Tag: Collaboration

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Collage


For those of you who were scratching their heads at Conflux # 2. Here is the info on # 1!

“The beer is a blend of two Deschutes beers, The Stoic and The Dissident, as well as two Hair of the Dog beers, Fred and Adam. All four were brewed at Deschutes’ facility in Bend in March of 2010. All four were then aged in a variety of wooden barrels for two years including Rye Whiskey, Cognac, Sherry, Pinot Noir, Bourbon, used American Oak which previously held beer, new American Oak, and new Oregon Oak.”

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An Oscar Worthy colLAboration

The colLAboration folks have done it again. Putting on a most excellent Oscar pre-party at a unique spot in Los Angeles that would not have been out of place in The Artist.

Multiple levels of the Belasco Theater were utilized to create a moving picture of craft beer. And, to me, the space proved a fitting backdrop with plenty of seating and outdoor nooks to huddle into and soak up a brilliant L.A. day.

The one fix that I would have made would have been to light the place up. Mood lighting is OK but near pitch black is another thing. I can deal with music and TV though I am not a fan of them at beer events but if I cannot even see what is on offer on the menu unless I am within a foot of the board then that is problematic.

I purchased (4) tokens and hoped that I would get my drinking in before the madness of Pliny the Younger. Which I thankfully accomplished. I started off with Hangar 24’s Vineaceous. A unique malt forward brew that had tastes of oranges first before any grape notes entered the picture. I moved on to Dogfish Head’s Ta Henket. More out of curiosity and it was a fine beer with black pepper notes hidden in it’s yellow hued color.

I sat in the balcony to enjoy my second Hangar 24 beer of the afternoon, the Spring Beer. A Belgian Hoppy pale. It took home favorite of the day for me. Good hop kick with a nice side of grain flavors that really worked well together. I finished up with High Water’s barley wine, Old and In the Way. Boy did that have a bourbony nose and body. As I drank more, notes of coconut came up along side some vanilla. A pleasant way to end an outing.

Oh and I got to see some world class beer pong from Ryan and Bryant….

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Stone is a serial collaborator

Stone Brewing really picks interesting combos for their collaborations. Whether it is a big trio of Dogfish, Victory and Stone or a Japanese theme, they really explore many different breweries. And the latest duo to combine with Stone are Ninkasi (fresh off a collaboration with another Stone collaborator, 21st Amendment) and The Alchemist (the famed East Coast brewer that is on my long, long wish list of brewers to try).

Nelson Sauvin, Delta, Galaxy & Citra hops combined into More Brown than Black a brown/black ale with proceeds going to help The Alchemist dig out from flood damage caused by storms earlier this year. Maybe this will be the medium roast version of the Escondidian that was good but a little too roasty for the hops (which appears to be a trend in the Black IPA/CDA style).

Bottles should be available now and would make excellent stocking stuffers!

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A Christmas ColLAboration

Who says L.A. can’t do Christmas? We may not have the biting cold, or frost, or snow and we may be able to walk around in shorts on Christmas Day but we can do the winter warmer.

Just in beer garden style, one week from today, thanks to the hardworking people behind ColLAboration. “This time around, the garden will feature a selection of winter and holiday brews (including 2 special releases from Golden Road), along with old favorites from: Golden Road Brewing, Eagle Rock Brewery, Cismontane, Hangar 24, Anchor Steam, Sierra Nevada, Eel River, Firestone Walker, Stone, Russian River, Lost Abbey, Dogfish Head, Oskar Blues, Avery, New Belgium, Bootleggers, TAPS, Bruery, Beachwood, Smog City and many more.”

Check out the details on the attached flyer below.

PLUS – Golden Road will be premiering two new beers from their Brewer’s Choice line!

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colLAboration in July

If this can happen…

…then what may happen when the colLAboration takes a month long residence in West Hollywood?

Check out the website HERE to get all the details because you don’t want to miss the beer or the people at these events.

But for starters here is the general where and when….
Saturday, July 9th
12 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Saturday, July 16th
12 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Saturday, July 23rd – A Salute to Belgian Beers!
12 p.m. to 9 p.m.

8950 Sunset Blvd. in West Hollywood, CA 90069

The new Duvel/ColLAb glasses are $15. Those who purchased the $10 glass from the first or second event can use that as their admission; most beers will be $5 to $6.

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Surly Goat + Dogfish Head + The Bruery =

…the kick-off to the latest announced collaboration between Dogfish Head and The Bruery.

I started off my Surly Goat night with The Wanderer from The Bruery. This is another semi-rare Bruery offering. This one was brewed for the excellent City Beer Store of San Francisco (that if you haven’t visited, shame on you).

The Wanderer

It was tart but not puckery with great raspberry/cherry notes. I could see this paired with ice cream.

After a somewhat desultory tasting of Red & White. (just didn’t work for me), the night was concluded with 90 Minute put through a “randall” with Intelligentsia coffee. Wow! The aromatics were amazing. And it carried through into the flavor. Tasted like a coffee amber. Delicious.

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Breakside’s unusual collaboration

First there was Avery-Brown-Dredge. A collaboration between beer bloggers/writers and BrewDog. And now Portland’s Breakside Brewing has taken a similar tack. Inviting local beer notables to help create beers.

The first three sound really good and the last one will certainly be different. Here is the list (that is probably gone by now, they were tapped on the 4th, but hopefully this will be an annual event!)

Lisa Morrison of Beer O’ Clock fame – Meyer Lemon Kolsch
John Foyston beer writer for the Oregonian – NW Alt
Saraveza the great beer bar – Strong Saison
Margaret from the great Brewpublic blog – a beet beer!

I love that it includes all walks of beer lovers. The more the merrier!

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colLAboration part 2

If you are a beer nerd in Los Angeles then you had better be in Hollywood one week from today.

The second pop-up biergarten is on the way and this time Avery, Hair of the Dog, Grand Teton, Uinta and many others will be added to the California mix and you can rest assured some goodies will be on tap that you haven’t tried yet.

If you can’t make it. (Better be a good reason) There will be MORE!
Every weekend in July in West Hollywood and then more in various parts of the Southland including an Oktoberfest in September.

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the colLAboration continues…

…and here is the latest update, “colLAboration – the mobile craft beer garden from the brains behind Tony’s Darts Away, Verdugo Bar/Surly Goat, Blue Palms and 38 Degrees – is popping-up a second time in Hollywood on Saturday, June 4th at the corner of Gower and Hollywood, from noon til 7 p.m.

The garden will feature dozens of the best in California beers including:
Firestone Walker, Sierra Nevada, Russian River, Beer Valley, Craftsman, Green Flash, Moylan’s, Avery, Alesmith, New Belgium, Dogfish Head, Port/Los Abbey, Eagle Rock, Hangar 24, Oskar Blues, Grand Teton, Uinta and many more.

Also, for the entire month of July, COLLAB will be held every Friday (4 p.m. to 9 p.m) and Saturday (noon to 9 p.m.) on the Sunset Strip right across from the world-famous Roxy Theater, featuring craft beer from California and beyond.

When: Saturday, June 4th 12 noon to 7pm.

Where:6124 Hollywood Blvd. at the corner of Gower and Hollywood

Cost:Those who purchased the $10 glass from the first event can use that as their admission; most beers will be $5 to $6. Glasses will also soon be available for purchase online at http://www.collaboration.la/