Tag: June

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In the Tap Lines for June 2019

header_attractionsJune is a busy beer month for me.  Firestone Walker and a trip to Paso Robles at the beginning and then the LA Beer Week takes over in the 3rd Week.  Expect lots of coverage of both.

~ e-visits to three breweries from England like Affinity Brew Co., Boxcar, Anspach and Hobday
~ special featured reviews of Paso Robles beverages
~ 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 Becoming Dr. Seuss by Brian Jay Jones
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world.

Here are two events to get your June started in the Los Angeles craft beer world:
1) June 1st – King Harbor Brewing 5th Anniversary
2) June 11th – Beer – Cheese – Chocolate at Eagle Rock Brewery Public House

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L.A. Beer Week – # 11

The Grand Announcement has been made! XI is coming to brighten up the June Gloom. Here are the details….

“

The 11th Annual L.A. Beer Week is here! Join us for our big Kickoff Festival on Saturday, June 15th at the Los Angeles Center Studios in the heart of Downtown L.A.! We are bringing the heat this summer with an awesome festival featuring 90 independent craft breweries, live music, great local food, games, and more. Produced by the Los Angeles County Brewers Guild, #LABW11 will feature the largest number of Los Angeles County-based craft breweries — more than any other festival in town! We’ll also have some very special guest breweries! Join us and support your local brewers and the nonprofit organization that strives to foster craft beer culture in L.A. County. Admission includes a keepsake glass and unlimited tastes of over 250 beers from 90 breweries. This is surely a not-to-miss summer festival!

VIP Tickets include a premium keepsake glass, early entry at 12pm, and a VIP lounge area. Participating Breweries & Vendors to be announced soon!

EARLY BIRD PRICES April 15- May 15th
General Admission: $45
VIP Admission: $65
Designated Driver: $25 

Regular pricing kicks in on May 16th: 
General Admission: $50
VIP Admission: $70

(*2018 & 2019 Enthusiast members receive 20% off up to 4 tickets – use your member number on your Enthusiast ID)

**Day of ticket sales are NOT guaranteed. Should we have any tickets available on June 15th at the door, prices will be $55 General Admission, $75 VIP, and $25 Designated Driver**”

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Sean Suggests for June 2018

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No June Gloom so far this month, so let’s dip our toes into some super light beers that also have left-of-center ingredients tossed in.

~LIGHT
Abita/ Watermelon Lemon Shandy3.50% ABV
Inspired by the taste and aromas of summertime, this crisp, golden lager is brewed with pilsner and wheat malts and blended with refreshing watermelon and zesty lemon juices for a sweet, freshly squeezed flavor. All of our Harvest Series brews are made with the finest Louisiana-grown ingredients, keeping us Louisiana True.

~MEDIUM
Fritz Briem/ 13the Century Gruit4.60% ABV
Before the German Reinheitsgebot, in 1516, beer was not explicitly brewed with water, malt, hops & yeast through In fact the Reinheitsgebot was as much a ban against certain substances & adjuncts as it was a government instruction to brewing beer. Until then it was common practice to use a variety of different spices & plants instead of hops to flavor and prolong the shelf life of the beer. Some of the adjuncts that were used even had anesthetic & toxic effects. Gruit beer has roots in many cultures and each culture had its own “special ingredients”: Egyptians (Mandrake based), Native Americans (Corn based), Arabian Tribes, Gaulles, Germanic Tribes and the Vikings. Gruit beer became especially popular during the middle ages in Germany in the regions of Westphalia & Lower Saxony close to the borders of Belgium & Holland. During this time the ingredients for beer were very expensive, in particular hops. This interpretation of a traditional Grut Bier is spiced with Lorbeer (Bay Leaves), Ingwer (Ginger), Kummel (Caraway), Anis (Anise), Rosemarin (Rosemarie) & Enzian (Gentian). It is brewed with water, wheat & barley malt, “pollinated wild hops” and fermented using top fermenting yeast.

~BIG
SoLArc / Straw Beer5.60% ABV
Straw Beer is a refereshing tart wheat fruit brewed with Yerba Mate, Hibiscus Flowers, Local Strawberries, and Foraged Prickly Pear Cactus. It pours hazy with a hint of pink as the wheat and oats in this unfiltered brew add a juicy mouthfeel The Prickly pear was picked young to add a bitterness that balances nicely with the tart flavors of Hibiscus and Strawberry. The level of Yerba Mate are not enough to keep you up all night, but just enough to invigorate the soul.

All of these beers can be found at Sunset Beer Co. (unless they got bought up real quick)

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In the Tap Lines for June 2018

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The first week will be taken up with all things 2018 Firestone Walker Invitational and then, well, wall-to-blog-wall of L.A. Beer Week, the 10th L.A. Beer Week mind you.

~ e-visits to three breweries from the LA Brewers Guild that I have still yet to visit.
~ special featured reviews of the Unity beer for 2018 plus other special LABW10 Beers Lyke the Indie / Hopped LA collab.
~ 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 Happiness is a Choice You Make by John Leland
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world.

Here are two events to get your June started in the Los Angeles craft beer world:
1) June 3rd – Big Summer Brew at Indie Brewing
2) June 10th – Mumford Brewing Third Anniversary Shindig

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Sean Suggests for June 2017

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This month I am suggesting that you try a little bit of everything starting with a 3-Way Collaboration and ending in a super big and burly barleywine. A little America, Belgium and England this month.

~LIGHT
Mason Aleworks / Kern River / Eagle Rock/ Gutterball Trio5.3% ABV
“We got together with our friends at Mason Ale Work (San Diego) & Eagle Rock Brewery (Los Angeles) to make this light, refreshing Mosiac, Idaho 7 & Denali hopped IPA.”

~MEDIUM
Green Flash/ Baroque Belgique7.0% ABV
“If Green Flash were founded in historical Belgium, Baroque Belgique would have been our flagship brew. A bold and complex layering of herbal hops finds delicate balance from traditional malts. Bottle conditioning with fresh ale yeast and Brettanomyces adds a funky finishing touch, creating a delightfully bright effervescence, dryness, and continuously evolving character.”

~DARK
Dogfish Head/ Olde School Barleywine15.0% ABV
“Inspired by a tale of a cask doctor who brought sluggish ales back to life by suspending a fig in them. Brewed from 100% Maris Otter pale ale malt, a blend of fine hops and conditioned on dates and figs. User Instructions: open bottle, pour contents into two snifters. Enjoy. ALTERNATIVELY: Walk hand-in-neck with bottle into the middle of the woods. Use shovel to dig 2×2 hole three feet deep. Seal bottle in plastic bag. Place in hole and pack with dirt. Memorize location and leave. Return exactly one year later. Dig up bottle, open and enjoy.”

All of these beers can be found at Sunset Beer Co. (unless they got bought up real quick)

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In the Tap Lines for June 2017

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Get ready. The first part of the month will be filled with Firestone Walker Invitational re-capping and the last half will be all about L.A. Beer Week including my review of the Unity Brew that was brewed at El Segundo this year.
~ e-visits to three breweries from Nashville, Tennessee. Southern Grist, Honky Tonk Brewing and Czann’s Brewing Company
~ special featured review of the newest Unity beer for LABW
~ 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 The Mezcal Rush
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world.

Here are two events to get your June started in the Los Angeles craft beer world:
1) June 1st – Libertine Flight Night at Southland Beer
2) June 2nd – Beer Camp Across the World at Select Beer in Redondo Beach

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Sean Suggests for June 2016

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Let’s go with fruit this month but not fruited IPA’s. Beers where fruit is a + addition and not a marketing trick. In addition to these beers, don’t forget to buy a bottle of the Unity 2016 IPA too!

~LIGHT
Bootlegger’s/ Lemongrass Wit 5.5% ABV
“Our summer seasonal release, Lemongrass White, is the perfect beer to relax with during the long summer days. This refreshing beer is balanced with bright citrus notes from the lemongrass, bitter orange peel, and coriander.”

~MEDIUM
Boulevard/ Tropical Pale 5.9% ABV
“Inspired by our collaboration with Florida’s famed Cigar City Brewing, Tropical Pale Ale marries our passion for balanced pale ales with the bright refreshing flavors of grapefruit and passion fruit accented by juicy, citrusy hops. Pack your bags and bring your taste buds.”

~DARK
Telegraph/ Gypsy Ale 8.0% ABV
“Inspired by the exuberance of the Romani Gypsy culture. Telegraph Gypsy Ale celebrates the restless and adventurous spirit in all of us. We brewed it with rye, unmalted wheat, and locally grown plums. Then we fermented it with Brettanomyces while listening to traditional Gypsy tunes. It’s wild, it’s unique, it’s delicious. So go ahead, stray from that well-trodden ground you are following, grab a bottle, and dance along a crooked path.”

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In the Tap Lines for June 2016

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We have arrived into summer and the month where L.A. Beer Week lives, tomorrow will be the first post of many with picks for the week+ of beer in the City of Angels, but first, extensive coverage of the Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Festival with special new releases like STiVO pils and Double Rye DBA, plus:

~ e-visits to three breweries featured at the Firestone Walker Invitational. Creature Comforts, Side Project & Mahrs Brau.
~ special featured reviews of the L.A. Beer Week Unity beer, a cellared 2015 and the new 2016 IPA.
~ 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 The Regional Office is Under Attack .
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world

Here are two events to get your June started in the Los Angeles craft beer world:
1) June 11th – Beer and Jerky Pairing at Southland Beer
2) June 12th – Mumford Brewing 1st Anniversary

…and here is the beer photo of the month
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In the Tap Lines for June 2015

header_attractionsThis is L.A. Beer Week month. From the 20th to the 28th, the City of Angels becomes a beer destination for all comers starting with a blowout local brewery bash at Exposition Park near USC.  Plus…..

~ e-visits to three breweries who were at the recent Firestone Walker Invitational
~ special reviews of beers from new to L.A. 21st Amendment
~ Heads-Up on Los Angeles Beer Events
~ Three suggested beers to buy this month. One light, one medium and one dark
~ Beer-centric podcast review, goes scientific with Beervana
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world
~ … and Session # 100 will converge bloggers onto a single topic, this month it is Resurrecting Lost Beer Styles

Here are two events to get your June started in the Los Angeles craft beer world:
1) June 1st – Burger Week at both of the Oinkster locations with Red Tick Ale from Highland Park Brewery
2) June (anytime) – Check out the new DTLA gastropub and homebrewer space of BarrelDown.

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LABW 2015 UPDATE

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L.A. Beer Week is on the move. And this year it will remove all of your L.A. June Gloom in the process.

2015’s version of Beer Week is from June 20 through June 28. Instead of the iconic Chinatown locale of 2014, the festival will be held in Exposition Park. This new USC adjacent spot will allow for “even more local and guest breweries”.

The two-month + difference means that presale tickets to the kickoff will go on sale earlier, on April 3, and the general ticket sales begin on May 1.

I like the idea (and I hope it sticks) of moving the festival around Los Angeles from year to year. And pair that with being near Metro trains. The other add that I would like to see is moving it west and/or south. It has been downtown and east intensive for its entire existence.

The reason for swapping September for June is twofold. First is for us fest goers. June should be cooler which is better for drinking beer outside. The second is for the brewers. June is before the festival circuit that is insane in summer. And it also avoids having L.A. Beer Week butted up against the Great American Beer Festival.

From my perspective it seems like a smart move.