Tag: A Book & A Beer

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In the Tap Lines for November 2018

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As Los Angeles makes the slow transition from summer to late summer before heading to early summer, we can start to look at the bigger beers, the snifter beers. While also searching for the perfect beer to go with the fall sports season. Stay tuned for both this month.

~ e-visits to three breweries in NBA cities.
~ special featured reviews of beers over 10% ABV
~ 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 Big Game by Mark Leibovich
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world.

Here are two events to get your November started in the Los Angeles craft beer world:
1) November 10 – Three Weavers 4th Anniversary
2) November 16 to 18 – Brewery Draconum 1st Anniversary

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In the Tap Lines for September 2018

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OktoFest beers are starting to show up as if to will us out of one of the continuously hit SoCal summers in memories. Raise a glass to fall coming and to the coming pumpkin debate and other social media debates. Let’s keep talking people. Don’t retreat to a corner!

~ e-visits to three cider houses in British Columbia. Left Field Cider, The Naramata Cider Co. and Dominion Cider
~ special featured reviews of canned beers from Figueroa Mountain
~ 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 Taco USA by Gustavo Arellano
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world.

Here are two events to get your September started in the Los Angeles craft beer world:
1) September 5th – Stalking Horse 1st Anniversary
2) September 9th – Seeing Double at Angel City

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In the Tap Lines for July 2017

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This month will be a recovery of sorts from Firestone Walker and L.A. Beer Week. But that doesn’t mean the posts will be any less fun. For July Roadhouse Brewing sent me a “care package” introduction to their beers that will be talked about all month.

~ e-visits to three breweries from Wyoming
~ special featured reviews of Jackson, Wyoming’s Roadhouse
~ 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 I’ll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world.

Here are two events to get your July started in the Los Angeles craft beer world:
1) July 11 – Summer Fermantality Dinner at Beachwood Blendery
2) July 22 – DTLA United Festival 4.0

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In the Tap Lines for June 2018

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The first week will be taken up with all things 2018 Firestone Walker Invitational and then, well, wall-to-blog-wall of L.A. Beer Week, the 10th L.A. Beer Week mind you.

~ e-visits to three breweries from the LA Brewers Guild that I have still yet to visit.
~ special featured reviews of the Unity beer for 2018 plus other special LABW10 Beers Lyke the Indie / Hopped LA collab.
~ 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 Happiness is a Choice You Make by John Leland
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world.

Here are two events to get your June started in the Los Angeles craft beer world:
1) June 3rd – Big Summer Brew at Indie Brewing
2) June 10th – Mumford Brewing Third Anniversary Shindig

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In the Tap Lines for May 2018

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Lots of good stuff on tap for May (now that the blog is back up and viewable). There will be weekly nods to the upcoming Firestone Walker Invitational as well as a report from Oregon where I will be heading back to the alma mater.

~ e-visits to three breweries from the New England area.
~ special featured reviews of two new cans from L.A. Ale Works
~ 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 whatever the library finds for me from my long list!
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world.

Here are two events to get your May started in the Los Angeles craft beer world:
1) May 4th – System of a Stout Release at Beachwood
2) May 13th – Mother’s Day at Boomtown Brewery

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In the Tap Lines for March 2018

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Even when L.A. gets cold weather, it isn’t nearly as cold as other parts of the country. But that should not stop you from trying a wide variety of beers

~ e-visits to three breweries from the South.
~ special featured reviews of Special Warehouse Collection beers from Angel City
~ 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 You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me by Sherman Alexie
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world.

Here are two events to get your March started in the Los Angeles craft beer world:
1) March 2nd – Dope & Dank & El Segundo IPA Release
2) March 17th – Enegren Irish Fest

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A Book & A Beer – The 12 Lives of Samuel Hawley


I haven’t had a real page turner in a while. That rare book that is exciting and literary at the same time. The type of book that you can picture as a good movie if done right.

The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley is one such book. The book is located in an East Coast small fishing town. Where a father and a daughter have returned to where the mother grew up.

There have been many moves in the past and lots of guns around the house they move into. In time, we learn of the twelve bullets that landed in Samuel Hawley both before and after the birth of Loo (I do hate girls/women with faux boy names). Poor Hawley as he is called, seems like a magnet for bullets which is bad considering his chosen profession is mostly of the illegal kind where guns seem to be plentiful.

The interaction between Hawley and Loo as well as flashbacks to friends, enemies and more enemies as well as his love, Lily lend an easy poignancy that has you rooting for them and against their foes.

What makes this book is that it sticks the landing. Loo gets a end of movie style moment that closes the adventure but also leaves some strands open. Both Hawley and Loo have grown and learned a bit but they haven’t fake changed, their character arcs remain in motion.

To drink with this book, you could pick from many states since the characters roam from one crime adventure to another but I will pick one from each side of the US. Something bitter for the teenager Loo and something rough and dark for Hawley.

Alaskan Brewing Icy Bay IPA or their Smoked Porter would be perfect for the wayward job in Alaska.

For the East, Harpoon Brewery has Hoppy Adventure IPA or Nana’s Nightcap Porter. (yes, there is a cranky yet worldy grandma in the story)

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In the Tap Lines for February 2018

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We are back around the horn to birthday month! Time to decide what beer I want to imbibe as a special treat to me. While I do that, the blog will keep going with…

~ e-visits to three breweries from Canada
~ special featured reviews of beers NOT IPA’s (except for one)
~ 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 Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world.

Here are two events to get your February started in the Los Angeles craft beer world:
1) February 6th – Bruery, Bruery Terruex & Offshoot Beer Co at Tony’s Darts Away
2) February 10th – L.A. Ale Works 1st Anniversary

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A Book & A Beer – Safe by Ryan Gattis


This month I tackled my second L.A. crime novel. Following Split Second, I read Safe from Ryan Gattis. Both travel extensively around the Southland with the hardboiled criminals and cops.

I preferred Safe due to the more downbeat ending. Plus I liked the dual format where Ghost (are titular hero) and Glasses (the adversary) alternate chapters. It makes for a consistent story with more information being provided than you get in a normal mystery or crime thriller. And not to spoil things, but Safe also was the more downbeat and I like that noir thing paired with the City of Angels.

When you have the book in your hands, I suggest grabbing beers at Mumford in the Skidrokyo section of DTLA with the Speakers and Sneakers IPA or the In Other News Belgian Single. Then to pay homage to the end of the book, head to San Pedro and Brouwerij West for Switcheroo Pale Ale or the even more L.A. appropriate Ask the Dust IPA. A nod to Fante.

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A Book & A Beer – All That Man Is


Well, NOT All that Man Is might have been a better title for the book of short stories that are thinly connected by author David Szalay.

There are nine men met in this novel, all white European men, most of privilege, or at least set in privileged striving. None of the nine appealed to me. At best they are sad sack navel gazers like the teenagers on holiday in Germany or the pedantic scholar driving to Poland. At worst they are unaware and quite nearly evil industrialist or muckracking journalist. That is fine. Plenty of novels with unworthy narrators out there but I just could not dive into any of the stories. The Men in each effectively blocked me from enjoyment.

That added to the overall downer quotient of the book wore on me and seemed rather invented. All the portent and doom and gloom seemed obvious to me but profound to the characters in the book. Said Russian industrialist who has to sell off his yacht, named the Europa. Oh, is he selling the concept of the men of Europe? Seemed heavy handed to me. As was the early inner mindset of another character who tells himself early on in his tale, that “Life is not a Joke.” Fine to use that, but that character hadn’t even earned it yet.

The final story at least had some earned pathos to it as an elderly man tries to ponder an inscription seen in a nearby abbey: “Amemus eterna et non peritura.” Let us love what is eternal and not what is transient. It is a slog to get to that point though.

To drink, I would start with Orval. It is old and weathered like the older characters in the book and is a classic European pale ale.

Then I would move onto a Berliner Weisse. You probably have a local that does a good rendition. The Bruery had Hottenroth which is transitioning to Frederick H. or you could go with the more accessible Professor Fritz Briem 1809 Berliner Weisse.

And since a Russian is one of the characters and since it is January, a Russian Imperial Stout would be good. Old Rasputin would work or one of the Stone variants.

As a last suggestion, since the characters in the book are all over the map, you could find out which country is the setting for the next story and pick up a beer from that locale indicative of their craft beer scene.