Los Angeles in September

No shortage of gastropubs in LA, I'm sure a few will chime in. It would help to state where in LA you will be staying. A one hour trip to OC gets you to the Bruery tap room, their Provisions store, and Bootleggers.

 

If you are already planning a trip to Escondido, I would strongly recommend a stop at the Pizza Port in Carlsbad (or the one in San Clemente, on your way back North to LA via I-5). They have great pizza and a solid selection of in-house and assorted guest beers (Carlsbad tap cam (click to zoom): http://www.pizzaport.com/category-s/1837.htm). Churchill's in San Marcos is also a great place for beer, food, and friendly locals (I'm looking at you, Eric!); if you happen to make the trip, make sure to order one of the bottles of Churchill's Finest Hour they set aside for in-house consumption. I got to try the '11 bottling back in February, and that promptly convinced me to hit up the '12 release several weeks later.

As for LA, my favorite beer bars are Blue Palms (20+ mixed taps and solid bottle list, in Hollywood), Tony's Darts Away (20-ish taps of all Cali beers, no bottles, in Burbank), and Beer Belly (8-10 taps, assorted bottles, AWESOME fries & food, in Korea town/between Hollywood and Downtown). There are many (many) other good options around town, but I particularly enjoy these places for their easygoing vibe and friendly staff.

Oh yeah, if you make it all the way down to San Diego proper and happen to enjoy fresh hoppy beers, the extra 30-ish minute drive out to Alpine is definitely worth it. Their stuff is arguably best at the source, and they have yummy BBQ to boot.

 

I'd gladly meet up and split a bottle of Churchill's Finest Hour with you! Just let me know when! Cheers!

 

For LA/OC, the only other places I would add that is a "don't miss" other than what was mentioned by Ultraman9000 is Beachwood BBQ (I prefer the Long Beach location because its a bigger space). There's of course a bunch of other places that are very good (Bruery Provisions, Najas, 38 Degrees, Surly Goat, Far Bar, etc [see the LA and OC Beer Guides linked here]). But for me, Beachwood is one of the best spots in Southern California when it comes to the combination of food and beer.

 

You may be walking distance to Beer Belly.

 

Tony's Darts Away and Blue Palms Brewhouse are my favorite spots, but also my local spots, so i may be biased. Downtown has a ton of great places that i hear a lot about. Far bar is the one i consistently hear good things about. Bottleshops i would hit would be Vendome Toluca lake, Ramirez liquors, and Wally's in westwood. Those are the three best shops in the area, imho.

 

(Santa Monica) Fathers Office, Daily Pint, (Echo Park) Mohawk Bend (Glassell Park) Verdugo Bar, (Passadena and Orange) Haven......

 

Lots of good suggestions above, you won't go wrong with any of them. Most of these places post their tap list online and keep them pretty up to date, so it's worth looking at their websites to see which place has the best list that night.

Beachwood in Long Beach is definitely worth the trip, particularly if you like hoppy beers. I'd also throw Golden State into the mix, it's a great, casual burger place with a handful of taps, but somehow they always manage to have something cool and special on, and it helps that the food is awesome and the owners are good dudes.

 

Dont read this as a sign of bonhomie, E is just too poor/cant finish a bottle of CFH alone. He straight Blanche DuBois's it hard in the paint relying upon the kindness of strangers.

 

That is in K-Town, I used to live in Korea town and my best advise would be to go to Blue Palms, Tonys Darts Away, Surly Goat is a must see, and City Tavern if you like stupid novelty taps of Allagash white at your table.

ALL THE WIT YOU CAN DRINK AND YOU DONT HAEV TO GET UPS.

 

To be fair to City Tavern, they now offer a rotating selection of "Table Taps" that are only available at those tables. I've seen Lagunitas, Eagle Rock, Ladyface, and Monk's all featured on the tables. I actually think they're implementing that novelty fairly well in providing 3 different styles from 1 brewery that you can only try if you reserve one of those tables.

That said, I've never sat at one.

 

I enjoy the novelty too, the 2 times I have went the selection has always been lacking.

Also I got in troubles for opening a swingtop of Hill Farmstead at the table, so maybe there is residual butthurt due to my lawlessness.

 

Hah! Yeah, can't imagine that went over too well. Then again, I can't imagine that going over well in any of LA's craft bar establishments (perhaps Daily Pint or Surly Goat would be cool with it?).

 

I wont out any specific places but it happens quite often if you have a personal relationship with the people who run the establishment/provide samples for the employees to "learn about beer" from. But yes, it is not as taboo as one would expect. My failure to ask was pretty gauche.

On a more Norcal related note, I brought Hill Farmstead Art, Three Floyd's Behemoth and BA Behemoth to Beer Revolution and shared with BAs/staff and not a single fuck was given. People were taking pics with the empties and there was much revelry. The air was redolent with bluebell.

 

I recommend you drive an extra 30 minutes and stop at Alpine Beer company. Amazing IPA's!!! you might get lucky and score some Expo ! Everyone knows that it's worth the stop!! Small hole in the wall with fabulous beer!! Alesmith is also a great stop for great beer!