Be on the lookout for the Version 2.0 fold out map of all the OFFICIAL L.A. craft breweries brought to you by the L.A. County Brewers Guild. And wonder at the fact that the big number stands at 60!
Pulls Have Been Stopped
The City of Los Angeles would probably have a much higher number of breweries if the government knew how to handle permitting a brewery. In my 8 years of blogging about beer in L.A., that has yet to happen. There is either no political will to do so or the inertia is just too much.
To counter that indifference that borders on hostility, breweries have been liberal about pulling temporary permits. It is a loophole that has been used in DTLA but apparently somewhere in the bowels of the city, someone noticed a spike in these permits and grew wise to what was being done.
That is my best guess. The optics for a municipal government to drop the hammer and appear pro-active rather than letting things slide by are obvious. Especially when it comes to alcohol. I had a bad feeling that if it was done too much that this would happen, but perhaps this can be the impetus for change because both Cellador and Hand Brewed are in craft beer areas that are underserved and they deserve better for their hard work.
Extreme(ly) Far in Advance
I have been a loyal reader of Beer Advocate (the magazine) for years now and have seen ads touting their festivals in Boston and wondered if they might take that on the road.
And they will be, if you are willing to wait a bit, as in over a year from now. Don’t exactly know why they are announcing so soon.
The Extreme Beer Fest® will come to Los Angeles and the California Market Center, Next December 9th in 2017. With the tickets going on sale Saturday, March 4, 2017.
Dogfish Head is the main sponsor but aside from that the only other news is that it be split into two sessions over one day.
More updates to come as the date draws much closer.
GABF Awards – Re-Cap
Another edition of the Great American Beer Festival is in the books. Here is a curated awards round-up with a focus on LA area based breweries.
Imagine you had 7,227 beers in front of you. Picture that in your mind. That is the beast that Charlie Papazian has wrought. He pioneered this festival through 35 years and it was heartening to see Colorado Governor Hickenlooper honor him for his service and all of the many fist bumps that must make his right hand a mess on the Sunday after the awards ceremony.
96 categories were contested this year with (7) new categories added for 2016. Pumpkin /Squash Beer, Finnish Sahti, Swedish Gotlandsricke, Pale and Dark Breslau Schoeps, German Leichtbier and Specialty Saison.
Let’s get into the Los Angeles winners shall we? ABove is Bob Kunz and the Highland Park team which won GOLD with Good Green for American-Style Strong Pale Ale. El Segundo, known for hops, won for their lager instead, Casa Azul. The Beachwood Blendery was not in chaos but their friendly Lambic won silver. Also winning silver was Devon Randall and Arts District Brewing in the Smoke Beer category for Cowboy Curtis. Also, very impressively Huntington Beach’s Riip Beer Co. took silver in the highly competitive and largest group, IPA with their Super Cali IPA. An amazing 312 beers were in that category! Moving down to bronze we find Kinetic Brewing winning that shade in the Chocolate Beer category for 4th Gear, newbie Iron Triangle started snared the Imperial Stout bronze for Jawbone, reliable winners Smog City got bronze for Sabre-Toothed Squirrel as well.
For reasons unknown to me, the Pabst plant of industrial beer won a pair of medals as well as another Large Brewing Company plaque. So there is that LA connection too.
Big Winners of the morning presentation were (4) medal winners Figueroa Mountain and Überbrew from Billings, Montana.
Going all statistical, the best results were posted by Wyoming, Hawaii and Virginia. California picked up 56 medals all told. IPA’d dominated the amount of submission but coffee beer was a newcomer to the big categories so kudos to California that took silver and bronze in that caffeinated category.
(All photos screenshotted from the Brewers Network livestream of the event.) Sorry that I again entered in late. Damn time difference.
Ours
Looks like DTLA will be gaining another distiller. Our/Vodka will be opening at the end of the month. I missed a preview but this is what to look for in the vodka aisle….
The distillery is backed by drinks company Pernod Ricard and is the 9th in the chain that stretches from Houston to Paris to Detroit with locals involved in each locale.
Once recovered from L.A. Beer Week, I will see if I can sneak in a visit.
In the Tap Lines for June 2016
We have arrived into summer and the month where L.A. Beer Week lives, tomorrow will be the first post of many with picks for the week+ of beer in the City of Angels, but first, extensive coverage of the Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Festival with special new releases like STiVO pils and Double Rye DBA, plus:
~ e-visits to three breweries featured at the Firestone Walker Invitational. Creature Comforts, Side Project & Mahrs Brau.
~ special featured reviews of the L.A. Beer Week Unity beer, a cellared 2015 and the new 2016 IPA.
~ 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 The Regional Office is Under Attack .
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world
Here are two events to get your June started in the Los Angeles craft beer world:
1) June 11th – Beer and Jerky Pairing at Southland Beer
2) June 12th – Mumford Brewing 1st Anniversary
…and here is the beer photo of the month
L.A. (not so) Confidential
The rest of the craft beer country will really know about us now that Henry from Monkish has landed on the cover of the latest Beer Advocate magazine issue.
Let that sink in for a moment. Now let me break out my red pen to see what I agree with and what I don’t…
Right off the bat, the fact that the fabulous Bernie Wire was the lead photographer was perfect even if the article failed to live up to my expectations, I knew that the look would be good.
I was a little concerned by the map though accompanying the piece. No names of breweries, towns or freeways on it. Little less than useful. Maybe another photo there? Or a sidebar about the writer’s favorite beers?
The tone of the piece authored by Sean Lewis is good. L.A. Is a stereotypical city and it is good to start with a confirm and then move on opening set of paragraphs. I also liked the ending which turned the focus to one of the strengths of L.A., the women who power our scene. I am also glad that Eagle Rock and Ladyface got their due though I wish Strand would have gotten a mention too.
Speaking of mentions, I think it should be obligatory that Craftsman and Mark Jilg get mentioned for holding the banner up. But maybe that was cut for space or considered something that has been done too much already. Also a plug for L.A. Beer Week would have been nice.
Overall, not much to quibble with. Lewis is a reliable writer for Beer Advocate who seems a straight shooter without betraying a bias. You could take this article and visit the breweries and bars and get a solid snapshot of what L.A. beer is.
Oh and I am artfully hidden in the Eagle Rock photo on page 58.
Beer Camp to Pitch Beer Tents in L.A.
Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. is bringing their Camp of Beer to LA next year. They recently announced their 2nd Beer Camp Across America (BCAA) 2016 festival tour and Los Angeles is on the six city list. Scheduled on Saturday, June 25th, 2016.
Line-Up and ticket information will be fleshed out next year but look for locals and close to L.A. breweries such as:
· Beachwood BBQ & Brewing
· Port Brewing Co./The Lost Abbey
· Bagby Beer Co.
· Societe Brewing Co.
· Smog City Brewing Co.
Left in LA
Looks like Los Angeles is on the Left Hand Brewing distribution list. Starting this spring the Craft Beer Guild of Los Angeles will be bringing in beers from the Colorado brewery into SoCal. From San Diego to Santa Barbara.
Whether or not they blitz the area like Bell’s did in February is an open question but it seems the amount of choices for the L.A. beer consumer is growing.
It will be interesting to see if their famed Nitro Milk Stout takes off here.
soLArc Brewing
Any brewer, and I am not talking just about L.A., that calls a beer Mask of Agamenmon, earns some points in my book. That is just Theatre History nerd fact.
I missed trying their Gruit at Sunset Beer because, silly me, I thought a hop-less beer would last a weekend on tap. I was wrong. Happily.
That means I am still on the hunt for my first beer from SoLArc.
P.S.
I had the Dunes Gruit at the Oinkster and was pleasantly surprised. It wasn’t over-the-top with spice and had a certain hefe character to it. Quite enjoyable.