LA Beer Week

Did anyone go to the opening gala last Sunday?

"Tickets to the event include commemorative LA Beer Week glassware" uh, you mean plasticware.

"and access to small bites." Where the fuck were the small bites?

It cracked my up that the Bruery had to add "this is a sour beer" under Oude Tart.

It was cool trying a honey rye saison from both Ohana and Bravery, dug the Ohana and the Bravery was pretty good, too.

The only thing I dumped was the Lagunitas gueuze, that shit was disgusting.

 

hoping to try some of that Saturday

 

i just find the bartenders to have too much attitude there. could be me. don't want to diss the place too hard. i have a lot of respect for Tony Yanow and frequent his other establishments regularly. just don't find the staff at Tony's to be as welcoming (that's the nice way of putting it)

i liked the Red i had (can't remember the name), most of the others i've had before. for me Dank Matter is still the best Beachwood beer i've had, but i'm still making my way through their beers

 

I haven't been to any events yet - would have loved to get to 38 Degrees last night, but I'll definitely be at Smog City tomorrow and possibly hit up Naja's afterwards for their Ballast Point event (and who knows, maybe some left over BCBS....a couple of my buddies were there last night for the GI event and said there was no crowd.)

 

It's an amazing beer and they recently got label approval for it. Can't wait for bottles!

 

I'll be at Verdugo Bar tonight for the Modern Times event. Come and say hi.

 

Sounds awesome, I can't wait to try it!

Beachwood is hitting it out of the park with IPAs!!! Their Melrose tied with Drake's Aroma Coma as my favorite beers this summer. Thrillseeker and Dank Matter are both really great. I had Denver Jackhammer last night and it did not disappoint one bit.

Maybe my favorite out of all these is their collaboration brew with Drake's, Mind Melder. That stuff is delicious and as addictive as crack...it is crackalicious.

 

Someone brought this to the last blind bottle share (IPA / DIPA theme) & we all literally sat & smelled the beer for a few minutes before drinking, the aroma is divine! Oh yeah & flavor is great too

 

It's pure nug juice. It's intoxicating.

 

If it hasn't already been shown, I think Smog City once again displayed that they're a cut above other LA County craft breweries not just in terms of quality, but in their efforts to go above and beyond in cultivating a special and indelible event. Their Rarest of the Rare party today will unquestionably be an LABW highlight, and was incredibly well organized!

 

Do they have plans to bottle or can any of their beer? That coffee porter is bitchin' and it would be nice to drink it at home. I know they do fills but I don't have any room for new growlers.

 

well said. i haven't been to too many of the other events, and passed on the opening, but i was really impressed with their event. i'd been to Smog City one other time and enjoyed it, but yesterday i was pretty blown away. everything i had was amazing. for me the Collaborative Evil was the highlight. i went specifically to try the Bourbon O.E. and didn't find it to live up to the hype. it was still awesome. maybe something about the style is lost on me. for the the barrel character shined in Collaborative Evil.

all of the IPAs i had were amazing, especially the Amarilla Gorilla. and i actually liked the Grape Ape which i was skeptical about having not cared for other grape beers i've had

cask Collaborative Evil w vanilla beans was also a highlight


if they had a list like this all the time i'd go every weekend. hope they plan to start bottling at some point

 

I went to the Firestone Tap Takeover at The Federal Bar in Long Beach . Nice place & the event itself was pretty laid back. Tried the Merkin and the Parabajava. Both were amazing.

Yesterday, Rarest of the Rare was amazing. Really nice, well-run event.

Loved both of the Collaborative Evils. I was floored by their Bourbon Imperial Porter. Grape Ape IPA was amazing. Kumquat Saison was pretty good, too.

I wish I tried more of The Tempest, which was awesome.

I agree with DrAwkward82, Smog City has been killing it lately.

 

Rarest of the Rare was a great time! Had to get TWO glasses of The Tempest... really good. Farmhouse Funk was.... different... unanimously came off as apple pie to my friends. The 2009 cask of olde english barleywine was a good sipper and the Kumquat Saison was really nice, as well. And yes, the Bourbon Porter was special.

 

The fresh hop version, unfortunately, not so much.

 

I was quite interested in trying that beer. Just too vegetal on the nose? Was the flavor solid at least?

 

A definite off-putting funk in the nose and flavor - it's too bad, since I love the regular version. I didn't want to finish the pint of fresh hop (but decided to anyway).