Tag: Arts District Brewing

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Schwarz-mas

I have to hand it to Arts District Brewing for having the temerity to hold beer competitions for styles that just are not on tap at most breweries.  And they are back at it again with the 2023 Schwarz-mas.

On December 10th they will put on their annual Dark Lager celebration.

Here is the info: “We’ve gathered a ton of our favorite breweries and each will submit a craft Schwarzbier. We have an amazing panel of judges come through and we crown the best one. The best part is, YOU can come and try them all and vote for your favorite. Schwarzbier tends to be malty with chocolate and coffee notes, it averages around 5% ABV —so you can try a few! We’re so excited for all the amazing breweries joining us, and more to be announced soon. May the Schwarziest win!”

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Dipped

Los Angeles has a special connection to French Dip sandwiches.  And now there is a special beer to pair with it, Red Car Blonde brewed for Cole’s by nearby Arts District Brewing.  Described as “A crispy 4.5% blonde ale to pair perfectly with our classic beef dip”.

You might need to try the dip solo, then get a second to properly test.

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Mexican Lager Showdown

Arts District Brewing is known for their beer judging and on Sunday the 26th they will open their patio to Mexican-Style Lagers brewed right here in L.A.

24 (yes, you read that number correctly) of the L.A. County Brewers Guild will have lagers at the ready AND A dollar from all pints & half pints goes back to the guild.

Winners will be announced and you can agree or disagree after that. What you will agree on, is that the beers were good.

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SchwarzMas

Arts District Brewing is starting a new holiday tradition with their first-annual Schwarz-Mas Time Schwarz-Off!

Here are the details and the participating breweries – “Schwarzbiers will be tapped when we open at noon and available all day, all pints for $8 or half pours for $5. Work your way through and vote for the people’s choice! Come support these denizens of the dark:”


All Season Brewing
Angel City Brewing
Boomtown Brewery
Cervecería Del Pueblo
Eagle Rock Brewery
Enegren Brewing Company
Figueroa Mountain Brewing Company
Firestone Walker Propagator
Highland Park Brewery
Mumford Brewing
Ogopogo Brewing
Party Beer Co.
THERE DOES NOT EXIST
Three Weavers Brewing Company

Also, “judges will be evaluating and crowning the most Schwarziest Schwarzbier our winner.”

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ADBC3

Arts District Brewing will turn 3 this year and to mark the Anniversary they will be releasing 4 new beers in bottles on Sunday, January 13th.

The Bottles: (the first two being the ones that intrigue me the most)
Umbra Avena – Whiskey Barrel Aged Oatmeal Stout, 7.0% – Caramel and espresso brownie richness with sarsaparilla and burnt sugar notes. Aged in Redemption Rye Whiskey barrels.

Aurora Silentium –  Barrel Aged Belgian Quad, 9.9% – Dark, sweet, and lowly carbonated to create a vinous result, this unblended barrel shows notes of raisin, chocolate, leather and dark grape must with moderate acidity.

Aurora Caelum – Flemish-Style Red, 5.0% – Dried Rainier cherries were added to an amber base coolshipped on our roof. Significant sourness and funk, with bursting cherry intensity.

Aurora Rubicunda – Cherry Sour Saison, 5.2% – Cherry jam blends with phenols that disguise themselves as cinnamon and clove, creating a curious cherry pie dessert experience.

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1st Visit – Imperial Western Beer Co. at Union Station


I chose a rare wet and windy day to Gold Line myself to Union Station to make my first visit to the new-ish Imperial Western Beer Co. Part of the 213 Hospitality Group and sister brewery to Arts District Brewing a few blocks away. I had super high hopes for ADBC which is fine but hasn’t really super impressed me. That left me wondering how the beer would be here. On the flip side, the photos from various websites were fantastic looking Well, expectations are just that. The space is smaller and less grand than the shiny photos made it look. Don’t get me wrong, the space looks really nice. There is a good amount and different seating set-ups and you can’t go wrong with the look and architecture of the space. There is a weird little front bar that is part (not working yet) coffee bar and host/hostess stand that I think would be better utilized for more seating. At the rectangle bar near the kitchen there is a businessman with ear piece, travelers coming in for a quick beer and local workers. The oyster special seems a big draw, saw three sixers of the slimy things go by. (Not a oyster fancier am I)

And while the surroundings were fine the four beers from the quite large selection sampled were good to above average. I would pick IWBC or ADBC based on this initial taster tray. Below are my quick takes on the beers…

Table Manners Patersbier
Nice Belgian character. A little sharp. Banana prominent. A bit viscous on the palate

Calliope Hazy IPA
Bright fruit character. Haze has left. Concord grape. Nice medium hop hit.

Union Station Pale Lager
Lots of grain and corn. Smooth and easy to drink. Really light yellow.

Fred Harvey Hefe
Not super hefe’y. The Table Manners has more banana. Might have gotten the beers flipped? Couldn’t quite tell from the color.

Lastly, I tried the new…
Some S’mores Stout
Arts District will do the More version. A serviceable Stout. Some chocolate notes. Expecting more flavor components to it.

Next time I go, I will test out the Streamliner bar which wasn’t quite open when I visited.

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Gaining Traction

Tomorrow marks the 1st ever can release for Arts District Brewing!

Head back to “The Study,” at the rear of the brewery building on Saturday July 29th starting at 10AM. The brewery will open early at 10AM to celebrate.

Six packs of “Traction” IPA, 7.5%abv, in 12oz cans will be available for purchase for $15 each. Supply limited so come early!

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DTLA United – The Festival

capture
If you missed the first two DTLA Beer Hop Shuttle days, well now you have the opportunity to sample beer from each and every of the 7 DTLA breweries in 1 spot. In case you need the full list: Mumford, Arts District, Iron Triangle, Boomtown, Indie, Dry River & Angel City

And it will go 100% to the Keep a Breast charity. Plus you can brag that you went to the 1st ever DTLA United Festival.

$45.oo will get you in to select from limited edition and specialty beers as well as other “local libations” such as spirits, juice and coffe plus food trucks too. Mark October 16th on your calendar.

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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.
DTLA United
I did not stop at each and everyone but I did get a few pints and here is the report from the LABW8 evening….
lady roja
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….
dtla hop
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….
strawgose
…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.