Follow Sean Inman to the best in craft beer
There are 60+ breweries in the L.A. County Brewers Guild, which means that there could conceivably be an anniversary each and every weekend of the year with more to spare.
So, here is a quick Anniversary rundown for the next month+…(including some Orange County friends too!)
March 3rd – Noble Ale Works – 7
March 3rd – Brouwerij West – 2
March 3rd – Pacific Plate (Glendale) 1
March 10th – Monkish – 6
March 17th – Phantom Carriage – 3
March 24th – Sanctum – 4
April 25th – Smog City – 5
I am loath to single out one of twelve excellent tap-takeovers (sorry, One Night Stands) but the Monkish Brewing visit to Beer Belly tomorrow night is one to be at.
I consider myself up-to-date and I still haven’t had many of these beers. By many, I mean most. I might just do a side-by-side “Kisses” taste test. Or I may head to the Shadowboxing Dubbel. Or…well you get the picture.
I did feel a little self-conscious checking out a Star Wars universe book at my local library. But with the first trailer for the Force Awakens out and the Comic-Con appearance of the stars young and old, I felt a little nostalgic for the original trilogy which is the only set of movies to my mind. (No matter how much you edit the abominations of Phantom, Attack and Revenge or re-order their viewing order.)
But after a long book on Alan Turing that nearly drained me, I needed something light and easy and Tarkin by James Luceno was just that. The book charts the rise of Peter Cushing’s DeathStar Grand Moff from his upbringing on the Outer Rim planet of Eriadu to commanding the construction of the destroyer of worlds.
Darth Vader and the Emperor are along for this novel too. Tarkin comes off as a supreme tactician who knows moves way before they happen, with Vader and the Force they seem unstoppable until they come across a rogue who can match them step for step with help from the inside of what will soon be the Empire.
It gets a bit repetitive with T&V making correct chess moves to match the rebel as they hop from planet to star system via lightspeed. Then it happens again and again. The flashbacks on Tarkin’s childhood are good as is how he rose in prominence in the power structure due to the fall of others but in the end this is all just backstory. Something that the actor probably didn’t have unless Lucas had an outline like it in his head. It serves as something that could be brought out in a bit of dialogue and actorly looks on set. But you can’t write every minor and sub-minor character their own backstory in a screenplay so if you are the completist type, this will scratch the itch for more on how Tarkin ended up on the original DeathStar.
Obviously, the beers to go with this are easy to pick. For SoCal locals Galaxy Defender from Monkish Brewing a Belgian-style blonde with grapefruit peels & Galaxy hops would be an excellent choice as would be the Citizens of the Galaxy IPL from Cismontane. No matter where you are in the country, there is probably a Galaxy hopped beer that will do the trick.
Or you could go to the dark side with the Black IPA Hop Vader from Beachwood Brewing or Wookey Jack from Firestone Walker.
My local, local has a pair of LABW7 events to tempt you to my ‘hood. Yeah, Glendale can’t be called a ‘hood by any stretch of the imagination but play along with me cause the Glendale Tap is way cool. Which one would you pick to attend?
OR
Monkish Brewing of Torrance has begun bottling some of their beers. I have seen Feminist, Magnificat and Anomaly in the distinctive and beautiful packaging that I have come to expect from Henry. So now it is time to re-review the Belgian Strong Ale that is Anomaly.
First up is my draught version review from June of 2012, Nice dark brown color. Aroma gives off some fruit notes. Taste is really mellow and smooth. A good melding of of chocolate and fruit. A nice strong ale without bells and whistles.
In the bottle, the taste remains pretty much the same. I notice a little more Belgian yeast character and a touch less chocolate which brings the fruit notes forward a bit more. All in all, a really nice weekend sipper of a beer. Just a classy beer that doesn’t jump out at you but demands that you pay more attention to each sip.
Here in L.A., we are treated to the occasional DioNicEss events. Where gastronomy and beer meet. And they are back again for a Zombie themed evening that involves foodstuff’s that a zombie would enjoy and beer that I (and you) would enjoy.
“Also, we received commitment from another one of the breweries that will do a custom batch for the gig…Taps…so Victor will do one, the Bruery will, Monkish will, Beachwood will, and I believe Martin Svab’s brewery (Phantom Carriage) will be open by then and he wants to do a batch for us…wooohoooo!”
You can read the first press release about the event HERE