Tag: Vegan Beer Fest

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7th Vegan

Here is your advance warning! The LA Vegan Beer & Food Festival returns on June 18, 2016 to The Rose Bowl. There will be food, music, kombucha, cider, cold brew and soda offerings but what is most important is the beer. It is in the name after all.
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So let’s get to the list of breweries: (my picks are highlighted)
Three Weavers ~ Smog City ~ Noble Ale Works ~ El Segundo Brewing Co. ~ Macleod ~ Almanac Beer Co. ~ The Bruery ~ Ladyface Alehouse ~ Monkish ~ Bootlegger’s ~ King Harbor ~ Solarc ~ Strand ~ Speakeasy ~ Drakes ~ Alesmith ~ Avery ~ Bear Republic ~ Boulevard ~ Ommegang ~ Modern Times ~ Pizza Port ~ Mother Earth ~ SKA ~ 21st Ammendment Brewing ~ Faction ~ Bagby Beer Co. ~ Cascade ~ The Commons ~ Fat Heads ~ Boneyard ~ Double Mountain ~ Allagash and New Belgium

This year’s Vegan Beer & Food Festival will donate portions of proceeds to The Gentle Barn, a nonprofit dedicated to “teaching people kindness and compassion to animals, each other, and our planet

I went to my first Vegan Festival last year and was impressed. Most festivals begin to fill up and lines get super long but because of the space on the field and in the stadium, I never felt hemmed in. And there were enough breweries on hand to keep the lines to a dull roar at the height of attendance.

Tickets and additional event details are available HERE.

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Fest Review – L.A. Vegan Beer Fest

First time Vegan-Fester, that’s me.  I walked past a gaggle of soccer games near the Rose Bowl on Saturday afternoon towards a backdrop of the San Gabriel’s and the entrance to the Vegan Beer Festival 2015.

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This is an impressive venue for a beer event.  There is something about being at the 50 yard line of a stadium that most usually see just on a TV screen. As we all filed onto the field through the stands the layout was simple. Food and beer vendors (some trucks, some not) along the side with shaded beer booths down the middle.

There were two breweries that I specifically wanted to sample.  The new Solarc as well as Wicks. Solarc was pouring their Gruit and a hatch pepper black IPA which was easy on the spice. The trio of flavors worked well for me. I chose the cream ale from Wicks which was fine. Not to the level of TAPS or Beachwood but certainly tasty.

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Of course, I started the day easy with the Firestone Walker Easy Jack which still stands out in a festival crowd. But the other beers that caught my attention were the Ambler from Phantom Carriage. A very refreshing and almost entry level farmhouse ale. Pacific Plate’s Spring Ale was a delightful blend of ginger and other spices. Three Weavers had their Bogemian Bao Bao IPA which had a bright citrusy character to it.  Lastly the newly bottled, I Love It from Noble Ale Works worked hop wonders too.

Don’t be surprised that there isn’t much Vegan food talk. I had Mac and cheese waffle. Both odd and quite good. A little on the puny side for five bucks but it was a well executed mash-up.  Past that there were plenty of options from pizza to tacos to pudding. You could drop some money and be well fed. 
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I posted photos of the field in a before and after fashion. The VIP hour and for an hour into the general admission, the lines were not bad at all. By 2:30 when I had my fill of beer, the lines were working their way to too long status. The VIP lounge in the UCLA locker room was full and bottlenecks were 405’ing in pockets.

I heard that the total number of tickets were in the 6k range. Maybe even 7k.   That is an impressive amount of people. And one that makes me wonder if the organizers would be better served to make this a two session event. I, for one, would enjoy drinking under the stars in a night session. 

That suggestion aside, this is a well run festival where you get your money’s worth. Especially if you go the VIP ticket route. The setting and the more fun- less beer bro nature of the vegan and beer crowd make for a good afternoon. 
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The Vegans are coming (back)

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I ain’t gonna lie.  I am an omnivore.  I do hate enough foods (looking at you beets and parsnips) that I can’t cordon off one whole section of the food pyramid.  Not to mention that I do love me a good hamburger and pepperoni pizza.  But I am also open minded enough to try new things (minus mushrooms, hate those fungal bastards) and I won’t sneer at someone who chooses to go their own way. And the triumvirate behind the 5th edition of the Los Angeles Vegan Beer & Food Festival Tony’s Darts Away, The Roxy and Quarry Girl also seem to be on the same wavelength.

As Nic Adler of The Roxy puts it, “Going to festivals is about two key elements – enjoying things you love and discovering new ones. That’s what LA Vegan Beer & Food Festival is.”

Here is the initial beer line-up: Golden Road Brewing, El Segundo, North Coast, Stone Brewing, Modern Times, Ballast Point, Smog City, Automatic, Sierra Nevada, Firestone Walker and many more.

The Ticket 411 for the event of May 17th

“Tickets for the 21 and over event are $50 for general admission (includes unlimited beer tasting), $80 for VIP (early noon entry, exclusive and unlimited beer tasting and access to VIP lounge) and $30 for non-drinking admission. Tickets can be purchased on Ticketfly, here and day of pending availability. Located at 8950 W. Sunset Blvd near The Roxy Theater, doors open for general admission at 1 p.m.”