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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.
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.
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….
A couple nights ago, I got a sneak peek into the latest Mikkeller west coast outpost (following San Francisco and San Diego).
Here are the take-aways from Mikkeller DTLA.
The long space is fronted with windows that view directly into a new condo complex across the street. The ceilings give the bar/restaurant an airy feel. Seating is split into four different areas with bar furthest from the windows, next to a series of communal tables, then a short wall separating the table seats and finally more bar seating right at the window. The distinctive Mikkeller art/cartoon people line the walls.
On to the beer, I tried two of their collaborative beers from their San Diego brewery. Devil’s Triangle and Triple Connected were brewed with Alpine and our own Arts District Brewing. One was super hazy with a nice subtle rye spice note to it that undercut the cream feel of the beer. The hops were in high abundance as well. TC poured a more reddish color and while using rye as well, that spice note didn’t come through the malt nearly as much. Both were excellent but the menu for the day was missing a couple of the more exotic barrel-aged beers that I saw on their website.
I can imagine that this place will do bang up business during the week. Especially at Happy Hour or before events at nearby Staples Center. I would suggest heading there early on Saturday to get the less crowded view of what the Mikkeller team have done.
I will certainly be back to check out the adjacent Kaffebaren which has food, coffee and beer.
Rolling out this month, the Artisanal Brewers Collective, a group which includes the very busy Tony Yanow (Mohawk Bend, Tony’s Darts Away), will take the reins at four DTLA bars (Library Bar, Spring Street Bar, Sixth Street Tavern, and Beelman’s Pub) under the ABC Bars division.
All had been under the control of the hospitality group that notably runs Laurel Tavern but that concept is being set to grow and the group wanted to focus on that.
This is the opening salvo for the group that has other DTLA plans as well as Westwood.
You would be forgiven if you thought that Boomtown Brewery in DTLA was already open.
But now they have actually opened their brand new and quite luxe tap room.
You look for the big mural and head down Jackson to the alley and go back past where the temp tap room was and head to the left and down the ramp to the large space where you will see a large space with dark wood accents on the far wall.
You make your turn to the right and find the bar and taps and the order board that is a bit hard to make out, so grab one of the menus on the bar to get the beer info to help you make your choice.
There are plenty of tables to choose from as well as couches to lounge in as you enjoy your beer.
DTLA tap rooms are a varied bunch and this one just screams classy night out.
A negative side effect to being “softly” opened or “event” opened for an extended period of time can lead to a lack of excitement for an actual grand opening party.
But Boomtown Brewing will unveil the fully complete / brand new tasting room on February 4th and there will be a full line up of Boomtown beer, the requisite food trucks + DJ’s with the music and games to play.
Follow their social media to get more details as we get closer to February. Or you can keep your Boomtown soft open vibe going and travel to DTLA on Thursday 2/2 and Friday 2/3 and get there beer too.
Two pieces of news from Indie Brewing, the southern tip of the DTLA brewing scene.
First, they will be celebrating 1 year of business on Saturday, January 21st. There will be live music, a food truck, and most importantly for beer fans, special one off beers.
Second, their taproom will now be open for regular hours Thurs – Sunday every week. Thursday + Friday 5-10, Saturday 1-10, and Sunday 11-4. As well as a michelada brunch on Sundays.
A little Karl Strauss backstory before launching into a 1st Visit recap. I have been to the Universal location a few times during my time working in and around what is now the Wizarding World of ComcastLand. I never left thinking the beer was anything but slightly above average, angled more to tourists. Not a lot of one-off taps for sure. I have also been to a couple of the different San Diego County outposts and found it fine as well with a skosh more out there tap offerings.
None of that prepared me for the vast list that was available at the new DTLA spot just up the street from the huge Whole Foods on Grand Avenue. There was a long list of beers that I had not heard of before in addition to their core line-up.
I ordered up a sampler tray (then had a plus one). My favorite of the beers tried was the Crabgrass Kolsch which was crisp and clean and simple. The rest of the beers were in the medium-OK realm. The new holiday seasonal 7 Sharks Circling was supposed to have a “bonfire” of smoked notes that I found to be underwhelming. Canadian Necktie Maibock was fine but lacked a certain heft to it. The Golden State of Mind Saison was also just fine. My notes for the last two beers show that things are kept pretty simple. Even the Krema Coffee Stout didn’t have a kick to it. I guess, in general, the beers just needed to be amped up more. Add more coffee and smoke and let it take a place at the big table.
The clear loser was the Under the Stairs barrel-aged sour with Guava. The aroma was quite fruity but once your nose got closer and once it hit the tongue, all butter. One of those beers that probably shouldn’t be on tap.
The service was attentive and the bartenders had the spiel down but that spiel was a lot more in depth as to beer and food pairings then I expected.
If you pick and choose carefully, this could be a really good place to spot new Karl beers and have some lunch.
Many out of town companies are planning DTLA locales but Karl Strauss Brewing is planting a flag first with a satellite brewery and brewpub at the corner of Wilshire and South Grand Avenue.
The facility will serve as an R&D facility and will have a 7-barrel brewhouse, two 14-barrel fermenters to scratch the creative brewers itch and have plenty of fresh beer on tap.
The brewpub opened a few days ago and is the second in Los Angeles, the other being the somewhat inacesssible Universal City spot that has been around forever.