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Hop Merchants is setting up for a party on October 19th. They will be celebrating 6 years on Lankershim Boulevard in NoHo. If you can’t make that day, I strongly suggest making a visit. I am sure you will find a four-pack to go at least if not a draft beer too.
On the 21st, if you are looking to get fest-bier-ive, head to North Hollywood and Hop Merchants ( maybe they should re-brand ad Fest Merchants that day ) for their Oktoberfest celebrations.
You will get the usual pretzels and stein holding but they will also have great Okto drafts too.
North Hollywood bottle shop and bar, Hop Merchants unveiled their customer best of list for 2023 and it’s an interesting mix of hip breweries and locals…
Good to see HPB come out on top and a little weird to see North Park so low but an interesting snapshot in time and I hope they do it again in years to come so the lists can be compared.
Like a quarterback with multiple wide receiver options, I have a few bottle (can) shoppes that I frequent including North Hollywood’s Hop Merchants. And they are having their 5th anniversary this soon…
The end of April will mark the observance of the 2nd Anniversary for NoHo’s Lawless Brewing.
You might want to be in North Hollywood on Saturday October 22nd. That is the date for the Hop Merchants 4th Anniversary Extravaganza!
The Bottle (can) Shop will have a special tap list, which will include a collaboration beer with their closest brewery, Lawless Brewing.
I have checked out NoHo’s Lawless Brewing on opening weekend and now was the tine to give a second visit.
This was on the tab of GoTab which is an online ordering system that Lawless as well as Firestone Walker in Venice uses for contactless orders.
(I promise to talk about the two beers I sampled as well)
You simply point your phones camera at the QR code and you are whisked to the website to order. For Lawless, it also included the food vendor. You choose your beers, enter your credit card and phone number for texts and wait for your beers to arrive.
That is the optimum outcome. I played a bit dumb (not that hard for me) and had one of the GoTab people help me order. That order never came. A good fifteen minutes went by before another GoTab rep ordered on her phone and then my beers came. I noticed that food orders were taking quite some time too.
It comes down to people in the end. This is supposed to supplant going up to the bar yourself or having waitstaff but having to explain the system repeatedly or having people going to the bar to find their order doesn’t really save time for the people. I think it would be more advantageous to have a person walking the order line talking about the beers and being general host help.
I do think this technology is probably coming but for now, it is not going to be a reason for me to go to a brewery or return to one.
Sampled
Dirk Kirkin Barrel-Aged Scotch Ale – nice spice character to this. Good balance of barrel notes to base beer
Bonjour Saison – a good first effort at a Saison. I think it could use a bit more ester quality to it.
The end of April saw the opening of Lawless Brewing and I quickly hopped over to check it out for a first visit.
The warehouse space outside doesn’t hint at the silver, metallic two floor space inside. There is the usual bar and indoor seating but because of the height it doesn’t seem constrained. Personally, I hope the mezzanine seating is opened because you can get a nice view of the brewing area and have some people watching.
The beer list was split in thirds by pilsner/lager, hoppy and stout. Between myself and beer buddy Richard, we tasted at least one from each category and found the light beers the best of the group. I voted the Mexican Lager winner with the Bohemian pilsner second over the West Coast IPA.
The time we visited issues arose for both their QR code menu and ordering system as well as their credit card system but the staff was friendly and gave updates and were flexible which made all the difference. That is key to return visits which is also helped by a new Single Hop Strata pils that is in the pipeline.
Looks like Lawless Brewing has settled on an opening date for their NoHo brewery…
Mark your calendar and expect some beer reviews when I can get some to-go to safely taste at home.
Well, I must have been asleep at the switch. I totally missed the Indie Go Go campaign for Lawless Brewing Co. which will be taking over a movie equipment rental house in North Hollywood. The brewery will open, sometime in this eventful year and mark the first brewery in this part of Los Angeles.