Tag: beer bar

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Beer 365

I am not sure how another grocery store will work out in Los Angeles. We seem well stocked with stores and the last few that attempted to penetrate the market crashed and burned (remember Fresh & Easy?). So I have been skeptical about the new sibling of Whole Foods, 365.

But then I saw this blurb on one of the many Foodie sites I peruse on Facebook….
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Beer Bar? Which made me remember a sign in my local Glendale Whole Foods. A sign for an alcohol permit. Stores want people to stay inside and shop more and if I had a beer that liked on tap, I just might look for a sixer to go.

The bigger question though is, when will there be a BeerBot?

Check out the Food GPS tour of the space HERE.

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Bank of Venice

The Venice Ale House is getting a sibling,  Bank of Venice, which is open now at Windward and Pacific is pouring 30 California brewed beers alongside  24 California wines and cocktails too.

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More choices at the beach is a good thing.

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Plew’s Brews

Colorado is the focus of this month’s posts but you can’t forget the other big craft beer mecca, that would be Oregon.

Here is another great place to drop in and sample some eclectic brews. Plew’s Brews is in the St. John’s neighborhood of North Portland.

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The Firkin for October 2010

What’s in name?

Micro, nano, craft

This month’s issue of Beer Advocate magazine declaims the use of the word “craft” in favor of re-taking the word beer.

But why does it matter? Why not just call it beer? Let’s make Anheuser-Busch or MillerCoors (BMC) change the term for their industrial water lagers.

For one, they spill more beer (heck, their customers spill more beer) than the craft brewers make combined. And despite two distinct periods of phenomenal growth, most people in this country haven’t tasted Widmer, Stone or even Sam Adams products. We can’t fool ourselves that the fight is won. It’s akin to two Allstrom’s striding onto the field of battle (pardon the war analogies) and telling the huge army in front of him that they best walk away.

The BMC will continue to lose ground as customers taste beer with flavor. I have no doubt that people will keep switching. In ones and twos, maybe, but the tide has turned. But until the point when more people drink craft beer than industrial, the brand needs to stay differentiated. And don’t kid yourself that “craft” isn’t a brand. It is. It is a permeable border at times. But most of the time, industrial works in it’s yard and “craft” plays in it’s yard.

I can understand the argument if “craft” doesn’t convey the appropriate nuance for the growing yard it occupies. Then a new term should be brainstormed. I had no problem with abandoning the term “micro-brewery” when the movement had awesome beers made at all different levels of brewery size. In fact, size is probably not the best way to classify quality anyway. If it is needed, there can be size categories for breweries if it is helpful to measure the overall health or growth of our cottage industry.

I wish I could come up with a great name but Don Draper I am not. To me “craft” means made with pride. It is the opposite of economies of scale and tanker trucks. And until someone finds a better word in the dictionary, I will stick with “craft”.

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5 Questions with Geoff Phillips of Bailey’s Taproom

1. What is your approach to recommending beers to people who ask, “What do you think is good?” or the other variations on the “you choose for me” theme?
That is usually one of the more frustrating questions, because there isn’t one beer that everyone will like (I might think it’s great, you might think it’s great, but they might not think it’s great). I really try to get some feedback from them as to what flavors or styles they like. We try to keep a wide variety of styles, and we have the opportunity to turn people on to these styles they may have never heard of.

2. What did you learn about running a craft beer bar that took you by surprise?
That we were really able to just sell beer and pretty much nothing else. We were going to do sandwiches, and we had chocolate and cheese going for a while too, but the beer sales were going so well that we were able to cut out all food and focus on what we wanted to do, bring in really good beers.

3. What beer style do you think is under appreciated at the moment?
Not sure. I would probably say some kind of German lager. Most breweries seem to skip almost all German styles, especially Lagers. There are definitely economic reasons for why brewers decide not to do lagers, but it would be nice to see more of them.

4. What beer has really found an audience that you thought might not? And conversely, which sure thing didn’t pan out like you thought it would?
I’m pretty sure all beer will have an audience, as long is it is made well. I’ve had a couple of mint beers on recently, the flavor isn’t working for me, but there have been plenty of people that have been really enjoying them.
4b. Not positive I know what the question is, but I’ll give it a go. There have been a couple of beers that we’ll put on and I’ll think is amazing, but it doesn’t sell well. Usually I think it is because it came from one of the larger craft breweries. There are definitely a lot of people that think New Belgium, Sierra Nevada, Widmer and the like, can’t produce a good beer, and that is very frustrating.

5. What do you think of the recent surge in brewery openings? (Migration, Coalition, Mt. Tabor)
I think it is great. I don’t think there is a saturation point yet. I think most of these brewpubs are just setup as your local tavern, that just so happens to also make their own beer, seems good to me. If I had a small brewpub or a regular bar, with the same beers that every other bar in town has, right next to my house, I’m going to the small brewpub.

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38 Degrees app

I know the abbreviation “app” has been used to death but if we are going to overuse a phrase, we might as well overuse it in the cause of great beer.

So break out your mobile devices and upload this app to get the lastest scoop on a great Los Angeles beer destination…
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Click HERE to get the scoop.

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Oregon Craft Beer Month – Apex

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There are two “B”s that Portland has an affinity for. One is bikes and the other is the subject of this here blog, beer. Hopworks Urban Brewery has a bike motif and the newly opened beer bar, Apex is bike friendly as well.

“APEX is the beer bar Portland deserves. Combining a love of great beers from around the world with a life-long passion for all things two-wheeled.”

Here is a peek at a part (the part I like) of one of the beer menus to give you an idea of the eclectic mix and brewers they like:
Adam Hair of the Dog USA 10.0% 12oz
Cream Ale – (Nitro) Hales USA 4.9%
Cream Stout – (Nitro) Hales USA 5.1%
Erics Ale New Belgium USA 7.0%
Galactic – Imperial Red HUB USA 9.3%
Hop In The Dark CDA Deschutes USA 6.5%
Kraken Ninkasi USA 6.7% 16oz
Late Harvest Upright USA 7.0%
Molten Lava Double Mountain USA 8.2%
Pale Ale HUB USA 5.3%
Poppy Jasper Amber El Toro USA 5.3%
Procrastinator Dopplebock Fort George USA 8.9%
Seven Upright USA 8.0%
Spring Gose Cascade USA 4.5%
Truffle Shuffle Stout Fort George USA 7.2%
Workhorse IPA Laurelwood USA 7.5%

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Pour Judgement

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From Los Angeles we head cross country to Newport, Rhode Island and a little beer bar that I have heard mentioned on blogs a couple times now. Pour Judgment has a great name and a great reputation. Notably picky websites like Beer Advocate and Yelp give it super high marks so you know they must be doing something right.

If you want Northeast beers and a great burger then this is your destination. You can find it at 32 Broadway in Newport. Phone number: (401) 619-2115

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Journey’s Beer and Wine

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When I saw the photo of the stately home that is now a grand beer and wine bar. I thought, I wish there was something like this in Los Angeles. After reading this information from their website, you will probably wish you had one in your hometown.

“A journey, we firmly believe, is what you make it. And location, atmosphere and flavor are key ingredients in assuring it’s something exceptional.

Journeys is a friendly, comfortable, smoke-free pub. It’s also a mindset: at once playful and carefree but also contemplative — Where shall we go next? What exotic bazaar remains untrodden?

With quality beers and wines by the glass or bottle all readily available, we hope to enliven this dialogue, providing a perfect perch where you can sketch an itinerary to launch your next travelogue, be it a trip to the Rogue or Moulin Rouge.”

JOURNEYS FEATURES:
6 beers on draft
50+ beers from Oregon and beyond
10+ wines by the glass
75+ wines from around the world
Wine tastings and ongoing specials
An open-air patio for al fresco flavor