So I was out last night and saw a Venice Beach on tap do I decided to give it a try. It didn't have any description on the handle, but tastes like a mixture of Lagunitas IPA and a Fat Tire....so I assume it was their amber. It was nothing that blew my mind, but it was a good choice at a bmc style bar. Anyone else have their other stuff.....worth seekin out?
i've tried their amber & it was decent, don't remember it blowing me away & might have been overshadowed by the new glarus moon man that we had right before, here's a pic for reference:
agreed with the above--thought the amber was solid and overall very enjoyable, but it didnt blow me away. Thats perfectly fine though and its great seeing the LA area catching up with respectable local breweries (no longer is Skyscraper the main brewery in the county!)
That strikes me as an odd choice for "main brewery in the county". For a lot of years I'd have picked Craftsman, even though they don't bottle their beers. These days I'd probably pick Golden Road (for their availability, not the quality of their brews).
I saw bottles of Amber and June Gloom at the Whole Foods in Westwood. I passed but I may have to check them out now.
dammit I forgot about Craftsman (who I like)-- but before a few years ago, it was really just them and skyscraper for the most part, unless Im forgetting some
My biggest beef with Venice Beach Beer is that it's contract brewed in San Jose. Now, I don't mind contract or gypsy brewing one bit. But if you're going to MARKET your beer and brewery as a something local with a specific (and very proud) neighborhood right in the title, can't you at least find a closer brewery to do so? Or wait to sell until you actually have a brewery in Venice? If their beers were phenomenal, I might forgive such a trivial thing. But the fact that they're just okay and that they're playing on the hyper-localism of Venice (only putting their beers in Venice pubs, at Venice and other westside Whole Foods), reeks to me of an opportunistic cash grab.
