Tag: Angel City

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#LABW8 – DTLA United

Last night was the night for Downtown LA beer to shine. L.A. Beer Hop was shuttling from Boomtown in the North East to Iron Triangle in the South and each brewery in between.
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I did not stop at each and everyone but I did get a few pints and here is the report from the LABW8 evening….
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Thank God for ½ pours and tasters. A long night stretched ahead starting at Boomtown where Dry River was the guest and where I started my beer ordering with their Cigana Brett IPA. It had a strong does of bitterness which was cut by heavy horse blanket notes. This was old school Brett. Then I moved on to the the other beer on offer, Lady Roja. The first of two red/pink beers that I would have on the evening. It had a lot of pie spice notes and heavy hibiscus but neither was too overbearing.

Then it was over to the Boomtown side of the room to try their Aliso – Belgian Strong Dark. This beer was right on point for me. Nice hit of Candi sugar, bit of bitterness, and it had good strength to it. Probably my favorite of the night. Then it was on the bus to….
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Iron Triangle where I picked up a pair of new hoppy samplers starting with the Sluice Gate IPA. Nice. Probably a notch above the vast swath of IPA’s that are just fine. It had good body and aroma and I paired it with the Jawbone Black IPA. Which to me was not so hoppy. More on the dark malt side of the equation. There was a lurking grapefruit flavor in the back but that didn’t match well with the malt to me. I also had a few sips of the Socially Awkward Berliner. There is an initial burst but then the tart fades too quickly. Left with wheat notes.

Then the next stop was….
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…Angel City to try the premier of their Strawberry Gose. First off, strawberries are hard to add to beer. This is probably one of the better attempts at utilizing the berry. Now is it a gose? No. But there was a huge aroma and it was very tart and very cloudy pink. It worked for me.

Overall, this was a great way to get people to enjoy the beers at the breweries. There was a couple of things to add for next year. The buses stopped at 10pm and Mumford closed up shop around that time. Each of the LA Beer Hop buses should have had that fact displayed to help people plan. My group was left without a bus at Iron Triangle and had to get back to the center of action via alternate methods. Had we known the closing times, we could have planned our time more effectively. My second thought was that information about the breweries in DTLA could have been on the bus to pass out to. If the goal of the night is to get people to try new breweries, then a little bit of info might be a good sales pitch.

I just wish there had been more time to sneak in one more brewery before the clock struck last call.

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Not Los Angeles-er

Angel City continues to add beers to the rotation with the latest (after their Double IPA) being the pun-illy named Lager. The lager “is a slightly sweet honey grapefruit lager with a strong citrus aroma and a subtle tart bite. Made with pink grapefruit and sage honey…”
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I have enjoyed a good track record with the lighter beers from ACBC such as the Marilyn Cream ale and their pilsner so I predict this one will be good too.

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Sean Suggests for January 2015

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El Nino has made his first mark on Los Angeles and we can finally drink some heavier beers while huddled under rainwear outside or better yet, blankets inside. Here are three beers to warm you up in January.

~LIGHT
Angel City/ Double IPA 8.60% ABV
“Angel City Double IPA is a veiled, light copper-toned, robustly hopped ale. Huge sweet papaya and floral hop aromas leap off a dense white head of foam, leading into a full malty body, with a cutting piney bitterness.”

~MEDIUM
Modern Times/ Devil’s Teeth 10.00% ABV
“Devil’s Teeth is a hybrid of an Old Ale and an Imperial Stout, two English beer styles designed to withstand long voyages and dark winters. It brings rich maltiness and robust roastiness in a thick, tongue-coating, aggressively flavorful package. To this chewy mix of old world beasts, we brought a massive dose of our house roasted mix of blueberry-forward Ethiopian and chocolate-forward Sumatran coffees.”

~DARK
Dogfish Head/ Higher Math 17.00% ABV
“A golden strong ale fermented with sour cherry juice and cocoa nibs. Higher Math has forward notes of cherries, pineapple and stewed fruit, with late notes of cocoa. It has a lingering sweetness and a notable warmth from the alcohol.”

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Review – Belligerent Bloke from Angel City

The Bloke is now available in screen printed bottles from Angel City Brewery.
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This barley wine may be a bit early in our hot SoCal humidity because it reminds me of winter warmers. It pours a ruddy orange with a quickly evaporating lace. It has a firm malt base and then requires a bit of warming for all the flavors to come out. When cold, the gentle spicing may seem underwhelming but this isn’t a smack your tastebuds type of old ale. The alcohol doesn’t reach you until you have nearly finished a glass. Simple and unadorned with bells and whistles. Now if it will just be available in winter. When L.A. has one.

*This beer was provided to me free of charge.

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Join the ACBC Brew Crew (Sorta)

Maybe 2015 will be your year to win the Angel City Brewery, What Would You Brew? Contest.
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If you can cast your mind back to 2013, you will remember the Mexican Cola Beer that won. (and that I thought was quite good). Last year Desert Dreams was the winner with a blend of figs, honey, orange peel, prickly pear cactus juice and sage.

If you have a recipe and a dream you “will have the opportunity to spend a day in the brew house brewing alongside the Angel City team, have their beer featured during LA Beer Week 2016, and receive a custom kegerator, complete with a case of pint glasses, tap handle and tin tacker sign.”

Entries will be accepted through September 30, 2015. You could be brewing in DTLA later this year.

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The Roof is……

…..filled with hops and Angel City Brewery’s newest creation, Rooftop Ale.

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This limited release Ale is “brewed with a number of hop varieties grown on Angel City’s roof, including Cascade, Chinook, Columbus, Pearle, Mt. Hood and Tettnanger.”

In keeping with current trends, it is a sessionable pale ale clocking in at 5% ABV. I had the opportunity for a sneak peek (and taste) and I was amazed because the spent grain was being used (yes, for feed) but also to make compost to grow hops. The roof of the brewery has a trellis system set up by Manager of All Things Spent, Ray Narkovicius. He uses ground up coconut shells and his compost mixture to create the base for growing the hops, then there is a ingenious watering system as well. Narkovicius also has to make sure the water is right otherwise the soil doesn’t get fed enough. Then there is the heat as well. So many hurdles to growing anything, let alone a finicky crop like hops.
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2013 yielded under 5 pounds and this year 14 pounds. Enough to add a hearty dose of extremely local and fresh hops alongside a few other hops to create the beer that tasted more earthy and vegetal than hoppy. It pours a darkish yellow color and looks really pretty in the glass. It will be dry interesting to see how the crop fares from year to year and if the flavor changes for Rooftop 2015.

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Who Will Win this Year?

Last year, Angel City Brewery received 270+ ideas for their first ‘What Would You Brew?’ contest. The winner was one of my favorite beers and it was Mexican Cola inspired!

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This year’s winner will be selected in October 2014 and that lucky brewer will have:

A) “opportunity to spend a day in the brew house brewing alongside the Angel City team”

B) “have their beer featured during LA Beer Week 2015

C) receive a custom kegerator, complete with a case of pint glasses, tap handle and tin tacker sign. Ideas can be submitted here: . Entries will be accepted through September 30, 2014.

Emily Finch, and her Mexican Cola beer will make a return in a “rum barrel aged version” at the LA Beer Week Kick Off September 20th at Old Chinatown Plaza, as well as on tap at the Angel City Public House.

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L.A. Beer Week + L.A. Beer Bloggers + Angel City Brewing =

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Blogging about beer today is a bit like being thrown into the deep end of the pool.  So many beer choices and so many blogging platforms.  But how do you bring out the words into your head and translate that into a really great blog?

That is what will be talked about in the lovely Angel City space in downtown L.A. on the 21st.  The L.A. Beer Bloggers have gathered an eclectic group of panelists to chat about writing, beer and blogs.

Plus a new beer from Angel City!  RSVP right HERE!