The 2022 slimmed down version of L.A. Beer Week starts soon but let’s look ahead to the 25th…
Hawthorne is the place for this double header of a summer party, set the Waze for the 105.
LABW13 – Block Party
LABW 13 – BFE 2022
If you are in the northerly section of L.A. County, then you are in luck since you will be having your own mini L.A. brewery festival at Lucky Luke in Santa Clarita, BFE.
And this festival will be marking in Tiki time.
L.A. Beer Week 2022
Get your calendars (or should I say phones) out to mark off L.A. Beer Week for 2022.
June 18th through the 26th in what is being called “a modified format”. I will keep you apprised of cool events not to miss right up until the end.
The first thing to keep in mind is that the Unity 2022 brew was done recently and the host was Highland Park Brewery. Crossing my fingers that it is a pilsner and not an IPA.
LABW13 – Sour Friends
If you are strong of stomach and want to explore the sour side of beer, well the Sour Friends are back on the 18th at Cellador Ales.
Unity-toberFest
News dropped yesterday from The L.A. County Brewers Guild…
Here are the details straight from the Guild…
“Members of the Los Angeles County Brewers Guild came together for the first time in nearly two years for the 2021 Unity collaboration brew hosted by Common Space Brewery. Unity, the annual Guild brew originally created by LABG co-founders Eagle Rock Brewery, is traditionally brewed in the spring to commemorate our annual LA Beer Week. Due to the pandemic however, the last time Unity was brewed was back in May 2019. While hosting LA Beer Week this summer wasn’t in the cards, the Guild wanted to finally come together so that we could begin to rebuild the strong sense of community and camaraderie that make our L.A. beer scene so great.
Host brewery Common Space Brewery will be releasing 16-ounce four packs of Unity on Thursday, October 7 at their Hawthorne tasting room. This 6% abv Hoppy Pilsner marks the first lager iteration of Unity and will be available in cans and on draft at select retail locations. Check out the list below for LABG members and local craft beer retailers who will have Unity available.
But wait! There’s more! To celebrate the release of this brew, we will also be hosting the LABG Unity Oktoberfest at Common Space on Saturday, October 30, 2021. We’ve missed sharing beers with our community and while we still weren’t ready to go all out this summer with our usual events, we hope that you can join us for this intimate outdoor tasting event featuring 30 independent craft breweries, entertainment, and local food vendors.”
LABW12
Now that LABW11 is in the past, now is the perfect time to look ahead at the tweaks that can be made for next year. Here are (3) suggestions that I would make if my red phone rang…
Settle on a 2nd Weekend Featured event – My vote goes to Cellador and Sour Friends. Move that to Sunday and promote it as the bookend to the week. Years past has seen a whole separate festival, be it Sierra Nevada or Vegan Fest but I think those dull the shine of the Kick-Off festival and some people probably pick one or the other since the same breweries (basically) are at both. Focus on L.A. and focus on a niche.
Have one Unity Night – I would make Wednesday night a Unity night. List all the establishments that have the beer on tap or in cans and have a simultaneous raising of the glass to the beer. Also, can we go back to the beer telling an L.A. story. A West Coast DIPA is fine but how does that separate L.A. from other cities?
Go Hyper Local – Each day of the LABW should have a fun food and beer pairing from a different part of our sprawling Metropolis. Maybe seafood with a Santa Monica Brew Works beer, BBQ and IPA at HopSaint in Torrance, tacos in DTLA, dessert in Palmdale/Lancaster. Something to stitch together the whole fabric of LA.
LABW11 – recap
Earlier today, I posted some photos, here are my hazy recollections of the events I attended during the latest LABW…
For the first time, well since ever, I did not attend the Kick-Off festival. Primarily due to the fact that I was only two weeks removed from Firestone Walker’s Invitational and because I was going to hit Sour Friends on the following weekend. Marathon. Not a Sprint mentality.
I did head over to Eagle Rock Brewery to sample and catch-up on the beers that they were quickly releasing in the run up to our beer week. Though the balance was weird, my winner of the group was Stimulus 03 which swapped out Belgian Amber for NE IPA with the only constant being high quality coffee. I also like the Norwegian Brut Kveik beer as well.
Next day was event-less as well unless you count making a run to Sunset Beer Co. to get the Unity beer not exciting. I mean the Cubs were in town which meant the Ravine was either busy or reeling from the busy.
Finally on Monday, I went to a sanctioned event! Hopped LA gathered some hazy IPA’s together at the Glendale Tap to show off what both LA and outside LA brewers are doing lately with the style. Arrow Lodge took home the popularity trophy on the night. I voted for Homage and their Little by Little which I thought hit all the hazy style points.
Next was Wednesday where the Brewers were making cocktails at Arts District Brewing. The usually raucous DTLA spot was not packed to the rafters which was good because the cocktails were to the rim of the glass. My favorite was the Three Weavers concoction which was one of the few mixed drinks that had beer as a component, in this case Knotty DIPA. I also enjoyed the Eagle Rock Bazooka Joe. Rum and honey swirled together.
The hits kept coming as I stayed close to home at the hidden gem that is We’re Pouring. They had a Shrago-centric list with a great variety of Beachwood beers. They had IPA’s (Greenshift for me), they had sours, they had Haybusa and they had stouts (System in two variants). Plus great pizza and NBA draft on the TV.
Friday and Saturday were my two most excited about events. I always make a point to hit Sunset Beer Co. during the week. They always come through with a casual and fun time. This year Kelly Erickson curated a list of Women-Brewed beers and she got a far ranging selection from Firestone Walker to the new Wave Maiden and Arrow Lodge as well.
Then I went out to Cellador (which I have been doing a lot this year) for their Sour Friends. This was a delight. Another great set of breweries pouring sours from across the spectrum many with Masumoto peaches if you wanted to pick a theme. Pyrus Rustique from Beachwood Blendery was fantastic filled with pear taste. Violet Underground from Firestone Walker was great as well plus they had palate cleansing beers like Pleasant Pils from Highland Park.
There was a quick stop at MacLeod’s on the way home to try their Five Anniversary 11% plus beer and soak up the sun on their patio and then, like that, LABW11 was done.
LABW11 – photos
Today, we look back (in two parts) at the events I ventured to for the 2019 L.A. Beer Week. Here are the photos…
What to Look for at Sour Friends 2019
Cellador was always going to have some great sours to sample at this year’s fest. You could probably just blindly pick and get something great, but I have a few choices that you should add to your glass, and to make it simple, I will use only (3) words to describe them…
Picture Brain from Brouwerij West – blueberries, solera, Syrah
Carrot King from Cellador – Nantes carrots, Bugs Bunny, wild
Violet Underground 5.5 from Firestone Walker BarrelWorks – SLOambic, Somerset, berries
Mellifluent from The Rare Barrel – strawberry, peach, mango
Check out the full list HERE.
