Tag: Angel City Brewery

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A Better Citizen and Beer Drinker


For those, like me, who are looking for a way to make a difference in a country that seems to have gone topsy-turvy might find the collaboration between the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and Angel City Brewery.

The new discussion series is called, Citizen Science + Suds. The museum and brewery will present “panelists who will share stories, data, and the real-world impacts that happen when harnessing the power of the people.”

There will be discussion of course but also L.A.’s first-ever crowd-sourced beer. “The public can cast their votes for both the beer’s ingredients and name by attending the events, or by participating on social media, via @NatureinLA on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. The voting deadline for ingredients will be Feb 9, and the deadline for a name for the beer will be Mar 9. Participants can taste the beer they helped create at the series finale on April 13.”
Below are the scheduled events. If one piques your interest, get there before the talk starts and order your beer and settle in.

February 9, 2017 – Can Citizen Science Help Us Build a Better Los Angeles?
Taking a closer look at projects that impact conservation, urban planning, and homelessness in Los Angeles.
With Speakers:
Jonathan Hans – Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority
Hyeran Lee – Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition
Miguel Ordeñana – NHMLA Citizen Science Office

March 9, 2017 – Changing California One Citizen Science Project at a Time
Focusing on efforts that connect crowd-sourced data to marine conservation and social and environmental justice across the state.
With Speakers:
Marcus Benigno – American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California
Fraser Shilling – Road Ecology Center
Alison Young – California Academy of Sciences

April 13, 2017 – Can Citizen Science Save the World?
Looking at projects with a global reach and impact—from civic science and online crowd-sourcing to international citizen science fly research.
Speakers:
Brian Brown – NHMLA Urban Nature Research Center
Brooke Simmons – Planetary Response Network and the Zooniverse
Claudia Martinez Mansell – Greening Bourj Al Shamali & Public Lab

RSVP HERE.

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Double Duck and Double Cover

photo from Angel City.
photo from Angel City.

The Angel City Warehouse Collection has a new addition. And it is a big one. 80 IBU’s and 12% ABV, this is either Triple IPA or Imperial IPA but then again Double Double makes as much sense in this crazy IPA world too.

Duck and Cover Double Double IPA blends Warrior, Citra, Centennial and Cascade hops to create tropical flavors with a “resinous hop aftertaste”. Making it much more potent than past Warehouse releases like their Peach Berliner Weisse.

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Beer & Jerky

Fall has meant beer + food boxes in the mail. First was chocolate, then potato chips and now jerky!
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The beer is from Angel City. LAger to be exact. The jerky is from Lawless. Honey Chipotle flavor. (I also got Srirachelada and Sweet Sriracha jerky but that is too spicy for me, wish I had gotten the Aloha Teriyaki to pair with the Pilsner).

The jerky is well good but damn they could have turned up the honey and turned down the chipotle. The spice just grows and grows. Now I don’t know if the beer got warmed up in transport but it is a bit metallic and I remember the beer on draft was overly grapefruit before. Maybe the heat brings out a different side of the beer though because the honey is coming through clearly and does mitigate the chipotle heat.

OK, so I did try the Sweet Sriracha jerky. Wasn’t half bad. Again the heat overwhelmed my puny tolerance but it was less overtly hot than the other jerky and brought out more grapefruit from the beer too.

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LABW7 – Angel City

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We are one day into L.A. Beer Week but there are still events that need to be talked about. Angel City has a full slate of fun parties. 

June 22nd, 7pm – Ale Academy: Beer + Cheese Edition

Beer and cheese are two of the best things on earth. Join Angel City for an educational evening about the basic principles of pairings. Attendees will be walked through a curated flight of five Angel City beers and five cheeses from Vagabond Co.

June 24th, 7pm – Desert Dreams Beer Release

New brew alert! Angel City is releasing limited-time Desert Dreams, a one-of-a-kind beer brewed with organic black Mission figs, buckwheat honey, orange peel, prickly pear cactus juice and dry spiced with just a touch of desert sage. The beer was the brainchild of Lori Newman, the winner of Angel City Brewery’s ‘What Would You Brew?’ contest. Brewers will be on hand to talk about the making of the beer and lead guests through a tasting. Tickets can be purchased here.

June 25th, 7pm – Employee Battle of the Beers

Which Angel City staff member’s beer recipe reigns supreme? That’s for the fans to determine. It’s all part of Angel City’s first ever employee brewing contest, ‘Employee Battle of the Beers.’ The three beers will go head-to-head as fans vote for their favorite after sipping a flight that includes a sample of each.

The contenders are:

– Raspbanero, an ale brewed with raspberries and habanero

–Citra IPA, a single hop IPA featuring strong citrus and tropical fruit aromatic notes

–Rosemary Honey Amber Ale, a classic American Amber accented with notes of honey and fresh rosemary

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Review – Heritage Festival at Angel City

This is the third Heritage Festival for Angel City Brewery and the first visit for me.
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Say what you want about the sometimes uneven beers from the DTLA brewery but they have an ideal party space. Whereas noise at most festivals is a cacophony of conversation, street noise and music, the cavernous ACBC space diffuses sound so that conversations can take place plus I love the art on the walls which is of the edgy graffiti-esque variety. It is a pleasant change from the big screen TV usual in some bars and taprooms.
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But what about the beer?  I tasted one of my favorites Marilyn along with a flight of darker beers that included the new Orange Cocoa, Dark Rye Lager aged in Brandy barrels and the Imperial Chai Stout.  Despite the heat of the day, the stout was quite good. There was a progression of flavors from stout to orange to chocolate.  I had a bottled version of the chai before and it had more  of the tea character on draft. It is hard to balance spice in a beer and this was a skosh too heavy but not egregiously so. The Rye Brandy though was far too spirited for me. The beer was overwhelmed by the brandy. That being said, if you like brandy, than this beer might be for you.

Also on the plus side of the ledger was the food.  Two L.A. institutions were in attendance.  Kogi and Phillipe’s Original.  Can’t beat that for food choices.  Plenty of seating both inside and out and little to no lines either.  That is a recipe for a fun Sunday afternoon.

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Sake the Beer

Considering the location of Angel City Brewing, it is apropos that they would come out with a sake inspired ale.  With Little Toyko literally across Alameda Street from them.

They are using the “traditional sake-style rice and koji fermentation” to meld together with the hops and malts from the beer side of the ledger. This will be an intersting experiment and maybe something to add to the cellar since it is a healthy 9.2% ABV.

Plus, if you are free tomorrow night you can “celebrate the tapping of the first keg, beer enthusiasts thirsting to try the creation will be able to sip the beer in a uniquely inspiring and apropos location – the Japanese-American Cultural & Community Center. On November 20, Angel City will be serving samples of For the Sake of Ale alongside viewings of Arts District artist, JW Pippen’s Jugatsuzakura. His piece is a riveting new samurai-themed sculpture using oak barrel staves from Angel City brewing barrels. This sculpture ties together Pippen’s continued interest in Japanese culture and love of the Los Angeles Arts District. During the event sushi and mochi will also be served. There are three tasting sessions throughout the evening – 6:00pm, 7:00pm and 8:00pm.”

You need to purchase a ticket for this, so find the information on how to do so HERE.Screen Shot 2014-11-14 at 10.47.24 AM

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Dragons & Gold Lines

Occasionally, beer events come in pairs and this past couple days was no exception.

Sunday, Ommegang debuted their third installment from the Game of Thrones beer, Fire and Blood. Atop the Fonda and Blue Palms Brewhouse, I sipped the new beer whilst sitting in my rightful place. Well almost. The line for the Iron Throne was longer than the beer line.

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The dragon themed red ale is my favorite of the three Game of Thrones offerings very Belgian Lots of esters here. Nice amount of hops as well. Well done. Some grape notes as well. According to the Ommegang folks in attendance the fire and blood is is a combo of spelt and rye and de-seeded ancho chiles.

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As usual Brian and his crew had the show running smoothly satisfying beer nerds, Westeros fans and fans of really big turkey kegs.

Then the very next night, I headed into DTLA and Angel City Brewery to sample two of their newer offerings.  I have had more beers from this new incarnation of Angel City that fall into the OK category than “Wow!” (and I am one of the few non-fans of the Avocado beer and their French Sip) but on the other hand I do like their pilsner and their Session IPA (which was one of the first I had seen before the 2014 explosion of SIPA’s) so my enthusiasm was both lowered and raised for their new Summer Wheat.

Re-tasting the newly christened Gold Line pilsner, it holds it’s place as a go-to beer for an L.A. summer. Slight minerality/metal note. But crisp with a note of wheat and grain to it. Simple and well done.

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The new Summer Wheat is similar in composition but has a slight off note with a bit of citrus to it and a slight but strange tart note to it. The wheat taste isn’t there for me and it has a bitter finish that doesn’t work with the rest of the beer.

The winner of the night is a beer going on tap tonight that I got a sneak preview of.  It is the winner of “What Would You Brew” contest.  Emily Finch has created a blueprint that brewer Dieter Foerstner has taken to create a really complex beer.  It is a Mexican Cola beer.  It also has citrus and tamarind and it is flat out good.  Certainly in the top 3 AC DC beers.  And their will be a rum barrel version coming down the pike later this year.

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Video Review – Angel City Angeleno IPA

I usually reserve my October reviews for pumpkin beers but in a fit of pique, I have decided to skip over them this year as punishment for coming out too early in the season.  Petty, I know but I have a great replacement, Angel City from right here in Los Angeles is now bottling (Oddly enough in Ohio) some of their core line-up.  So let’s get to the review for the Angeleno IPA…..

And here is the description from the Angel City website for reference, “Big, bold, grapefruit hop flavors and aroma best characterize this medium-bodied, copper-hued beer. Angeleno IPA is hopped with Citra, Nelson, Simcoe, and Nugget to make the perfect treat for hop heads.”

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Color me Pickled

OK, I gotta be honest.  I love the creativity and I do not want to stifle it.  BUT, with all the great beers out there, I can’t see myself buying this offering….

“Angel City Brewery is proud (and a bit puckered) to announce the arrival of Pickle Weisse. Starting today, Pickle Weisse is on tap at the brewery’s Public House for a limited time only.”

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“Angel City’s Brewer Joe Moakley has a passion for pickles. Actually, Joe has a lot of passions. He can fix anything and cook everything. When he’s not brewing beer, he plays the ukulele, produces kimchee, farms coral, and yes, makes pickles. One recent day Joe had a light bulb moment. Starting off with Angel City’s base Berliner Weisse recipe, Moakley and brewer Dieter Foerstner decided to add Joe’s very own secret pickle recipe into the mix and voila – Pickle Weiss – a tart, light-bodied, straw-colored ale blended with pickles. Sounds pretty good paired next to a burger right about now, doesn’t it?”

What say you?  Is there a market for savory beers?  Or is it just novelty?

 

 

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Angel City coming SOON

Ever since Angel City Brewery re-started back in 2012, they probably have kept getting asked the same brewery question. When are you going to be open? As beer geeks know, that always takes too long and usually not because the brewery doesn’t want to be open.

Well, we are closer to the start for Angel City. They had a sneak peek on the 4th and they will be open soon. With hours from Tuesday through Sunday. That was good news to hear but even better was that there was a new beer flowing! Vanilla Porter. And though a skosh cold for me it had a pleasant vanilla taste that was strong but not sweet and a good base porter as well.
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The bar area is looking good…
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.. and the rest of the massive building is slowly coming into focus.
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When I see this space, so many possibilities swirl through my head. Though I will not try the slide.
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