I appreciate when a brewery or bar zags instead of zigs. It would be easy to brew up a Mexican Lager and maybe some micheladas for Cinco de Mayo.
But the Glendale Tap is bringing in sour beers. Fifteen of them for the fans of puckery.
Cinco de Sour
GT11
A craft beer institution (that I wrote about in the August Beer Paper), The Glendale Tap has an anniversary coming up fast….
….better alter your plans to have a Friday night pint in my ‘hood.
Paperback
Open the cover, there is a new brewery on the way. Near the Glendale Tap off of the San Fernando drag comes the new Paperback Brewing. What we know is that the location is 422 Magnolia Avenue in Glendale. My adopted town! And that they will make the vague, “handcrafted ales & lagers.”
More info to come on this new enterprise.
GT on the 5
Time really does fly by. If I had been forced to guess what anniversary that the Glendale Tap was next to celebrate, I would have not guessed correctly. It is 5.
And on October 19th, they will be turning up their jukebox, selling $1 pizza slices and pouring from a taplist that I cannot wait to see and will be monitoring the interwebs for.
Your Vote Counts
The Glendale Tap is starting a new “brewery battle” night and for their first event, it will pit the newcomer State Brewing against old hoppy hand, El Segundo Brewing. Who will come out victorious? That depends upon you.
Head to San Fernando Boulevard on Wednesday, the 29th to place your vote.
Fremont in SoCal
Welcome a new Washington State brewery to SoCal….
Seattle has come to SoCal as Fremont Brewing beer is now available via Stone Distributing.
To kick off this occasion, Fremont Brewing and Stone Distributing will be heading to my neighborhood to host a launch party at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 7th at Glendale Tap. Six never before seen in LA Fremont brews (including their award-winning, barrel-aged Bourbon Abominable) will be on tap. Reps from Fremont and Stone will be on hand to talk about the new beers.
If you can’t make that date then there are some other L.A. parties to attend:
· Wednesday, March 8, 6:00 pm: 38 Degrees
· Wednesday, March 8, 5:00 pm: Sunset Beer
· Thursday, March 9, 7:00 pm: Local Peasant
GT is Strong This Week
Ready your liver and schedule Lyft in advance because the Glendale Tap has a Strong list of their first Strong Ale Week from Tonight – through February 9th.
All beers over 8%. They will have 20 taps and as kegs kick, new ones will be added. I suggest the 5oz pours.
Current Taplist:
Alesmith Speedway Stout Variant (s) TBD
Avery Callipygian- (17.1 % Stout aged in Bourbon Barrels w/ Coffee,Cocoa, Cacao Nibs andVanilla Bean)
Avery Tweak- (17.5%, Mephistopholies w/ Coffee aged in Bourbon Barrels)
Beachwood Barrel Aged Full Malted Jacket
Beachwood Tovarish
Bourbon County Barleywine 2014
Deschutes The Abyss 3 Year Vertical
Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA
Dogfish Head Worldwide Stout 2014
El Segundo Barrel Aged Standard Crude 2015
Epic Big Bad Baptista
Epic Double Barrel Big Bad Baptist
Firestone Walker Bravo
Firestone Walker Double DBA 2014
Firestone Walker Parabola 2014
Firestone Walker 20th Anniversary
Figueroa Mountain 6th Anniversary (Strong Ale aged in Apple Brandy, Pear Brandy and Whisky Barrels)
Lost Abbey Cuvee De Tomme 3 Year Vertical
Lost Abbey Angels Share Grand Cru
Oskar Blues Barrel Aged Ten Fidy
Modern Times Devils Teeth Aged In Bourbon Barrels w/ Barrel Aged Coffee
Modern Times Bourbon Barrel Aged Devils Teeth w/ Almond, Vanilla & Cacao Nibs on Nitro
Stone Bastard Bigger, Longer, Uncut (Aged in Islaty Scotch Whiskey Barrels
Stone Wootstout 2013
The Bruery Beachwood Mrs. Stoutfire 2013
The Bruery Dodie
The Bruery Melange #3 2016
A GT Festivus
If you want to get merry without all the Xmas trappings than you can head to the Glendale Tap for their annual Festivus….
#LABW8 – Belgium in Glendale
L.A. is large, if you haven’t noticed, and sometimes great beer events are held too far away for me to get to. Heck, trying to get to Hollywood from Burbank on a weekday to a 7pm event is stressful.
So when I heard that the famed brewmaster from Brasserie Dupont was going to be in town for L.A. Beer Week, I said a little prayer that the event would be in striking distance. It wasn’t. But then, luck smiled on me and my Eastside/Valley Beer Week plans. Olivier Dedeycker would be making a stop in my city at the Glendale Tap!
It was scheduled at 9pm but in beer time that means something else. I waited until after 10pm drinking the insanely good Deux Amis without nary a sign of the famed brewer or the other famed partner, Tomme Arthur.
Thankfully, earlier in the day. Tomato Pie was on the agenda as well as beers from Glendale’s Brewyard Beer Co.
First up was the new Brewyard Perky DIPL coming in at 9.3% which makes it the biggest beer that the duo have concocted to date and it took quite a bit of work and first time making it jitters. Initially I go watermelon notes but then there was quite a mineral laden bitterness that really followed. Some beers don’t fit the style that they are talked of but this beer is a DIPL for sure.
To simultaneously ramp down and jolt up, I tasted the Sunday Morning Joe. Which was grand. The light base of the beer really left room for the coffee to shine which it did. More and more, I like coffee beers that aren’t laid on top of large, grand stouts.
Then onto the Tap where Deux Amis waited…
…and the beer is just so good. The only review I need to convey is that if you see it on tap or in bottles, BUY IT! It has a Hefeweizen clove aroma but it is so smooth with an undertone of hops. Simple and complex at the same time. I amend my previous suggestion. Buy it. Also buy the dry hopped Saison and the “plain” Saison Dupont and invite friends over for a tasting.
I did mention it was good? Right?
LABW7 at the GT
My local, local has a pair of LABW7 events to tempt you to my ‘hood. Yeah, Glendale can’t be called a ‘hood by any stretch of the imagination but play along with me cause the Glendale Tap is way cool. Which one would you pick to attend?
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