Tag: Burbank

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Hopping in Glendale/Burbank


LA Beer Hop will have a bus roaming the valley starting on April 8th.

Burbank & Glendale are the specific cities with stops at the following: The Brewery at Simmzy’s Burbank • Verdugo West Brewing Co. • Lincoln Beer Company • Golden Road Brewing (You can sit this one out, take a breather) • Brewyard Beer Company • San Fernando Brewing • Henson

Tours depart every other Sunday at 1pm from the Burbank Metrolink at 201 N Front Street in Burbank.

Here is what you get and the cost, “The tour visits three breweries and includes a flight of beer at each place, bottled water, and as much beer info as you like. The entire event takes about four to five hours and the ticket is $69/person. Food will be available during each tour.”

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1st Visit – Henson Brewing

If you thought you were caught up on Los Angeles beer (even I am not), well another new one has opened….

…and it brings the Burbank brewery count to 4. Henson Brewing soft opened over the President’s Day Weekend. And it is even closer to where I work than the previous record holder, Lincoln Beer Co.

The taproom is a work in progress as was mentioned in the soft open announcement. As it stands now, the place looks very similar to other set-ups. There is a nice bar and a bit of non-bar seating. The roped off area probably signifies that more seating is coming. The cold box is way back in the corner and the brewing equipment is lined up neatly on the opposite wall.

On tap over the long weekend were the Double Blackjack Porter, My Lucky Linda Pale Ale and Don’t Call Me Hay’z was on deck. There were no taster flights ready yet so I started with the Madison Wheat Beer which was both murky and unappetizing looking. Flavor wise it was still a little too green, needed more time to lose some sweetness. It was tapped to early. The 2nd beer was Winthrop, a British IPA. It looked much better. It was very malt forward and could have used a bit more hop zing in my opinion though others could disagree.

I will check out the other beers and report back and let you know how the four Burbank breweries shake out ranking wise.

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Roller Derby, Park and Beer

Looks like Tony Yanow is adding to his Burbank roots with a big development announced last month and I have been mulling over the plans for a bit now.

photo courtesy of the City of Burbank

A 2.4-acre site at 10 W. Magnolia Boulevard will become event space, Roller Rink (Yanow loves the Roller Derby), restaurant space, outdoor park space and for readers of this blog, a “craft beer pub.”

Artisanal Brewers Collective has been super busy and seemingly getting busier. This project will take a long time to get through all the permit process mumbo jumbo, then the de-construction of the site before the construction.

Questions about who will be drawn to it exist for me though. There is a big Ikea nearby and it will be neighboring the Metrolink – Burbank station but will that provide foot traffic to the space? Will the beer aspect be the draw? Or is event space that lucrative a business?

Due to the trains and the 5 freeway, there are dead ends aplenty so how do eyeballs see it and then get to it? I also foresee issues with late departures from the Metrolink parking meeting early arrivals on weeknights for coveted parking spots.

Lastly, will it be Yanow / ABC beer for sale only? Or will it be more of a Tony’s / Mohawk style with multiple taps?

Many questions to learn the answers to.

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1st Anniversary – Verdugo West

I think a need a bigger spreadsheet to chart the L.A. area anniversary dates. They keep coming at a rapid fire pace. Here is another to add, Verdugo West.

Part of the 2017 Burbank brewing boom, they will be hitting the one year mark with a 1st Anniversary beer and growler fill specials on January 13th.

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1st Visit – Empire Tavern

Second day in a row that I went into Burbank for beer. This time to San Fernando Avenue and the soft opening of the Empire Tavern.

Here is the 1st Visit report…

Now this is a “just right” neighborhood place to have a beer. Twelve tap options to select from. Plenty of bar seating and plenty of table seating as well for a space that looks like it might be teeny-tiny on the inside. Best of all is the nice picture window out from that suffuses the room with light. Granted the view out onto this stretch of North San Fernando isn’t a Hawaiian sunset but a seat at that window with a view of the hills that backdrop the valley is not bad.

I can totally see wearied Christmas shoppers from either the nearby Empire Center or Burbank mall making a post Black Friday stop here to recuperate and if I was one of the neighbors from across the street, you know this would become a regular haunt.

If I have said it once, I have said it too many times. Every little part of the great Los Angeles area can do with a place with great beer choices that they can call “their neighborhood” bar. Empire Tavern will be that place.

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1st Visit – Lincoln Beer Co.

Two nights ago, Lincoln Beer Co. unveiled their new taproom digs as well as taps of their beer.

Here is the 1st Visit report…

This was one of the first taproom openings that had a literal line out the damn door! A combination of people not knowing what beers to order since many beers were new and also due to kinks being worked out for a first day of business led to long wait times and no place to sit.

But the room looks really nice. Fun lighting, bar seats and communal tables. TV’s that were tucked away from the bar. There was even a bit of greenery outside the restrooms. It reminded me of Boomtown. Maybe they took some visual cues from that DTLA space.

There was a good amount of beer on tap for the night including a nitro tap. The tap signage looked good and the beer names were nice and visible, but the box space allotted for the style name and ABV were in too fine a print. If you were feeling lucky, you could order up based on the name alone. Or wait for a less crowded time and take a closer look without worrying about the people behind you waiting.

I went with the Revenge IPA. I often choose an IPA because the hops should cover any flaws and also to see where the brewery measures in a popular and hard to break through category. This effort was so-so and the more I drank, the more I had wished that I had ordered the milk stout or Irish Red instead.

LBC will require a second visit where I can order a taster tray and sample a wider variety of the tap offerings. Look for that later.

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The Empire Center

A new independent craft beer bar is coming to North San Fernando Road in a weird spot near McCambridge Park.

The Empire Tavern
is run by Dave Ochoa, known in beer circles as a member of the Yeastside Brewers, that is good street cred.

The new spot is taking over from a tavern and should have the typical multiple rotating taps, hopefully highlighting the beer from Burbank and parts north in the San Fernando Valley.

The expected opening date is October/November but with all things beer that could change. Look for an interview in an upcoming Food GPS post.

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Zoo Beer Dinner


If you did not make it to the Brew at the Zoo this year, you can still check out the special beer made by the Brewery at Simmzy’s for that festival at Simmzy’s Zoo Brew Dinner which will feature Hasani’s Silverback Summer Ale.

To recap: “Head Brewer Brian Herbertson was invited by the Los Angeles Zoo to work with Hasani to create a beer based on ingredients sampled by the gorilla during a special tasting.”

On Wednesday, September 13th, Simmzy’s will present a four course dinner expertly paired by Head Brewer Brian Herbertson, and Advanced Cicerone Greg Bechtel. A percentage of profits form the event will benefit the Los Angeles Zoo.

Menu:
Morning Session Saison
Fresh melon and Peach salad with spring greens, goat cheese and herbed croutons

Tips Up IPA- (Citra, Mosaic, Amarillo Hops)
Fried Chicken with a creamy lemon, buttermilk sauce served with a fresh sweet corn

Hasani’s Silverback Summer Ale (Belgian Single with Blood orange)
Roasted pork tenderloin with a Blood orange sauce on a bed of wood-fire roasted green beans and crispy sweet potatoes

Simmzy’s Porter
Chocolate Mousse with fresh whipped cream and Salted caramel brittle

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1st Batch – Brewery at Simmzy’s

Earlier this month, I headed over to Simmzy’s Burbank location to try the first batch of beers from their brand spanking new operation that spans two floors of the restaurant.

Three beers were on tap out of the gate. A blonde, porter and IPA. I decided to try the first two on the first visit and save the IPA for a later trip. The really cool tall glasses show the beers off nicely. In the battle between the Beach Cruiser Blonde and the Porter, the blonde came out as my winner. It was bright with a restrained but noticeable touch of hops. Bringing it out of the boring realm that some blondes fall into. This is a really promising start for the beers and I expect that the other beers in the line-up will be up at his standard that has been set.