Category: Beer in the news

Great articles that you should read.

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Fairground Attractions


To me, competitions are barometers. Some barometers are of higher quality than others of course but almost all have their use.

That disclaimer now aside, The L.A. International Beer Competition was held recently and L.A. brewers from literally, all over the map, took home honors. Many more than last year.

Here are the results:
Gold: 11 Wins
Arts District Brewing Compatny, Gretzky (Historical Beer)
Arts District Brewing Company, Honeycut (Session IPA)
MacLeod Ale Brewing Co., Van ICE (American-Style or German-Style Light Lager)
Angel City Brewery, Marilyn Blonde Ale (American-Style Cream Ale)
Claremont Craft Ales, Pistil Pale Ale (American-Style Strong Pale Ale)
El Segundo Brewing Co., Hammerland (Imperial India Pale Ale)
Verdugo West Brewing Co., Brass Jar Hoppy Amber (Imperial Red Ale)
Sanctum Brewing, Your Destiny (German-Style Sour Ale)
Bravery Brewing, Hammer Hef (German-Style Wheat Ale)
Arts District Brewing Company, Spirited Saison (Classic French and Belgian-Style Saison)
Pocock Brewing Company, Being All Fancy (Special Saison)
Ladyface Ale Companie, Trois Filles (Belgian-Style Tripel)

Silver: 12 Wins
HopSaint Brewing Company, Fistful of Peel (Belgian-Style Fruit Beer)
Smog City Brewing, The Nothing (Chocolate or Cocoa Beer)
Innovation Brew Works, Cattle Rancher (American-Belgo Style Ale)
Smog City Brewing, Bourbon O.E. (Wood and Barrel-Aged Strong Beer)
Bravery Brewing, Bourbon Barrel-Aged The Shroud (Wood and Barrel-Aged Stout)
Angel City Brewery, Pinot Fresa (Wood and Barrel-Aged Sour Beer)
Alosta Brewing, Highway 39 (Dortmunder or German-Style Oktoberfest)
Smog City Brewing, Sabre-Toothed Squirrel (American-Style Amber or Red Ale)
Claremont Craft Ales, Buddy (American-Style Black Ale)
Ladyface Ale Companie, La Grissette (Belgian and French-Style Ale)
Old Stump Brewing, P Town Porter (Brown Porter)
Eagle Rock Brewery, Stimulus (Imperial Stout)

Bronze: 13 Wins
The Dudes’ Brewing Company, Juicebox Series: Boysenberry Wheat Ale (Fruit Wheat Beer)
Three Weavers Brewing, Southbounder (Coffee Beer)
Beachwood BBQ, Why We’re Here [Black Lime] (Wood and Barrel-Aged Sour Beer)
Angel City Brewery, Black Lager (Schwarzbier or Black Lager)
Pacific Plate Brewing Co., German Kolsch (German-Style Kolsch)
Three Weavers Brewing, Deep Roots (Ordinary or Special Bitter)
Pocock Brewing Company, British Volunteer (Extra Special Bitter)
Ladyface Ale Companie, Lady La Blonde (Belgian-Style Blonde or Pale Ale)
Eagle Rock Brewery, Manifesto (Belgian-Style Witbier)
Beachwood Blendery, Careful With That Peach, Eugene (Belgian-Style Lambic or Sour Ale)
Ladyface Ale Companie, Blind Ambition (Belgian-Style Dubbel or Quadruple)
Claremont Craft Ales, Irish Dry Stout (Classic Irish-Style Stout)
Bravery Brewing, The Shroud (Imperial Stout)

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Funk is Werking in SoCal


Funkwerks is venturing to SoCal. Adding distribution to Southern California to it reach with draft and limited six-packs.

Stone Distributing has been tapped to handle the influx of Funkwerks Saison, Tropic King and Raspberry Provincial beers, to name a few from the Fort Collins, Colorado brewery.

Hopefully a solid supply has been stashed for this large market.

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MT in SB


The coastal march of Modern Times continues as the San Diego brewery is now working on a branch in Santa Barbara on the main drag of State Street. As with all things Modern Times, the name is long and flowery and most will just call it MT – Santa Barbara.

Here are the details on the Academy of Recreational Science:
Located on South State Street in downtown SB
Restaurant will include an indoor bar and table seating
2,500-square-foot outdoor area
Pickup location for online special release sales

To keep a tally, MT has their San Diego locations, Encinitas (in the works), Anaheim (in the works), Los Angeles, Santa Barbara (in the works) and Portland.

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New Bo Pils & IPA


Smog City is refreshing the label look for their two flagship ales. Making their Sheep a little tougher and tapping the hop for all of the lupulin it has inside. I, for one, am looking forward to seeing this in my ‘fridge.

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F-Wow

On top of the Firestone Walker Lager news, there are two other big tidbits that you might not have heard of from their Buellton based Barrelworks.

1. Barrelworks has been draft and bottles only but is hoping to roll out cans in 2018.

2. A coolship is being assembled at Firestone co-founder David Walker’s vineyard in the Santa Ynez Valley. Imagine the yeasts and microbes that are in the air in that area!

Kudos to San Luis Obispo.com for the news.

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Tires and Beer

Los Angeles has some really cool architecture tucked into hidden spots and one of them is a historic Firestone Building from 1938 on La Brea at 8th.

Conroy Commercial plans to re-develop the site into eateries and a microbrewery (their term, not mine). Kind of a mini food hall.

No news on if it will be a brand new brewery or perhaps a second (third) location for an existing brand. Due to concerns about parking which ain’t fun in that part of town have delayed the project into 2019 or beyond.

Updates when more news is released.

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Roller Derby, Park and Beer

Looks like Tony Yanow is adding to his Burbank roots with a big development announced last month and I have been mulling over the plans for a bit now.

photo courtesy of the City of Burbank

A 2.4-acre site at 10 W. Magnolia Boulevard will become event space, Roller Rink (Yanow loves the Roller Derby), restaurant space, outdoor park space and for readers of this blog, a “craft beer pub.”

Artisanal Brewers Collective has been super busy and seemingly getting busier. This project will take a long time to get through all the permit process mumbo jumbo, then the de-construction of the site before the construction.

Questions about who will be drawn to it exist for me though. There is a big Ikea nearby and it will be neighboring the Metrolink – Burbank station but will that provide foot traffic to the space? Will the beer aspect be the draw? Or is event space that lucrative a business?

Due to the trains and the 5 freeway, there are dead ends aplenty so how do eyeballs see it and then get to it? I also foresee issues with late departures from the Metrolink parking meeting early arrivals on weeknights for coveted parking spots.

Lastly, will it be Yanow / ABC beer for sale only? Or will it be more of a Tony’s / Mohawk style with multiple taps?

Many questions to learn the answers to.

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Lyft a Glass


Lyft certainly has teamed up with beer festivals for rides home and now, in Chicago, they are also teaming up with cans of beer.

Lyft is collaborating with Chicago’s Baderbrau Brewing on the new Five Star Lager that will be available only in bars and only in 12-ounce cans (no draft). Why? Well, each can will feature a discount code for as much as $5 off a Lyft ride. The beer is actually just a re-branded version of Baderbrau’s South Side Pride, a helles lager.

Maybe an L.A. version will come to pass if this test is successful.

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Live From NY, It’s Beer (next)


When I think of Saturday Night Live, my thoughts do not go to wine. I would probably head to spirits first and the stronger the better but the winemaker Lot18 has teamed with SNL to release four wines with iconic characters on the label plus the more generic Live from New York blend.

Debbie Downer, The Californians and Stefon all get their own styles from Chardonnay, Merlot and Beaujolais. But what characters other than Stefon (who is the best) should get the beer treatment and what style?

Matt Foley – if you are going to live in a van down by the river, might as well chill your beer there too. I would go with a can from Oskar Blues for this. Maybe the Hotbox Coffee IPA.

Ambiguously Gay Duo – I still can’t believe this recurring skit made it to air but I would pick something like maybe a hoppy pilsner, like Pivo. Bubbly and light but with a hit of bitter.

Toonces the Driving Cat – if a character was deserving of a reboot, it would be Toonces. The cat certainly had nine lives which it needed because you shouldn’t put a cat behind the wheel. Staying super local for this beer choice Cat’z Pajamas Brewyard.

Sean Connery on Jeopardy – what is worse? Connery’s foul mouth or his poor command of trivia? Either way a nice strong Scottish Ale with thistles would be good.

Miss Rafferty – I don’t know what aliens like to drink when it comes to beer but I am sure that poor Miss Rafferty who always seems to get the raw deal when abducted would probably want something strong, maybe a Belgian Dark Strong Ale.

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Help Anna (and her cider)


One of the casualties of the Thomas fire was an upstart cidery, Anna’s Cider in Upper Ojai.

The family-owned business was (and hopefully will be again) the first and only cider company in Ventura County. They were crafting hard cider from locally-farmed, organic apples. The cider was made using “winemaking techniques to preserve clean, delicate apple aromatics and flavors in a dry style.”

They are determined to rebuild what had just started in November and have launched a crowd-funding campaign to raise funds and support.

Here are the details: “We are featuring a perk in which contributors of $30 or more get the option to have a sketch of their face on our next round of labels (see below for link to our campaign and more details). We are hoping to raise enough to open a taproom and cider facility in the historic downtown of Santa Paula, California.”