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While scrolling through GABF (Great American Beer Festival) Facebook posts, I ran across the following Sierra Nevada, tidbit…
Ken Grossman announced that the original Sierra Nevada brewing system will travel the United states, making occasional stops to brew in celebration of their 40th anniversary. I hope they head to L.A. because that would be a brew day to watch.
It may not be ready when T. Swift opens the new Inglewood Stadium next year but Three Weavers will have a large 20,000-square-foot presence in the stadium. There will be a beer garden + opening in 2021 in the Hollywood Park development.
The beer garden per sources “will feature plenty of room for on-site brewing, as well as seating by way of outdoor tables and space for live music.” It is quite amazing that any sort of true craft presence is being invited into one of these projects. The big beer cabal usually puts the kibosh on any sort competitors even at lesser pro sports venues, let alone a biggie like the NFL.
If it weren’t for the 1000 number in the middle, you could spend some time counting all the orange dots on the map to get to 1000.
Isn’t that crazy? Think about it. At one point it was a handful scratching out an existence on used dairy equipment and now you can find spots where you can walk from brewery to brewery or try to set a low Lyft fare record.
Of course with that number comes re-calibration. And that is for everyone in the independent California beer eco-system. Customers have incredible choice and need to wield it with care. Media needs to stop focusing on their influence and start working on enlightening. Breweries need to keep raising the quality and creative bar higher and those who move the beer need to do so fast, cold and in control.
The inevitable refrain of bubble may arise because some like singing that particular song but I think that it is more of a constant search for the right size of the industry. We had too many years of way under and no one really knows where the sweet spot is so maybe we should enjoy this time of plenty if it is indeed over that spot.
First clue the series “Kings of Beer” is bad is obviously, Budweiser, the second is that it is a competition show. Now I doubt this will be as positive and transformative as say the Great British Bake Off or Queer Eye. My bet is that they are looking for drama as evidenced by the press release which states that “elite brewmaster from 65 breweries and 23 countries BATTLE it out…” and “Judged by… experts who are “SEQUESTERED DEEP” within the walls of Room 220 in St. Louis.
All to create a mediocre beer in the best light. I wonder if a brewer from Platform Brewing will win?
Amidst the lactose and pastry and god forbid boba out in the beer world, it is really nice to see that beertending technique is coming back, in the form of the slow pour.
I first encountered it at Cellador Ales which smartly has a pilsner on tap amidst its fine sour collection and my first thought was that it was an Instragam beer moment for sure.
But I just read on a newsletter from the magazine Craft Beer & Brewing the following from renowned brewing legend, Charles Bamforth, “Maybe there is a flavor difference; maybe it has lost a bit of its fizzy nature, and you get a mellower mouthfeel, depending on how much of the CO2 has dropped out of the solution. But, I think the visual triggers are more important than the taste ones.”
So maybe that pretty top hat of foam is just show, but it is a cool one that might even give you a different flavor perspective on that pils in your glass.
I can’t resist a vending machine used in non-traditional ways and Yakima Valley Hops is doing just that. They are packaging hops for homebrewers in cans that will sell at homebrew shops.
Each can contains 8 ounces or 2 ounces of the hop on the label. The cans look to be an easier option in both opening and recycling than vacuum sealed bags.
Usually when I see a headline about alcohol, I brace myself for outlandish takes. Either, it helps you live longer or it is killing you. So when I saw this piece from a new series in the NY Times, I was pleasantly surprised because it looked at the issue scientifically.
Two sections stood out to me…
We shouldn’t not act just because all the facts are not in but we do need to make sure that our conclusions are in line with the real world and that some of the studies have limitations and can’t be translated into simple do / don’t do.
I know that alcohol has an effect on my body and that as my body ages that effect will change but like getting in an airplane or just driving in L.A., it is a risk that I will take because I like beer. Like a lot. I will be following this series to glean more nuggets of wisdom.
In a case of in with old and out with the newer, Zymurgy Brew Works and Tasting Room in Torrance will be closing as of July 31, 2019. The space will not sitting fallow for long though as Smog City will be taking that space over with a projected 9/1/19 opening (don’t write that in stone).
I never visited the Zymurgy location. In ignorance, I thought it was a homebrew store only for a long time. I did try their beers at the L.A. Beer Week Kick-Off but never really learned more about them though they were on my too-long “should visit” list.
The space has “16 taps, a new long bar and a comfortable lounge area”, per the e-mail that announced the closing so that would seem suited to the full range of Smog City beers and not just wild and sours.
With space at SteelCraft in Bixby Knolls, selling at the Hollywood Farmer’s Market and an upcoming stall at a Glendora Food Hall, this new space further expands the empire of Little Bo Pils.
As readers will know, I am a fan of stealing great ideas from elsewhere and here is another fine example….
The Growler Magazine of Minnesota has launched—Unlabeled: A Blind Tasting Showdown.
The twist? Well there are two. First, “the tasting is 100 percent blind and only one specific beer style will be poured at each event in the Unlabeled series. Each beer will be “unlabeled” and guests won’t know which brewery made which beer until the grand reveal at the end of the event.”
Unlabeled No. 1, will have Minnesota-made Hazy IPAs and No. 2 will be an Oktoberfest both will use an app custom-made for the event to register your tasting notes and guesses.
I would love to see maybe ten breweries max do this in LA. Start with IPA cause that do sell tickets and maybe add in a food pairing component too.
Fresh off the big crowds for new food and beer options at their newly opened Star Wars Land, comes news that the Earth’s Mightiest Defenders will be mashing out and dry hopping inside the park to keep Galactus and Thanos from getting too thirsty.
Maybe this is what Jessica Jones, Iron Fist and Daredevil will be doing now that they are not on Netflix.