Tag: Beer Belly

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ONS – Now in two Locations!

The famed One Night Stand from Beer Belly is now going on in two places?

The first ONS of the year (TODAY) now begins with a kick-off event featuring a taplist of the participating 2017 breweries.
Taplist:
• Smog City (special mystery beer)
• Noble Ale Works Crowler Phil IPA
• El Segundo BBA Standard Crude
• Beachwood Tovarish (Elida Coffee variant)
• Bottle Logic Darkstar November
• Monkish Mind of a Peach (ONS Collaboration Series #1)
• Phantom Carriage BA Broadacres w Peaches
• AleSmith Speedway Stout w/ Coconut & Vanilla
• Highland Park Brewery Good Green
• The Bruery Wineification III
• The Bruery White Chocolate
• Allagash TBD

Start scheduling according to K-Town or LBC….

The 2017 Lineup KTOWN:
• Kickoff (1/28)
• Noble Ale Works (2/15)
• El Segundo Brewing (3/15)
• Allagash (4/19)
• Beachwood (5/17)
• Bottle Logic (6/21)
• Monkish (7/19)
• Phantom Carriage (8/16)
• AleSmith (9/20)
• Highland Park Brewery (10/18)
• Smog City (11/15)
• The Bruery/Terreux (12/20)

The 2017 Lineup Long Beach:
• Modern Times (1/25)
• Eagle Rock (2/22)
• The Bruery/Terreux (3/22)
• Craftsman (4/26)
• Mumford (5/24)
• Three Weavers (6/28)
• Chapman Crafted (7/26)
• Good Beer (8/23)
• Dry River (9/27)
• State Brewing (10/25)
• Brouwerij West (11/22)
• Lost Abbey (12/27)

Anyone strong enough to hit all 24 events?

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Beer Belly LBC

There are many miles between the Koreatown and Long Beach locations of Beer Belly.

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Other than locations the three big differences start with the number of taps. 24 taps with plenty of choices. Including a rarely seen, by me, Bottle Logic wild ale and the Three Weavers / Rhinegeist Anniversary collaboration that was debuting cross town in Inglewood. There was a nice spectrum of styles too which you can only do when you have your requisite amount of IPA’s represented.

Number 2 is the cocktail menu. And wine. Now even the pickiest group will be happy.

Lastly, the space is nice and roomy. You can see that even the wait staff behind the bar can walk without watching where they are going. There is no outside seating which would be nice for the beach but they have somehow managed to be both open but also private with wooden slats demarcating each booth.
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Beer Belly – Now in Long Beach

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BB-LB is coming in less than a week! That’s right the Koreatown favorite is bringing their flair for beer + food to a very crowded beer block just off the Metro Blue Line.

Before we get to the beer, the menu at the second Beer Belly will be a twist on what you know with different versions of core dishes from K-Town plus Long Beach only items like the BLVD Burger with candied bacon slaw, sharp cheddar, arugula, hot smoke mayo and an optional sunny side egg.

This location will sport 24 taps! plus cocktails featuring a seasonal cocktail program highlighting farmer’s market driven libations. There will also be a second bar at the back of the restaurant that will be where you order experimental drinks.

To stay updated on happenings and events and to get a $1 draft beer at the Long Beach location sign up for their LBC email list right HERE.

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#LABW8 – Beer Belly goes to Oregon

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As a native of Milwaukie, Oregon, when I saw that Beer Belly was using #LABW8 for a night of Oregonian beers, it was literally the first thing on my calendar for the week.

And the list was full of rare in L.A. beers. I had my eye on the Session IPA from Breakside and the Banished Barrel-Aged Freakcake from Crux Fermentation. Both of which did not live up to my expectations. Rainbows & Unicorns was really light and just not hoppy at all. Freakcake was sour with a Christmas-y spice profile that finished with a teeny-tiny bourbon barrel push at the end.

Luckily, other beers did live up to the hype. Both Cascade sours were excellent with Figaro getting the nod over Shrieking Violet because it was more complex all around. Buoy Beer’s NW Red Ale seemed more ESB’ish to me but was a good finish to the night.

On nights like these, I wish there was a mega-taster flight. Maybe 3oz pours of each beer. Or I will have to wait for next year, and maybe Beer Belly goes to Oregon, Part 2.
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ONS – Firestone + Barrelworks

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Now, that I have talked up Firestone Walker so much, you may be wanting to have some of their beers. You could go to Venice and the Propagator restaurant but if you wanted something tonight, well Beer Belly has you covered with a One Night Stand (ONS) that spans sours to hops to Nitro and the year 2015.

Check out the list below: (My picks are highlighted)
2015 Parabola • Sucaba • Bretta Weisse • Krieky Bones • Bretta Rose (bottles) • Velvet Merkin • Luponic Distortion • Nitro Merlin • Easy Jack • Double Jack • Opal • Pivo Pils

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L.A. Beer Week – Update 2

#LABW16
Only 10 Days until L.A. Beer Week commences for 2016. Last week, I highlighted many, many cool events. Here are three more…

June 18th – 26th
Flight Test @Mohawk Bend
“Calling all craft beer fans! Challenge your tasting skills in the first L.A. Beer Week Flight Test hosted by Mohawk Bend. Correctly name each beer and brewery in a specially curated Los Angeles flight for a chance to win a craft beer experience at Mohawk Bend.
The Prize: Winner will receive a private craft beer and artisan pizza tasting for up to eight people.”

Wednesday, June 22nd @ Beer Belly
Join us for a special night of beers from the Pacific Northwest. Featuring beers from Cascade, Boneyard, Logsdon, Double Mountain, Crux, Fat Heads, Buoy, and Breakdside. If you’ve never had the chance to try standout beers like Shrieking Violet and Notorious TIPA now is the time.
TAPLIST:
• Cascade Shrieking Violet
• Cascade Figaro
• Boneyard Notorious TIPA
• Boneyard Hop Venom
• Logsdon Conversion
• Fat Heads PDX IBUisive IPA
• Breakside Salted Caramel Stout
• Breakside Rainbows and Unicorns
• Double Mountain Veiled Conspiracy
• Buoy NW Red Ale
• …more to come

Thursday, June 23rd @ Rock & Brews El Segundo
The 2016 Version of “So You Want to Open a Brewery in Los Angeles” with host Tomm Carroll.

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Another Cinco

The (now) venerable Beer Belly in Koreatown is turning 5 this year!
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And they pull no punches when it comes to what is on tap. Plus they love wings. Even Volcanic ones that would make my head explode.

Do yourself a favor and head over (it is Metro adjacent) and you will find yourself trying to choose between too many great beers.
Just check out this initial list…
Beachwood BBQ & Brewing- 8 Buffalo
Lost Abbey- Red Poppy (2016)
Modern Times- Strawberry Hibiscus Fruitlands
Craftsman- Cuvee de Masumoto
Monkish/Beer Belly collab- Mind of a Peach
Eagle Rock- Yearling (CBC2016 winner)
The Bruery- Oude Tart
Bottle Logic- Leche Borracho
Smog City- Bourbon Barrel Aged O.E

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2nd Opinion – Arts District Brewing

I have made one visit to the Arts District location of Arts District Brewing but thanks to the ONS – One Night Stand series from Beer Belly, I got a second crack at tasting their beers.

And sorry to report, but I was underwhelmed again. I had a pair of sips of the Quatrillion Kumquat ale and it was thin and way more wheat forward than Belgian blonde and the kumquat flavor was on the low side. I then sipped the Crunch Time Macadamia Nut brown ale and found it to also be low on the nutty factor and a bit on the thin side. Neither was bad but both seemed to lack oomph.

Both though were preferable to the Snapdragon Dubbel which tasted really green. It could have used more time to mature. The Redbird Red Rye IPA was easily the best of the night but even this beer was a little Jekyll and Hyde. It started off mellow and then halfway through became really earthy and bitter with a finish of extreme grapefruit pith.

So far, the hoppier options seem to be on point whilst the others are being dialed in. I appreciate the variety of beers and ABVs but the beer hasn’t quite come into focus yet. But there will be more fermenters and different beers coming in the weeks to come.

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ONS in Koreatown

I dare you to not think about hitting up all 11 One Night Stands at Beer Belly in 2016. Lots of good choices for a tap-takeover.
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There is nary a clinker in the bunch but the Highland Park and Barrelwork nights intrigue me the most.

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In the Tap Lines for August 2015

header_attractionsWe got a bit of rain here in L.A.  Enough to tamp down one fire but boy we could use a respite from the humidity and heat so that the wider spectrum of beer can be enjoyed instead of just lawnmower beers.  But enough gloomy weather talk, a new brewery opened in San Fernando at the tail end of July and it will be reviewed this month along with….

~ e-visits to three breweries in Idaho.  No potato beers here. Just Payette, Sawtooth and Portneuf beer.
~ special reviews of beers from just outside L.A. from places like Santa Barbara, Claremont and Temecula
~ Heads-Up on Los Angeles Beer Events
~ Three suggested beers to buy this month. One light, one medium and one dark
~ Beer-centric podcast review, Strange Brews from WBEZ in Chicago, (also home to This American Life)
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world
~ … and Session # 102 will converge bloggers onto a single topic, this month it is the future landscape of beer

Here are two events to get your August started in the Los Angeles craft beer world:
1) August 7th – Brew at the Zoo
2) August 19th – Phantom Carriage One Night Stand at Beer Belly