Category: Monthly Features

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In the Tap Lines for September 2023

California has been in weird times lately. Hollywood strikes, a tropical storm for the first time in 84 years and robotaxis wild in San Francisco. Let’s get back on sturdier ground in beer…

~ e-visits to (3) breweries from the new trendy beer city, Pittsburgh

~ special featured reviews of Oktoberfest beers

~Heads-Up on Los Angeles Beer Events

~ Three suggested beers to buy this month. One light, one medium and one dark

~ A Book & A Beer reads Circe by Madeline Miller

~ A Podcast & A Beer listens to Family Trips with the Meyers Brothers

~ Sports & A Beer returns with too many hot takes

~ New Beer Releases and Best Beers of the Month

~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world.

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The Firkin for August 2023

Of the many broken and outdated practices in America is tipping. And it drops into the news whenever the economy stalls or the Republican Party tries to screw over the little people.

I run into it when I run in and out to get a 4-pack and am pressed into tipping since most transactions are now by chipcard or phone. Smartly, the POS system makes it harder or very noticeable when no tip is picked. And it is increasingly harder to find 15% as even an option.

But there will be a major breaking point, at some point, much like the hidden fees with Airline tickets. Enough of a groundswell will make a hard reset necessary.

There are proponents for eliminating tips altogether. I lean towards that camp. I can hear howls of protest as I type this about how people will buy less while employers will have to pay more. I think that is overblown, unless there are some facts to disprove me, because most people, including myself now factor in tips and are already buying less accordingly.

I am a single can buyer and there have been countless times where I have put a can back because of the tip. But if each beer was 50 cents more, I probably would buy that can.

Add in that I don’t know if that money is going to just the person who helped me or put into a pool and I am less inclined to pick a higher tip.

Maybe, beer stores and breweries should see me coming and just tally up a higher price and get rid of the fees.

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Best Beers of August 2023

OK, bit of a change-up for this month as I am picking the beer that was the most memorable upon first sip instead of my usual, rubric of best from first sip to the last.

Before we go there, here are my excellent runners up:

El Segundo / Enegren Gemeinschaft lager – great reddish tinted color and a malty easy drinker.

Chapman 7thAnniversary Dry Hopped Pilsner – I applaud any non-IPA anniversary beer

Bottle Logic A Quad IPA in this Economy? – big but not just in ABV. big on haze and fruit as well

Winner – Fremont Gose with cucumber and sea salt. You take a sip and that cucumber just hits you. Then you get a gentle touch of salt and a little tang of acidity. A wonderful spa Gose as it were. You will not forget the first sip.

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A Podcast & A Beer – Who Shat on the Floor At My Wedding

Yes, the title is long but it is apt. This is the hilarious investigation into a poo found on the floor of a wedding venue. Who Shat stars brides Karen Whitehouse and Helen McLaughlin and their ‘under-qualified ‘Detective’ Lauren Kilby as they puzzle out the mystery.

Now, I say hilarious for a few episodes before it becomes quite repetitive. And it grated upon me to the point that when I saw that the last two episodes were over an hour each, I tapped out. It seemed clear that the culprit was not going to be found or at least funnily left hanging.

But the waning interest fits in with the beer suggestion. Actually, less a suggestion and more a memory exercise. What beers have you had that started off really good but after a few sips lost that initial wow factor. I will start with an anonymous brewery where the aroma of the IPA was bright and soul stirring. A veritable melange of fruit notes, but the base of the beer was flimsy and watery and by the end was not finished to empty glass status.

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USA Brewery Tour # 2 – Miel

We go from Hill Country to cocktail country to visit (via the interwebs) Miel in Louisiana.

We Have the Czechnology – “Czech-style 12° Polotmavý. A smooth amber lager poured in the Czech way.”

Meow Meow – “New Orleans Common brewed with Zuper Saazer hops. An easy drinking amber ale with a malt-forward flavor!”

I Spy Cara Cara – “Fruited Sour aged on fresh oak chips and blended with cara cara orange. Slightly sweet with notes of orange, vanilla, and tannic oak.”

Smoked Braggot – “Braggot style ale fermented on Paradigm Garden honey and blended with Lapsang Souchong smoked tea. Fermented on equal parts honey and malt, this beer is rich with a sweet and smoky finish.”

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A Book & A Beer – The Sullivanians by Alexander Stille

This world is weird. People have an innate desire to control. Both occur page after page and all over The Sullivanians by Alexander Stille.

First have to mention that this is not fiction. This happened in New York City in the not so distant past of the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. Saul Newton and Jane Pearce taking bits and bobs of psychology from their mentor, Harry Sullivan started their own group which was part commune, part social experiment but mostly ill thought out and misguided.

It is wacky stuff. I am no prude but damn the partner swapping was out of control with special couples rooms that I would not have crossed the threshold of until they had been hosed down. Kids were taken away from parents and raised by others or simply shipped off to schools far away. Your therapist might be drunk and still charge you for their time even though you were paying dues. Then it became a theatrical troupe and then as the pattern with cults. It ended up being a restrictive, paranoid and violent group.

Since it is New York based and by the end bitter with accusations and counter accusations, your obvious brewery to find is Other Half and their hazy IPA’s with swirling colorful label designs.

Here in L.A., no stranger to cults, I would pick a brewery and have one of their pale ales, then and IPA, then a hazy and finally a DIPA and see if you might be someone easily swayed into evangelizing or if you are more wary, like me.

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Sports & A Beer – Women’s World Cup

There has been some bad vibes from the 2023 WWC. Loads of injured players who couldn’t play. Teams feuding with coaches. Pay being a omnipresent concern.

Granted, there were a lot more concerns with the Qatar World Cup on the Men’s side but I have come to expect shady, un-fun aspects to the boys.

The positive part of me sees this as growing pains. For too long, too many issues were considered no concern. Pay, as I said at the top, being first and foremost on the long list but poor playing surfaces, sexism, predatory coaches and even shorts were a problem. Literally, this year, 2023, press was made of decisions to have kits with anything other than white shorts.

But the expanded field of teams has shown parity as favored teams have looked human and the plucky Morrocan side made the knockout round and had a player in uniform while still obeying religious clothing rules.

Maybe these bad vibes are needed to get us and FIFA to change for the better.

Now, to drink. I would say g’day to a big ol’ can of Fosters Lager but maybe a better choice would be to find a pale ale or session IPA with some of those NZ hops to toast the Kiwis who didn’t make it out of group play.

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Sean Suggests for August 2023

Since IPA day snuck up on us on the 3rd of the month, I thought it would be proper to go hoppy with the beer suggestions as well as keeping it L.A. local.

Brouwerij West Scissor Run – 6.2% – “Indulge in this unique Hazy IPA and let it launch those tastebuds into a hoppy melon paradise. This dewy lil’ mama is packed with Amarillo, Huell Melon, and Ekuanot hops.”

Common Space Between the Lines – 7% – an intriguing flavor combination of mango, orange juice and pine.  Released for IPA Day.

Beachwood Brewing Dank Brigade – 9% – “We’ve assembled our finest battalion of hops for this massively aromatic double IPA! Hopped with Mosaic, Citra, Ekuanot, & El Dorado. 100+ IBUs.”

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USA Brewery Tour # 1 – Off Main Brewing

A name not often used to describe a brewery would be boutique but that is what Off Main Brewing has in it’s branding. And I like that term.

But this post is about the beers in a possible taster tray, so let’s pour….

Comanche Moon – “Blonde Ale that embodies the essence of the Texas Hill Country with its clean, crisp profile and
a touch of hop aroma and subtle sweetness from the malt.”

Bluebonnet Bock – “this traditional Bavarian strong beer is a malt-forward amber lager with a higher gravity, delivering a robust and flavorful experience.”

The Weekender – “this brew is crafted with flaked and malted wheat, giving it a satisfying body that perfectly complements the complexity of Southern Hemisphere hops. And here’s the best part: it’s fermented with Kviek Yeast from Norway, which imparts a delightful citrus flavor to the beer.”

Home IPA – “this surprisingly drinkable 7.6% American IPA is the first recipe we ever created.”