Here are some of my choices for L.A. Beer Week as of today. I will have tried to pick one for each day ( still need ones for the 17th and 18th ) but there is not a lot of choices on the website. Either the number of events is really low or they are not being added to the main site.
Los Angeles Ale Works and Common Space – Friday, June 13 – Block Party
Homage Brewing – Saturday, June 14 – Nine Year Anniversary
Lincoln Beer Co. – Sunday, June 15 – Dads and Donuts with Randy’s Donuts
Hermosillo – Monday, June 16 – Highland Park Tap Take-Over
Beachwood Blendery – Thursday, June 19 – Bottle Share and Beer Release
Common Space – Saturday, June 21 – Defend the Parks Day
Select Beer Store – Sunday, June 22 – Cellador Tap Takeover
Back in the states for hopefully some June gloom as I was starting to like the rainy Irish weather. This is L.A. Beer Week Month, so expect some posts from around the Southland as we all celebrate L.A. even in these uncertain and troublesome times.
~ e-visits to (3) breweries from Northern Ireland, more specifically, Belfast
~ special featured review of the 2025 Unity Brew from ISM Brewing.
~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 Going to the Match by Duncan Hamilton
~ A Podcast & A Beer listens to DC High Volume – Batman
~ Sports & A Beer returns with the off season
~ New Beer Releases and Best Beers of the Month
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world.
During L.A. Beer Week, Lincoln Beer Co. held a Collective Brew party. Now the hazy pale ale dry hopped with New Zealand Cascade is signed, sealed and ready. You could call it a democratically brewed beer.
The second weekend of L.A. Beer Week for 2024 is done, here are some photos and recollections from me about what events that I went to….
El Segundo and Beachwood came to my neighborhood of Glendale to We’re Pouring (the best pizza in town according to my wife, with a fantastic beer list according to me). They brought in a few beers each of new to me beers.
I planned to have one from each brewery but the choice was hard. Pairs Well with Pizza from Beachwood would have been a solid, safe pick but I went with the Silver Fern IPA which was bith crisp and dank. For my second choice, the new DDH Citra Pale Ale which was so, so lemony and quite light even for a pale.
MacLeod Ales X Anniversary was one that has been in doubt but they made it to 2024 and threw a weekend party to celebrate 10 years. I tasted a cask ale first because, yeah, ya’ gotta. It was a New Zealand hopped ale, named The Crisis and it was delicious. I then ordered up the Triple Hazy IPA and was less than enthused. It had a bit of a weird taste to it and was not soft or pillowy or fruity. Had me looking at the cask menu again.
One of the events that I underlined twice in my mind was the Highland Park CanJam. They borrowed a similar idea from Threes Brewing on the East Coast and brought lagers in cans to their patio.
I started with Human Robot because esteemed drinks writer Lew Bryson has mentioned them plus when else am I going to get Pennsylvania beer? And it was real good. After that, went to Threes Brewing which was ok but not really a hoppy pilsner to me before finishing with Green Cheek for a bit of SoCal. The sign of a good event is that you leave wanting more, and CanJam did that.
The first weekend of L.A. Beer Week is in the books, here is my first thoughts of the festival in Long Beach along with some more picks of events to attend…
I started LABW early with a trip to Boomtown Brewery for the unveiling of the Unity 2024 Hoppy Pilsner. Which I have now reviewed for this blog.
Saturday was the big dance down at Shoreline Park in Long Beach. The weather was on point. Sunny and warm but breezes floating in off the water and plenty of shade. Nothing like drinking a beer and looking at the Queen Mary in the distance.
My goal was to taste the six breweries in Los Angeles County that I have not visited yet and I completed the task tasting beers from Brown Soul, Campsite, La Verne, Santa Cruz, Two Tracks Cellars and Beer Thug. I came away most impressed by Campsite and Beer Thug based on a small sample size but will attempt to visit each taproom.
I should recap my favorite beers. Tuscan Sun an Italian Pilsner poured from a cask at the Smog City tent was great. Space Cookie from Monkish was that weird cookie with hops thing that still works. Rounding out my top three was Aurora Lights by Brewjeria, a Belgian IPA.
This was my first time for the re-christened Los Angeles Independent Beer Fest and it ran smooth, I heard talk of long lines last year but this was very easy entry for me. The tent layout was mostly great though the Unity Beer should have been more front and center and having the food so far away that you couldn’t see multiple trucks was a bit weird. Minor quibbles though. This was a great way to kick-off the Beer Week.
Sunday was a slow day for me after the excess of Saturday. So I planned to visit a taproom that I found out was open when I saw their tent at the festival, Solarc Brewing. They have been open for eight months in Glassell Park on a hip block with Bub and Grandma and The Grant bar.
Inside there is a lot of tinfoil. Cool barndoors. Super bright and colorful and eclectic with a nice little outside seating nook that I was jealous another group had. There was quite a few people hanging on a lazy, hot Sunday..
Glasses are small canning jars. 5 beers on tap. Had the Earl, a tea pale ale which was only OK. I liked yesterday’s glassellager better. But it is a cool block of places to visit.
“LA is not only blessed with great beer but is also surrounded by agriculture and a great way to showcase how those two factors meet is with Cellador’s sour beer program. We’ll have a selection of beers never before seen at Southland, and Cellador will be in the house telling the stories behind those beers.”
On tap:
Oogum Boogum – Wild Ale with Murray Limequats, Fukushu Kumquats, 2nd use late harvest Masumoto Le Grand Nectarines, vanilla & elderflower.
Raspberry Beer – Wild Ale with Raspberry, Blood Orange and 2nd-Use Nectarines and Apricots
Bottles:
15 Petals – Wild Ale with Roses and Masumoto Rose Diamond Nectarines
Nouvelle Pêche – Tart Saison with Masumoto Baby Crawford Peaches
L.A. Beer Week Collective Brew – join the team and be a party of the brewing process. Brew with them, smell the hops and vote on your favorite and get your signature on the can.
Come out and support your community of 20+ local artists and vendors. There will be so much good food, live music, DJ’s and of course, special beer releases!
Sunday, June 23rd – King of the Kolsch
Arts District Brewing hosts Wave 2 of their Kolsch contest between L.A. brewers starting at Noon
This month is going to be all about L.A. Beer Week posts, so buckle up. Of course the signature event is the festival in Long Beach but lets get some other events talked about like to start, this fun event in, checking notes, Long Beach…
June 14 – ISM Brewing will be tapping beers from all our neighboring Long Beach breweries. Additionally, we will have cans and draft pours of the LB Super Collaboration from Trademark Brewing. Craft Beer LB will be in popping up and will have rad LB merch for sale. Hang out with us, jam out with our DJ and taste the best of what LB has to offer. Breweries include: Ambitious Ales, Ten Mile, Syncopated, Beachwood Brewing and Blendery, Altar Society, Trademark, Steady and Belmont Brewing.
June 16 – Highland Park Brewery is hosting a Lager CanJam on Sunday June 16th, 2024! Inspired by our friends, Threes Brewing, we asked some breweries from around the country to send us a case of their tastiest lager!
June 18 – Calling all Cicerones, beer nerds, home brewers, pro-brewers, and just general trivia fans! Brush up on your beer knowledge and head to the Angle City taproom on Tuesday, June 18th. We’re celebrating LA Beer Week with beer-themed trivia.
More events on scheduled, these are just my first set of picks. More to come.
As Los Angeles Beer Week returns this summer, so too does the Unity release from the Los Angeles County Brewers Guild. Last year, Eagle Rock Brewery was the host with a hoppy pilsner and for 2024, the host is, drumroll please…..
We are going full on L.A. Beer Week beers for this month’s shopping list. From two Freaky Friday South Bay friends to a Crenshaw collaboration.
El SegundoSquirrel-Toothed Tiger – 6.7% – “We went hoppier, Americanier, and, dare we say, downright more majestic than a pre-historic squirrel on their best day. Sure, the tiger may look friendly, albeit a little funny, but it remains a tiger with an inherent instinct to kill nonetheless!”
Crowns & Hops / Los Angeles Ale WorksDown Crenshaw IPA – 7% – Mosaic, Nelson and Enigma hops headline this dank West Coast IPA Boulevard.
Smog CitySmogberry IPA – 7.2% – Smog City re-imagines the iconic Mayberry IPA.
