Hey there, long time BA here just moved out to North Hollywood from RI. The Cali scene is completely foreign to me, I went to Tony's Darts away in burbank a few weeks ago and the federal a few blocks from my apartment. I'm still looking for a good bottle shop other than BevMo to get some good CA beers, especially trying to get myself some pliny since I never got it. Just wanted to send out an intro thread, hope to see some of you guys around and taking in the beer scene out here. Cheers!
Welcome, a good bottle shop kinda close to you is Vendome in Toluca Lake (corner Cahuenga & Riverside Dr.). You'll be able to find Pliny there, along with many other limited release stuff. Also, I have to say: having grown up in the area, only people not from North Hollywood call it NoHo, lol. Cheers!
hey man, they write it on my apartment building, I thought it was weird but its California, you guys seem all weird to me, and I have a new england accent.
Same goes for calling California Cali too. Not trying to be jerk to OP - just figured I'd mention it.
Ok got it. No shortening things. Also, I have lots of connections to new england brews so if there is anything anyone needs from thataway I can try and work something out for ya.
welcome.. i'm a bostonian living here for a decade now. yea vendome is immense, go there.. boneyard, local peasant, sweeney will have good craft beer along ventura.
non beer related, go eat at La Maria Colombian restaurant and have the bandeja paisa. you won't have to eat the rest of the day. my North Hollywood tip to you.
You're not far to hit up some shops in Hollywood. Cap n Cork, Melrose Wine & Spirits and Sunset Beer Company are good places. Also, Glendale is about the same distance. Hit up Glendale Tap and Bill's Liquor. Cheers and welcome.
Surly Goat had Pliny on last time I checked late last week. It normally lasts a few days there. Good chance it is still up, as the website says it is. http://www.surlygoat.com/onTap.php (Not sure the vintage on the BCBW, but last time I was there it was 2013) Wally's Wine in Westwood has been getting Pliny on Wednesday the last few weeks. K&L on Vine may have it if you stop in on occasion. They have Damnation on a regular basis, and if you go to their website, they will ship anything they have in the NorCal locations down for free and you can pick it up once it gets here. The only place I go on a regular basis in the valley is Total Wine in Northridge. They have the largest variety of beer, but make sure you check the dates. I have noticed them getting a bit better since I complained, but I am still finding a few that are old. (Since you are new to the area LA Beer Week's kickoff festival is June 20. That can give you a chance to sample a lot of the local beers in a convenient location.) What kind of beers do you prefer? IPA wise El Segundo Brewing is killing it right now. They have 5-6 I would recommend, and Hammerland is spectacular. Everything Smog City makes is top notch, but the Coffee Porter is probably the highlight. You will need to make the drive down to Beachwood in Longbeach at some point, amazing BBQ and they make a ton of beers that are very solid, though they do miss on occasion, but not often.
Thanks for the suggestions guys! I checked out vendome and they hooked me up with a bottle of RR Supplication, which was a nice surprise. I'll definitely check out the other places as well. I'm pretty much all over the map, I usually go with the seasons, but seeing as how there are no seasons here..I'll drink a bit of anything any time. I'll be sure to check out the place in long beach. Cheers!
The place in Long Beach (Beachwood BBQ) is the best brewery north of SD and south of Firestone. And yet, even if all these breweries were in 1 city i'd still drink at Beachwood more. They nail everything and every IPA they make (which is many) is better than 90% of IPA's on the market. El Segundo is making a big push to be considered on par with Beachwood... it's just ESBC doesn't make (nail) enough styles to really be considered up there in my opinion, and Beachwood still makes better IPA's than ESBC, although ESBC's are pretty damn good (Maywood IPA is fan freakin tastic)
There are seasons here. Just with the drought it has made it a lot less noticeable. And they are shorter. Normally there is a few wet months in the winter, and I am praying to god for you that you have AC for when the massive heatwave hits in late August/September. The people that run the Vendomes are top notch people. Recommend checking the other ones out as well. Selection varies and the guys that place the orders are different at each location, so if you learn their tastes you can learn their order styles.
