Follow Sean Inman to the best in craft beer
My bad. I was late to posting about the Lucky Baldwin’s Belgian beer salute. But there is still time to head to Pasadena to check out what is pouring. It will probably be either an old favorite you can re-visit or a perhaps a new sour to sip.
The mini Lucky Baldwins empire annually pours Christmas beers at is pubs and you still have time to hit up one and see what winter warmer leftovers you can find.
Naja’s Place has their successful IPA festival but for those in the valley who can’t make the trek to Naja’s have their own alternative at one of the multiple locations of Lucky Baldwin’s….
If you can’t get enough IPA, here’s an opportunity to try a lot.
The second half of the L.A. summer season is here, time to load up the ‘fridge with warm weather beers and start to be amazed at how early the fall seasonals are on shelves.
~ e-visits to three breweries from with the Beer Bloggers Conference landing in Milwaukee, we visit three Wisconsin breweries.
~ special featured reviews of Unibroue beers
~ 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 Dodge City by Tom Clavin
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world.
Here are two events to get your August started in the Los Angeles craft beer world:
1) August 1st – All Your Oats Can release at Eagle Rock Brewery
2) August 3rd – Russian River Tap Take-Over at Lucky Baldwin’s Trappiste Pub location.
Back in the dark times, if you lived on the Westside, you would head to Daily Pint. That’s all you really had. In the valley, there was Stuffed Sandwich. That’s all you really had. And for us in Glendale, it was Lucky Baldwin’s and their occasional festival.
Their big ticket item was the Belgian Beer Festival and it is back for it’s 18th year.
If you need a break from the hops and want to re-visit Belgium without the plane ticket then Pasadena is the place to be starting today.
If you are in the anti-pumpkin beer camp or you are looking for something un-hoppy & you are in a celebratory mood. I think you might find something good at the Lucky Baldwin’s.
Maybe even some German fussball on the TV too.
It appears that Pasadena is getting into the beer festival business. And they have read the tea leaves and are going very local. Not some generic affair.
I will go on record as saying that only Absolution and The Dude’s have underwhelmed me so far. Alosta and Timeless Pints still have something to prove and I don’t know all that much about Wolf Creek to be honest. But the remaining 15. Well, they are good. Which makes this an event to watch.
Since I spent most of Sunday driving, I did not relish a trip (in traffic) to Redondo Beach. And besides, I was planning on going there for the Local Breweries night next week. SO to kick off the 2 weeks of beery goodness, I and beer buddy Richard headed to the old school Lucky Baldwin’s in Old Town Pasadena to ring in the 2011 edition of LA Beer Week.
I had the double dry hopped Ruination to start, then a year old Emperial IPA (the 14th anniversary ale). It was a restrained start to a two week marathon of great beer.
Before the beer revolution struck Los Angeles, One of the few places that served good beer was Lucky Baldwin’s in Pasadena. Truth be told between them and Crown City and Craftsman. Pasadena was the place to be for beer.
Now Lucky is in three spots. Old Town, Sierra Madre and now the Trappiste Pub near Pasadena City College. The last being my favorite of the trio.
So to whet your appetite before you visit, here are a couple of arty brew shots from the third Baldwin……
Because I wanted to be rested and ready for the Verdugo and because the traffic on the 405, 5, 110 was for crap, I wandered to Lucky Baldwin’s for some Green. Duvel that is. It is an interesting beer that I think might be a new favorite. It is almost a cross between a saison and a Belgian golden. Lovely bright yellow color. Aroma was faint but the taste was really different and weird. In a good way.
Also, NEW LA BEER ALERT!!!
From the mind of Martin Svab comes a new espresso stout made with the help of the fine folks at Skyscraper. They are having a release party tomorrow night at a hair salon? I hope to see you all there.