Tag: Los Angeles

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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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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….
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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.

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In the Tap Lines for June 2016

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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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.

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Left in LA

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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.

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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.
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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.

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Peel the Label – Sticker Shock

Over the course of last year, sticker shock at craft beer event prices really started to wear on me. Every weekend seemed to tout a new beer-y happening with a price tag north of $50. And I believe that L.A. may have reached the limit on such expensive events that can be thrown in a year.

 

My reaction is partially due to festival fatigue that anyone who covers craft beer eventually encounters and that plain ol’ beer fans are probably feeling as well. I love picking up an impressively logo’d taster glass as I walk into a festival space and having the choice of multiple beers from multiple breweries but after six or seven samples, my palate gets tired. And if it is a timed session, the clock begins to tick and you can’t really linger too long on any one sample. The “must taste everything” part of my brain takes command.

 

Afterwards, the opportunities to recover become scarce. I almost could have scheduled just beer events most weekends of the year. But instead, 2014 was the first time that I skipped big events just to ensure that I could enjoy a festival or other beer outing the following weekend.

 

My choices of what to skip was made easier though by price. If I could get into a festival/dinner/release party as a member of the media, I would generally go, but if no pass was forthcoming, I took it as a sign to take a pass. Because by the time December (heck, even October) rolls around on the calendar, it can be hard to justify spending the time and money on yet another event. Eventually the beer budget is tapped out.

 

And no amount of brewer rock stars or imaginative beer and food pairings can save that.

Getting people to events becomes much harder. And guess which end of the price scale gets hurt by that? The top end. I know of a few events that were flat out cancelled last year due to lack of sales. I’ve been to events that had PR firms behind them that were not super well attended. Certain parties may still pull extraordinary crowds but a local brewery doing a beer dinner priced at $70 will be a tough sell from now on. Because it is already!

 

Not that the value isn’t there. From my experience, I have received much more in beer alone than paid for at most events that I have attended. But even with an improving economy you can’t spend money at every tap take-over, festival, bottle release and then be semi-expected to also be buying bottles and cans for home consumption and just go out to a bar for a lark.

 

In a way, it was easier when you only had a few breweries in our City of Angels. You would go to any and all events to not only support the locals but also because the calendar was open.

 

How to avoid this malaise?

 

  1. More options spread out over more days.

Make your festival a two day affair or publicize a leftovers night. And if you are preparing a beer and food pairing dinner, offer a la carte options as well. Some may blanche at a high price tag overall but won’t blink at a dessert and beer option. And instead of a VIP (or in addition), how about offering a discounted ticket (with a better name than discount) that offers less beer.

 

  1. Calendar management.

You can do two things. Stake out spots in advance. Plan your tap takeovers for the third Tuesday of each month. That will condition people to show up out of habit. Very Pavlovian. But first check around your immediate area to see if others have something going on that day. You may not avoid all scheduling conflicts but you can get out of the way of biggies like GABF.

 

  1. Do Less

Seems obvious but instead of planning more events publicize people just coming out for a night. Make it more about beer and a movie or beer and a concert depending on where you are located. Help people combine their entertainment so that they think of craft beer as part of their everyday life and not simply in connection with an event.

 

The times are a’ changin’ in Los Angeles and those who can both realize what the situation on the ground is and who can alter course to take advantage will be the winners in the end.

Peel the Label is an occasionally appearing post about the world of craft beer with no links, photos or graphics. Just opinion.

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City Hall

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Once again Eagle Rock Brewery was hauled downtown to answer for their crime of running a brewery in the City of Los Angeles.

The fourth time in five years. And each visit is preceded by paperwork and fees for the paperwork not to mention time spent away from brewing.

This time, as with all the others, there was no opposition save for a City Hall gadfly who was anti-alcohol only and who all but said that he had never visited the brewery.

Obviously, the tide of support coupled with the impeccable way ERB has conducted itself carried the day. But only in LA could a win seem so ungratifying.

First this hearing only produced a “recommendation”, granted it was the one they wanted but now the paperwork goes to another back logged department to be approved or denied or changed. If it passes as I fully expect it to, ERB will get a determination letter. If no one appeals that letter in 15 days, the ruling will stand.

If all goes as planned (knock on wood), then these hearings will finally cease.

And though the hearing was smoothly run and by the book, the lack of knowledge about the brewing industry was clearly evident. This process needs to change and guess who is doing that too, yup, Eagle Rock.

The city desperately needs to hire someone with knowledge of beer, wine and spirits. An Alcohol Czar, who can rewrite the inane rules that force a brewer to complete a paperwork decathalon just to open. And then doesn’t stop there. This czar could also cut through the paperwork and be a one stop shop. Where the toughness needs to be is afterwards. Bad actors should be fined when they do wrong. Right now, you are assumed guilty until proven innocent. Four times.