One Night Stand

I love Meet the Brewer nights but a much better name has been devised by Beer Belly in Koreatown, A Series of One Night Stands, the first of which is starting February 22nd, 2012

“Behind every craft beer is a story, and starting in February we’re bringing the story to you.

We all love craft beer, that’s a no-brainer…but just how well do we know the stories of the beers we drink?

This year the Beer Belly family is going straight to the brewer and bringing back the stories of local brewers to share with you and the Beer Belly community.”

What this means for you:
-Throughout the month stay tuned-in to our Facebook and Twitter for news, stories, and specials…starting with this video from our visit to Hangar24:
-Mark your calendars (see below) and join us for our One Night Stand community nights where we’ll feature a variety of beer styles from the featured brewery
-Meet and greet fellow craft beer lovers, brewers, and more

The One Night Stand schedule:
2.22: Hangar 24 Anniversary Party (ONS Kickoff)
3.21: Golden Road Brewing
4.18: Bootleggers Brewery
5.16: Coming Soon
6.20: Coming Soon
7.18: Coming Soon

This is a labor of love for us and we really hope that you’re able to join and be a part of this craft beer passion project.

Follow the beer,

The Beer Allowance – February

For Christmas, one of the best gifts that I received was an extra $20 each month for beer or beers that I would normally not buy. And even though, I just came back with a ton of great Portland beer. There was one that I left behind. From….

And luckily the Sunset Beer Company had Logsdon in bottles for the first time and one on tap as well! So, I spent my $20 on this…
That would be Kili Wit. The Belgian Wit Bier with coriander and then on the side some Green Flash action with Rayon Vert which I have never had before. And that still leaves me with cash to spare. Even though I did partake of a Lagunitas IPA while I was shopping.

from the cellar – Review # 2 Monk’s Blood from 21st Amendment

The second cellar beer comes from 21st Amendment in San Francisco (though the beer was canned in Minnesota, I believe). It is Monk’s Blood.

I opened one can back in March of 2010 and gave it this review “Pours a lovely dark amber / brown color. predominant aroma is stone fruit which fades into fig then some other notes that I can’t pin down. taste is very strong. very warming initially. some vanilla notes. not tasting the oak or cinnamon at all. a well made beer but not to my taste”

Now, almost two years later, is my cellared version review….

2011 Brewery # 2 – Pacific Brewing Laboratory

We travel all the way back across the country for our second highlighted brewery of February to get to http://www.pacbrewlab.com/about/ in the Bay area.

And they have started with two unique beers. Squid Ink which is a black type IPA and a Hibiscus saison. And that second one sounds really good. I wish more people would use hibiscus in beers. It has such a distinctive and refreshing flavor.

And as many a brewery before it they started via the home brew route, “Pac Brew Lab started in a garage as a place for Patrick and Bryan to experiment with new beer flavors, styles, and brewing techniques. What started out as a place to share new creations with friends grew into a bi-monthly, totally free event with hundreds of our “new” friends and great local street food vendors.”

Portland Beer Trip – Part the Second

And the Portland craft beer photos continue….

Third time was a charm to finally walk inside the Hair of the Dog taproom. I tried a Little Dog and then this..

That’s the 2009 version Michael (which is my middle name and my Dad’s name). Quite the delicious beer. Slightly fruity with a minor sour note.

One of the great things about Portland is that great beer is literally everywhere. While my mom and wife were shopping, I was watching English Premiere League Football and having Secret Alt at the 2nd outpost of Hopworks Urban Brewery which is basically next door to the Lompoc Sidebar which is next door to the 5th Quadrant bar. Choices. Choices.

Then heading north from HUB, I hit Breakside Brewery which was #2 after Hair of the Dog of places that I wanted to see.

I got the sampler tray and was blown away by the Hoppy Amber and IPA as well as the Italian Amber. The Dry Stout and pepper infused Aztec were good but not to my particular taste.

I capped off my visit with a first visit of Bazi Bierbrasserie. A Belgian themed beer bar just off of Hawthorne. I picked up the licorice-eqsue Kopstooje from Upright and toasted another successful trip.

23 Years is Old


Wow. Karl Strauss has been around for 23 years. That is amazing. And breweries do well with anniversaries. A lot of great beers are made for the yearly celebration. Like this one….

“The 23rd Anniversary Old Ale was aged for 12 months in American oak barrels and is the first Karl Strauss barrel-aged beer to be offered unblended. It’s loaded with complex layers of toffee, molasses, dried figs, and toasted oak. A pronounced warming bourbon flavor contributes to the beer’s 12.2% alcohol content—making this strong ale an ideal after dinner sipper or accompaniment to desserts like bread pudding. The company only bottled 413 cases of this beer, encouraging fans to enjoy one now and lay another down several years. “This beer is only going to get better with age,” says brewer Segura. “As time passes, the bourbon character will mellow and more of the dried fruit and vanilla flavors will come out.”

The 23rd Anniversary Old Ale will be available on tap at all six Karl Strauss Brewery Restaurants and select beer bars across Southern California, beginning February 2, 2012

Portland Beer Trip – Part the First

Last weekend, I journeyed up to Portland. I brought some Golden Road Point the Way IPA and Hefeweizen for people and brought back some goodies for me. But in between those deliveries, I did this….

I found this wine and beer shop in Sellwood while picking up dinner next door. Great spot with a nice choice of bottles and (4) taps. I sampled the New Belgium / Elysian Trip XI which was odd but refreshing. I also spied this bottle in the middle.

I made my pilgrimage to Belmont Station as well but I also found another bottle shop with taps in the Mississippi district.

SO hard to choose from a small list!

I decided to go with the Good Life Pale Ale which was only OK in my book. Too hoppy to be a pale and heavy on the vegetal hop notes that are not my favorite at the moment. But it looked gorgeous in the glass.

I went by this “cart” twice but it was not open on either occasion.

California Heights Market

The Bixby Knolls section of Long Beach has not only The Factory for craft beer but now I have learned there is a bottle shop in those whereabouts as well. California Heights Market can be the place to check out their beer collection.

You can never have a big enough arsenal of beer stores (especially in the vast and quite often traffic ridden expanses of the LA area) so I am happy there is another location that offers up the good stuff.

Drinking with Mom – Eagle Rock Equinox

A new (occasional) feature on this here blog is what I’m calling “Drinking with Mom”. I will be sending beers to her in Portland and she will send some to me in Los Angeles. Or we will pick a beer we can both get and we will compare notes on the beer. The point being to get a different perspective on the craft beer revolution. One beer at a time. A little background. My mom is primarily a wine drinker with a particular soft spot for champagnes. When it comes to beer she prefers the porter/stout style. But not the imperial stout.

First up is Equinox from Eagle Rock Brewery.

It is a sour blonde ale with Brett yeast. Now this was a reach on my part. This is out of my mom’s comfort beer range for sure. Back in 2010, my review of the beer when it first came out was as follows, “pours really yellow. aroma is faint but a little fruity. sourness is minimal but the acid does leave its mark. very refreshing. one of my favorite sour ales so far because it doesn’t try to pucker your mouth into a grimace” I gave it a 3.7 out of 5.

My mom was “pleasantly surprised” despite not being a sour fan. She found it refreshing, easy to drink and effervescent. She appreciated the light touch on the sourness. She explained that it was similar in many respects to champagne. The Brett didn’t register as too big either because she didn’t even mention it. Maybe the cage and cork played into the wine aesthetic?

On a final note, my brother in law tasted as well and with he gave it a thumbs up too. So there you go, three different enthusiastic reviews! Check Eagle Rock’s taproom to see if any bottles are left of that or their second anniversary beer, Deuce.