In the Tap Lines for February 2018

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We are back around the horn to birthday month! Time to decide what beer I want to imbibe as a special treat to me. While I do that, the blog will keep going with…

~ e-visits to three breweries from Canada
~ special featured reviews of beers NOT IPA’s (except for one)
~ 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 Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world.

Here are two events to get your February started in the Los Angeles craft beer world:
1) February 6th – Bruery, Bruery Terruex & Offshoot Beer Co at Tony’s Darts Away
2) February 10th – L.A. Ale Works 1st Anniversary

Sudsy Hops


In need of something beer related that is cool for the beer geek on Christmas? It might be too late now for the big day but you can always give a creative IOU for beer soap made from goat milk and beer ingredients from L.A. Ale Works of Hawthorne. Check out Chiva’s Skin Care for the details and soap “flavors” available. Like IPA soap.

A Book & A Beer – Dark Matter by Black Crouch


There are books that you read and when the end is reached, your first utterance is, “Well, I can see that being made into a movie.”

Such is the case with Dark Matter and in this case, that is not a disparaging remark. The author, Blake Crouch, has TV in his writing background, Wayward Pines so when the hero (more on that later) starts jumping from parallel earth to parallel earth, you can see the special effects in your minds eye.

The tale starts with one Jason Dessen a professor at a small Chicago college who us abducted and shot up with chemicals and deposited not in his world and has to find his way back.

If you are a time travel nitpicker, then this is probably not for you. The villain of the piece, well I can’t spoil that reveal since it doesn’t come until a bit later in the book is a bit problematic until later in the book.

But if you bought Matt Damon as Jason Bourne, you might shell out movie tickets to see him portray this Jason. It’s right up his alley.

Beer Wise – The label design and names from Bottle Logic in Anaheim fit this book to a T. Get a Recursion IPA or an Ocularity DIPA and become bitter with the villain. Better yet, pick up their GABF winning Lagerithm Black lager.

Since the book is set in Chicago, you can search out some Half Acre beer and enjoy a Pony Pilsner while going through the pages.

Or if you want to keep a science theme going. Get a growler from L.A. Aleworks from their SpaceX line of hoppy beers.

Kip in Space

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The sort of secret has been let out of the bag as now Facebook has been made aware of the latest development in the adventure of Los Angeles Ale Works.

Hawthorne will be the new home of the brewery spearheaded by Kip Barnes as the build out for the operations, taproom, outdoor space is progressing with a possible opening in the fall. There will be parking and an outdoor patio from which to gaze at the stars and imagine taking a Space X trip to Mars while drinking some of the imaginative beers from Barnes.

With the tasting kitchen of Eureka! Burger nearby, Hawthorne is inserting itself into the craft beer scene.