Tag: Beer Belly

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It is an Anniversary Weekend

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On Saturday, Smog City celebrates and the next day Beer Belly will celebrate their 3rd Anniversary Party!
The party starts on Friday, May 16 leading up to the big party on the 18th when they will pop open a cask from Noble Ale Works.

Friday, May 16th

• Telegraph Handlebar Abbey
• Bruery Bois
• New Belgium La Folie
• Hangar24 Hammerhead
• New Belgium Yuzu
• Firestone Walker Parabola
• Ladyface Derailleur (100% barrel aged in Halter Ranch Mourvedre barrels)

Saturday, May 17th

• Bruery Sucre
• Kinetic Rusted Gear w/ Coffee
• TAPS Blanche de Conundrum (Conundrum wine barrel ages sour blonde)
• Firestone Walker Sucaba
• Lost Abbey Red Poppy
• Bruery Tart of Darkness
• El Segundo Hop Tanker
• Faction Defcon 1

Sunday, May 18th

• SPECIAL CASK: Naughty Birthday (Noble Ale Works Naughty Sauce w/cherries and bourbon-soaked oak chips)
• Bruery Melange #9
• Double Mountain Rainier Kriek
• Eagle Rock Ginger Saison
• Almanac Flowering Gose
• Bruery Oude Tart
• Smog City Bourbon OE
• Smog City Anniversary (strong saison brewed w/ Merlot)
• Bruery Windowsill
• Bruery Marron Acidifie ’12
• Bruery Sour in the Rye
• Monkish Saleh
• Golden Road Anejo Hefe
• Pizza Port Solano Beach/Three Weavers Sassy Rye IPA

On Sunday, Mexicali and Churro Borough twill be cooking from 12pm-4pm.  With a Chipotle Wing Eating Contest at 6pm.

 

 

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Expectations Unmet

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I don’t usually write harsh reviews. Mostly because I am pretty damn picky about the beers that I spend my money on.  But I do have breweries whose beer I think is over-over rated and there are others whose beer just underwhelms expectations.

And unfortunately, Saint Archer has twice fallen into that latter category.

Recently, I had a taster flight plus 2 of Saint Archer beers at Beer Belly.  I set aside my previous experience with the Pale (which I did not cotton to) and the Blonde (which I really quite enjoyed) as I had heard that quality had improved over time.  Which I have found to (sometimes) be true as brewers dial in the recipes.  And since Saint Archer along with Modern Times have been blitzing the L.A. market, I felt the time was ripe to re-evaluate the line.

The Blonde was just as good as I remembered so I started hopefully moving down the taster line.  The Pale was better though not lip-smacking good.  Middle of the Pack.  Which isn’t bad in a crowded hop field.  Then I got to the IPA which was incredibly soapy to me.  I was glad that I didn’t get a full glass of it.  Not much bitterness either.  The last of the taster was a Scottish Ale that was fine but it did have a touch of wort-ish, not quite done-ness to it at the back.

While waiting for a fellow beer gourmand to arrive, I overheard that the Nitro Coffee Brown was tasty, so I ordered one up.  And what I got was certainly a distinct take on the style.  It was just not what I was expecting.  It was the coffee bean all right but the peppery, unroasted type.  So you got much more of that green pepper taste than coffee. Which was a direct counter to the coffee aroma.  I can see how others might like it but it just didn’t work for me because of the switch from aroma to taste.

I finished with the Double IPA which much like the Pale was good but not Wow! Good.  It was fine but in comparison to the hoppy creations of El Segundo that I had tasted the night before, it just paled in both strength and hoppiness.  Maybe my hop palate has an uber high tolerance level but it just didn’t have an effect on me one way or the other.

This experience got me to thinking about expectations. How much of my disappointment is based on the track record of the brewers behind the brand. There are good people at the mash tun so it certainly is a factor. Or is it a comparison to Modern Times whose beers seem on track?  Was I hoping for more than a standard product line of blonde to stout ? Or is it just what I expect from San Diego beer in general?  Only a psychiatrist could probably find out what percentage of my review can be attributed to those points.

As for now, I can heartily recommend the Blonde but I would suggest stopping there unless you want to do your own analysis.

 

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Italy + Tomm Carroll + Beer Belly =

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This Sunday at Beer Belly (that’s tomorrow) it is time to VIVA LA BIRRA ITALIANA

“Come join beer writer and collector Tomm Carroll of the Celebrator Beer News for “Viva la Birra Italiana,” a crash course in Italian craft beer at Beer Belly from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. Enjoy flights of innovative beers from the country’s ever-growing birra artigianale scene, which grew out of Italy’s Slow Food movement. Featured will be brews from such birrificios as Amiata, Baladin, del Borgo, Brûton, Grado Plato, Italiano, Montegioco and Troll.”

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Review – Beer Hunter (The Movie)

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Thanks to the combined efforts of Beer Belly and Smog City Brewing, I was able to view the Kickstarter funded Beer Hunter movie about the beer filled life of Michael Jackson.

This documentary grew out of footage that was shot for the Rare Beer Club that Jackson was affiliated with and that still bears his name today.  The movie travels from Philadelphia, to Belgium, to San Diego and the Czech Republic as he talks with brewers and attends numerous sold-out beer dinners and signs many copies of his influential book, The World Guide to Beer, and of course drinks beer.

If this movie was about someone who I didn’t know anything about, I don’t think I would recommend it.  It seems rather poorly shot at times and the sound quality is all over the place.  You really have to strain to hear what Jackson is saying throughout the film (more subtitles please).  At first, I thought it was the acoustics of the brewery space that the audience was in but other talking heads in the film come through clearly.  Taking footage from so many sources really makes the look of the movie suffer .

My documentary gold standard is Ken Burns and specifically, his Prohibition series.  And this doesn’t have the same solid structure or mixture of interview subjects.  It would have been great to have footage from other beer writers like Pete Brown in England or Jay Brooks here on the west coast.  More Charlie Papazian wouldn’t have hurt either.  And it was odd to see an extended scene with the great Randy Clemens dropped into the end credits and not have had him show up in the main movie.

It was great to see Jackson’s writing and beer lair and his local pub and the tributes after his death were touching but I came away feeling that the definitive Michael Jackson documentary is still out there waiting.

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Food GPS Teaser – Goose Island & Chicago

Goose Island made two stops earlier this month in Los Angeles and I will tell you about what went down at Beer Belly tomorrow on Food GPS but to return the Windy City favor, here are some beer and touristy spots to visit…..

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1. Goose Island Brewing Co.
2. Revolution Brewing
3. Binny’s Beverage Depot
4. Half Acre Tap Room
5. Garrett Popcorn Shops
6. Wicker Park
7. Millennium Park
8. Willis Tower
9. Wrigley Field
10. Hopleaf
11. Map Room
12. Metropolitan Brewing
13. Richard J. Daley Center – Picasso
14. The Second City, Inc
15. Steppenwolf Theatre
16. Finch’s Beer Co

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Today is the Day!

Summer Camp w/ Sean Inman is TODAY!!
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To prepare you before you leave for Beer Belly, (because I am assuming that you will be there) here is the initial beer list:

Eagle Rock Umlaut Kolsch, Monkish Dat Moi, Ladyface La Grisette, Bear Republic Double Aught Czech, Golden Road Cabrillo Kolsch, Trumer Pils, and more!

And if you can’t decide, then come grab me and ask for a suggestion! I will set you up a fantastic flight of beers

 

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Food GPS Teaser – Summer Camp w/Sean

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Earlier in May, I gave a somewhat subtle hint about an event in the works with Beer Belly.  And as we get closer to the event on June 9th and the beer list gets tightened up, I will broadcast what will be pouring but tomorrow over on Food GPS, I will give a little rationale behind why I am focusing on the “lighter” side of beer.

First is another reason (aside from beer) that should encourage you to come out to Beer Belly and talk with me and other beer lovers.

I will be raffling off a pair of prizes to those who surrender their e-mail address to me.  I will pick winners a couple days (of recovery) from the event.  So if you love being in the running for craft beer swag then come on down.

One beer that I really hope I get is Pivo Pils from Firestone-Walker.  A light beer with a Saphhir hop bite to it.  But if you can’t wait then you have two Firestone events where you might be able to grab a pint before June 9th…..

Tonight – May 29th Firestone is doing a trivia/BBQ night at Kings Row featuring Parabola and Sucaba. Night starts at 6pm trivia starts at 630pm. Prizes will be given out to the top 3 teams of 4.

and then on May 30th. Firestone pint night at West 4th and jane….featuring Solace for the summer release. Keep the glass while supplies last.

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Beer of Tomorrow @ Beer Belly

Beer of Tomorrow celebrated their one year anniversary of beer blogging in grand style yesterday at Beer Belly.

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I headed to Koreatown to congratulate John and Julie and also to have a couple beers from their L.A. centric curated tap list:

  • Gams-Bart — LA Ale Works
  • Vigil — Monkish Brewing
  • Wolf Among Weeds — Golden Road Brewing
  • Groundwork Coffee Porter — Smog City
  • White Dog IPA — El Segundo Brewing Co.
  • Solidarity on Nitro — Eagle Rock Brewing
  • Craftsman Brewing — 1903 Lager
  • Firestone Walker — Unfiltered DBA
  • Hangar 24 — Pugachev’s Cobra
  • Ohana Brewing Co. — Live and Let Rye

I really enjoyed the new Ohana option and the catchy name as well.  I also got a taster of 2012 Unity from Eagle Rock.

Raise a glass to year two of Beer of Tomorrow!