In the Tap Lines for November 2011

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We are nearing the end of the year and the holidays come at us fast and furious. Each time this year, starting AFTER Thanksgiving, I start posting up the labels of different holiday winter warmers but before then, the same great mix of news, events, reviews and opinion.

~ e-visits to three breweries from Canada.
~ special reviews of beers from my recent trip to Solana Beach.
~ Heads-Up on Los Angeles Beer Events
~ Three suggested beers to buy this month. One light, one medium and one dark
~ Beer-centric podcast review, …..
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world
~ … and Session # 105 asks us to compare and contrast in Double Feature.

Here are two events to get your November started in the Los Angeles craft beer world:
1) November 15th – Local Craft Fest at Rock & Brews El Segundo
2) November 21st – Stout BeerFest for Beer Geeks.

P.S.You may have noticed that the Golden Road logo is no longer part of the “My Locals” graphic. I made that decision due to the fact that Tony Yanow is not involved anymore. That departure saddens me because, for me, he was the beer lover/IPA fan in the ownership group. That is gone and been replaced by ABInBev. That crater sized hole, I am afraid, will not be filled by people with that same Tony attitude.

I did not make this decision lightly and I know that it won’t matter a whit in their popularity but I have to draw line for myself and Golden Road crossed it, and crossed it without apology in their awkward video and other interviews that instead of promoting craft beer became salvos against home brewing and playing for the winning team. It’s as if they were sneering at where they came from instead of celebrating it.

Their beer may not suffer in quality and yes, it will be available in more and more places but it has lost the “craft” and become just “beer”.

Now, where can I find a “Craft Beer is the Winning Team” t-shirt?

Anniversary Stop # 2 – Culture Brewing

For a couple days, Solana Beach (and a hot tub) was home. That meant a short walk to the new Culture Brewing.
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The beer board is impressive in its detail and the small space before the bar and the tent out back are very well designed. The logo is cool and it is in an area with cool funky shops. Oh, and they sell growler bags.  Yup, 64oz capacity, beach cool beer.
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I ordered up all the wet hop beers on offer but alas was not super impressed. Mosaic, Citra and Equionx just didn’t differentiate themselves. I would have seriously failed a blind tasting.  The coffee IPA was bolder but even in a taster pour became too harsh as the bitterness of the java fought the hops. The oaked triple IPA was the winner but it too suffered from being a muddle. No hop really stood out.
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I loved the space, though more seating would be great.  Loved the vibe but not enough to buy a growler bag that I really wanted to try.