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Featured Review – Lough Gill Barrel-Aged Beer # 1 – Spear

Yes, it is hot out and barrel-aged beers are not the best style for the weather but I did not know when I would see beers from Lough Gill Brewery in Los Angeles again, so here we go…

Lough Gill is based in Sligo, Ireland and they have three big beers on three different barrel types…

Since this is an Irish beer, I started with the Irish Whiskey barrel-aged oatmeal stout, Spear.

The booziness starts up strong once the can is opened. The first sip brings maple syrup notes. Not faint ones, big ones. Quite a sugar high, maybe a knock-on effect from the Oatmeal Stout base. The Irish Whiskey is backing it up as well making this a small sip at a time beer. It is relatively thin mouthfeel wise but because the other flavors are so big, that works to its benefit.

Next up is Trinity!

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Hazy in Burbank

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The forecast is hazy for Burbank on July 13th as Tony’s Darts Away showcases hazy IPAs.  This is a ticketed event which gets you a sampling glass and unlimited teeny tiny two ounce pours.  Some breweries you will see are Highland Park, North Park, Ogopogo, Ambitious Ales and Burgeon Beer.

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By Appointment

I read THIS article about a pop-up by reservation only cocktail bar and was intrigued.  If I had a spare $100 on me, I would certainly be tempted to try this and not only for cocktails but for beer or cider too because I think it is a great way to create buzz and have a literal reason to tell a story as well.  And in a town such as Los Angeles, there must be good stories and tellers of stories to make this happen. And club only brewers can do well so why not reservation only.

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OgoBlackberry

Ogopogo Brewing has a new Pastry Stout coming from the blackberry bramble with a bit of menace and a 8.5% ABV, Beelzebub.  If you are a fence sitter when it comes to this style, like me, this might be a good one to check out and see where you are now.

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In the Tap Lines for July 2024

For me, May Gray and June Gloom are the best time in SoCal but I know that I am in the minority and that most people love the sun. Whichever Angeleno you are, please make July – Visit a brewery month. It is really needed beer fans.

~ e-visits to (3) new breweries in my home state of Oregon

~ special featured reviews of barrel-aged beers from Lough Gill Brewing in Sligo, Ireland

~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 The Napoleon of Crime by Ben MacIntyre

~ A Podcast & A Beer listens to Finally! A Show About Women That Isn’t Just a Thinly Veiled Aspirational Nightmare

~ Sports & A Beer returns with Sports and climate change

~ 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 June 2024

Are building landlords the biggest problem for breweries now and is it more of a problem in higher cost Los Angeles?

When an industry reeling a bit and breweries closing, the first suspects through the door are ingredient and labor costs and / or shrinking customer base.  The former pushes raising the cost of a pint and the latter scares you away from doing that so as not to lose more customers.

But rarely is the cost of the physical space invoked. Is it not an issue?

As I write this, there is an empty apartment in the building next door.  My building has had extended periods without a tenant in one of the four units because my landlord is quite rigorous in her selection process but throughout the fair city of Glendale there is plenty with a capital P office space, plenty of business space in one of the many with a capital M condominiums in town and even quite regular space open at the fancy Americana mall.

It seems a math question of possible future returns vs steady now money.  But the value of a current tenant does not seem to have risen very much if at all while the allure of some dream tenant walking in and paying double as far-fetched as it may or may not be seems to be in vogue.

I do not know how pervasive it is in the Los Angeles rental market for breweries but I have seen it mentioned a fair bit and I saw it play out with the beloved Sunset Beer Co. which was intentionally priced out of their space.  Even though literally across the street was a new and very empty development that was mostly graffiti.  

How does a landlord see that and go, now is the time to look for higher paying tenants? Do they have the cash reserves to pay for a building not getting rented out?  

I know that the stereotype of a landlord is not great even though I have a great one and others do as well.  That perception should lead to landlords differentiating themselves by being really good.  By selecting a business that they can have for the long term and work with so that BOTH succeed.  Why is that not the norm?

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Best Beers of June 2024

June is now in the books so it is time to review the best beers that I laid my hands on this month.

It is a tie for first and a tie for second. And each has an IPA and then a German beer style.

Tied for 2nd are Russian River Brewing’s RnD IPA #44 and Human Robot’s Hallertau Pils. The latter is my first beer from the Pennsylvania brewery and boy was it good on a steamy LA day on the Highland Park Brewery patio. And what can be said about Russian River, whenever I see an RnD IPA, I buy it.

Tied for first was the Hana Munich Helles from Headlands Brewing. When someone says malt makes a big difference, this is what I will point to as Exhibit A. A luxury of a beer, Lastly, Monkish Space Cookie IPA just should not be as good considering it is such a weird beer but boy was it, standing out from a festival crowd.

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Is Cask Ale Viable?

Here is another BSP, read THIS first, then come back to what my humble opinion is….

….OK, now that you are armed with the latest on cask ales, I would like to add my two cents (depending upon inflation) on the matter.

First, I am a fan of cask ale and I think it is is important that it does not become a museum piece.  But in 2024, looking back, even when craft beer was roaring, it was an oddity, much in the way I think side pour faucets are.  At least, here in the states, brewers are not welded to moldy cellars and no aspirators and can present a product that is consistent at whatever quality level it is at.

The U.S. problem is simply that the styles most suited or traditional in that dispense are just not best sellers and most American breweries would probably make more money buying a slushie machine or Micehelada mix instead.

The British have the extra problem of staying in traditional boundaries of CAMRA whilst also absorbing the extra cost in people power and spoilt beer.  

Not an enviable position to be in.

We can wait for the next generation of drinkers to throw off more drinking shackles of their parents and grandparents and then rediscover cask as a minor rebellion or lean into gimmicky beers in cask or get more casks into taprooms and beer bars so that they are at the very least seen as part of the beer scene.  

This will need to be driven from the brewery side though because I do not see a cask ale groundswell coming.

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Sister City Brewery # 3 – Yeccan Cerveceria

Our last Los Angeles sister city stop is in Mexico City and Yeccan Cerveceria in Roma Norte.

They have a restaurant as well and their Instagram feed will get you hungry and thirsty. Here are four beer choices for you…

Nerds – a Berliner Weisse with that sour candy taste for “your inner child”

Descarada – a pastry lager at 4.5%. maybe a new style in the offing?

Old Boy – imperial Red ale with smoky notes and a touch of caramel.

Better A Made in Hell – coffee Imperial Stout clocking in at 12% abv.