Hello west-coasters! I'm coming from Michigan to LA for a weekend of revelry and I'm looking to try some beers that I can't get out in Mich. I'll be in downtown LA probably every night, and have no qualms about taking a cab for 20 minutes or so to check out some other areas. What beers should I be on the lookout for? I'm looking to try some good hoppy beers but I'm open to stouts, barleywines, all that. Also a good, hoppy, session pale ale would be interesting as well. Thanks!
Try the metro system, much cheaper than a cab. These two should fall within your 20 minute target. Red line to Hollywood/Vine station - Blue Palms, tap list on line http://www.bluepalmsbrewhouse.com/pages/beer.html Gold line to Del Mar station - Stone Company Store. I think their Facebook page lists what's coming. Blue Line to Long Beach for Beachwood BBQ would take around an hour Hoppy, session? Look for Stone's GoTo or Pizza Port Ponto.
Beachwood makes amazing hoppy beers and pretty outstanding other beers too, i would make visiting the Long Beach location a priority if you can. Closer to you are Sunset Beer Co (a bottle shop and bar), Mohawk Bend (a bar with 72 taps), Far Bar, and Melody Lounge. I would recommend you be on the look out for El Segundo Brewing's hoppy beers, they're great and local, and they should be both fresh and pretty readily available. The above recommendations are excellent also, and there's plenty of good info in other threads. I think Beer Belly in Koreatown is close to a metro stop too, though I admit I'm not as familiar with public transit.
