Tag: LA Beer Week

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LA Beer Week – Report # 1

Well, thank goodness, I was at Naja’s before the Stone taps started flowing because it was a zoo after the 7pm bell literally rang. Great Stone stuff available. I had the 10/10/10 which was very wine oriented and good but I don’t quite know how it will age. The abv will certainly keep it for awhile but the tastes will fade in my humble opinion. Then I went for the GK Madman IRS and it started out chocolate and coffee and then sucker punched me with pepper that would not go away.

Here is the photographic evidence.

The second stop on the 2nd annual LA Beer Week festivities was Blue Palms for a Night with Avery Brewing. I came away very impressed. The Missionary with guava was really excellent. The fruit shone through but without being too cloying or too sweet. The Joe’s pilsner was just as good. Sparkly and bready with with a lovely sharpness. Also out of sight, was the Out of Sight stout with espresso. It tasted of freshly ground beans. Awesome.

Greg Koch from Stone was in attendance along with Adam Avery who made the rounds and seemed too really enjoy spending a night with LA beer lovers.

NEXT: THE BEER FLOAT SHOWDOWN!

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Library Alehouse – LA Beer Week taps

In an effort to help you plan your LA Beer Week, here is a list of beers that the venerable Library Alehouse will be pouring….get ready to drool….

7th…….Stone 14th Anniversary Emperial IPA cask
8th…….Karl Strauss Big Barrel DIPA
9th…….Houblon Chouffe Dobbelen IPA Tripel
10th…..Lagunitas Maximus
….Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA
11th…..Jolly Pumpkin Oro de Calabaza
12th…..Russian River Consecration
13th…..Dogfish Head’s Theobroma
14th…..Sierra Nevada’s Black Barleywine
15th…..Drake’s Denogginizer DIPA
16th…..Bootlegger’s Black Phoenix Chipotle Coffee Porter
17th…..Port Brewing’s Older Viscosity

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LA Beer Week tickets

Go HERE to get your tickets for the 2nd LA Beer Week finale party on October 17th.
labeerweekad-760270

And if you thought last year at Descanso Gardens amongst the roses was cool. How about upping the ante to historic Union Station!

Now you can metro to the beer and not have to worry about driving or parking.

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LA Beer Week – Suggestions

As you may have noticed, I really enjoyed LA Beer Week. Great events all over the southland with something for everyone.

But here are my humble suggestions for next years celebration of all things craft beer.

1. Signs – I think that each venue that is hosting an event should have a big LA Beer Week sign with a listing of what is happening at that particular venue and it should be put up a couple weeks before the start. There should also be a large banner for the kick-off that could be used for the big festival at the end of the week. It would be much better than a hastily made sign with arrows on it. It also gives a more professional gloss to each event and might bring in some foot traffic as well.

2. more beer premiere’s – As I was scanning the beer blogosphere, some events seemed to be commented on a bit. But what really got the beer geeks tails wagging was the release of Black Xantus. I would ask a couple brewers if they have any seasonal or special release beers that they could “hold” until LA Beer Week. I also think it would be worth exploring having a collaborative LA Beer Week beer. Maybe something called SigAlert or something catchier. Would be a great way to get some publicity. You might even get it into the LA Times Food section the week before.

3. Beer maps – It would be great to have a PDF on the website that showed all the participating bars and breweries. It could even be on a coaster. Also the final event could have used a “you are here” type of map as well.

4. Media Beer and dinner pairing – Again, all about publicizing what is going on here. It doesn’t have to be fancy but you could invite people as far ranging as humble bloggers like myself (hint-hint) to Jonathan Gold at the Weekly, the Good Food people at KCRW.

All nitpicky things. But I think it might increase participation and reduce questions and maybe problems.

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LA Beer Week – Descanso Gardens

This capstone event to LA Beer Week did not have the look or the feel of a first year attempt. This was very classy. From the location of Descanso Gardens to the music being played to the great selection of beer and cider.

It was a chance (at a very reasonable price) to sample old favorites and try some of the hotly anticipated beers that are new to the market. Nectar Ales had some Black Xantus on hand. Gentleman Scholar was pouring their Espresso Stout. Telegraph brought down an excellent Harvest Rye that was brewed primarily for the vintners of Santa Barbara. Duvel had their “Green” on hand and Craftsman brought a wet-hop ale that was quite tasty. There was a good mix of styles and regions represented.

The one thing that I worried about was the crowd. Usually the unlimited pours brings out the beast in some people who are not their to expand their palates but rather to wreck them. But that was not the case. It was a friendly and fun atmosphere.

Thanks to Jay, Scott, Dennis, Ryan, Brandon and to all else who volunteered and took time out to make this happen.