnuts which I can’t eat even in brownies and though it was a bit too sweet for me the slight nutty texture really worked well. The nitro accentuated the cream and sugar aspect so it Might be even better on regular draft.
For the sake of science, I also bought a crowler of the orange peel saison to see if that house note carries through across more than two styles.
Silva is certainly a change of pace and is bringing new beer to an area dominated by two heavy hitters.
Here are some of my photos from this year’s edition of the Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Festival.
Here is the first quick, still reeling from yesterday recap from the Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Festival.
The weather was hot and humid but not the energy sapping heat that has been endured in the past. With the extra hour afforded by the media pass, I was able to try several firsts. Beers from Other Half, Arizona Wilderness and Trillium with only one being a hazy NE style IPA and it wasn’t the best or worst of that trio.
As usual for me, I go over the FWIBF app beers but then you see that Beachwood (and the Blendery) have more beers than advertised. Same for Bagby of Oceanside and Highland Park as well and the initial plan starts to fray.
I wanted to do more international beers but only ended up tasting two. I did attend both beer talks so that agenda held. I got my Portland fix from Gigantic and Ecliptic. But I missed on Half Acre and Side Project.
Speaking of which. People love the word “Project”. The biggest lines were at Garage and Side. Strong and consistent lines. And again, you could have slid to the next booth and gotten all the Surly Pentagram you wanted. This year, it seemed more booths kicked early. Other Half seemed to run dry instantly. Many booths were ghost towns by 4pm. I don’t know how that is monitored by Firestone Walker but it needs to be tightened up for next year.
As usual, the food was great. So many options. Each year, I tell myself to eat plenty and, each year, I eat more but could do a better job.
I will unveil my Fest Five in another post but spoilers, Fonta Flora Brewery is on the list.
Greetings from Paso Robles! I have been in this fine city since Thursday afternoon and it is past time to update you, the fine reader, on what I have been up to since procuring a rental car and driving up from L.A. for the Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Festival.
I went a little nuts. I had a tasting flight of wines at Herman Story where descriptions include barbwire and kirsch marinated pancakes. Obviously, they like to poke fun at the verbal pomposity of wine. My favorite was the Milk & Honey. A pretty even mix of Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah.
From there, I went to Silva Brewing which shares a building with The Pour House bar. The rectangular brewery smelled of grain even on an off brewing day. I will talk more about their beer in a separate post.
I also walked between Earth and Fire and Toro Creek breweries. I liked the candy citrus pale at the former and the coffee stout at the latter. I liked the vibe at Toro more though. Laid back. Comfy couches and vinyl records spinning.
Also a cool vibe was Tin City Cider in the growing Tin City beverage destination. Located next to Barrelhouse Brewing, the cider serves up a wide variety range of spins on traditional cider. None really struck me though one had a lovely potpourri aroma.
Next year might include more beer as I saw a sign in a Downtown window with the name Santa Maria Brewing on it. Now I am set to walk over to the fairgrounds for the showcase event. More posts to come.