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Event Review – L.A. Beer Week Finale


Craft beer can draw a crowd. Despite some serious heat. Despite the Carmageddon sequel on the 405 freeway. And despite a triathalon blocking other routes, Union Station was packed with beer lovers who were shown a cornucopia of craft beer choices.

For the first time this year, I signed up in time for one of the three break-out sessions (indoors) that were on offer. But I did have time to sneak in a couple beers first. So I started with Smog City’s Citra Quercus and Bravery’s Allegiance IPA.

This was not the panel I was attending (though I hear it was great). I sat in on the Unity – Prickly Pear panel and sampled four of the prickly pear influenced beers from Eagle Rock, Monkish, Beachwood and Ladyface. It was a study in comparing where one ingredient would take a brewer. Two added it to existing beers to create a whole new breed and two created from the ground up. Or the Sueno up in Monkish’s case. My favorite of the group was the super Prickly Pear Chesebro IPA from Ladyface that was SUPER red and fruity before getting back to bitterness at the back.

This year, I decided that I was only going to have beers that I had not sipped before. And I still had plenty of options. I got my first taste of Ritual Brewing from Redlands, Ouroboros and the aforementioned, Bravery. And I tried new beers from Ohana (Saison Dubach), El Segundo (Rum/Oak Hyperion Stout) and Hangar 24 (a hybrid IPA a blend of two of their regular hop offerings) too.

The ratio of hit to miss was about even. Partially due to the heat and the fact that after seven or eight tasters the palate gets a little wonky. But that is what is great about beer festivals, you get to sample so many and find that gem of a beer. One like Bravery’s Pineapple Boo which had a kiss of pineapple then a nice wheat beer behind it.

Speaking of gems. My two favorites were from one booth. Smog City. Their Citra Quercus and Weird Beer (yes, that is the name) both rocked.


They were light with a complex swirl of spices and very refreshing. Each one made you stop and go what is in this. I even told complete strangers in line to get either one or both.

So the 4th annual L.A. Beer Week is complete. Due to BAM Fest in Santa Monica and the Great American Beer Festival coming soon, there will be no heavy critique on these pages about this year’s extravaganza. But I would like to hear your thoughts as to how to better improve the festival and the week as a whole for when the Week turns five.

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In the Tap Lines for October 2012

L.A. Beer Week literally finished yesterday but the craft beer bandwagon rolls on. First up is BAM Fest and then followed by my 2nd trip to the Great American Beer Festival. Then lots of sleep.

~ e-visits to three breweries that I will taste at the GABF
~ video reviews tackles the Berliner Weisse style
~ Three suggested beers to buy this month
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my opinion on the craft beer world
~ … and Session # 68 will converge bloggers onto a single topic
~ plus many more posts about new beers, beer products and breweries

Here are two events to get your June started in the Los Angeles craft beer world:
1) October 6th – BAM Fest in Santa Monica
2) October 7th – Stone Brewing’s Pour it Black festival

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Event Review – FoodGPS Beer Float Showdown


I will state up front that I write a column for FoodGPS and I do the weekly Beer Blast (which you better subscribe to if you are in L.A.) so I am biased when it comes to the Beer Float Showdown.

Plus it was a brutally hot day in the valley so ice cream (and beer) were a welcome relief. There were (5) breweries paired off with (5) different chefs as is the now custom.

My favorite of the day (when I wasn’t volunteering) was the White Dog IPA with Simcoe sorbet from El Segundo Brewing. The beer was refreshing and hoppy. The ice cream had a nice bite to it and there was little fruit pearls in it too. Lovely. Plus it had a nice cookie floating in there too.

But there was a tie at the top of the leaderboard at days end. Reigning champ Eagle Rock with the Oinkster/Maximilliano was dead even with Strand Brewing and Short Order.

Team Eagle Rock concocted a Beer-imasu complete with Ladyfinger cookie.


Team Strand paired Ito-Weisse Berliner with a cherry ice cream for a cute red float that was simple but paired fruit against tartness.


If these photos don’t convince you that craft beer and craft ice cream go together then nothing will except for next year’s edition. Which you better attend.

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The Firkin for September 2012


Pete Brown author of the upcoming Shakespeare’s Local amongst other great beer books posed the question, “How Many Beer Bloggers Does it Take to Screw in a Lightbulb?” It was good for some laughs. My favorite one-liner was “Is it an artisan produced bulb, or mass produced yellow fizz of light?”

Despite the fact that tongue was firmly in cheek for many responses it got me to pondering why beer blogging has a less than stellar reputation. I know that blogging in general is considered less noble pursuit and more navel gazing. But why is everyone who blogs about beer painted with the same brush of disdain?

Granted, since I blog about beer and have gone to two of three beer blogger conventions and am part of the Los Angeles blogger group makes me a little touchy on the subject because I am being stereotyped along with everyone else. I have the mentality of a newspaper that publishes something slightly anti-Republican and gets slapped with the “lamestream” media tag.

Part of the problem lies with people who think that beer snobs and beer bloggers are one in the same. Whereas in my interactions with bloggers most are of the geeky Comic-Con variety and not the beer whale hunting, non pilsner drinking up turned nose stripe. So that is an issue that beer bloggers are going to have to tackle in the future. How to tell the origin story of beer bloggers and show that we are a fun lot to have a beer with.

Another part of the puzzle is an inherited problem from doing blogs. They are not a business. They are a passion. And usually a one person passion at that. Imagine writing a newspaper article or magazine piece without any editorial assistance. Of course errors are going to happen. There are probably enough grammatical issues on my blog alone to raise E.B. White from the dead and then put him back in his coffin. Until there is a HuffPost of craft beer, this will remain. Again, we bloggers need to either ‘fess up to our literary shortcomings or sell it as what makes our blog a personal and honest stop on the ale trail.

The one thing that I think will really break the logjam is that if a really wide variety of people start, continue or change the focus of their blogs to topics dear to their heart. Be it beer cocktails, women and beer, beer in out of way spots in the U.S., sports and beer or writing just about Belgian beers. This will break the mold and force readers and commenters to re-think what a beer blog is supposed to be.

Even if nothing changed, there are a wide variety of beer blogs out there today that need to be critiqued on a blog by blog basis and not just rejected out of hand. You wouldn’t review a movie you hadn’t seen and the same applies to craft beer blogs.

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Event Review – Logsdon Farmhouse Night

With the 4th version of L.A. Beer Week nearing it’s climax, certain truths have become evident. Firestone-Walker is creative with their major event theme. Fifty/Fifty Brewing brings some great beer and the Bottle Room in Whittier will dazzle with their food and beer pairings.

Last night was Logsdon Farmhouse Ales night. With head brewer and yeast wrangler, Dave Logsdon in attendance all the way from Hood River, Oregon. And you had a great gamut of his beers to sample….

….to go along with different cheese plates that Tony Alcazar had whipped up for the occasion.

I had a sampler tray of four beers that may have been first poured through the lines and so they didn’t have the same bite and flavors that I remember from the bottled versions of the beer…

…but the hopped Saison was quite nice. Very mild and certainly not an American amped of saison style.

It was great to sit with Kevin and Scott from Artisan Ales who make sure we get the Logsdon beers down here as well as to talk to Dave and Tony. That’s the type of environment that makes a L.A. Beer Week event great….

….all layers of the industry out at the bar talking to the fans and showing off the beer.

You have two more opportunities to go all Logsdon durin the final days of L.A. Beer Week. Tonight at Sunset Beer Co. and Sunday at the Union Station festival. Don’t miss your chance to try a really great cherry beer….

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September Brewery # 3 – Elkhead

When I want to make myself feel jealous about the craft beer that I am not trying, I head over to some other beer blogs and when I last vistied the Brewdad, I read about a tiny brewery in Buckley, Washington by the name of ElkHead.

They have quite the eclectic list of beers including one called Blast Zone that is pepper filled. Check out all of them right HERE. The Huckle Buzz and Citronic grabbed my attention.

You can also pick up their beers at Ocean Shores and watch the waves.

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Event Review – FiftyFifty Night at the Verdugo

One of the annual L.A. Beer Week highlights for me is when Fifty/Fifty brewing makes the trek from Truckee with their rare (in L.A.) beers.

This year they landed at the Verdugo Bar and brought an eclectic mix from their beer line-up.

I went bassackwards and started with the heaviest beer and worked my way down. So first up was B.A.R.T. which is described as, “Barrel Aged Really Tasty. This is a rare one-off beer blended on the brewers whim. The most recent iteration contains a delicious blend of Totality Imperial Stout, Donner Party Porter, and our Summit Barleywine, aged in Oak Bourbon Barrels for 180 days.”

It was smooth and not super boozy. I’m thinking it had more of the regular porter than the Stout or barleywine because the 10% alcohol was well masked. Hopefully, I can try the 2013 version to compare and contrast.

Next up was Rockslide IPA. I had only imperial stouts from this brewery so this was a brand new experience. It was strong and hoppy but wasn’t a muddle like some can get. Nice initial bitter punch that melted away.

Last on the night was 4 Wheat, their American hefeweizen. Maybe the B.A.R.T. and the Rockslide were still on the palate but this tasted kind of strong but in a good way. Really wheat-centric without the banana/clove combo. A grand way to end the night.

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Chimay Ice Cream


I was at Oaks Gourmet over the hill in Hollywood-ish, Los Angeles and saw this Chimay ice cream from L.A. Creamery in their frozen case. So instead of grabbing two beers, I picked up one bottle and one pint instead.

The beer really hits the tongue on the first spoonful but that shock decreases with each additional scoop you take. The texture and taste has some yogurt-y influence and once the Chimay wears down the flavor is a bit plain. (At least for a person who is more accustomed to Ben & Jerry’s)> Overall, I think it is a good representation of the beer. And I would buy a pint again though I am intrigued by their absinthe and moonshine flavors too.

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L.A. Beer Week – Odds & Ends


How is your bucket list looking, all you L.A. craft beer geeks? You had better get to work on filling each quadrant with a sticker. Visit that brewery. Eagle Rock or Strand would work. Go to a special beer-centric event like Saturday’s Beer Float Showdown. Once those four stickers are affixed to your sheet, all it will take is four quarters for a bottle of Unity 2012!

Next item:
Federal Bar in North Hollywood through Friday
“Beer week has been super delicious so far! What better way to keep it going then by adding a creamy, tantalizing twist..Cheese! That’s right, The Federal Bar has shipped in the creamiest, most scrumptious,
finger-licking cheeses, specially for this week. We’ve designed the perfect beer tasting with the perfect cheeses and homemade jams. Stop in for some special treats from Firestone Walker. We’ll be tapping DBA,
Double DBA, Union Jack, and Oaktoberfest.”

Middle item:
City Tavern in Culver City tonight!
Black Market Pint Night with some delicious old-standby’s and some new beer too.

Last item:
38 Degrees in Alhambra
Ultimate Flight Night III

“LA Beer Week is back and so is the return of Ultimate Flight Night! This year we are changing it up a bit, well only the beer but not the sexy flight gear! I have invited a few of our favorite breweries to pick their own flights to feature as well as to hang out with us for the evening. We will still feature 15 flights as Clay will mix up the breweries for his own fun as well as feature some rare bottle flights. If you missed the madness last year, dont be left out again.

This years participants are: Kern River Brewing,The Bruery ,Stone ,Eagle Rock ,Beachwood BBQ and Brewing, Bootlegger’s, Ballast Point and Firestone Walker.”

That should keep you busy until October.

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Pacific Brewers Cup

I had the fun opportunity to steward at a home brew competition last weekend. And after doing so, I highly recommend that other beer geeks do the same.

It was the Pacific Brewers Cup…..

As the website explains, “This year marks the 16th-Annual Pacific Brewers Cup Homebrew Competition. The competition is hosted on a rotating basis by the Strand Brewers’ Club, Pacific Gravity in Culver City, and the Long Beach Homebrewers.”

I was stationed at this table….

There was three sub-categories to this group and it was my job to keep the beer flowing to the judges and to do the other little things to make their jobs easier like having enough water and cups and bread on the table. And since I had only two judges (some tables had six!), that job wasn’t super stressful.

It is interesting to watch others judge a beer so specifically to style guidelines and then be able to taste it yourself to match it up against what comments the judges were making. This style is not wide with many variables so it makes the job somewhat easier if the beer doesn’t hew to the norm. But it also means that you will get many beers that are closer together taste wise.

Thanks to the home brew clubs for putting this event together and letting me see behind the scenes.

Best of Show
Congratulations to Kingsley Toby & Brian Holter for their Belgian Dark Strong Ale! (You may know them as Pipe Dream Brewery)

High Point Club
Congrats to this year’s High Point Club winner Pacific Gravity!

You can check out the full list of winners HERE. (You will notice that Kip from the forthcoming L.A. Ale Works and Chris who is new at the recently new on tap Ohana have numerous mentions!)