Tag: L.A. Beer Week

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One Week to LABW11

With only a week to go until LABW11 fires up the full list of events is not yet around, I thought I should toss a little curated list of events that pass my worthy test and also fall on odd days:

June 17th – Invitational Hazy IPA Fest at The Glendale Tap

then toddle a short distance to Walt’s in Eagle Rock for a brewers Pinball Tournament.

June 19th – Beer Made Me Do It – Beer Comedy at Common Space Brewery.

June 21st – Women-Brewed Beer Night at Sunset Beer.

June 23rd – Wait Wait…. Just Beer Me at Eagle Rock. NPR game show meets brewery tall tales.

Many more events to be talked about as details get clearer and clearer. In the meantime, get them Kick-Off tickets!

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#LABW10 – Extra Photos

I didn’t take nearly as many photos this year for LABW10 and combined with posting on Instagram and Facebook and not wanting to double up, there are only a couple more shots that I want to share.

Coedo samples and Japanese seasonings at Harajuku Taproom

Art and beer at the Craft Beer Cellar in Eagle Rock.

Tomm Carroll expounding on Japanese beer.

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#LABW10 – Week+ Recap Part 2


It just so happened that the Beer Belly – Koreatown One Night Stand landed in LABW and so ONS had a local bent with Mumford as the headliner with taps from Homage Brewing and State Brewing as well. This was originally billed as Mumford and East Coast Brewers like Interboro. The winning beer of the night in my (hop)inion was a Watermelon Agua Fresca lager from State that balanced the fruit and the malt very well. The two hazy options that I also tasted were fine. But didn’t pop for me.

I quickly popped down to the nearby Southland Beer to try the Unity IPA on cask. On cask, the hop notes are softer, with a little more citrus. The beer poured a clear orange though I detected a trace of a little buttery character. It was Unity simple and stripped down..

I took a night off to watch the NBA Draft (thanks for nothing Portland) and then on Friday, I headed to DTLA and Mikkeller for a Fonta Flora Brewing night. I immediately picked a sampler tray consisting of…

Beets, Rhymes and Life – beet saison – pretty pink color. Dusky, earthy. Salad like.
Southern Saison – black tea and lemon – bit of spice kick here. Pretty light underneath.
Whippoorwill Wheat – orange, coriander, earl grey tea – EG comes through. Spice again
Wolf Spit – Baltic Porter with hickory bark

I also tasted a Brut IPA from Alvarado Street Champagne Hopi that was really good, but the beet beer was my winner. Even though I detest actual beets.

Finally on Saturday, I headed to Craft Beer Cellar for a local taplist and for Dope & Dank who hosted the party with a DJ on site. I tried a new Arrow Lodge beer Arrow Sol and tasted my local Brewyard’s well-named Loch Ness Maltster.

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Finish #LABW10 Strong

It’s Friday, and you only have 3 days left of L.A. Beer Week.

Make the most of it, maybe in my hood of Glendale….

the Glendale Tap tonight as they BBQ and have a few beers on tap: “We’ll be in full Backyard Boogie mode w/ Bart’s BBQ smokin’ brisket, and Burnt Ends all-day. We’ll be pouring a ridiculous lineup of treats from the homies at Beachwood, Bottle Logic, Cellador, El Segundo, Highland Park Brewery, Homage, Moonraker, Pure Project, State and Unsung.”

tomorrow, Brewyard will mix art and beer: “The 2nd Annual Brewyard Art Festival is a craft brewery/beer themed art show with local artists, vendors, photographers, musicians, live painting, face painting, live auction, and more. The purpose of this event is to highlight local artists. Last year, we had over 400 attendees and this time around we’re doubling the outdoor space for artists. This year will be even bigger and better!”

and/or you could head to nearby Eagle Rock and Dope & Dank team up with the Craft Beer Cellar for “This is L.A.merica”

Finish strong!

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L.A. Beer Week Kick-Off – The Recap

Back to L.A. Center Studios to volunteer and drink beer at the Kick-Off Fest for LABW10.

Here is my recap of the day after I finished my shift of putting wristbands on festival patrons…

I tasted fifteen beers. Some just a few sips, others I needed to get to the bottom of the glass. Only 1 was truly off but that was from the new Ximix Brewery down Hawthorne way and I will attribute that to travel and being new.

On the good side was Simmzy’s Beerbank Bubbly Brut. I don’t know what to expect from this American version on the classic (but wicked expensive) and rarely seen Belgian Brut beers. But this was low on bitterness with a nice dryness to it. Of the two Brut’s that I had, this tasted more like I expected than the Beachwood/Drakes collab.

My two favorite beers were from new breweries since that is where my focus was pointed. Liberation’s Lucy Hoppy Blonde and Ogopogo’s Naitaka rye were both bursting with flavors and stood out amongst the flood of tastes from each taster. I was also quite impressed by Wiretap from Lincoln Heights. Both their Echelon Pale Ale and Luchador Belgian/Mexican mash-up were very tasty. Cellador was strong as was Chapman (which had three beers kick before I could even make my way there!

Thankfully the weather was much better. So much cooler in fact that I forgot to put on sunscreen and came home red despite the cool breezes downtown. Organization wise, I will again make the plea for signage. Lots of signage. The crowd was processed much faster this year and with much less complaints but I think that signs and maybe some traffic controller volunteers might help make this a smoother event.

As it stands, this is the best event to try the beers from all over our sprawling beer scene.

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L.A. Beer Week Kick-Off – The Photos

Back to L.A. Center Studios to volunteer and drink beer at the Kick-Off Fest for LABW10.

Here are some photos from the day…

The crowd at the peak of the fest.

I had my first Liberation beer ever!

More Long Beach beer

First taste of Lincoln Heights’ Wiretap beer

Glassware glamour shot

The festival stretches from Frogtown to Pomona!

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#LABW10 – Oink

It is Beer Week Eve! Here is my fifth event choice for L.A. Beer Week….
From The Full Pint gang hosted by The Oinkster

June 21st starting at 6:30

“To celebrate LA Beer Week 10, The Full Pint crew will be hanging out at their favorite burger and pastrami joint, The Oinkster!

Join Danny, Franny and Jonny for a night of special selected local craft beer and a “One-Night-Only” food menu.

We’ll have beers on draft from our friends at Highland Park Brewery, Green Cheek Beer Co. and Homage Brewing

We just may be popping some rare bottles of beer, you never know.

## Food Menu ##
Danny’s Bacon Patty Melt
Jonny’s Jalapeno Burger
Franny Fries!”

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#LABW10 – Tomorrow

Only a couple days away now! Here is my L.A. Beer Week choice for the day….
From Southland Beer – The Unity Firkin

Tomorrow at 4:30pm!
“Every year for LA Beer Week the LA Brewers Guild selects one local brewery to brew up one massive collaboration beer called Unity. This year Los Angeles Ale Works was the lucky brewery. Every year since we’ve opened we’ve been honored to receive one of the few firkins of this beer. We’ll be tapping one again this year to kick off Beer Week! No doubt you’ll be drinking more than a few pints of Unity beer this month. Come check out the cask version and see how it compares!

UNITY West (7.0%) – El Dorado | Idaho 7 | Simcoe. Classic dry west coast IPA with notes of tropical fruit and a dank finish. Hop forward with the malt and yeast characteristics playing second fiddle.”

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#LABW10 – Flora

Here is the daily event recommendation for L.A. Beer Week event # 3….
From Mikkeller DTLA a tap take-over with Fonta Flora

Here are the details for this event:
“Join us on Friday 22nd June for an awesome event with our friends from Fonta Flora Brewery! With an emphasis on seasonal flora, Fonta Flora brings English tradition and Belgian inspiration to the Appalachian mountains of North Carolina.

Free Entry as always! Tap list below!
Beets, Rhymes Life – Appalachian Saison brewed with local beets
Irish Table – Dry Irish Stout
Southern Saison – Appalachian Saison with black tea and lemons
Whippoorwill – Witbier brewed with organic oranges, coriander, and earl grey tea
Wolf Spit – Baltic porter brewed with hickory bark”

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#LABW10 – Women

It’s Tuesday, time for L.A. Beer Week event # 2….
From Kelly Erickson and hosted at Sunset Beer, Celebrate the ladies of Los Angeles craft beer with this special event featuring a taplist of women-brewed beer!

“Thursday, June 21 at 6 PM – 9 PM. This event is designed to highlight female brewers in our city and the industry at large. While only a small percent of brewmasters are female, more and more women are working in various fields and levels of breweries (from ownership to lab techs and marketing, and more). Craft beer consumption by women grows every year.

Full taplist coming soon – confirmed breweries are:”
Arrow Lodge Brewing
Arts District Brewing Co.
Three Weavers Brewing Company
Indie Brewing Company
Brouwerij West