Hopping in Glendale/Burbank


LA Beer Hop will have a bus roaming the valley starting on April 8th.

Burbank & Glendale are the specific cities with stops at the following: The Brewery at Simmzy’s Burbank • Verdugo West Brewing Co. • Lincoln Beer Company • Golden Road Brewing (You can sit this one out, take a breather) • Brewyard Beer Company • San Fernando Brewing • Henson

Tours depart every other Sunday at 1pm from the Burbank Metrolink at 201 N Front Street in Burbank.

Here is what you get and the cost, “The tour visits three breweries and includes a flight of beer at each place, bottled water, and as much beer info as you like. The entire event takes about four to five hours and the ticket is $69/person. Food will be available during each tour.”

Brew2Yard


Brewyard of Glendale has a holiday anniversary to celebrate. The Western Avenue brewery will be hitting the 2 year mark and will have what they call an “extremely potent Woodford Reserve Bourbon Barrel Aged Belgian Dubbel” on hand on December 9th.

The Bottle release and party will have outdoor drinking, live music, DJ’s, Food, Raffle Prizes & a Silent Auction.

Not Closed


There will be music and an art installation and even a climbing wall but what is most significant for the Glendale – Open Arts Music will be the….

⊹ CRAFT BEER GARDEN at the Alex Theatre Forecourt ⊹
which will feature:
Brewyard Beer Company LLC
Eagle Rock Brewery
MacLeod Ale Brewing Co.
Pacific Plate Brewing Co.

Might make for a great explore Glendale day. Or you could condo comparison shop, we have a lot of those.

Bourbon Steak + Modern Times + Burgers


I will write more about the team-up of the restaurant Bourbon Steak with the brewery, Modern Times over on Food GPS. But here are a few notes (and a pair of photos) from a preview of what’s coming…

All three of the Non-IPA’s used for pairing tasted better to me. Lomaland Saison which I had not tasted in a long, long time was quite good. Simple, training wheels funk. One note but well done. The same goes fro Black House. I have had more of the variants than the actual base beer and it came through with the coffee. Again, not much else, but well done. My favorite though was the passionfruit and guava Fruitlands. Not quite salty enough for a Gose but the wheat and touch of sour with the fruit was nice.

My favorite burger was the “Pho”nomenon which despite the jalapeno’s was unique but also showed a light touch on powerful ingredients like the cilantro and mint. The Lomaland and the Fruitlands would pair well with it. The Redondo Surf n Turf was good too but I can’t see anything but maybe their Ice Pilsner working well with it. The savory of the meat and the crab meat really overpower anything, even hops.

Pairing beer and food is fascinating every time.

We’re Pouring – Part 2

Earlier this month, I posted about We’re Pouring opening in Glendale, a nice 10 minute walk from my home base.

Weel, last week, I spoke with John Sullivan the chief pizza maker and more importantly, the chooser of beer for this Glenoaks gastropub.

That interview will come in a few days on Food GPS, in a second trip, I saw lots of great beers to choose from. They had the new Fortem from Firestone Walker that has been pretty invisible in these parts. They had Quat Hands from Cellador and many more choices on the 30 taps. And he has some great kegs in the cooler, just waiting to get on tap.

Until you make your trip to Glendale, here is the full tap list on the day that I was there….

Pouring in Glendale

Even suburban Glendale seems to be getting into the craft beer action. We’re Pouring is a craft beer bar and restaurant in a mostly quiet mixed use area of Glenoaks.

In checking out their beer list, I see a pretty ambitious list. With a good mix of SoCal and out of state breweries and some big names too.

I will update after visiting and seeing the place from the inside.

Pac Plate 2

I don’t usually post Facebook screenshots over to the main blog (what with the fake news (come on people, read smarter)) but for people who live in Glendale (like me), this is big news.

Pacific Plate will be opening a satellite tap room on South Brand Boulevard. It is true. I have verified with the brewery and I have actually stood outside the spot.

Review to come. But that means Horchata Stout and some cool IPA’s on the Boulevard of Cars.

Review – Shackmeister Ale from Brooklyn Brewery

My adopted residence of Glendale recently opened up a Shake Shack. The 2nd in Los Angeles and with it comes their house beer brewed by Brooklyn Brewery.
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This is the only beer from the borough that you can get west of Las Vegas. Here is the review of Shackmeister Ale (along with commentary on the burgers).

I have now had the special bacon burger and the regular ShackBurger. Both of which are really flavorful though the cheese sauce on the special was no great shakes. They are small for the price and won’t give In-n-Out a run for speed + flavor. The surprise was the really good chicken sandwich. Nice kick of spice and really tasty. Shakes and ice cream will wait for when the heat and crowds die down.
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Onto the Shackmeister Ale courtesy of Brooklyn Brewery. It is a rather plain ale. For a bit, I thought I may have mistakenly got the Oktoberfest that was also on draft. There is a tiny bit of hops but this is much ,ore a light malt beer. More Helles/Blonde than Pale Ale. Fits well with the burger but doesn’t really add much to it. But the $5.69 price makes it a better deal than the food.

SteinTime

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Oktoberfest continues deep into October over at Brewyard Brewing tomorrow, the 15th where they will premiere their new Oktober Steinfest Beer. It is a Rye Ale’d Lager fest bier with “100% German Grain & Hops bill that has a deep and smooth malty flavor with subtle hints of caramel. A slight spiciness and a silky mouthfeel is present from the addition of German Rye Malt.”

And you can put that beer into your own stein or boot (if you have one somewhere) for a mere $7. Plus if your stein is super cool it might be a winner in their “Coolest Stein” competition. Check out their Facebook page for all the rules.

Fliphouse will be food truckin’ and live music will be playing and they will expand their space for a little outdoor seating as well.