Los Angeles Beer Week 2014

L.A. Beer Week Returns This Fall With A Focus On Our City's Best Breweries!

  

For the sixth year, the annual L.A. Beer Week returns to our great City of Angels from September 20 to 28. And the new organizers of this 10-day brew fest are aiming to make our L.A. breweries a primary focus.

The festival will be headed by the Los Angeles Brewers Guild (LABG) Events Chairman and El Segundo Brewing Co. partner, Thomas Kelly. He told the L.A. Times that he has plans to "shift focus onto Los Angeles breweries during L.A. Beer Week." (And indeed, L.A.'s craft beer scene has grown since the fest first launched, with pours from Golden Road Brewing and Eagle Rock Brewery.)

This event will kickstart on Sept. 20th and will be moving from last year's Union Station in Chinatown. Folks can expect to get some pours from 20 of our local breweries and others from San Diego and Orange County. There will also be a California Brewers Guild event on Sept. 25 at Mohawk Bend repping some of the statewide brewmasters' libations.

Ticket prices and the events schedules have not been announced yet, but visit the L.A. Beer Week website, the LABG Facebook page for updates or follow L.A. Beer Week on Twitter.

Last year, the fest held a brewers karaoke championship, a musical beer crawl and special boozy-themed meals, among a bevy of other events, so we're looking forward to seeing what they have in store this year.

Slater's 50/50 2014 Backyard Brewfest

  

Try beers you’ve never experienced before!

Featuring more than 40 brews from SoCal’s best and newest breweries as well as some special out of town guests Slater's 50/50 will be hosting this awesome fest plus, complimentary food featuring some of Slater’s 50/50 most popular menu items. Attendees will receive a free commemorative tasting glass! During the event, vote for your favorite beer to determine the champion of this year’s 

Backyard Brewfest!

This event will take place on Saturday April 5th, 2014 from 12pm - 4pm in the parking lot of Slater's 50/50 Lake Forest, CA location addressed 24356 Swartz Dr. There's a $45 fee per/person ($15 for designated drivers) to attend and prices will increase on the day of. Click Here to purchase your tix in advance!

The Slater’s 50/50 Backyard Brewfest, in partnership with the Lake Forest Chamber of Commerce, will be donating proceeds to the Boys & Girls Club of Lake Forest, 4 H Superstars, Soroptimist and South County Outreach. 

Sponsors:

Taste of Brews Twilight Tasting 2014

Taste of Brews is a beer tasting festival in Southern California which features a pretty extensive list of craft brews to tantalize your taste buds.

Taste of Brews proudly presents an evening of Twilight Tasting on Saturday, March 8, 2014 at the famed Lyon Air Museum located at John Wayne Airport.  Against the backdrop of the OC’s version of the Big Easy, Twilight Tasting pays homage to Mardi Gras and the long-anticipated release of spring microbrews. The all-inclusive boarding pass to this extravagant soirée features beer and wine tastes along with culinary delights from local eateries, dessert, refreshments and musical entertainment; all with a festive Cajun/Creole theme replete with colorful costumes and Bourbon Street Beads. 

Proceeds from this beery enchanted evening will benefit We ROCK (We Run OC Kids), Make a Wish OC, Working Wardrobes and Next Up Foundation. Some brewery attendees are Bootlegger's Brewery, North Coast Brewing Co., Sierra Nevada, Stone Brewing Co. & many more! For information or to purchase tickets, please visit www.tasteofbrews.com or call (714) 375-1132.

Event Location:

Lyon Air Museum - 19300 Ike Jones Drive Santa Ana, CA 92707

Tokio Drift (5/10)

 

This imperial stout is brewed with copious amounts of specialty malts, jasmine and cranberries. After fermentation this dry-hop stout is mixed with a load of BrewDog's favorite hops before carefully ageing the beer on French toasted oak chips. Sitting at a staggering ABV of 18.2% this stout will truly knock you back after each sip!

I highly recommend ending your night with this brew rather than starting. Tokio is thick, dark as night and is an absolute all-out barrage on the senses. Booze, booze, coffee, chocolate, malt, dark fruits, black licorice and more booze reeks from the glass in both nose and in taste. It’s thick, syrupy and gives a nice little alcohol burn on the back end.

If you're into having your taste buds crushed and your teeth screaming "whyyyyy!?" then give this guy a try. But in my opinion one was more than enough, as I couldn't even stand another pour, let alone finish my glass. Rated as a 99% on RateBeer.com and 87% on BeerAdvocate.com however, I only give this guy a 5/10.

Ballast Point Beer Tasting in Westwood, CA

Brewing since 1996, Ballast Point moved ten years ago to Scripps Ranch, where they craft innovative beers based on the traditions of great beer brewing. Recently they've added a brewery, tasting room and restaurant in San Diego’s Little Italy neighborhood where they further explore pairing their creations with delicious food.

 

This Saturday, February 22nd, Wally's Wines & Spirits (location: 2107 Westwood Blvd, West Los Angeles, CA) will be hosting a beer and cheese tasting that will be a treat for beer lovers for only $10.

This event will be hosted from 1p-4p

 

Beers to be poured:

 

Pale Ale
Sculpin IPA
Big Eye IPA
Long Fin Lager
Sea Monster Imperial Stout
Fathom IPL (India pale lager)

The Sacred Pliny the Younger

The world famous triple IPA by Russian River Brewing Co. is back in SoCal and I've generated a list of places where you can find this rare gem (below). As this beer is only brewed once a year around Christmas, this will mark Pliny the Younger's 10th Anniversary and continues to hold a score of 100 on BeerAdvocate.com

2/20: Verdugo Bar has confirmed tapping Pliny the Younger on 2/20 along with a few other Russian River favorites (Supplication, Pliny the Elder, and more). Doors open at 6pm, Pliny the Younger tapped at 8pm — first come, first serve! (via their FB page here)

2/22: 38 Degrees Ale House & Grill is bringing back Pliny the Younger at 11:30a.m. during brunch hours and I'll be in attendance so hopefully I'll see some of you there. (via their FB page here)

2/22: Mohawk Bend in Echo Park will also tap Pliny the Younger on the earlier side with doors opening at 9:30a.m. In order to better serve guests this year, 280 tickets will be distributed on a first-come, first-serve basis which will entitle the ticket-holder to one 6-ounce pour for $6.50. Pliny the Younger will tap at 11am.

2/22: Blue Palms Brewhouse has you covered if you’re not an early riser. Also on Saturday, 2/22! This year’s event will take place at 2pm and will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Guests are limited to one 10-ounce pour (at a time) for $20 while supplies last. Proceeds benefit the Keep-A-Breast Foundation.

2/22 & 2/26: O’Briens Pub in San Diego is planning on tapping TWO kegs of Pliny the Younger starting with their first tapping on at 4pm on 2/22. Tickets for the second keg to tap on 2/26 go on sale on 2/20 with proceeds benefiting a local animal charity ($15 for a 10-ounce pour).

2/22: SD TapRoom has confirmed Pliny the Younger as part of an epic taplist celebrating their 7th anniversary on 2/22.

2/23: Blind Lady Alehouse in San Diego is tapping Pliny the Younger with proceeds from ticket sales benefiting Cancer for College. Tickets go on sale at noon on 2/21 here. $23 gets you a .4L pour of Pliny the Younger and Pliny the Elder.

2/25: Tony’s Darts Away in Burbank takes us out of the weekend and into their weekly Tuesday’s at Tony’s for their Younger release. Tickets for Pliny the Younger go on sale at 3pm for a 5pm tapping.

Guests are offered two options:

Option 1: Two tickets and one special edition “I Got Younger at Tony’s Darts Away” logo glass for $17
Option 2: Two tickets and two special edition “I Got Younger at Tony’s Darts Away” logo glasses for $20
*one ticket= one 6-ounce pour

2/26: SD Taproom will be tapping a 2nd keg of Pliny the Younger at 5pm! First come, first serve! First keg will be at their 7th Anniversary Party on 2/22.

2/27: The Surly Goat in West Hollywood has confirmed another epic Russian River taplist to accompany Pliny the Younger. Doors open at 6pm (first come, first serve). List: Pliny the Younger, Pliny the Elder, Blind Pig, Row 2, Hill 56; Damnation, Temptation, and Consecration.

3/1: Churchill’s Pub & Grille in San Marcos is once again getting Pliny the Younger for their Renaissance: Churchill’s Finest Hour bottle release! In addition to a highly sought-after Finest Hour release, Pliny the Younger will share space on an epic taplist for an event starting at 11am.

I'm still waiting to hear of more Pliny the Younger events happening in SoCal and heard places such as Father's Office and Ladyface Alehouse chimed in on the action last year but haven't confirmed it this year so check back often!

The Stupidity of Hops 9/10

 I'm definitely a huge fan of Lagunitas and out of their whole batch (that I've tried so far) Hop Stoopid is my favorite.

 

The aroma is full of pine and grapefruit along with a splash of pineapple juice. A sweet, grainy malt shows up in the flavor but is overwhelmed by a citric bitterness. The finish is a prolong, refreshing piney bitterness. I've never had the pleasure of trying this brew on tap, but the flavor follows suit perfectly. There is a massive, almost numbing resinous hoppiness, but it has just enough toffee and buttery malts to make it very, very drinkable

 

In my opinion this is a smooth double IPA. My overall rating is 9/10 and as always suggestions and feedback is always welcome. For more reviews on this damn good brew check out BeerAdvocate.

Pliny the Elder is a Gift From the Brew Gods 10/10

Upon doing my research to write this post, I was surprised to find that Pliny the Elder was an actual person, a Roman scholar, historian, traveler, and writer and he was stationed at Misenum, at the time of the great eruption of Mt Vesuvius, which overwhelmed Pompeii (which has a movie dropping Feb. 21st, 2014), and caused his untimely death in 79 AD.  He was immortalized by his nephew, Pliny the Younger, who continued his legacy. Now that you know the history.....on to the brew! 

The aroma is amazing, clean, with a blend of citrus and pine. The taste has tremendous balance for such hoppy beer. This medium, orange colored brew has a frothy, but fizzy, good lacing cap. The aroma is a moderate, malty, caramel, light hoppy, piney with a grapefruit finish. 

This brew is very hard to find in So. Cal outside of the actual Russian River Brewing Co. in Santa Rosa, CA. The only way to stumble upon this legendary brew, is to be persistent and call every wine & spirit location in your area until you hear that sweet, "Yes, we have some in stock" on the other end, and is usually sold as one, maybe two, per person.

My rating is 10/10 for this classic brew I was able to obtain. As always comments and suggestions are always welcome and maybe I'll share the location of where I've found this lovely gem.

Welcome

First off, thank you and every guest you've invited along to view my journey of my intake on the beautiful world of craft brews. Just a year ago today I was addicted to domestic beers such as Bud Light, Coors and other crappy choices but now it's craft beer over crap beer!This blog will be updated quite frequently with brews and my reviews as well delicious food posts.
 

This blog and I are based out of Los Angeles, CA. I'd be happy to hear your suggestions of brews as well as any positive feedback and opinions from all visitors as well, so please leave comments below.
I'll be posting and enjoying everything from belgiums, stouts and IPA's and more. I'm also a foodie, so expect some mouth-watering food posts as well.

Sit back, relax and cheers to the greatness of craft brews and great food.