Tag: DTLA

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1st Visit – Dankness Dojo

Olive is now Dank. Modern Times has opened their L.A. outpost, The Dankness Dojo.

Here is my initial take on the beer that I drank amidst the large crowd and the space, cause the MT crew rolls with big words and a lot of decor.

Don’t believe me?….

…or…

The space is thin with the coffee counter in the front and your left as you walk in. The bar is at the back with the brewing tanks partially obscured in front of you. You can get seating in the restaurant portion or try to snag a bar stool.

The menu board wasn’t the most easy to read and seemed to be the least designed part of the Dojo. Not to mention, on my visit, it was almost nearly all saison and saison variants. Not much “dank” to be had.

I visited after a visit to Boomtown Brewery and all the things that I like about that space, muted tones, couches, space to move were absent in the Dojo which felt just too constricted to me.

I will visit again and do a full beer write-up since I there was not elbow room or a table to put a taster flight on, I went for the Havnor IPA which was only so-so. Not bad, but it didn’t have a shine to it that other recent beers have had.

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Indie 2


Indie Brewing will be doing their 2nd Anniversary thing with TWO very special beers being tapped. The first beer is a throwback as their, Superfood Saison will return (and in cans no less.) Also their newest New England Style double IPA, Sophomoric Juice will be available on draft (growler fills available). Special pecial glassware available only in the tasting room as well as “3 food vendors, 2 bands and a DJ, and a pop up market with everything from pins to hot sauce.”

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Review – Vagabond Cheese + Boomtown Beer


There is a world of cheese out there. In an alternate universe, I could see an alternate Sean writing a cheese blog instead of beer.

Of course that alternate blog would touch on beer, just like I am dancing about cheese now. Vagabond Cheese is showing up everywhere independent beer is at. Don’t believe me? Check out their calendar. It is pretty damn full.

A few days back, I finally did a guided beer and cheese pairing at Boomtown and it was really good. It is the best way to try and find cheeses that you like even though they are spendy, all without breaking the bank.

Here are the four selections that were served up:
Sbrinz AOP with What Gose Around
Ombra with Bad Hombre
Ossai-Iraty AOP with Obscura Guey
Sailnois with Submission
Boomtown meets Vagabond

The Sbrinz, to me, tasted like Parmesan without the grain. The hard cheese and the sour “grated” on me though.

The second cheese was close but not quite white cheddar-y with some butter notes. The cheese outshone the simple beer which did not add much.

The third tasting had it going. A creamy texture meets darker malt which was even better with almonds added into the mix.

There was some grain to final cheese but it also more cheddar notes which here mixed well with the banana esters from the dark Belgian golden. I would have to call a favorite tie between three and four.

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Going to Extremes

Since the RateBeer fest will probably be lightly attended this year, the Beer Advocate Extreme Beer Fest® in their first foray to the West Coast and L.A. will probably take the spotlight.

The festival is sponsored by Dogfish Head. Over the course of one day and two sessions on Saturday, December 9th will have 60+ breweries and 200+ beers over at the California Market Center in DTLA.

To get tickets, go HERE.

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The River is NOW not Dry


Finally, after months of waiting, Dry River Brewing will start to have limited tap room hours! Now they won’t be the only brewery without fans inside trying the beers.

Days & Hours
Friday & Saturday 4pm to 10pm
Sunday 1pm to 6pm

Specific Days
July 1st and 2nd
July 14th, 15th and 16th
August 4th, 5th and 6th
August 18th, 19th and 20th
September 1st, 2nd and 3rd
September 15th, 16th and 17th

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LABW9 & Angel City


Angel City will be releasing a new beer and a new beer to cans as part of their week long LABW9 celebration but they will also have the Vagabond Cheese people in for an event as well. Oh, and the DTLA United shuttle will have a special night too.

June 19th: Ale Academy – Beer and Cheese – Angel City Brewery and Vagabond Cheese present a special addition of Ale Academy with a guided beer and cheese pairing. 7-8pm. Tickets HERE

June 20th: Purple Grain Launch Party – Sip the craft beer creation that won Angel City’s 2016 “What Would You Brew” competition alongside the creator, as well as Angel City Brewery’s Head Brewer, Layton Cutler. 6-8pm. Free.

June 23rd: Sunbather Can Launch – Angel City Brewery’s Sunbather Ale has quickly become a fan favorite, and for a limited time during LA Beer Week, Angel City Brewery will be selling this tart, juicy beer in cans in the Public House Retail Shop. Join us in celebrating this new can release with music by our own brewer DJ Tyler & friends, poster giveaways featuring Sunbather-inspired art and guided brewhouse tours for a behind the scenes peek at how the beer was brewed. 4-6pm. Free.

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Welcome to the Jungle


Tomorrow brings your first chance to try the beers from Concrete Jungle. If my sources are correct, this is the continuation of what started as Ale Arsenal which had the brightly colored labels with social media shorthand as beer names.

Founded by Will Shelton of Shelton Bros., the beer distributors, this adds a new dimension to the DTLA brewing scene.

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Mumford Be 2 Now


On Sunday, June 11th Mumford Brewing will be blowing out 2 candles to celebrate their 2nd anniversary from 12:00 pm – 5:00 pm and if you pony up the VIP $60.00 you get a serious deal…
One Limited edition taster glass for your 6 Taster pours of any beer on tap that you drink while wearing your Limited edition t-shirt, custom screen printed on-site by Hit+Run.
You also get one bottle of the 2nd Anniversary barrel-aged barleywine and exclusive access to an IPA can release and if that was not enough, 1 Pizza of your choice from Fahrenheit Pizza (vegetarian options available)

You can show up minus the VIP, and pay-as-you-go for the beers on tap too. Either way you will taste some great beer that day.

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Brewers & Musicians and Whole Foods

SoLArc Brewing has teamed up with the Downtown LA Whole Foods Bar (which is pretty cool, almost makes me want to pay for an overpriced condo above the store). The event will be on Thursday, March 2nd.

The SoLArc team will be performing a few short sets of experimental music throughout the night (10 minutes every hour, on the hour) and they will be pouring (4) of the breweries beer including tbe newest release… “Hoppy Citrus”.

Once you have beer in hand you can listen to such traditional instruments like:
-Empty Beer Keg Gongs
-Electric Bassoon
-Amplified Cactus
-Beer bottles and jugs
-Homemade PVC Pipe flutes
-Noisy microphones with guitar pedals
…and more….