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Nebraska Brewery # 2 – Nebraska Brewing

I first encountered Nebraska Brewing at the GABF a couple years back. I saw a few people in their logo’d shirts and I thought to myself that their brewery must be an oasis to thirsty Nebraskans.

Fast forward to today and you can get some Nebraska Brewing offerings in Portland and even here in LA. I’ve already alerted you to the new Toasted Barn beer. So let’s take a look at two other offerings…..

Hop God
“A beautiful golden crossbreed of a Belgian Tripel and a West Coast IPA. A remarkable explosion on the palate with spiciness, tropical fruit, and a firm citrus bitterness that will leave you begging for more!”

Itty Bitty Betty
“Producing Black Betty results in some significantly sweet spent grains, so we decided that instead of giving it all to the pigs, we’d extract some of that goodness and make a smaller beer out of it. By using different yeast and hops, we created a nice sweet stout that really stands apart from Black Betty.”

Available: Now

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August’s other Beer Blog

You may have noticed that my video beer reviews are few and far between. Usually topping out at four a month. And you don’t see me in any of them. That is because I am not a big fan of the “white guy in front of a camera with a beer” video.

But, I recently stumbled upon Beer Geek Nation on iTunes and I was impressed. Chris has a great personality and his videos follow three rules that I think are essential to creating a good video.

1. Interesting beers. He is reviewing a wide swath of beers from across the country. He must have some serious beer hook-ups. Six-Point in New York to 21st Amendment in San Francisco and judging by the bottles in the background of some shots there are some excellent beers in the wings.

2. The videos are short. All in the five minute range. You can watch a couple at a time without looking at the watch because the pacing is done well too.

3. He breaks it up with graphics. This is something on my to-do list as well. It really helps fighting that static one shot that can lull viewers to sleep.

So check out his reviews. I think you will learn something

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Beer in the LBC

First excursion to Long Beach in a long while but when you have Beachwood and Congregation within spittin’ distance of each other than it is easier to make the trek from valley to sand. Especially when a designated driver is involved. (Thanks Jennie!)

First stop was Beachwood BBQ…..

…for house beers to go with brisket and blue cheese grits….

…my first Beachwood beer was Reckless Session ale….

…but before that was a trio of Evil Twin beers Ryan the Beaster Bunny saison, Before, During and After Christmas DIPA and my favorite, Biscotti Break….

Then it was a stone’s throw (literally you could throw a stone from one to the other) to Congregation Alehouse….

…to gaze upon the multitude of taps…

… I settled on a Blue House IPA from El Segundo. Second time tasting in two days. A new favorite is found!

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15 Years of Lompoc


If I could be in two places at once, I would be at the Beer Bloggers Conference and here at the Lompoc too.

“The New Old Lompoc brewery will celebrate its 15 anniversary later this summer in a big way: 15 Beers for 15 Years! A Northwest institution, the New Old Lompoc will host a one party on August 20, the first official day of Portland Beer Week, serving 15 unique and specialty Lompoc beers in addition to its mainstay lineup. Organizers anticipate nearly 30 different beers will pour throughout the day.

The party will start at 11 am in the parking lot of the New Old Lompoc at 1616 NW 23 Ave. The event will also feature a toast to the memory of Don Younger, who was part owner of the brewery since 2000.

Some of the specialty beers scheduled to be on tap include Saazall Pilsner, Pale Ryeder, two vintages of Old Tavern Rat, Vintage Batch 69, 2009 Pre-Dawn Imperial Stout, a few barrel aged beers, additional vintages, at least one firkin, and many more offerings.”

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Brews at the Zoo

Last Friday, I found myself at the….

…for Brews at the Zoo.

For a first year event run by a zoo, this was well done. The first sign that this was going to be good was that they reached out to the local breweries. It would have been easy to go with “name” beers. I.E. The Highly Marketed Ones. But they made a great effort. Bringing in breweries that I hadn’t seen in LA county at all like Noble from Anaheim (I suggest the Alpha Red) and Inland Empire from, well, the Inland Empire. (I recommend the Pepin the Short)

The second positive sign was the fact that each brewery brought two beers. Nothing rare or earth shattering but it certainly wasn’t one of those festivals where one flagship was pouring and that’s it. I got to taste the El Segundo IPA for the first time as well as a nice saison from Left Coast.

Plus the location is really great. How often do you get to drink with ‘gators….
…and giraffes….

I am going to watch for any future versions of this fest and if you are in L.A. you should too.

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Beer Table Pantry


I am not quite sold on the name but I am sold on what they doing in Grand Central Station according to the DNA Info website, “The popular bar’s new Beer Table Pantry, which is set to open July 29, will be a retail version of the store’s successful Brooklyn location, with a wide selection of local and international brews that mark a major departure from the generic Budweiser, Miller and Coors options now available in the station.

The 300-square-foot shop will feature six rotating draft beers for growlers that focus on regional breweries. The half-gallon jugs will be available for a $5 deposit, and fill-ups will hover in the $10 to $15 dollar range.”

I would take mass transit every day if there was a growler stop along the way!

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Commercial Suicide

from Jester King in “weird” Austin, Texas comes one of the best beer names that I have heard this year… Commercial Suicide.

It is an Oaked Dark Mild. A somewhat forgotten style with a twist.

“A true “session beer”, Commercial Suicide is an authentic English dark mild with notes of caramel, coffee and chocolate. A portion of each batch is aged in medium toast American oak barrels, lending very subtle toasted, oaky notes to the finished beer.”

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Video Review – Pretty Things Field Mouse Farewell

This website has highlighted beers from the Pretty Things Ale Project a few times but until recently the only beer that I have been able to sample has been their Jack D’Or. (Quite good by the way).

But recently one of my beer shops, Vendome in Toluca Lake had THREE new to me Pretty Things beers in stock. So I grabbed them up and this month they are the focus of my video reviews.

We start with …….