Two events for the short week – Los Angeles

at Far Bar in Little Tokyo:
“We welcome our friends from the beautiful Agoura Hills of North LA County for a eclectic Five Course and Beer Dinner and Meet the Brewer night.Ladyface is currently brewing some of the finest Craft and Belgian-Inspired style ales in Southern Ca and they’re still in their infancy mind you! (Under 2 years old). Come out and meet Co Founder/Brewmaster Dave Griffith and Co-Founder Cyrena Nouzelle for a night of great company, delicious food and outstanding beer!”

at the Library Alehouse in Santa Monica
“Put down your pencils and put on your drinking hats! Over here at the Library Alehouse we’ve been quietly building up a serious archive of Dogfish Head beer and with our recent receipt of a certain continuously-hopped, extremely high-ABV IPA, we thought we’d throw a party and put them all on at once!”

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

BAM 2010

Yesterday, I told you about the LA Craft Beer Crawl. Well here is the 411 on another charitably beer event happening in Santa Monica…

from the press release:
BAM Fest 2010

“18th Street Arts Center, in association with popular Santa Monica restaurant, Library Alehouse, is bringing the first Craft Beer Festival to the Westside of L.A. B.A.M. Fest, which stands for Beer, Art and Music Festival, is a celebration of locally produced art, music and the finest craft beers around. With 20-plus breweries, 4 bands, 3 galleries, open artist studios, gourmet organic food provided by the Green Truck, and sweet treats from the Big Swirl Truck, B.A.M. Fest 2010 is poised to draw a crowd and become Santa Monica’s next ‘hoppiest’ annual event.

A $35 donation ($30 pre-sale until Sept. 1, 2010) provides you 5 hours of live music, exploration of artist studios and galleries with art for purchase, and unlimited tasting of great beers in the Santa Monica sunshine. All proceeds from the event directly support 18th Street Arts Center’s programs and artists.”

Webiste: http://18thstreet.org/events/bam-fest

Beer Pair(ing)

Here is a heads up. One week from today, the great Library Alehouse is pairing with the Beer Chicks for a beer dinner pairing that benefits What a Pair.
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Here is the 411 and the menu:
“Christina Perozzi and Hallie Beaune, better known as the Beer Chicks, are the co-authors of The Naked Pint an Unadulterated Guide to Craft Beer. They will be on hand to show us their Pair(ings), and guide you through some of beer’s best styles. Come and learn a little about the world’s favorite beverage.

15% of sales from the entire day will be donated to What a Pair.
Cost is $50 a ticket. Seating is limited, please RSVP ASAP.
To RSVP call Tom Kelley, Alehouse Cicerone at 310-383-2329 “

Their will be 9 beers with some small plates for pairings.

Mamma’s Little Yella Pilsner

Weihenstephaner Hefeweizen (bottle)

Allagash White – Gioia Ricotta dressed with lemon and Allagash White

Ballast Point Calico Amber – Semi-firm Cheese TBA

Bruery Tradewinds Tripel – Heirloom Tomato Salad

Bear Republic Racer 5 IPA – Fish Taco and mango salsa

Chimay Blue (bottle) – Beef Carbonnade with pommes frites

Rodenbach (bottle) – Chocolate

Coconut Porter – Ice Cream float

Allagash + Library Alehouse =

What sounds to be a great beer night. Check this out…(from the press release)
“Josh Gil can often be found at the bar of Library Alehouse, sampling some of its wonderful libations. He also happens to be the chef de cuisine that earned Joe’s Restaurant its Michelin star, and he has a new project called the Supper Liberation Front — a guerilla style dining experience that sets up tables in an unknown location each week.

Library Alehouse will welcome him as guest chef for a not-so-secret night of food and beer pairings on Wednesday August 4. Rob Tod, founder of Allagash Brewing, will be co-hosting with Tom Kelley, Library’s Certified Cicerone™. Kelley will speak about the pairings while Tod will be introduced and interviewed by special guest, beerscribe Tomm Carroll of the Celebrator Beer News, to provide the dinner guests with a a behind the scenes look at the featured beers. Some stories about the “old” days of craft brewing are bound to come out as well…

This beer pairing dinner promises to be a unique gastronomic experience and of a caliber not usually seen — or tasted — in local beer bars and restaurants. The matching of craft beer with innovative cuisine is being taken to the next level, and the proof will be on your plate and in your glass.

Below is the menu, but beers shall not be limited to this. In addition some small release Allagash beers are sure to be poured.”

This event is by RSVP only. To obtain tickets you may visit
https://www.libraryalehouse.com/shop/product_info.php?products_id=39

Wednesday, August 4
One seating at 6:30 p.m.
5 courses + beer pairings, $60 (plus tax and tip)

lil bites
with
allagash white

mackerel victoria ale foam, gari sheet
with
allagash victoria ale

red roast pork croquettes slaw, kung pao glaze
with
allagash curieux

lamb reuben two ways
with
allagash four

foie gras gelato stout swirl, kubocha tempura
with
allagash black

Steve Grossman from Sierra Nevada

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As threatened in yesterday’s post, here are some thoughts and a video from Steve Grossman’s visit to the Library Alehouse.
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Sierra Nevada started in Woodland Hills with a homebrewing neighbor who left his creations unguarded in the back yard.

-It was a homebrew shop in Chico first, then a brewery.

– Their flagship pale ale was the 2nd beer brewed.

-They did 723 thousand barrels last year.

-Sierra Nevada is staying in the family.

-They are dedicated to the sustainability issue.

Now on to a bit of video where Steve talks about Southern Hemisphere’s origins….

Sierra Nevada @ Library Alehouse

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As usual, when you go to a Library Alehouse event, you get great beer and great food. You can tell some thought has gone into the preparations.

This post will talk about the beer and the food and tomorrow I will post a video and some interesting notes from Sierra Nevada Ambassador Steve Grossman. (That last name should sound familiar to SN fans.)

We started with a palate opener that was great for our new found Southern California sunny weather, Summerfest.
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It was probably my favorite for the night (tied with the Nautilus). It was a straw yellow and pretty zippy. A little bit of tart lemon to it as well as some nice hops.

Even though it was not included in the menu, I had to try the latest in the 30th Anniversary collaborative beers. This being the Imperial Helles Bock. The Charlie Papazian and Fred Eckhardt inspired offering.
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This beer left me a bit confused. Complex. Lots of alcohol but not heavy. Malty flavors that faded into a touch of hoppiness. It was an interesting take on a bock for sure. Poor me, I will have to try again (maybe from a bottle) to see if I can catch anything new.

Then it was on to the Beer Camp Nautilus.
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This was another really punchy, wake you up type of beer. Very easy to drink. I could see this as a gateway beer for people raised on pilsners. It has all the attributes of a pils with extra hops and extra grain flavors.

Next was the Southern Hemisphere Harvest. Sierra Nevada knows IPA’s. Nothing fancy here. Just straight up well balanced hop profile. Nice floral aroma with a lot of good citrus notes.
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Last was the first 30th Anniversary beer, the Anchor Steam collaboration. I don’t know what happened since my last taste of this beer but it was wicked smokey. I don’t know if that is how it ages but the chocolate notes I first encountered were smothered away. I was really looking forward to it and it was the biggest let down.

On the food front, I ate fried calamari! Not the spidery bits. Just the suckers. Not horrible. Sorta like mussels except less chewy. The Jerk chicken was really spicy. The beans and rice duo on the side really helped put the fire out. The most successful dish to me was the Mocha Torte. Delicious! All paired well with their respective beers.

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Beer Geek Breakfast

Who can say no to French Toast and Danish beer? I can’t. Especially when it is at the beach on a beautiful, sunny day at the excellent Library Alehouse.

First a photo of the food…bgb2
now just the beer….
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Bear Republic at the Library Alehouse

I don’t get out to the Library Alehouse often enough. They have good food (Spinach and Strawberry salad) and a nice selection of beers and at least one if not more that I haven’t had either before or in a long time.

Since Bear Republic was in town along with Racer X, I e-mailed my fellow beer traveler Richard and we tasted a sample of 4 Bear beers.

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First up was Norcal, it is a typical West Coast Pale. Assertive and hoppy without the citrus and pine that makes an IPA for me. It does go great with food though. Second was Racer V. This was my favorite of the night. As Richard said, pink grapefruit tastes. Third was the Racer X. Strong and bold at first but that dissipates to pine and orange notes. Last was Heritage, a Scotch ale. Nice malt and roasty flavors. Some coffee notes too.

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Thanks to the Library for putting on a good show.