Follow Sean Inman to the best in craft beer
If you haven’t made any Fest Festival plans for September / October, might I suggest the HOPtoberfest at 38 Degrees? The Alhambra hosts this event on October 21st and they will be “pouring a few dozen of the freshest hoppy ales (IPA,Double IPA,Pale Ales) alongside German inspired Festbiers.”
You can order up a flight or full pours to enjoy with some Octoberfest inspired menu items to get you in the Germanic mood.
If you had not noticed, there is not a lot of lager love out there which makes the first ever 38 Degrees Craft Lager Fest an outlier. Unless lots of people show up on May 20th in Alhambra.
38 Degrees will have a dozen clean and delicous craft lagers on tap. And you can order either sampler sizes, flights or full pours.
Considering our usual and unusual hot weather in May, this couldn’t come soon enough.
Starting tonight, those of us in the valley can get a taste of Beachwood Blendery without making the drive or long Blue Line ride to Long Beach.
Check the graphic above and plan your sour schedule accordingly.
To help you find a replacement for Pliny the Younger, head to the Monrovia location of 38 Degrees for their Triple IPA Fest on Saturday, February 25th. Starting at 11am.
Since PtY is limited by the brewery (until their new Windsor production facility could be utilized to make more), you have the enviable task of finding beers as good or better for your big hops, big ABV fix. They will have quite a few examples on tap and you get to use their fancy iPads to help you choose.
I know it seems odd to call something that is Ultimate, a 2nd choice but that is how wacky it gets with L.A. Beer Week. It is the Olympics of LA Craft beer and what may be in a class by itself is suddenly beset with competition.
I will be attempting to do two events that day but if you are looking for a great place to relax on the penultimate day of Beer Week, then you should head to 38 Degrees for their Ultimate Flights. “Ultimate Flight Night showcases hand selected craft beer flights from the top craft breweries around, and we will be joined by some of the top Beer-Leberties for the evening. Last year we featured 20 different varieties of flights from 9 stellar breweries.”
Venerable Alhambra craft spot, 38 Degrees was planning a Los Angeles Barleywine Festival, but now it has an even better name to honor a true L.A. beer legend.
The festival will “offer over 30 barleywines. Some cellared, some fresh, some hoppy, some barrel aged. We will be pouring sampler sizes of all of these gems for those who want to try a few, as well as full pours. We ask that all that come to celebrate keep in mind that these beers are high gravity and to enjoy with caution.”
Check out the link above for a current list. It looks to be a BIG afternoon.
Tucked away right smack dab against 38 Degrees in Alhambra used to be a Gas Company payment office. Now a much better use for the small space has been found. As a retail outlet for Ohana Brewing.
Due to Ohana’s mandate of not repeating beers (a rule that is bent on occasion) and their small size it can be a touch more difficult to find a representative sample barring a tap take-over event. But now you will be able to get (for now) four ounce pours of multiple Ohana beers at once. Growler fills and merchandise will also be available.
You might even see a combo like this…..
Wee Smokey, Saison Noir and Pacific Blonde.
The L.A. Beer Bloggers are hitting the ground running in 2014 with an event featuring a triumvirate of sources. From the web, will be The Full Pint, from the bar is 38 Degrees and from the brewery is Ohana. BE THERE…..to get three different perspectives on the world of craft beer here in Los Angeles
Thank you Ohana Brewing for not putting a tasting room in an industrial park!
Instead, Ohana will be right next door to another great SoCal craft beer venue, 38 Degrees! Now before you go asking if that is kosher. Ohana and 38 talked before the For Rent sign went down in Alhambra. Plus as an added bonus, you might just find some L.A. Aleworks beers here as well!
Now we wait for it to open!
If anything on this list grabs you by the lapels and shakes you…..
Alesmith Barrel Aged Speedway
Allagash Odyssey Oak Aged Dark Wheat
Ballast Point Barrel Aged Indra Kunindra
Ballast Point Coedo East To West IPA (Fresh batch brewed in San Diego)
Beachwood Hop Ninja
Craftsman Ursa Minor
Dogfish Head Immort Ale
Eagle Rock Tart Noir
Eagle Rock Templeton Rye Barrel Aged Threes Anniversary Ale
Firestone Walker XVI Anniversary
Firestone Walker Sucaba
Great Divide Chocolate Oak Aged Yeti
Hebrew Funky Jewbelation
High Water Old & In The Way 2011
Ironfire Coffee Stout Aged in Rye Whiskey Barrels
Ironfire Merlot Barrel Aged Dead on Arrival DIPA dry hopped in barrel
Kern River Just Outstanding
Logsdon Oak Aged Seizon Bretta
Lost Abbey Brandy Barrel Aged Santa’s Helper
Lost Abbey Deliverance
Lost Abbey Older Viscosity
Lost Coast Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial 8 Ball 2012
Nectar Black Xantus
New Belgium La Folie 2012
Noble Ale Works Naughty Sauce
North Coast Old Rasputin XV
Russian River Consecration
Russian River Pliny The Elder
Russian River Sanctification
Stone 15th Anniversary Aged In Scotch Barrels
The Bruery Melange #8
The Bruery/Beachwood Mrs. Stoutfire
Then you best head over to Alhambra and 38 Degrees for their blowout 4th anniversary bash. The only caveat is that you have to come to Beer Belly tomorrow and tell me about it at my Summer Camp with Beer Belly.