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I love seeing beers in packaging that is not usually associated with a style which is why it is cool to see that Los Angles Ale Works has put their Jazz Forever Bourbon Barrel-Aged beer in 12oz cans. The beer is described by the Hawthorne brewery as, “A smooth and choco lately blend of Imperial Stout, Barley Wine, and Roggenbock.”
Los Angeles Ale Works is getting a 2nd tap room location and it is in the “in the works” Ivy Station development that will be the new home of HBO amongst other shoppes and eateries. The location will have 24 taps, a patio to enjoy your beer on, and takeaway sales if you do not like patios. Expect last half of 2020 for this to open.
New beers do not wait at L.A. AleWorks. They have also upped their design game too utilizing some bright colors for recent can releases like these two newbies….
“Double Up Juicy DIPA is our Maltose Falcons collaboration. Big and fruit forward, you’ll find notes of orange, candied peaches and mango.”
“Mystery Dimension Single Hop IPA highlights the French hop Mistral. Piney berry notes with a touch of bitterness make this a balanced, easy drinking IPA for everyone.”
The votes have been tallied for 2019 and you can click HERE to see the winners from the Great American Beer Festival. Let’s rundown the Los Angeles medal view….
First though, let’s say upfront that only 2,295 breweries entered. California has 1,000+ breweries so this competition, though by far the biggest really only covers a percentage of beer in the US. Think of it as a snapshot in time.
Also, there are some weird categories. IPL is mixed with malt liquor. And some categories are only filled by 30 beers in total. And what makes a beer fit the “Emerging IPA” category?
On to LA, Claremont ring up gold for Station 101. Ambitious Ales bronze for their Friends-ian Central Perk coffee beer. King’s Brewing out in Rancho Cucamonga bagged two medals. Perennial favorites Beachwood and Firestone Walker each won but not as much as years past. Arrow Lodge and Ogopogo represented for Jungalo Juice and Boeman Witbier. Bluebird Brasserie won bronze for their excellent Stay Golden Belgian Ale. Gamecraft of Laguna Beach gave me another reason to finally visit with a medal in the coffee stout category.
What really made my day was Highland Park winning gold for Timbo Pils. Such a great beer. Also Evan and Brian at Green Cheek had a day with Gold for their Australian for Pale Ale and then a silver for Radiant Beauty in the ultra-competitive American IPA category. Well deserved.
What exemplifies the GABF awards are the apply moments and I leave for you with the one where Breakside Brewing of Portland was on stage, getting the glamour shot with Charlie Papazian when their name was announced as gold medal winner for another category. Brewer Ben Edmonds could not contain himself. He jumped up, bent over and was “in” the moment. That is what this whole revolution is about.
LA Beer Hop has been ferrying beer fans all over the Southland and now they have a Juicy DIPA named in their honor, Hop on the Bus is brewed by Los Angeles Ale Works to celebrate the Beer Hop’s 7th year in operation. The beer uses Norwegian Kveik yeast and Idaho 7 hops and a new experimental hop called HBC 472.
Veteran’s Day is coming up quick and Los Angeles Ale Works has created a new West Coast IPA, Camouflage that uses the 2018 Veterans Blend of hops (Cashmere, Centennial, Ekuanot, Mosiac and Simcoe) from Yakima Chief to add even more give back.
The hop blend is chosen by a group of veteran-owned breweries with a portion of the sales going to the Semper Fi Fund.
And LA Ale Works did not stop with just the hops. The label was designed by a veteran-owned company and the food on can release day is from a veteran-owned outfit as well.
And to top it off a portion of proceeds of the can sales on Sunday the 11th will go to the JT Foundation 10 “which supports homeless veterans, children and families battling life-altering illnesses right here in Los Angeles.”
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.”
One of the best traditions of L.A. Beer Week is the release of the yearly Unity. It is a collaboration worthy of the Los Angeles County Brewers Guild.
This year we have twins as on June 6, 2018 there will be a dual-can release. Los Angeles Ale Works is the lead brewery for 2018 and they have created both a hazy and West Coast IPA.
Here are the details from the L.A. Beer Week website, “Both beers clock in at 7% ABV and will take on flavors of El Dorado and Idaho 7 hops, but the west coast and east coast will also feature Simcoe and Mandarina Bavaria hops respectively. The west coast is fermented with the classic Cali 01 yeast strain while Sach Trois was utilized for the juicy version. The recipes result in a classic, dry west coast IPA with a dank finish for the west coast and a softer, full-bodied hazy IPA with lower bitterness and a tropical finish.”
If you happen to be Hawthorne adjacent next week, Los Angeles Ale Works will have a treat for you. Their first cans are scheduled for a limited release on February 9th and a full rollout on February 10th.
It may seem that all I write about at times is to post about an upcoming anniversary party for a brewery. Such is the life when breweries come hot and heavy over a short 8 year period.
Next up is in Hawthorne where L.A. Ale Works will be hitting the 1st year mark in early February….
