Tag: TAPS

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Sunset Beer Company – Interview

I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with the driving forces behind a new and new kind of craft beer addition to the Los Angeles brew scene.

John Nugent and Drew Vonah took the time to speak with me about how to create an atmosphere for beer exploration, their plans for the Echo Park space and what kind of beer they drink.

Sunset Beer Company will be a 2,000 square foot craft beer store with a few tap handles in the revitalized beer area of Echo Park.

The seed that sprouted into this new venture starts with their other establishment, the Colorado Wine Company. This Eagle Rock shop is my go-to spot for wine tasting. It is comfortable and the wines chosen are invariably challenging to my beginners wine palate.

That same welcoming feel is what is being aimed for with the new space that is still under construction. They are looking to be a comfortable place to explore the 500 beers they plan on having. It will not be a loud, male-centric cave.

What I like though is that John and Drew are coming from a background in wine as a starting point. But they both have a love of beer and seem excited that the same passion for wine exists in the beer world. They are fans of Eagle Rock Brewing (as am I) and have that “beer da vivre” that I love to see.

The plan is to open next year on a date to be named later. In the meantime, visit the wine version and imagine what a great addition the Sunset Beer Company will be to the Los Angeles beer scene.

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Up to Date

Disclaimer: I try to keep the snarky rants to myself and focus on the great beer (which there is a lot of!!) But I have to offer up a suggestion to publicans.

Keep the beer list current and change the taps.

I walked into a beer bar and saw the distinctive Green Flash logo on a tap handle but it was a Berliner Weiss from the Bruery pouring from it. Laying aside that I hope the line was cleansed free of the mammoth amount of hops that Green Flash uses (which I like), but why not change out to a Bruery handle or a generic? Is it a time issue? If so, go with the chalkboard ones. Less fuss and lots of chalk dust.

I also make a plea here for an updated beer list. It doesn’t need to be fancy. The Verdugo and Blue Palms have great beer menus. One large page or two smaller ones, I don’t care. Which beer to choose should be difficult because of the well curated kegs not because I have to figure out whats pouring.

Thanks for listening.

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My Perfect Bottle Shop

PART 1 – The Layout
store layout

As you can see, a few round tables in front. A standing bar in the middle. Two refridgerated cases. One for seasonals and new releases and one for main inventory stock. There would also be a sales island and an un-cooled section for barleywines and aging beers.

PART 2 – The beer
I would start with (3) taps with a goal of (5). One tap dedicated to a very local beer. In my case, Eagle Rock Brewery. Then there would be a couple of California beers, a foreign beer and a tap from somewhere else in the country that would rotate from Oregon to Florida to Washington state. The seasonal storage would change with the weather (dunkels and alts would be in that case now) and as new releases become available they would start their retail life there and if they sell well, I would add them to the main inventory in the back of the room. I would also sell 3 and 6 packs of mixed 12oz bottles to encourage tasting. I would focus on getting small breweries into the store. Places like Skyscraper and Upright. I would also like to place special orders as well if I could get enough good distribution contacts.

PART 3 – Events
There would be themed tastings every other month much like the quarterly tastings I currently do at my apartment. Canned beer, Christmas beer, beer and desserts and so on.
Also I would have a review program tied into my website. When you buy a pint, you get a review sheet. I make a copy of your review when you are finished and when you have reached 10 reviews, you get to choose a beer from the store for you and the room to try. The reviews will get posted on the store website. I would also like to be the host for charity events in the months where there is not tasting event scheduled.

So that is my dream. One day it will happen and I hope to see you all there.

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Craft Beer Fest LA

Yesterday was the 1st of hopefully many more to come of the Craft Beer Fest Los Angeles. I was there as both fan and volunteer from 2pm to 10pm so this will be a longer than usual post so find a comfortable chair. I will break it up into sections to make for easier reading.

Section 1 – The beer!!

Not a bad brewery in the bunch. And most importantly for me, new stuff that I really wanted to try plus new stuff from some of my old favorites. Here is what I had…..
1. Siamese Twin from Uncommon Brewers
Light golden ale, very different fruity taste to it. This beer really grew on me.
2. Automatic # 1 from Blind Lady Ales
Light Belgian ale. Had a bit of a tinny taste to me. A little astringent.
3. Scotch Isle from Craftsman
Very nice. Dark and malty. Not my favorite style of beer but this is well done.
4. Black IPA from Stone
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Very good. I love IPA’s and this is an excellent beer.
5. Golden State from Uncommon Brewers
Hazy color. Light and flavorful. Great on a summer day.
6. Cuvee Jeune from The Bruery
Had this at Blue Palms a week ago and had to get some more. Excellent sour taste.
7. IPA from Hangar 24
Another really solid IPA. Not a hop bomb but citrusy and not too acidic.
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8. Warm Water Wheat from Port Brewing
This was a really good banany hefeweizen. I hope they bottle this it is one I would like to have more of.

What I didn’t get to try and wanted to..
TAPS – Belgian White (which was really popular)
Port Brewing – Pig Dog Pale Ale

Section 2 – The Beer Panel
Moderated by Christina Perozzi with Mark Jilg from Craftsman, Ryan Sweeney from The Verdugo, Larry James from Wine Warehouse, Steve Grossman from Sierra Nevada and Victor Novak from TAPS Brewery.

Quite the interesting cross section of the beer community. They were all quite optimistic and passionate about making craft beer and where we are compared to the past and where we may end up.
It was so heartening to hear what they were saying and I wish they could have gone on longer. One thing that I took away was that there seemed to be a feeling that it was inevitable that craft beer would do to BMC (BudMillerCoors) what Starbucks did to Folgers. To that I say Amen!

Section 3 – Behind the Bar
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All I can say is, I had great fun being behind the bar. I had never done it before and I am sure it showed but it was great to hand beer over to the smiling faces on the other side. It was not long before I was sweating from avoiding fellow volunteers and going all the way from one side of the bar and back with four beers trying hard not to spill. Thanks to Kevin, Alex, Liz, Bob and Ben for allowing a rookie to help out.

Section 4 – Who was there
Jeremy from Eagle Rock Brewery
Tomm from the Celebrator
Tony from Craftsman
Joel from 826LA
Patrick from The Bruery

All in all a really great time. If you weren’t here this year plan on it next year.