Tag: firkin opinion

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The Firkin for June 2020

I have never been able to work a yo-yo but governors of states these days seem to be masters of it.

California Governor Gavin Newsom took away the bar opening rule practically minutes after giving it the OK. I will frame this by saying that I am totally down with the lockdown. We should totally be following the New Zealand model and we could be in stadiums watching sports by now. But we are in full yo-yo mode. Opening for Memorial Day, then reeling it back in after cases spike three weeks later.

I will also add that I am in no damn hurry to go back and sit in a bar or taproom but I do feel that I am being yanked around when I can go into a bottle shoppe for the first time in months and buy (after being temperature gunned) local beers. But the very next day, they had to shut.

If I, the customer felt yanked around, imagine the person who runs the store. They redesigned their store. Bought sanitizer. Stressed. Bought the damn temp guns to abide by the law. Now, they are shut again despite following all the rules. They spent time and money and it is now earning them nada.

Now, these places could just keep operating in the hope that enforcement is as up and down as the open and close orders, but why are we punishing the good actors, the ones who are serious about this process? Or I guess just go back into restaurant mode which is apparently A-OK because we all know forcing a food order makes the same space safer.

Here is what needs to happen. Pay people. Help people. We need masks on and social distancing but it can be done without destroying the entire economy or dicking small business owners. That means that the government has to not expect ANY taxes from all of the businesses that they are shutting down, then expecting to open after spending their own money, then shutting again.

We need clear rules and we need to hear sorry from the government for the screw ups. Otherwise, the dumb people are going to freak out. More on that in a day or two.

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The Firkin for August 2019

Before you do “hard” seltzer

Despite my anti-“hard” beverage stance, I am not against a brewery testing or going all in on seltzers, coffees and their ilk.  But I do hope that these breweries are sitting down and analyzing the decision before embarking on it. First though, you need to back up to before the brewery opened.

There will always be a tension between what the brewery wants to brew and what the customer wants to buy.  Finding a balance (the eye of the storm) in the middle is difficult.  It is made much easier if two questions are asked though:

What Kind of Brewery do we want to be? And What Do Our Customers Want?

The first is the more fun and easier of the two questions.  Customers wants are moving targets and hard-earned affection can be easily lost even if you do everything right. But if you are true to who you are, the fans will realize that even if only subconsciously.

So, if you want to jump on the “hard” seltzer train you need to ask, is it on point for your brand.  Can you bring your vibe to it?  Maybe you use local fruit, maybe you use herbs, maybe they are named after employees or customers.  Then, are your customers asking for it.  Maybe this is an annual summer fling, where you do a few during the hot months.  Or you have one seasonal seltzer on tap throughout the year.  Make sure though that this is being done for Customers and not for “customers”. 

The difference is that the former are your regulars, your unpaid cheerleaders.  The latter are there for a day or are social media trend.  This is not to imply that trends are to be avoided but you do need to strike that balance between chasing the new, new thing and creating that new, new thing.  It is painfully easy to spot when a product is launched to make money for the rest of the company to live on vs. a product that takes off and is actually part of a portfolio of drinks.  805 and Hazy Little Thing from Firestone Walker and Sierra Nevada leap to mind.

This leads to one final question that needs to be asked and discussed.  What happens when the “hard” trend starts fading or when the market becomes glutted with the stuff.  Because both of those economic factors will happen.  The supply and demand will find their equilibrium and it will be lower.  Will making the “hardened” beverage still be worth it in those circumstances?  Or will your brewery already be onto the next trend?

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The Firkin for December 2018


I just read that Democratic Presidential debates will be starting in June of 2019. So next year will certainly have even more weirdness than Washington DC has produced in the last two years.

Weirdness will also be front and center for beer. Cargill has decided to stop providing malt for brewing, an equipment manufacturer has gone under along with brewery deposits and Sam Adams got another exemption carved out for their tea and seltzer business. That was just this month.

I label myself a positive skeptic. I analyze and look at a situation with an eye to the sunny side. But I think that 2019 is going to be bumpy. Below are my predicted reasons why….

1. More breweries are trying the hard seltzer route even though it is a niche within a niche that they have not sold in before
2. Regional breweries are going to contract in both employees and product offerings (see Deschutes)
3. A new IPA sub-style will dent the hazy train enough to slow the 16oz brewery only release.
4. Successful breweries will start taking over flailing ones to expand their footprint
5. Some breweries will break off from the Brewers Association citing lack of support for their size of operation in comparison to the larger craft breweries.

Check back with me this time next year and we can see if my Magic 8 Ball was correct.

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The Firkin for September 2018


This month brought the bad news that Pacific Plate was pulling out of its Glendale taproom only location and that was followed by Kinetic Brewing up in Lancaster was closing up shop as well.

As I mentioned earlier this month, as nice as the PacPlate space was on the inside, it was stuck deep at the south end of Brand in a no mans land between Atwater Village to the sound and the Americana part of town to the north. It was small despite a nice patio that I bet many people didn’t even know about in the back.

Kinetic seemed to lose steam as Lucky Luke and Transplants along with GABF medal winner Bravery were the most talked of breweries from the land way up the freeway. The explosion of Ventura breweries probably did not help as did the additions of San Fernando and 8one8 and Hand-Brewed lured people to new destinations.

Churn is going to happen and it needs to be a word to add to your beer dictionary because it will happen more. Up to now, the only example we have had of it here in Los Angeles is when a brewer leaves for another brewery. But spaces are going to go open and equipment will be sold and it is a matter of whether the location didn’t work or the beer didn’t work or the marketing of both didn’t work.

The churn will open up opportunities for others. Kinetic could become a new brewpub with new owners and brewers. The PacPlate space, now spiffed up, could become a #independent beer bar or maybe (my (probably impossible) dream), an L.A. Brewers Guild Bar where you can taste rotating taps from places far and wide in Los Angeles. Mostly so I wouldn’t have to drive to far flung tap rooms.

With more breweries on the horizon, the amount of beer still is high for the consumer but the status quo won’t always be the same.

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The Firkin for June 2018


This month, instead of a rant or a tip of the hat, I have a task for the beer people out there. If you are a Yelp’er, unlike me who find the service completely un-helpful, please rate your favorite breweries and craft beer bars with actual helpful reviews.

No more 1 star because somebody looked at you wrong after you had one beer. No deducting a star because the food truck outside was slow. Conversely, no 5 stars with no explanation as to why.

Instead, put some detail into it. Are the beers rotating or standard? What are your favorite beers? What are your least favorite? Explain what the strong points of the beers are. Add in how many times you have visited to add context.

As with most things on the interwebs, the extremes seem to be the meme that is cited the most. If enough people put enough detail into reviews, then maybe we can sway the debate away from the “stars” system which invariably stand at 3 or 4 for everything no matter how good or bad, to a conversation.

If good, solids details are there, then you others can reliably use your information and not automatically discount it. If rational details are there, Yelp might not have such an easy time hiding reviews.

Maybe the beer world can help fix Yelp and other review sites.

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The Firkin for May 2018


It is easy to be divisive. Buttons can be pushed with a simple push of a button. But it is time (past time) to stop or to at least ignore it. Or, you can go one step better. Show gratitude.

Sounds hippy, new age? Why is that? What is wrong with telling your beertender thanks? I am not religious in the least but would it be bad to say a little prayer of thanks before the first sip? It is quite the miracle that we have beer and even crazier that we have good beer after so long with just boring mass market water lagers.

Instead of letting your circle of same opinions know about the groups same opinion, how about breaking free and sitting at the taproom bar and listen to what other people are saying. Then go to another brewery and do the same. What I bet you hear won’t be hating on glitter beers or hating on a beer website or hating on whatever is an easy target.

What you will most likely hear are discussions, jokes, recounting the days gone by or the bad day at work. Talking beer shouldn’t be verboten but it can be done without starting a Twitter war. And I will bet that if you start every beer with a thanks to the brewer, making a snarky comment would seem out of place.

So let’s regain the appreciation and let the haters hate. Enjoy the beer you have in front of you and let the fun back in, there will always be time to discuss the inside game of beer.

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In the Tap Lines for January 2017

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Good riddance to 2016! Let’s get 2017 off on the right foot with some rays of light and hope and great craft beer in the L.A. area.

~ e-visits to three breweries found in the pages of the Complete IPA book by Joshua Bernstein
~ special featured reviews of beers that I bought with my Craft Beer Cellar – Eagle Rock gift cards from Christmas.
~ Heads-Up on Los Angeles Beer Events
~ Three suggested beers to buy this month. One light, one medium and one dark
~ A Book & A Beer reads All That Man Is (and I did not care for it)
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world.

Here are two events to get your January started in the Los Angeles craft beer world:
1) January 8th – Cheese and Beer Tour with LA Beer Hop and Vagabond Cheese
2) January 28th – L.A. Beer & Food Festival

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The Firkin for November 2016

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2016 has been called out in general by Last Week Tonight and John Oliver….

…and it hasn’t been super great for craft beer either. I know there is a month left but I am left to hope that 2017 will be better.

Among the items that disturbed me this year:
-the unstoppable fruit IPA trend. I remember talking to the folks from 21st Amendment and they were dismissive of it, then they released one.
-SABInBev buying into homebrew supplies. Really? Trying to choke off innovation or just cashing in (late as always)
-rising prices. Each year it seems that I and other consumers need to be smarter shoppers.
-slow response to born on dating. Come on. If you are scared your IPA won’t sell because of it then you should make a better one.
-declining growth. Not that decline but the response to it. Why does everything have to grow double-digits every year. That’s how you end up chasing illusory dreams.
-whale hunters. I will have to add them to every frackin’ yearly round-up. And it irks me every time. But hey, some people like standing in lines.

Come on 2017. I like Canada but I don’t wanna do all that paperwork.

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The Firkin for September 2016

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Glassware glut. First let’s backtrack a little. I went to a brewery sponsored event recently. Got to taste the beers from a lovely Picasso-esque, sharp angle, almost a wine glass branded subtly with the brewery name on it.

Upon leaving said event, I was asked if I forgot my glass. Now I had a choice to make. Honestly answer that I literally had no place to put another glass. Or I could go with the snappy comeback of my wife would crown me over the head with it if she found out that another glass had found its way home. Maybe christen is the term instead of crown but either answer is correct.

Hats and shirts and bottle openers as swag has been replaced with a branded glass of late. A person who goes to one event a month could wind up with a full display collection in one year. I probably land in the upper middle of the glass collectors and I have one large storage container filled with all shapes and sizes that just do not get used at all. Not to mention the ones in the back of cabinets that are a bit dusty as I type this. Or the glasses that I have gifted away. All in just seven years of blogging about beer.

Keep in mind that the number in storage could be higher if I hadn’t left more glasses at events or handed them off to others. Over the last year, unless the glass was of a style that I could actually use or had sentimental value, I would leave it on a table at the exit and go on my merry way without the souvenir. In my recent trip to the California Craft Beer Summit, three glasses were used over the long weekend. I only brought home two and almost decided to just bring the one fancy wine glass.

This avoidance comes from a person who fully understands that certain makes and models of glassware can bring out different aromas and can show off the true color of a beer. I received a Bruery Terreux glass that I think is so pretty and fits my hand so well that I have hissed people away from using it.

I guess the time will come (probably already has and I have ignored it) when I will have to take a box of shaker pints to Goodwill. The one plus from Golden Road selling out was that I could take those glasses out of the mix without feeling bad.

But even with that, my space limit has been far surpassed and I fervently wish that breweries would start swagging socks or pencils instead.