Award winning Downtown Los Angeles brewery Audiograph Beer Co. is turning five years old and will celebrate for five hours on October 24th
5 Graphs
Angel Share
News came over the wire (from Brewbound) yesterday that Boston Beer Co. is in the process of either selling or closing Angel City Brewing in the heart of the Arts District here in L.A. when their lease term ends. This also goes for their strange Truly Hard Seltzer lounge.
The shopping and dining neighborhood will still have a good craft beer presence with Arrow Lodge and Arts District close by and Boomtown a short walk away as well but Angel City was a bridge brewery from the dark times with no breweries where there was no good beer to be had minus a couple small oasis’s dotted here and there.
It went from a small operation run by home brewer Michael Bowe to the gentrifying starting point for the Arts District business area. Then it became part of the consolidation and mergers trend and finally, now falling victim, like so many other breweries in town to the whammy of Covid, Taco Trump and Hollywood’s economic decline. Angel City has seen a lot.
It is a great space that houses a cool, faded art deco vibe and is super tied to the city and it’s art scene but it is a whale of a building that needs a lot of money love and a new brewing kit too.
I cannot picture the space being sold for anything short of even more condos though a car park might also be the ultimate fate for a grand and historical Los Angeles property that once made the cables for the Golden Gate Bridge way back when. Maybe, there is a billionaire out there who can save the space and not give it a Chobani like false hope that Anchor Brewing fans are feeling now.
King ‘Cado
One of the most popular beer events here in Los Angeles is the Angel City Avocado Fest where all things avocado converge with “the annual release of our famed Avocado Ale – there’ll be plenty of delicious avocado beer & food to go round, as well as games, DJs, dunk tanks and more!”
Local avocados supplied by King and King Ranch.
1st Visit – Ikasu Brewing
I am glad that a new brewery is taking advantage of the former Modern Times L.A. space on Olive Avenue. I will need to taste through more beers from the homebrew to pro, Ikasu Brewing because my initial two beers were fine but did not blow me away.
I started with the New Z Pils since it was a broiler of a L.A. day and it was quenching for sure but it lacked crispness and hoppiness that I was on the search for in that style. Staying low ABV, I went for the Matcha Gose. Both beers were under 5% which I appreciated. I wanted more gritty Matcha texture and some tea tannin in this but what I got was mostly a down the middle good gose.
I do have my eye on the sesame porter.
Creature Crowns
Crafty Angelenos will remember back in the day when SoLArc Brewing had a tap or two at the late and lamented Mumford Brewing DTLA space and now Crowns & Hops will be doing a residency at Creature Comforts at their just south of DTLA taproom.
This residency will run through September 30th of this year and you will be able to get Crowns pints over the bar, Crowns Beer to-go, Weekly events curated by us and Crowns Limited merch.
13 Angels
Tattoos are cool but the needles scare the crap out of me, but maybe, with a big enough beer, I might be able to survive, maybe.
If tattoos and the lucky number 13 are better for you, then head to DTLA, Angel City Brewery is the place to be on May 18th.
Booming 10 – Part 2
Before the big 10th Anniversary weekend happens at Boomtown Brewery, I was part of a media contingent that got to peek BtS.
And more importantly, got to taste a few of the beers currently on tap which I will get to in a moment.
We crossed over the causeway into a piece of Los Angeles building history and the current brewing area for Boomtown. The double arched ceilings have seen wine production, munitions and now malt and hops.
The brewdeck is in one corner with brite tanks and fermenting vessels surrounding it. Another corner houses the malt and grist mill. Boomtown does a morning brew and then a night brew so the malt haas to be at the ready. A conveyor takes the malt up and over into the brew corner. Kind of a typical set-up for a small brewery.
I started with the rice lager which was nice and crisp, checked out the flagship Bad Hombre as well as the Belgian Golden Strong Ale, Submission. But the winners of the night were tge Good Boy Decoy Oatmeal Stout and the latest peach tinged Brett Michaels Sour. The former was simple with a touch of sweetness and a delivery system for malt. The latter tasted as if it was straight from a brand new oak barrel.
If anything on the above menu board strikes your fancy, you just might want to visit this 21st through 23rd.
Booming 10 – Part 1
Boomtown Brewing has reached double digits which is deserving of a three day blowout, I think. Over my birthday weekend (February 21st to 23rd obviously) there will be all the fun that their DTLA space can handle.
There will be a look-alike contest, DJ’s, so many food trucks and INFMS Hip Hop rounding it out. Plus, of course, plenty of beer as well.
Arrowing Downtown
Arrow Lodge’s DTLA outpost will be celebrating their 2nd anniversary on the 15th with…..
If I had even a tiny whisper of artistic skill, I would try my hand at the label art contest.
The Bracket is Set
Starting tonight, Native Son craft beer bar in Downtown L.A. is having friendly contests. Each Thursday is a Thirsty Thursday with two breweries going head-to-head.
The first duel is between ISM Brewing and There Does Not Exist. And the rest of the bracket is similarly stacked.
