Tomorrow, you can get a beer whale at Beachwood…
Of course the whale is on the can but if it helps, the label does recognize the nearby Aquarium of the Pacific. Either way, they do uniformly great IPAs so loom for the 12oz can
We’re Pouring Beachwood
For those that have not visited the north of Glendale (my hood) and We’re Pouring, well here is an L.A. Beer Week excuse for you….
For us Valley folk, it is a great chance to get some Beachwood gems without a long drive.
A Book & A Beer – Legacy of Spies
I have not read much John Le Carre, outside of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy which though full of double-cross and lies moved at what could be called a “stately” pace.
Legacy of Spies takes one of the side characters Peter Guillam and puts him front and center as the narrator of another dirty chapter of spycraft from The Circus.
This time a lawsuit has spurred the British government to coerce Guillam to give them the facts regarding Operation Windfall that led to the death of a spy and civilian in Berlin.
Legacy cuts back in time and the past episodes are exciting but they never really pay off in total excitement. Everything starts promising and then peters out. A mole is spirited away and then dead pages later. This problem really hits at the end. I read the last page three times thinking that I missed some key pay-off but no, the book just ended.
To add some intrigue to a book that falls a bit short, I suggest two L.A. beers. On is from Yorkshire Square – Castle Dangerous Export Stout. British tinged, dangerous and an export. Then I would have System of a Stout from Beachwood Brewing. Since the Russians are involved, got to have an RIS.
Only in LBC
Last Thursday, Beachwood Brewing dropped a new six-pack on the world, if your world is centered in Long Beach…
….and centered on cans of their delicious West Coast IPA.
Steelcraft, the Sequel
If you have quaffed a Smog City brew at the Bixby Knolls Steelcraft location, you may have wished that you had your own shipping container chic place of your own.
Well if you are near Garden Grove, the second SteelCraft is coming later this year and will house eight new restaurant iterations, from pizza to coffee to ice cream.
And for beer? Well none other than the excellent Beachwood Brewing. It will mark their 4th location around the southern end of the Los Angeles area.
NEIPA11
Coming on December 16th (in limited quantities & only at Beachwood locations is 11. No were are not in the Upside Down, they’re celebrating 11 years of beers in NE IPA form.
Beachwood Cans for Beach or Woods
Beachwood Brewing is the latest to enter the realm of canning starting with three beers….
Now, I would have put Foam Top into the 16oz tall can and put Amalgamator into the 12. But maybe that betrays which of the three I like the most.
Report from FWIBF17 – BSP’s Top 5
Here are my totally subjective and totally correct best beers from this year’s edition of the Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Festival.
(Of course, I only had, maybe a 15% of what was actually poured)
Fonta Flora – Carolina Custard (their spin on the Kvass style was excellent too)
Firestone Walker – Walker’s Cuvee with Meyer Lemons (should have tried more of the Barrelworks offerings)
Russian River – Scratching Post (cat people like cat jokes)
Beachwood – 28 Haze Later (best beer name of the fest0
Surly Brewing – Xtra-Citra (best beer next to the non-stop Side Project line)
In the Tap Lines for February 2017
Now that Herr Gropenfuhrer has been installed as POTUS and the contractors at the White House are getting stiffed on invoices, it is the time to drink up, for the end of the world is nigh. So keep checking in to see what to drink and where to go in L.A. in February.
~ e-visits to three breweries from around the world like the Hong Kong Beer Company and Microbrewery Le Castor + 1 more.
~ special featured reviews of Beer Duos.
~ 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 Dark Matter from Blake Crouch.
~ 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 4th – Melvin Brewing from Washington State invades Beachwood Brewing in Long Beach
2) February 5th – Super Bowl Sunday at Surly Goat West Hollywood
Invasive Species – 4 Beer Review
I prefer to think of the beer name as a derogative toward a certain coming sorta-president (check it Merriam-Webster) but this 4-pack is a smack to a certain brewery that landed in Long Beach in 2016 with all sorts of Sculpins.
Here are my capsule reviews of the four IPA’s
“Plain”
Getting grapefruit pith here. Dark yellow, orange in color. Coats the tongue. Getting done grain in the back too. Rye spice notes here too. At 7.1% this is a strong and not necessarily neutral base for the other beers to follow.
Grapefruit
Lots of ruby red in the aroma. I was worried that the original was too grapefruity to differentiate much but this does that. Little bit more sawdust type grain here. Not as much pith here but more of the juice bitterness.
Mango
Initial thought is sweeter but that is incorrect. Aroma is fresh cut mango. Seems lighter than the two previous beers. The fruit is forward until the last few sips when a hearty bitterness takes charge.
Habanero
Wow. This is spicy. I can feel my lips tingling from the spice which lingers on and awaits food to suck up the heat. This beer subdues the hops for habanero too much but on its own is a fine spice beer.