Self Serve Beer? Out of this world…

Aug22

It was the weekend before school started for the mini Bier-people so what does any beer loving mom do? She decided it was time to go down to the new neighborhood of beer, Torrance. Have you been down there? Do you like beer? Then you should. In a few blocks radius you can visit Cosmic Brewery http://www.cosmicbrewery.com, The Dudes Brewing http://www.thedudesbrew.com, Monkish http://www.monkishbrewing.com, Strand Brewing http://www.strandbrewing.com , Absolution Brewing http://www.absolutionbrewingcompany.com and Smog City http://www.smogcitybrewing.com .

All those in one area? That is totally worth a trip down there if you aren’t a local to the area.

We went specifically to visit our friends at Cosmic Brewery.

I have personally loved them since my first sip of Cosmonaut. Sigh. Yum.

http://www.cosmicbrewery.com/cosmonaut.html. I found Cosmic at a Beerfest a few years back and they were my brewery to watch. And I was right! I mean aside from their incredible, brand and labels and super good beer, NOW they have a tasting room..that has self serve taps. Yes! Just like Yogurtland but with beer. Cool right?

Its very easy to use, just give the bartender or bartendress on duty your ATM or Credit Card (they slide your card but don’t charge it just to link your name to a tasting card) and they give you a cool Cosmic card. You take that card over to the taps and slide it in above the tap where the description of the beer is. Then pour. You can pour a sip, a flight or a pint and just be charged what you pour!

So if you aren’t totally sure about a beer you have never tried you literally can try a sip and pay for a sip!

When you return your card at the end of your drinking they charge you for only what you poured/drank.

The tasting room is great! Plenty of tables, cool music playing, free popcorn, well behaved kid friendly, and there’s always a food truck not far away.

When we were there we found this bachelor party. Kind of a genius way to spend the day considering you can walk to other tasting rooms and not even have to worry about getting an Uber. Its sort of like going to Solvang and walking from wine tasting room to tasting room but with BEER!

If you aren’t familiar with their beers you should be! Their Hellhound Brown and Bag Pipe Ale (Scottish Wee Heavy) are awesome, and we got a sneak taste of the Tulips on my Organ (Farmhouse Saison).

My husband Mr Beerman who is quite the Saison drinker said it was fantastic.

And I who am not a fan of the Saison even found it really tasty. They have many more beers on the way and told me they are ready to add another row of taps!

I encourage everyone to head down to visit the new tasting room. You are going to want to make friends with Chris and Sabrina

before they blow up even more… they are going to be huge and you (and I) can say we knew them when they first opened. Cheers!

Cosmic Brewery is located: 20316 Gramercy Pl. Torrance, CA 90501 (424)259-2337

Follow them on Twitter: @CosmicAles

Like them on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cosmicales

Tasting Room Hours

SOFT OPENING HOURS

Monday Closed

Tuesday Closed

Wednesday Closed

Thursday Closed

Friday 3-9pm

Saturday 12-10pm

Sunday 12-6pm

Some of the Best Beer Ive ever had…I found in Glendale…Wisconsin.

Jul8

So many breweries so little time. If you think Wisconsin only brews Miller you’re wrong. Wisconsin has quite the craft beer scene. Being in Milwaukee only 4 days and there for a family reunion with my sons in tow I couldn’t visit every brewery so we chose a few. One I had been eyeing from afar (Los Angeles) via family check ins on Facebook was Sprecher Brewery. http://www.sprecherbrewery.com/index.php

Although it seemed all of Wisconsin Breweries were family friendly (Bierlady advice: know your beer limits and only take well behaved kids) I was drawn to this Brewery as they seemed to have as many choices in soda as they did beer. http://www.sprecherbrewery.com/soda.php

As well as their “mascot” or their Label photo, it’s a Griffin. And if you know me Im a big fan of the Griffin, especially my 4 year old named, Griffin. I cant believe I missed the Rootbeer Griffin in the gift shop. I may have been eyeing the beers not the toys. http://www.sprecherbrewery.com/store/details.php?prodId=59&category=6

The week before we headed to the Midwest I shoot out a few tweets to breweries we were interested in checking out. Would you believe Sprecher was the only brewery who immediately tweeted me back. Not only that but within minutes Anne Sprecher tweeted and messaged me that she would meet me at the brewery. Now that’s Midwest nice. I did end up meeting her and she was awesome.

It was the last full day of our trip, and really I should have learned by now that LA Siri does a lousy job in Milwaukee, we used my Iphone to get us to the brewery and of course she took us off course. Maybe she was confused as we have some great breweries in Glendale, CA…sigh…SO we were 10 min late and missed the noon tour. The next was at 1:30 and we werent quite sure if we would be there that long (boy were we wrong, 3.5 hours later…) so we asked if we could just go in their tasting room. The staff was quick to accommodate us and it actually ended up being great. We brought several relatives along. Remember Julie who left me the beer, and Dale and Melissa who were our beer buddies all weekend? They were there. Along with my sweet Aunt Karen and our boys.

They gave us our tasting bracelets that you get with the tour price of a mere $5 (no seriously giant tasters, a tour and you get to keep the glass for 5 bucks) and sent us into their beer hall. The bartendress was kind enough to give us our first taster before she started taking our tabs from our bracelets.

So many beers to taste. WHERE do we start? In truth I don’t remember where I started but I will say there was not ONE fail in the bunch. Not only did I get my tasters but we kinda all shared at the table, and then went back for our favorites. Along with a few tasters Anne gave me so that I didn’t have to wait in line. (Our private biergarten quickly filled up with the tour of probably 60 people).

In my time there I tried, Sprechers Hard RootBeer. Now this could REALLY get you in some trouble. WOW was this good! It was Rootbeer, with a kick I didn’t really taste, hence the trouble part. In the same vein they had a Hard Ginger Beer, which was pretty fantastic as well. I could make a GREAT Moscow mule with that one. Rounding out the sweeter “beers” and “ciders” I tried my FAVORITE of the bunch, Sprechers Hard Apple Pie.

This is a must try for all cider drinkers/lovers. So good. So apple. So Pie.

I can’t even describe it other than saying it was perfect.

Some of our other tasters include their Pub Brown Ale, Special Amber, Black Bavarian, http://www.sprecherbrewery.com/beer.php?cat=1
Irish Style Stout, Witty, Abbey Triple, http://www.sprecherbrewery.com/beer.php?cat=3 IPA2, Summer Pils, Piper Scotch Ale, Cider De Pomme, and their Grapefruit Radler. WHEW! I told you we tried all of it! And not one bad one in the bunch. They really hit the taste of everyone in our group. My husband liked the Abbey Triple, Cousin Julie liked the IPA2, Dale was drinking the Black Bavarian and his dad works at Miller, and as I was leaning toward the ciders and the Summer Pils…my cousin Melissa who I have NEVER seen drink any beer other than a cider not only loved but ended up buying their Pipers Scotch Ale, http://www.sprecherbrewery.com/beer.php?cat=3

I wont go into great detail on the “malty flavor” or the “hops used” cause I know you don’t care that much. But what I will tell you is these beers should be available in CA well EVERYWHERE for that matter. I think their ciders and sodas would bring such joy to the LA VEGAN BEERFEST. http://www.veganbeerfest.com/

And really I want to be able to go to my local store and get them.

I did a lil research and Im pretty sure my LA friends would love them too. Look when Sprecher entered some of their beers in the LA COUNTY FAIR competition

2006 L.A. County Fair
Special Amber: Gold Medal – Vienna Style Lager

Oktoberfest: Gold Medal – German-Style Marzen/Oktoberfest

Dopplebock : Gold Medal – Dopplebocks

Black Bavarian: Gold Medal – Robust Porter

Irish Stout : Gold Medal – Foreign(Export) Style Stout

Imperial Stout : Gold Medal – Imperial Stout

Winter Brew : Silver Medal – European-Style Dark/Munchnerdunkel

Sprecher Micro-Light: Silver Medal – English Summer Ale

Piper’s Scotch Ale : Silver Medal – Scotch Ale

Mai Bock : Bronze Medal – Bock Beers

Barleywine: Bronze Medal – Barleywines

Awards don’t lie! Check out some of their other awards: http://www.sprecherbrewery.com/awards.php

Im always so impressed by a brewery that can do such a wide variety of beers and do them all well. We all know the breweries who have the lock on the IPA, or the ones we know can do a lager well, but to do them all across the board from a sweet apple cider to a Triple Abbey and everything in between without us spilling out one taster, not only has my attention but my respect.

I borrowed this from their websites History page, as I found it all interesting. And so true. This brewery can concentrate on making “craft” beer. That’s why its so good.

Sprecher Brewing Co. was founded in 1985 by RANDAL SPRECHER, formerly a brewing supervisor at Pabst Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. From 1985 to 1994, the brewery was located at 730 W. Oregon Street in Milwaukee’s Walker’s Point area. Through the first ten years the company grew steadily as more and more people found out about Sprecher’s high quality beers and sodas. …..
…..Like the biggest selling wines, many mass market beers are made to appeal to as broad of an audience as possible. This means they have to be produced at a highly competitive price and that they must offend no one. Much of the distinctive qualities of the traditional regional type brews is lost.
Sprecher and other micro-breweries have revived both the distinctive quality of regional beer and old world brewing methods as well. The term “Micro-Brewery” refers to the relative size of the brewery when compared to gigantic beer production facilities of mass marketed national brands. Where these “Mega-Giants” produce from 20 million on up to 90 million barrels a year each, a “Micro-Brewery” is a considerably small operation, brewing less than 15,000 barrels a year. Although some have grown to 50,000 to 100,000 barrels a year.
Quite a difference when you consider a barrel is equivalent to 31 gallons. In that respect, the smaller Micro-Breweries such as Sprecher can focus more on its specialty “Craft Beers” with an eye on the highest quality and tradition of European style brewing.
At the Sprecher Brewing Co. we are proud to participate in Milwaukee’s great brewing tradition and we’re grateful for the opportunity to present our best to you.

So happy to have tried all of the beers we could. Even happier they had a gift shop where we could bring some home. But now Im on a quest to get Sprecher out to Los Angeles for us all to enjoy. Cause I didn’t bring home enough to share with all of us. Sorry. I only had two suitcases.
For my Milwaukee relatives, keep up with them at http://blog.sprecherbrewery.com/

Anne thank you for your immediate kindness, and I look forward to you visiting Los Angeles, I promise to take you to Tony’s Darts Away http://tonysda.com/ for some CA Brews!

PS When Your RedHead Ale is around will you let me know. I will send a super cool cousin to pick some up for me and send it to this redhead!

Bierlady on Tour LAX TO MKE or BUST Volume 1

Jul2

LAX to MKE or bust the Bierlady traveled to the mothership of beer. The beer state. Well I guess technically its the Badger state, but I didn’t see any badgers.

I just spent the last 4 days in Milwaukee Wisconsin, in for a family reunion, but also there for research. Now I won’t lie coming from So Cal and being a beer person I’m a bit of a beer snob. I like good beer. And I went into my travels with a nose up. But Wisconsin you set me straight. Not only were you one of the first beer producing states in the U.S. But you’re still going strong. And your craft brews were awesome.

In full disclosure my husband said we’d checked into 35 new beers on Untappd in those 4 days.

Mic drop our job is done.

So I have to do a running blog here of our trip. This entry, I’m going to start out with the beers we found and loved. Then do individual blogs for two of our favorite Breweries we went to: Lakefront Brewery and Sprecher both OUTSTANDING beers and tours and people, then blog about our Tour of the vast small city of Miller. My Uncle works for Miller Coors so it was amazing to see beer brewed at that capacity. More on that later.

Upon arrival in Wisconsin we were greeted in our room by beers left for us from my cousin Julie. (Love you Jules) it was our first beer in my homeland and ended up being from a brewery that was for sure in our top 3. New Glarus. http://www.newglarusbrewing.com/ We were told prior to our trip about their magical brews and wanted to visit them but alas we were only there a short while and it was a few hours away. But that didn’t stop us from enjoying many of their Beers. We had a 6 pk of Moon Man (abv 5%) waiting for us in our room and I gotta say that remained in my top favorites. A No Coast Pale Ale (being west coaster I laughed aloud). Great beer exactly what you want from a pale ale. Not overly hoppy and full of flavor slightly citrusy but don’t let that sway you away, you pilsner drinkers. This is a great beer.

That night we met up with my cousins Dale and Melissa (our beer buddies for the weekend,) and we visited the Safe House http://safe-house.com/mainmenu.html a super fun bar restaurant where you have to know the secret location and password to get in. Or they may make your family act like cheerleaders in front of a secret camera that projects to everyone inside the bar (I tried the password of beer didn’t work) there we tried the infamous Spotted Cow also from New Glarus. We heard if you’re in Wisconsin you must try that beer from more than a dozen people. They were right. Spotted Cow is that beer I search for. Now their website calls it a “Naturally Cloudy Farmhouse Ale” but I put it on par with a great session (meaning low alcohol, this one is 4.8%) beer packed with flavor. And that great bread finish that says beer to me.

After the Safehouse, as responsible parents do, we dropped our boys off with another cousin to babysit as my cousin Julie, remember her, she left beer in my room, well she took us to Delafield Brewhaus http://www.delafield-brewhaus.com/ where we had our first tasting of many Wisconsin beers. They brew their own and of the ones I had and Mr Beerman I can were great!
We tried, the Naga-Wicked Pale Ale, the Pewaukee Porter, Bengal Bay IPA, and their Oats and Barley Stout. I wont talk too much on this topic, as they are a brewhaus and as far as I know don’t bottle so unless you are headed to Milwaukee..but none the less wanted to mention them.

On Friday we were lucky enough that the party my aunt through for us (love you Aunt Karen) had some of New Glarus’s Black Top a black IPA this has a slightly higher Abv (6.9%) but again just a super drinkable beer.

Saturday we headed to my family reunion and picked up a 6 pk of their Totally Naked.

This is one of their seasonal beers so guessing if you can get it, get it now, its described as a Wisconsin Lager. And that it is! That’s the beer I think my folks drank but with FAR more flavor. That perfectly balanced malt, hop with a bread finish. So good.

We heard about their Two Ladies beer (Note my cousins think it’s funny when my Uncle has a Totally Naked, and Two Ladies, a lager in hand. Well played brewers and namers) we have not tried it but brought some home to LA along with their Yokel another seasonal Lager. I’m sure they will be great.

New Glarus I can see by your website and Beer Advocate I have barely scratched the surface of what you brew. Sorry we couldn’t make it up to try you in person. Next trip for SURE!

Some other beers we had to take note of because they were super tasty were:
Capital Brewery’s Amber, http://capitalbrewery.com/beer-type/wisconsin-amber/,
Point from Stevens Point Brewery, thanks to my cousin Jason who lives near there, http://www.pointbeer.com/point-amber-classic/ and
Oktoberfest from Water Street Brewery, https://www.waterstreetbrewery.com/.

Special shout out to this brewery because of its memorabilia wall. Walls and walls of vintage beer cans. So cool. And taps as well. I wish we were not on our way to another brewery tour and had to eat and drink fast. Or we would have sampled more of their beers. But I did have this one twice, once at the brewery and I found it again at Summerfest http://summerfest.com/ .

This was just the tip of the beer iceberg for our trip. Friday day we took a tour of Lakefront Brewery and sampled all of it. And did that Miller Tour I spoke of. Sunday we thought we were going to spend an hour at Sprecher Brewery, well, 4 hours later, and several 6pks to bring home…means these breweries deserve their own blogs.

Stay tuned for more LAX TO MKE or BUST!

The Bierlady reserves the right to update the blog should her husband or any cousin remember a beer she liked and forgot to mention. 4 days, 35 beers, things are slightly blurry.

LA VEGAN BEERFEST 2015

May18

The LA Vegan beerfest is one of my favorite days of the year. Its always right when May is just inching toward full blown summer. I feel the folks who run the show, Nic Adler, Quarry Girl, and Tony Yanow (Tony’s Darts Away) are just good people. Three Vegan friends who had this great idea. Six years later it’s a really really great idea. http://www.veganbeerfest.com/

I have mentioned this in past blogs about this event, the beer is not Vegan, the food is. So if you are looking for a new BEERFEST to enjoy, don’t be confused and continue reading…
Full disclosure, I am not Vegan, but when in Rome…I enjoy the food from the one zillion trucks that come to this event. I also enjoy the great bands. But what I come for is the beer….So that’s what this blog is about. I didn’t want you to be looking for a review on the awesome cauliflower everyone was talking about in the beer lines. I don’t have that. But I will tell you what new beers I found!
First though, I need to mention this:

What? LA Vegan BeerFest was at the Rosebowl this year? Yah it was! And WHAT A SMART idea that was. I have to say before I even talk about the greatness that was our day that the location change was the best idea ever. From the minute we arrived and saw the enormously long line (expected, we weren’t stressed) to 1:03pm, three minutes after the gates opened we were in the venue with glass in hand… it was smooth sailing.

Are you kidding me? 3 minutes from parking lot line to the glass table? The staff at the Rosebowl knows their stuff.

Quite frankly I was just giddy to be in the Rosebowl. Thinking of all the games played there. And here we were feet on the 50 yard line drinking our first beer. The set up was great. There were food vendors all in a circle surrounding the beers that were lined up in the middle. Once again there was never more than a 2-5 min wait for a beer, and that was a few hours in. The first hour we were there I don’t think we waited 2-5 seconds for our beer.

We have started a collection of these 4 oz beauties…but was interested to see you could have purchased a full pint glass for $10 and the beer vendors would fill you up! I think or hope that was for the folks who were there not so much like me looking for my next greatest beer find, but for the folks who just wanted a brew to enjoy while eating and watching bands. However, I did see the teeny tinest girl fill up a full pint of a 9.7% beer and thought “oh dear”. I wonder how she did later in the day?

When we got there

I could talk about the food, MAN there was a LOT of choices this year, but I feel there will be enough Vegan food authorities writing about that and posting. I am no authority, but I did have a fantastic avocado sandwich while there. And noted the line for the pizza was insane. So guessing that was a BIG hit.

Having done this for a few years now, and now that beer fests are ubiquitous. (No more just the 2-3 in Spring/Summer, now you can find one nearly every weekend) and the fact that we frequent bars like Tony’s and Story and Mohawk, and Boneyard Bistro. I have to say Mr Beerman and I have tried nearly every thing they are going to bring. SO when we find a new beer from an old favorite brewery or a new brewery all together that is the best part of the day.

So lets talk beer!

There were over 60 Breweries there. And they all brought 2-5 beers each.

Of course we ran to our favorites, Figueroa Mountain, Angel City (If you haven’t tried their IPA you are missing out)

And its not a LA VEGAN BEERFEST without Golden Roads,http://www.goldenroad.la/ Almond Milk Stout.

Okay now on to some others…Here were our top finds of the day. In no order. They are all over the board, from the super hoppy to the sweet…

Here we go….

If you are a craft beer drinker you know, Ballast Points Sculpin. http://www.ballastpoint.com/beer/sculpin/ You just do. It’s a great beer. But have you tried their Grapefruit Sculpin?? Its better. This had to be one of our favorites of the fest. Such a great twist on a great beer. My husband who doesn’t even like Grapefruit put this on the top of his list. http://www.ballastpoint.com/beer/grapefruit-sculpin/

New Belgium. I bet you know them, cause I bet you have drank a Fat Tire http://www.newbelgium.com/beer/detail.aspx?id=7c5b394b-d7b7-486a-ac9a-316256a7b0ee …that’s their amber. Strong choice. I am a big fan of their Blue Paddle Pilsner. http://www.newbelgium.com/beer/detail.aspx?id=5aec31cf-c34f-4344-8dbe-91a0a5db67ca

But today I was blown away by their Lips of Faith, Pear Ginger Beer. http://www.newbelgium.com/beer/detail.aspx?id=68377164-e9f3-4681-b3d0-150a28284564 This would make the BEST Moscow Mule ever. It was just a nice change from “beer” beer and it wasn’t sweet…. If you like ginger taste in anything this is a MUST try.

Hoparillio from Knee Deep Brewing, https://kneedeepbrewing.com/beers/ Okay generally this would scare me, 11% and 122 IBU…but dang it if this wasn’t one of the most well balanced perfect IPAs I have ever had. A TRIPLE IPA and I would totally order this and then another. Big Thumbs up guys. You are new to me…keep doing what you are doing and I’ll be purchasing you often.

SpeakEasy Metropolis Lager, http://www.goodbeer.com/theusualsuspects/ I have to admit this wasn’t a new find for me. I buy this quite often from my local Bev Mo. Not the cheapest 6 pk on the block, but this is a great outdoors drinking beer, and I really am a fan of all their beers so I want to support them. Even with the higher price tag I encourage you to try any of their beers, but this one particularly for folks who aren’t into super bitter, or hoppy but just looking for something that tastes like a really well made beer. http://www.goodbeer.com/

Another new Brewery for me (just opened in February) Solarc Brewing. http://www.solarcbrewing.com/ Both their beers they brought were really awesome. I hate to sound like “that guy” but they were really complex but most importantly tasty. My favorite was their Night Capsicum a Black IPA, but also their Dunes, a Gruit (ale ) was really great. Im not a fan of the Belgium style so for me to like you, you know you are doing something great (for me anyway). Awesome new find! Support them if you see them, they are new and I can see great things coming.

Noble Ale Works, http://www.noblealeworks.com/ I Love It, IPA was also in my 4-5 star range on Untappd this weekend. I love finding IPAS that aren’t overly hoppy and don’t knock me over with crazy flavors. This was a solid delicious beer.

Speaking of IPAs you can’t forget the session IPAs, (which mean less ABV or less alchohol), Oskar Blues had Pinner Throwback IPA http://brew.oskarblues.com/ob-beers/year-round/pinner-throwback-ipa/ that’s new to me at least and as per Oskar Blues usual it was delicious. I will add it to my cooler with my Dales Pale Ale, Mama’s Little Yella Pils and Old Chub.

One of the best parts of the day were the giant screens around the stadium showing the tweets we were all sending throughout the day. What’s not fun about a Jumbo Tron?

Also I have to say I love meeting people at the fest. Everyone is so nice. I don’t know if its beer people or the Vegan community or both, but we always make friends. Mr Beerman and I always wear pretzel necklaces ,sometimes cause we get hungry but really mostly to palette cleanse so the beers don’t run into one another. Many folks asked us about them. So we shared! Here are a few new buddies we toasted while sharing our pretzels.

And this group was celebrating Cynthia’s birthday. I mean come on a day at the Vegan Beerfest? That’s a gift that keeps on giving!

End of my day I stopped at my good friends at WRECK CHECK http://wreckcheck.me/ to once again point out to never ever drink and drive. I was tasting (like honestly tasting I asked for half pours most every time) and I ate a good lunch and dessert and I still blew nearly twice the legal limit. I was walking, talking, even using my phone to call CURB just fine. But way above the legal limit.

My only wish was for better taxi situations. On the way in there wasn’t really a clear path for our taxi to drop us off, and end of day there were a ton of us outside trying to call Uber and Taxis and all of our phones were nearly out of juice, between tweeting to get on the Jumbo tron, and Facebooking for Friends to see all the fun, logging beers into Untappd there was little or no battery power for taxi calling. SO maybe next year they could have some waiting toward the end of the day? Just a thought.

When we left

Overall I can’t speak highly enough about this fest. It has grown from a small grass roots kind of affair to the freaking Rosebowl, yet nothing has changed. Its still great people, great food, great bands and great beers. Its just a fantastic way to spend the day. If you haven’t been you have to go next year, and if you did go then you know what Im talking about! See you next year!!

Our Holiday Beer Finds Part 1: ANGEL CITY BREWERY

Jan7

Over the holiday weeks I made it a plan with Mr Beerman to go to some new beer bars around the LA area. Branching out. Seeing whats out there. Trying new stuff.

Of course we started our two weeks with a trip to Story Tavern http://www.storytavernburbank.com , Tony’s Darts Away http://tonysda.com , Link N Hops http://www.linknhops.com and Golden Road http://www.goldenroad.la/pub/ And spent New Years eve celebrating Germany’s midnight (3pm) drinking German Beers at The Red Lion Tavern http://www.redliontavern.net

…Oops. Old happens die hard. Those bars are the BEST. Just look Draft mag called out Tony’s in their top 100 bars in the country! http://draftmag.com/americas-100-best-beer-bars-2015/

But we needed to see what else was out there. So after we enjoyed our old favorites we decided to make a point of trying some new beer spots in our area. For this first blog entry we headed to downtown. This was our first trip to Angel City Brewery http://angelcitybrewery.com .

We have tried their beers for years at the beerfests we attend. We have their beers at the aforementioned local pubs we frequent. We have even seen their beers at our local Costco in a variety pack. But we had never been down there since its opening of the downtown venue in 2010. (Angel City has been brewing craft beer since 1997, had its first location in Alpine Village in Torrence in 2004).

What have we been waiting for? This place is the BEST! We went on a weekend, so we could bring our well behaved boys and enjoy a lovely Sunday with some flights.
The beers there are amazeballs!

They have a big selection to choose not just IPAS, from their Eureka Wit “A refreshing traditional Belgian white ale with coriander and orange peel”, Angleno IPA “A West coast Style IPA full of hops yet well balanced with a heafty malt backbone” (that’s for sure I really like this IPA and you know I don’t love every IPA I meet) , Gold Line Pilsner “A traditional European style pilsner medium bodied and dry hopped with a clean dry finish”, Amber Ale “Light and refreshing amber hued ale with a fruity aroma and sweet malty finish”, Marilyn “Barley corn and oats give this lager styled ale a slightly sweet aroma light body and dry crisp finish”, Imperial Chai Stout “Full bodied dark and rich with hints of dark chocolate roasted malt and chai it finishes smooth sweet and spicy”, and Vanilla Porter “Full bodied porter with bold vanilla flavors and a subtle roasty/chocolate finish”. Not one was bad. http://angelcitybrewery.com/beer/ They were all great!
I will say my favorite was the Amber. I love a good amber and boy this one was good!

I have to give a special shout out to their Vanilla Porter. First I love a good mid range ABV on my porter (meaning not too boozy) and did you guys nail the vanilla or what? So many brewers try. So many fail. So many want the vanilla flavor you achieved. You Angel City are far beyond the best at doing vanilla. HUGE thumbs up.

The place is a big open air venue. (It was brisk the day we were there but not bad) I fully intend on going back in summer when its 80 out or like today since its 80 out.

They had games to play on the giant benched picnic tables a second floor with more seating and the bar seating area.

It was BYOF – Bring your own food, we did that and it was great.

Angel City is usually open Weekdays M-W 4pm -10pm, TH-F 4pm -12am and Weekends Saturday 12pm-12am Sunday 12pm-10pm

They are located at 216 S Alameda St Los Angeles, CA 90012

I will for sure be visiting you again. (without the well behaved boys so we can have a few pints) And I will be picking up your variety pack at Costco for Playoff games this weekend!

Note to my dog loving friends my son wanted me to point this out to you:

Wait you drove to Buellton for a beer?

Jun30

Damn right I did! Beer Roadtrip! But if you ask my kids we went to see Ostrichland USA and eat Danish pancakes in Solvang http://www.ostrichlandusa.com/.

You may know Buellton from the movie Sideways..but let me tell you it has more to offer than wine and Pea Soup http://peasoupandersens.net/. Buellton is the home of Firestone Walker Brewing and our very very favorite Figueroa Mountain Brewing.
It was a one day/night field trip out to Buellton as I needed to see Figueroa Mountain Brewing http://www.figmtnbrew.com/ Live and in person. If you have read any of my past blogs, especially those after a Beerfest you know that we are BIG fans of Figueroa Mountain Brewing. Only cemented by a Tap Take over at our favorite bar Story Tavern http://www.storytavernburbank.com/ a few months back.

This Dad and son Brew team know what they are doing. Jim and Jaime Dietenhofer are brewing some of the best craft brews California, dare I say any state has to offer. And the best part at least for me is that they have such a WIDE variety of beers. They are not just making the next best IPA like everyone else in So Cal is doing. They make everything. We even tried a Pear Cider there this week! Not all of their beers are available in bottles, or even at your local bar. Hence the roadtrip. We stayed locally (cause even a flight of beer is a beer to many to drive, especially home to LA) we were at a motel walking distance from FigMtn. Which was so convenient! There were several motel/hotels in the area lots to choose from.

Fig Mtn is probably best know by bar goers for their Danish Red Lager, http://www.figmtnbrew.com/our-beers/#danish-red-lager,their Hoppy Poppy IPA, which contrary to its name is not overly hoppy. I really like it! http://www.figmtnbrew.com/our-beers/#hoppy-poppy-ipa, their Stagecoach Stout, http://www.figmtnbrew.com/our-beers/#stagecoach-stout, their Davey Brown Ale http://www.figmtnbrew.com/our-beers/#davy-brown-ale and Wrangler Wheat http://www.figmtnbrew.com/our-beers/#wrangler-wheat. These you can usually find in a store in big bottles. Their labels are pretty awesome and stand out.

Some other notable beers they carry (and you can get outside of their tap rooms (in Buellton, Los Olivos, and Santa Barbara) is their Lizards Mouth, at 9.2% and 90 IBU (remember IBU is units of bitter) you would think I would be turned off. But man this is one super tasty beer! Find this one. Especially If you want a lil punch to your beer, at 9.2% it wont take many. Trust me.
http://www.figmtnbrew.com/our-beers/#lizards-mouth.
I also mentioned in my last blog what a big fan I am of their Big Cone, a black ale, http://www.figmtnbrew.com/our-beers/#big-cone-black-ale .

See that’s the thing about FigMtn, they do hops well. They aren’t trying to wreck your palette, so everything else you taste is “wrong”. They use hops the way they should be used, balanced and delicious.

We were lucky enough to find a few at the brewery that are not available just yet outside the tap rooms. First and foremost we must call out their Grendal, it’s a barrel aged porter, maybe not for everyone and at 11% it’s packs a punch for sure. But man you can’t taste the punch. That’s dangerous. In a good way. This was hands down the smoothest, tastiest beer we had. 11% no way! It was amazing. Such a great beer I surely hope they make more and get it to folks in bottles. Great one!

We also tried their Biere De Menage, a mix of beer and sauvignon blanc wine. It’s a saison. Not usually my cup of tea. But as per usual I was like “yep I would totally drink this’ it would be perfect with some pasta, or a nice fish dinner. http://www.figmtnbrew.com/our-beers/#bieredemenage

They have a Kolsch on board now (see I tell you they have all types of beers), Called the FMB101 named after the infamous 101 fwy, that sort of screams California. A Kolsch is made like a lager, so its fresh, clean, great for outdoor drinking and bbq’ing! http://www.figmtnbrew.com/our-beers/#101 This one I believe will be coming soon to a store near you!

They have a Pilsner that is available in bottles, Paradise Road, http://www.figmtnbrew.com/our-beers/#paradise-road-pilsner which we have had previously and enjoyed but that day they had a German Pilsner that was SO great! So great we got a growler of it to take home the next day!

Something’s that stood out about the entire experience, not just the beer. This place was beautiful. Two stories where you could over look the brewery as it was brewing. Smell of grain and wart in the air… and so sleek.

With their beer labels as their wall art and table décor.

High Tops, long tables, square tables, bar tables,

and what a great outdoor seating area. I wish I had taken pictures of this when it was hopping the night before. These are from 11am then next day when we swung by again to grab a growler and a Tshirt. The outside seating to me just sums up “outdoor drinking” at its finest. Look at the great tables, the fire pits, the atmosphere. I wish we had another night and we would have gone back to sit outside. What a fun place!
Also to be noted, the brewery is child friendly. I asked prior to going if I had two well behaved children could they come in and sit with us. Got the thumbs up. Knew my kids had their DS gaming units and the World Cup on the TVs and they were fine as we tried our sampler flight!

We ordered pizza from a place near by. They brought it right to us.
Anthony was our bartender upstairs and he was so nice, and knowledgeable about beer and especially their beers. Very attentive to make sure our kids had water and were doing okay.

I know not everyone is going to drive to another city to try some beers. So I encourage you to order Fig Mtn from your bartender next time you are out. Keep an eye out for their bottles at the store and buy them! They really are the most well balanced, tastiest, biggest variety, family owned, operated by nice people, beer out there!

Hey the Beer Couple hits our 10 year wedding anniversary this fall….who’s up for a anniversary road trip with us??

Its Summer and I want a new Cider….

May27

With Summer approaching and having had more than one friend ask me about ciders I felt like it was a good time to give folks the scoop on the Ciders that I have tried.

First and foremost let me point out that it is “Cool” to drink and order a cider at a bar. Here in the states we have been led to believe cider is a girly drink. I attribute that to the fact that you can find most ciders next to the malt beverages and wine coolers in the grocery store. Everywhere in the world people drink ciders and are not ashamed to do so. So if you want to order a cider do it! Drink up! But you don’t have to order the same cider every time…

If you think there is only Angry Orchard out there you are totally mistaken. In fact according to American Hard Cider.com there are 88 ciders being made just here in the states! http://www.americanhardcider.com/ I think this is an estimate to say the least, there are more than these 88.

I have a bottle of Square Mile in my fridge (out of Oregon) http://squaremilecider.com/ciders/ and they aren’t on the list. And they are really good. At 6.7% it was a little stronger than a normal cider, but I liked that. And it was a cleaner less sweet taste.

I imagine that if you have been drinking cider and you started a many years back you are only familiar with Strongbow https://www.strongbow.com.my/#product. Strongbow is from the UK and has been produced since 1962. It’s a great cider but with so many being made right here why not try some others?

Ciders are made all over the world. Nearly every country has their own brands of cider. But for the purposes of this blog Im covering the ones you can buy here in the states and you may find at your local tavern.

You can walk into your local grocery store and you are going to find probably 2 maybe 3 Ciders. You will for sure find Angry Orchard, http://angryorchard.com/ because if you haven’t noticed these guys are ubiquitous. Everywhere I turn this cider is on tap or in someone’s hand. I attribute this to their distribution and marketing. Just an FYI they are owned by Sam Adams. Hey nothing wrong with that. Lots of crafts brews are being bought by bigger companies. That being said there are some ciders out there on a smaller scale that I think are better. Albeit probably more expensive and depending on where you are in the country a bit harder to find.

Where can I find these? There is always Bev Mo, they carry a few ciders, but end of day walk into your local liquor store, the smaller ones, they probably carry some of the more hard to find beers and ciders and you are going to be happy to made the extra trip.

I wont lament on the new Ace Pineapple Cider again, I have mentioned it, I have tweeted about it, its damn good. http://www.acecider.com/. Ace is a California Cidery and was founded in 1993. Their label is pretty recognizable and they are in a ton of bars. Some of the Ace I find a bit sweet, but if you are looking for a sweeter less dry cider then this is your cider. I’m fond of the aforementioned Pineapple and their Pear is great too. For the most part Ace Cider is about 5% ABV so that’s like a lager or pilsner, not terribly high in alcohol. Watch out for their Joker Cider, as that is 6.9% so it’s a little more bang for your abv buck. So if you want that sweeter cider that tastes more like juice than a dry champagne this is what you want.

Crispin Cider http://crispincider.com/, also out of California, I have mentioned them in numerous blogs as well. This is probably my favorite, it is a really good cider. I think they actually do the best job at mixing a sweet and dry taste. So you don’t feel like you are drinking fruit juice but has just the right amount of sweetness. They have several flavors and their original apple I have seen in most grocery stores. Yes they will be more expensive as they are sometimes sold in 4 pks not 6 for the same price as most beers in a 6. But they are so worth it. http://crispincider.com/products/ And their 22 oz bottles of special or reserves are just excellent. They even have an organic apple http://crispincider.com/products/organic-cider/bare-naked/. They do some limited releases that are barrel aged. I hate to even mention this one as it’s not in production anymore, but their Bird on a Wire, aged in Whiskey barrels was phenomenal! http://crispincider.com/products/barrel-aged-limited-releases/past/bird-on-a-wire/ They continue to release new ones just keep an eye out. These bigger bottles and limited release will be higher in alcohol content most of them between 6-8%.

It came to my attention as I was doing this blog that Crispin has merged with another of my favorite Ciders, Fox Barrel http://foxbarrel.com/. I have to admit I have only had this cider in bars so I can’t speak to how easy it is to find in stores. I have never seen it. But if its on tap at a bar you are at it’s a strong choice. Im particularly fond of their Blackberry/Pear cider. http://foxbarrel.com/products/

It also seems that they have Pomegranate/Pear and Rhubarb/ Elderberry. I love any cider that’s going to produce more than just apple! Im guessing that now that they are with the Crispin company they may have better store distribution and will be easier for us to find.

Taking a quick jaunt out of CA I have to cross the country all the way to Vermont . Most beers/ciders you are going to find in your store are from breweries/cideries close to home. Makes sense. If there are a million breweries in California why would my store go to another states breweries to fill their shelves, unless you are one of the big 3 (Bud, Coors, Miller) or been around a while, and or distributed by a big one, ala Shiner Bocks (TX), Kona (HI), Sam Adams (MA)….this is one of those cases…

You are heading to a BBQ and you want to bring a cider ..you are picking up the ice and chips at your local grocery store and head to the beer aisle. There it is…its been there for years, but have you tried it? WoodChuck Cider, http://www.woodchuck.com/ Woodchuck was originally started at The Joseph Cerniglia Winery, Cavendish, VT, in 1991 by Joe Cerniglia and Barry Blake, along with wine maker Greg Failing. It was bought out by a bigger company and now is the top selling cider in the US. Its really good. They have their core ciders, the Amber, the Granny Smith, etc all about 5%. But if you want even more of a session cider, their Crisp is only 3.8%. Watch out for their 22 oz bottles, reserve, those are either barrel aged, or smoked, or kicked up in the ABV. Their pumpkin cider is close to 7%. I loved their Winter Seasonal pack, had hints of vanilla. And I am currently on a quest to find their Summer Seasonal 6pk which is blueberry/apple! I know Woodchuck gets some slack for being “factory produced” vs “small batches” but you know what? They taste like you think and want a cider to taste like. And they have enough variety in their seasonal and special releases to please almost everyone. So I can’t poo poo them for being a giant company now. To me the quality of a tasty cider is still there. And its accessible. So win win.

Another cidery outside of CA is Tieton http://www.tietonciderworks.com/, they are in Washington state and lets be honest who is going to do Apple cider better than a company in Washington? They were brought to my attention by a friend who lives up there. It is much harder to find. I have seen a bottle or two at Bev Mo and once on tap at a bar. But if you see it try it!

A great place to find some one off ciders is Cost Plus World Market. They tend to carry some lesser known beers/ciders and you can buy them by the bottle vs a 6pk if you aren’t sure you will like it.

There we found Wandering Aengus http://www.wanderingaengus.com/wordpress/?page_id=12 this is another tasty cider, out of Oregon, and slightly hard to find. However I have seen it on tap at my local Tavern. So you may see them at your favorite bar. Also note they are a little higher in alcohol ranging from 6-9%abv. If you see this cool label pick one up and try it!

So can I kick up my cider? Of course you can! And cider cocktails are not limited to just the Snakebite! There are tons of ways to mix your cider with beer or liquor. Here are a few recipes that caught my attention during my research. And by research I mean actual research on the interweb not my code for drinking copious amounts of different drinks in the name of Bierlady research.

SnakeBite
½ Cider
½ Lager*

Breakfast Velvet
½ Crispin Cider
½ oatmeal stout

The President
1/2 oz raspberry liqueur
1/2 oz orange liqueur
2 orange slices
8 oz Angry Orchard Apple Ginger

Angry Cuban
1.5oz White Rum
3oz Pineapple Juice
Angry Orchard Crisp Apple

Angry Balls™
Angry Orchard Crisp Apple
1.5 oz of Fireball Cinnamon Whisky

Mexican Woody
1 shot tequila
Mixed in a glass with Woodchuck Cider

Woodchuck Cider Punch
2 Quarts lemon sherbet
1 large bottle ginger ale
11 bottles of Woodchuck Cider
Lemon Slices
Pour Woodchuck Cider over sherbet in punch bowl.
Add ginger ale. Float lemon slices on top.

Even though its not my favorite cider I am pretty sure Angry Balls is my favorite Cocktail name.

Note: Bars & Ciders. My two cents…. the next time you are in a bar and want a cider don’t go for what you can buy at the grocery store. Seriously why pay $$$ for a pint that you can spend that same $$$ to buy a 6pk? Try something new! Don’t be afraid to ask the bartender about the cider. If you like sweet ask for sweet, if you like dry then tell them. They should know what they have on tap and they can lead you to a new great find!

I would love to try some new ciders especially from the East Coast. If you have any call outs please let me know. Tweet me @thebierlady and I will try and find them!!

5th Annual LA Vegan Beerfest

May19

What is the 5th Annual LA Vegan Beerfest? It’s a different festival than Mr. Beerman and I are used to going to. This one has so much more than just beer. It’s a festival with over 40 breweries and just as many Vegan Food Truck/ booths and if that wasn’t enough why not throw in some incredible live music!

I love that a festival that has become so popular was really just the idea between 3 buddies, Nic Adler of the Roxy, Tony Yanow of Tony’s Darts Away and Quarry Girl, an infamous blogger who is one of Southern California’s most famous sources of information on vegan food. So they thought, huh we love beer, music and vegan food..I have an idea…and five festivals later here we are.

I went to this festival last year and had a great time. This year I wondered if it could match the greatness. I saw the fest sold out much quicker than before. Word was out..this was the place to be if you are Vegan…or love beer…or Both!

Initially yes it was more crowded. I did wait in line about a half hour to get in the doors. But the thing is from a beer standpoint this festival is different than the others I attend. There isn’t that ticking clock on your head like you have to get in there when it starts cause you only have 180 minutes to make it through hoards of people to taste new beers. This beerfest is far more mellow. There was never a line for a beer (well one but that’s coming up in my review)..you just sort of hung out got a beer when yours was empty. You could bring chairs and blankets to sit on to enjoy the bands. It was more of an all around festival as opposed to a race to drink.

As the day wore in it got more and more crowded for sure. But I have to say I never ever felt uncomfortable. The crowds were there, but I always had a beer in hand. I got the food I wanted. I could hear the bands from everywhere. Looking back on our pictures I think “dude there was a crap load of people there”. But just never felt that way at all.

Now I must be forthcoming in the fact that I am not Vegan, I do have many Vegan friends and was even with one at the fest. So I can’t talk too much about the food. But I will say my friend John who is Vegan and my friend Jason who is a vegetarian were over run with glee over the sheer amount of choices. I mean in ONE place you could get food from:

And I am surely not opposed to Vegan food so when in Rome….I tried a Doughnut from Pebbles Donuts…Blueberry goodness! Mr. Beerman had chocolate chocolate our friends had the caramel apple….really good stuff!

I also stopped at the Mohawk Bend Booth http://mohawk.la/ cause dammit if you haven’t had Tony’s Darts Away http://tonysda.com/or Mowhawk Bend Potato Chips, just seriously stop what you are doing right now…I’ll wait…go get them. Seriously I don’t know what they do to create these chips but every time I am at those bars I get them, so I couldn’t walk past the booth without some!

Someone in line behind me had a Vegan “Big Mac” and I apologize for not knowing who was serving those but damn it was the best smelling plate of food of the day! WOW!
And Sage Vegan Bistro created these vegan nachos and buffalo cauliflower.

Okay now on to what I know! Beer! So being the Self Proclaimed Queen of Session Beers I was so happy to see that the breweries brought their best sessions. Even the IPAS were low in ABV.

There were a few out there that were higher and I need to take a moment to call out Bravery Brewing who in my mind had the best NON SESSION there. Old Rat: english style old ale 9.0% abv/55 ibu. http://www.braverybrewing.com/beers.html This was a smooth smooth beer, this beer could get you in some trouble, you just couldn’t tell it was stronger than a 5%. Well done!

Some other call outs of the festival:

First and foremost hands down the LONGEST line at the fest was ACE CIDER. Granted it was a Vegan fest and this was the only cider there, but I don’t think that was it. http://www.acecider.com/ I think it was their new cider, PINEAPPLE. Oh man. I have been chasing this one down. I love pineapple in any form. Bucket List checked when I went to the Dole Plantation last November. And some other alcohols have attempted the flavor. Hey I love flavored vodkas I always order my lucky Blueberry Stoli and Tonic at a blackjack table in Vegas. Okay it was lucky once a night I won $900 and I have been chasing that dream ever since with that drink. (The first step is admitting you have a problem)…but usually the flavored vodkas miss the mark with actually tasting like the fruit. They are almost synthetic tasting. Which explains why Fruit Loop Vodka from Three Olives tastes exactly like Fruit Loops. True story. I was at a wrap party for a TV show being sponsored by Three Olives it was there, I tried it, I liked it, stop judging.

Back to the Ace Cider, the pineapple was so good that the entire group I was with all looked at one another and said “well we are going to need some backyard pitchers of this, this summer”. Just back up a palette of bottles into my car.
They also had their Pear. A very refreshing cider as well. Some ciders are just too sweet, but the Pear was great. The Pineapple however, rated my very first FIVE STARS on Untappd. And I wasn’t alone. This line was off the hook but we stood in it three times. It was that good. They are slowly releasing these bottles of summer goodness. So keep an eye out.

My favorite Figueroa Mountain Brewing was there! Oh Figmtn http://www.figmtnbrew.com/ you never let me down. I have since this weekend become a big fan of their BIG CONE, it’s a Black Ale, and 6.8%. Normally Black Lagers and Ales sort of mess with me. I don’t know if it’s color. Not that I don’t love a good stout or porter, but that’s it. My mind is expecting a thicker, creamer taste. And to be honest most are just “meh” to me. But this is a great beer! Well done again Fig Mtn! Keep making beers….we’ll keep drinking them!!

Another brewery that never lets you down is Firestone.http://www.firestonebeer.com/home.php How freaking smart were they to bring not one but TWO kegs of their 805 Blonde.

I have spoke of this beer before. Its light but super tasty. You drink Bud or Coors, but want a better tasting craft brew? Its your session beer this summer. And I kinda loved the man serving the beer who told me he hit 1000 beers on Untappd in 6 months. (I need to go to more festivals).

Eagle Rock Brewery, http://eaglerockbrewery.com/main said it once I will say it over and over. They know what they are doing. They brought my favorite XPA Revolution. If you want to start drinking IPAS but they are still too “strong” or “hoppy” for you…let this be your gateway beer.

Angel City Brewery http://angelcitybrewery.com/ brought their Goldline Pilsner 5.6% and Angeleno IPA, 6.1% both super good, session and they win for having the nicest server at the fest!

Golden Road Brewery http://www.goldenroad.la/ didn’t forget how much we LOVED the Almond Milk Stout 5.6% from last year so they brought it back again! Yay!! Thank you!

So good.

So my two call outs for this festival were

Bootleggers Brewery http://www.bootleggersbrewery.com/?page_id=32.
Palomino Pale Ale – 5.5% ABV, 19.5 IBU
Borrowing from their website:
“Palomino Pale Ale is our interpretation of an American style Pale Ale. We brew this beer using only the finest American barley and hops and add even more hops as it ages to give it a great balanced citrusy taste and aroma. This beer is sure to please anyone who enjoys the refreshing taste of American hops without the bite of an IPA.”
And their
Rustic Rye IPA – 6.2% ABV, 90.9 IBU
“Our Rustic Rye IPA balances the malted barley and spicy rye grains with a floral and earthy hop flavor and aroma. The maltiness of this beer is balanced with its finish of a crisp, clean hop bite. The combination makes for a truly memorable and refreshing beer.”

Both of these beers have been around a few years now but I have somehow missed them. Both score high points on my tasty and very session. I lean toward the Pale Ale as I love a good 19.5 units of bitter (remember from my last blog) but both were great finds!

And my favorite Brewery of the fest, while I must admit I had a head start on this one as they had a week prior done a Tap Take Over at Story Tavern, http://www.storytavernburbank.com/ is Speakeasy Ales & Lagers out of San Fran. fb.com/speakeasybeer I sort of fell in LOVE with their Scarlett Red Rye. But they had like 8 beers at Story and they were all the MOST DRINKABLE beers I have had. All session, all great. At the festival they had Betrayal an American Strong Ale 8.2% but really smooth and tasty not a session but would be fantastic with dinner and Big Daddy an IPA at 6.5% also super drinkable. Find Speakeasy you will thank me later.

Breweries at the Fest included

Abigaile | fb.com/TheBreweryatAbigaile | @abigaile

Ace Cider | fb.com/AceCider | @AceCider | IG: acecider

Anchor | fb.com/anchorbrewing | @anchorbrewing | IG: anchorbrewing

Angel City Brewery | fb.com/AngelCityBrewery | @AngelCityBrewery | IG: angelcitybeer

Automatic Brewing Co. | Facebook | @AutomaticBrewCo

Anderson Valley Brewing Co. | fb.com/AndersonValleyBrewingCompany | @avbc | IG: andersonvalleybrewing

Ballast Point | fb.com/BallastPoint | @BPbrewing | IG: ballastpointbrewing

Bison | fb.com/Bison | @bisonbrew | IG: bisonbrew

Bootleggers Brewery | fb.com/bootleggersbrewery | @BootleggersBrew | IG: bootleggersbrew

Bravery Brewing | fb.com/braverybrewing | @braverybrewing | IG: braverybrewing

Deschutes Brewery | fb.com/deschutesbrewery | @DeschutesBeer | IG: deschutesbeer

Drake’s | fb.com/drakesbrewing | @drakesbrewery | IG: drakesbrewery

Eagle Rock | fb.com/eaglerockbrewery | @eaglerockbrew | IG: eaglerockbrew

El Segundo Brewing Co. | fb.com/ElSegundoBrewingCo | @ESBCBrews

Epic Brewing | fb.com/epicbrewingco | @epicbrewing

Faction | fb.com/factionbrewing | @factionbrewing | IG: factionbrewing

Figueroa Mountain | fb.com/figueroamountainbrewing | @figmtnbrew | IG: figmtnbrew

Fireman’s Brew | fb.com/firemansbrew | @firemansbrew | IG: firemansbrew

Firestone Walker Brewing Co. | fb.com/firestone.walker | @firestonewalker | IG: firestonewalker

Golden Road | fb.com/goldenroadbrew | @goldenroadbrew | IG: goldenroadbrew

Hangar 24 | fb.com/hangar24brewery | @hangar24brewery | IG: hangar24brewery

Karl Strauss | fb.com/KarlStraussBrewingCompany | @karl_strauss | IG: karl_strauss

Lagunitas | fb.com/lagunitasbrewingco | @lagunitasbeer | IG: lagunitasbeer

Kinetic | fb.com/kineticbrewing | @kineticbrewing | IG: kineticbrewing

Modern Times | fb.com/ModernTimesIsYourFriend | @moderntimesbeer | IG: moderntimesbeer

Monkish Brewing | fb.com/monkishbrewing | @monkishbrewing | IG: monkishbrewing

New Belgium | fb.com/newbelgium | @newbelgium | IG: newbelgium

Noble Ale Works | fb.com/noblealeworks | @noblealeworks | IG: noblealeworks

North Coast Brewing | fb.com/northcoastbrewingcompany | @NoCoastBrewCo

Ohana | fb.com/ohanabrew | @ohanabrew | IG: ohanabrew

Omission | fb.com/omissionbeer | @omissionbeer

Oskar Blues | fb.com/oskarbluesCANS | @oskarblues | IG: oskarblues

Pizza Port | fb.com/pizzaportOB | @pizzaportOB | IG: pizzaport

Saint Archer | Facebook | @saintarcherbrew | IG: saintarcherbrew

Sierra Nevada | fb.com/sierranevadabeer | @sierranevada

Smog City Brewing | fb.com/smogcitybrewing | @smogcitybeer | IG: smogcitybeer

Speakeasy | fb.com/speakeasybeer | @speakeasybeer | IG: speakeasybeer

Surf Brewery | fb.com/surfbrewery | @surfbrewery | IG: surfbrewery

Wolf Creek | fb.com/wolfcreekbrewery | @wolfcreekbrew | IG: wolfcreekbrewery

All the bands were so fantastic! What a great addition to any Beerfest!

One of my favorite booths ever was present at the festival! WRECK CHECK. They were there to provide “free blows” to anyone who wanted to see how much they have had to drink.

Look I take cabs everywhere we are drinking. Sure I am more responsible now in my …ahem not 20s then I was when I was in my 20s. But Im guessing if there was a DUI Breathalyzer test at some of the bars I frequented early on in my drinking life I may not have driven home EVER.

Granted the technology is not always 100%. If I had a big gulp of a 9% IPA and blew I would blow off the charts. But in general it’s pretty accurate. We visited their booth pretty early on after just a few of the tasters and I blew a 0.089 Not crazy. Not tragic. Not even feeling drunk. But you know what? That is above the LEGAL limit to drink and drive. And I wouldn’t have known that.

End of day a $20-40 cab ride to an all day festival is a small price to pay in comparison to a $12000 DUI. And the $12k you will end up spending is the best case scenario. That’s if you don’t hurt anyone. You probably paid for parking somewhere anyway. Be safe just don’t ever ever drink and drive.

There are so many options out there. Taxis which we use all the time Thank you Taxi Magic LA https://taximagic.com/en_US (Taxi Magic app makes it absurdly easy to get a cab get home and click to pay. Um…its an app for the drunkest of fest goers), Uber, https://www.uber.com/ or Side Car http://www.side.cr/.

When we were waiting in line to get in I saw so many of these cars and cabs dropping off fest goers. I was so happy. So thanks Wreck Check for making everyone more aware that a few of those little tasters is a few too many to drive home! https://www.facebook.com/WreckCheck

There was also fun chalk art, and the snap it booth, and they were selling great merch this year. So many things were there I didn’t even get a chance to take pictures of all of it. But the good news is you can follow them on twitter @veganbeerfest and #veganbeerfest and see pictures from everyone who was there!

My final call out was to maybe the greatest part of the festival…the Fans that blew water. No I mean literally the fans that provided spritzing and cooling off to those of us coming off a 100 degree week in LA. Mother Nature was kind enough to cool it down a bit, but still 80 degrees in a big lot in the middle of Hollywood gets hot. So thank you fans. Thank you for being there.

Another most successful LA VEGAN BEERFEST for sure! Thank you Nic, Tony, and Quarry Girl for coming up with this brain child. Its pretty genius!

Until next year!

PS you all saw this right? I know I was drinking so just making sure….

LA BEERFEST 2014

Apr7

Its April you know what that means? Beerfest Season has begun! There are several Fests over the next few weeks to take note of but drinkeatplay’s (you know the folks who brought you the 80s Prom, The Gatsby party, and the LA Bacon festival!) LA Beerfest http://www.drinkeatplay.com/labeerfest/ was the first Mr Beerman and I ever went to and it’s become an annual tradition! If you don’t know about the fest you need to mark your calendars now for next year. It’s always in April and it’s only $40 for 3 hours of partaking in over 80 breweries best beers! 85 in fact!!
This year was the 6th annual LA Beer Festival and in their words it “brings together dozens of craft breweries, food trucks, live music and DJs, as well as thousands of attendees”. The Fest has two sessions, from noon to 3pm and 5pm to 8pm.

This year the location changed from the Paramount back lot. I won’t lie. I saw the map they posted and I lamented over it as I was stringing up pretzels for necklaces. It looks squishy. I was nervous. But low and behold it was the best year yet!

The music is pumping as well as some fists (age ranges from 21- gosh I should find the oldest attendee next year) as you make friends and drink some beers. I love the attendees at Beerfest. At least the 12-3 slot has some of the friendliest folks you’ll ever meet. We happened to be with friends wearing Lederhosen so it was like we were with Disneyland characters. They took pics with fellow beer drinker, we shared pretzels from our necklaces, and I found chivalry wasn’t dead even in the bathroom lines. Thank you dude I don’t know for letting me go first.

I started my Bierlady blog after last year’s fest. In that year I have probably tried, drank, enjoyed, not enjoyed, but drank a beer from most of the 85 breweries. So I wasn’t really on a mission to drink it all. I was on a mission to find a great session beer with summer approaching, find a great new Red, and to find a brewery I have not tried but found awesome. And I did!

So first off I have to mention an app called Untappd https://untappd.com/ If you are a beer drinker, or just have trouble remembering the day after what you drank you should get this free app on your smart phone. It allows you to check into the beer you are drinking rate it, take a pic, write a tweet, toast a friend who’s also has the app or just store it so you remember what you had and if you liked it you can find it again. So I tried. Oh readers, I tried to check into every beer. But the sun was bright, you know how hard an Iphone is to read under the light of the blinding sun. So I tried and failed to check into all my beers. Probably for the best considering my Untappd is linked to my twitter (shameless plug please follow me @thebierlady) so if you didn’t know I was at a Beerfest it probably just looked like I was on a bender.

Let’s start out with some old favorites. I mean the guys who NEVER let you down. My current favorite brewery is Figueroa Mountain http://www.figmtnbrew.com. They are really fantastic. You can find their big bottles at some smaller liquor stores, or if you don’t want to go far they are at your local Bev Mo. I won’t digress too far on topic as I have blogged about their greatness before. Just saying they didn’t disappoint. The best part of FigMtn is they are brewing every kind of beer, not just the CA trend of IPAs. They DO a great IPA. In fact their Hoppy Poppy is one I can drink. Their Bag of Cats melds IPA and that old fashioned “bread” taste of your dads beer. But today I will mention their RED! http://www.figmtnbrew.com/our-beers/#danish-red-lager Their Danish Red is an award winner. Gold Medal at the 2011 and 2012 Los Angeles International BeerFestival. If you can find them on draft at a bar do it. If you can take a trip up to Buellton even better. Screw the wine, go get a beer!

Next up for our Summer outside Drinking needs the tried and true Firestone Walker Brewing Company. http://www.firestonebeer.com/ These guys have gotten pretty big over the past few years but they have stayed pretty true to their recipes. I have to take my hat off (if I were wearing one) to their 805 Blonde. For all you who can’t hand over your Coors or Budweiser, first of all what’s wrong with you? There is a time and place for Bud and if you are reading my blog you are not bowling, so if you want a really tasty clean crisp low alcohol, I could drink this for hours in my backyard beer: This is your beer! 805 Blonde!

I was giddy with anticipation to try ACE Ciders Pineapple. http://www.acecider.com/ I wondered if they would be there and they were! But insert SAD TROMBONE here when I got to their tent it was gone! Empty! With an hour left of the fest! But the very nice ACE server assured me I could find it in So Cal in June. Which is pretty much just in time for summer BBQs.

I was super happy to see Old Orange Brewing http://oldorangebrewing.com/. I found these guys at the Bev Mo Holiday Beerfest back in December, and they were still great! Find them. Not only great beers, but really cool labels. So even if you don’t know beer makes a good gift for a friend who does!

Beachwood BBQ & Brewing! http://beachwoodbbq.com/brewery.html I remembered them from last year’s festival and since we have found them bottled at our local liquor store (that has everything) Vendome in Toluca Lake http://www.vendometolucalake.com/.
Man these guys are good. I have to shout out to their RED as well. Knucklehead Red was I dare say one of my top beers at the festival. GREAT mix of an amber and a red. Only 5.7%. If you can find it get it. It will not disappoint you!

Ok on to the new…
I found Wiens Brewery out of Temecula http://www.wiensbrewing.com/. Not only really really nice people but a great Lager! I tried their Front Street Lager at 4.9% fits the bill as a great session beer, nice crisp lager. Great BBQ beer!

I think the BIGGEST find of the festival at least for me was COSMIC ALES http://www.cosmicbrewery.com/Home_Planet.html Nothing makes me happier than to find session beers with flavor. These were FANTASTIC. All of them. And look at the variety. Kudos to brewers who aren’t afraid to make a great blonde, brown, porter, Belgium.

Look Im not anti IPA if its good I will shout it out. But they don’t ALL have to be IPAs. If you can do all the different kinds of beer out there with flavor and Yah…. I will mention it…. some pretty awesome bottling, then you have my attention.

*Note the Bierlady is here to find folks who are afraid of craft beers new beers to try. So if you love your Pilny the Elder Im not here to poo poo that. More power to you. But Im reaching out to the folks who ….dammit are you still drinking that Coors when I told you to put it down? So for YOU guys, at the Yard house about to order another Bud Light. STOP! There are great beers out there that wont scare you!

Back to Cosmic. Again I love when booth folks are friendly and happy to share their beers with pride. Im excited for these guys to grow. I think they are ones to watch!

Some other beers I drink at home but found their booths worth mentioning:
Goose Island http://www.gooseisland.com/ out of Chicago they have some great beers. I’m fan of their Honkers ale. It’s a tasty beer and really with a goose on it and called Honkers how could it not be good?

It wouldn’t be a beer blog from me if I didn’t mention Kona Brewing http://konabrewingco.com/. I know I know, not California and bought out by the big guys. But they too have really done a good job sticking to their brewing recipes. I guarantee. No really money back guarantee on this one. If you want a good beer and you normally drink the grocery store ones that have been around forever get a Kona Longboard. You can find them anywhere, right next to that beer you are about to buy. Yes they are more expensive but they are worth it.

I didn’t get to everyone thank goodness LA Vegan Beerfest is in 6 weeks. http://www.veganbeerfest.com/
I missed some of my favorites like Surf Brewery in Ventura, http://surfbrewery.com/beer.html Ballast Point who does Sculpin IPA that is delicious and will put you on your ass after a few. Shes says having been there. http://www.ballastpoint.com/beers/year-round/.

And my local, so local I could almost walk Golden Road Brewing http://www.goldenroad.la/ . This is hands down the most fun place to drink! They know their IPAs. I promise to find you at the Veganfest!

So in summary the Beers to Find before your first Summer BBQ.

#5 Wiens Brewery http://www.wiensbrewing.com/ Great Lager, excited to try more from them, Local CA Beer!
#4 Firestone Walker http://www.firestonebeer.com/home.php, they don’t disappoint from Double IPAs to their Blonde they’re a great brewery.
#3 Figueroa Mountain http://www.figmtnbrew.com/, Dad and Son Brew team, how great is that. Some of THE BEST Craft brew out there. Run don’t walk to Buellton.
#2 Beachwood BBQ & Brewing, http://beachwoodbbq.com/brewery.html, stood out for me in every festival. This BBQ place knows how to brew!
#1 Cosmic Ales http://www.cosmicbrewery.com/Cosmonaut.html, the one to watch. They are out of the gate strong and I think they’re gonna blow up.

I feel I have to include this. I don’t know where we got it. It was in Mr Beermans pocket when we got home. Im sad I didn’t see them. But these folks win for something. The branding is outstanding, sorry I can’t say for sure what they tasted like. I love this though!

Special Shout out thank you to our friend Wendy who normally runs a doggie daycare https://dogvacay.com/pro/wendyandriggins but took care of our “puppies all day so I could have the ever important #Mom/Bierlady balance. If you want THE BEST PLACE to leave your dog when you need to she is your gal!

Always remember to drink responsibly! We took UBER https://www.uber.com/ there and Taxi Magic https://taximagic.com/en_US home! NEVER EVER Drink and Drive!

Excellent work DRINKEATPLAY! Thank you again for one of the best Festivals of Beer around!

LA HOLIDAY BEERFEST

Dec9

’twas the night before Beerfest
And all through the house
My husband and I prepped with a lil Karl Strauss
The beers would be plenty
Over 200 to be shared
Wonder if we can try them all- yes we’ve been dared
Challenge Accepted yelled Mr Beerman as the taxi arrived
Wondering which beer to start with
would we make it out alive?

The Fest was held at Golden Road
Great CA Craft Brew to be sure,
Sponsored by Bev Mo also part of the lure

Wont lie I loved the Woodchuck Cider the best
but who doesn’t love a sake bomb
Hand tap to my chest
There was chocolate and hazelnut
a ginger beer to make a Mule,
The place was so festive, full of lots of good yule!

The day was joyful with many of our friend
After 4 hours we were sad for Holiday Beerfest to End.

The day was December 7th and a team of 6 of us headed to our first ever Holiday Beerfest in LA. The event was held at Golden Road Brewery http://www.goldenroad.la/. I have mentioned them in past blogs as they are one of my favorite places to go. Not only do we get to have great beer, but we can bring the kids. This particular journey there was kid free though. As they were sponsored by Bev Mo and promised 200+ Beers.

The thing I immediately noticed about this fest was that it was not just CA Craft Beers, there were a good amount of them, some I hadn’t tried yet, but they had beers from all over the country and the world. That made for some good tasting!

I can’t talk about every beer I tried, because quite frankly toward the end I don’t know what I tried…it was four hours stop judging. But I will point out some I think are musts for not only the holiday season but in general.

So the Bierlady has been on a bit of a Cider kick these days. Not sure why. Cider technically isn’t beer, but I can’t change my name, so indulge me. A friend of mine gave me a mixed 6pk of beer for my birthday and in it I found a Woodchuck Cider. I had seen them before but never tried them. What a delicious Cider.http://www.woodchuck.com/ They are up there on my list of favorites with Crispin http://crispincider.com/ and Ace’s Pumpkin. http://www.acecider.com/about/ace-ciders/ace-pumpkin-cider/Both also represented at the Fest.
I tried several of their Ciders. They brought several of their ciders for tasting. 802 “A drier Woodchuck. Its made with caramelized sugar to tone down the sweetness a bit and give it its bronze color”, Granny Smith “Made from only Granny Smith apples”, Amber “The original” and a Brewers choice. Now they had the Winter Series Woodchuck and I think it was my favorite taste of the day. It had a vanilla after taste that made it so different and super holiday just really delicious!

I’ll be looking for that one today! They also had 2 from their Cellar Series a Smoked Apple “Apple pomace is smoked using a blend of maple and applewood chips. Our original small batch hard cider is run through the smoked pomace. The result is a full-bodied deep amber cider. Strong crisp apple notes with hints of vanilla are balanced on an applewood smoked backdrop.” And their Dry Hopped, “Woodchuck Dry Hop is the first cider in our new Cellar Series line. Infused with hops, Woodchuck Dry Hop brings a new unique flavor to the cider category and it represents our dedication to pushing innovation in hard cider.” Both of these were really unique and tasty. I don’t think I could drink a pint of the Smoked apple but it would be awesome to cook with. I will for sure try a turkey in that! The guys at Woodchuck were super nice too! And pointed out that their Ciders are Gluten free for those looking!

Speaking of Gluten free, this review goes out to my friends who are looking. Now I love a beer that really tastes like bread. Ive mentioned some in the past Fig Mtn’s Oktoberfest, New Belgium’s Blue Paddle…. Now I don’t want a gluten free beer, I can eat a loaf of bread with the best of them. Bring on the Garlic buns, wheres the crossiants, but if you are looking I found this lager to be really tasty. Lammsbrau from Germany is about as close as you can get to “real Beer” taste when you are Gluten Free. http://lammsbraeu.com/

A beer that both Mr. Beerman and I took note of was Chocolate Box Oatmeal Stout. From Asskisser Ales http://asskisserales.com/beer.php. I don’t know it this was a special brew cause I can’t find it on their site, but did find this: http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/ass-kisser-chocolate-box-dark-oatmeal-stout/184389/ Normally I don’t buy into the chocolate beer. I find it a bit gimmicky and can’t find one that’s really good. THIS IS REALLY GOOD. So good we went back after we did a round about the fest and it was already gone. I would also note that if you mixed this with Rogue Ales, Hazelnut http://www.rogue.com/beers/hazelnut-brown.php That could be one of the best dessert beers of all time!

Here was a find! I thought there wasn’t a CA Craft beer I didn’t know about or have tried, but these guys were new to me and SO nice. Old Orange Brewing out of Orange, CA http://oldorangebrewing.com/Old_Orange_Brewery_Beer.htm. I tried their Backseat Blonde and their Rumplestilskin Irish Red ale and they were fantastic! The super nice lady who was sharing the tastes was the brewers sister. She said they are a small company but getting out there. I encourage you all to look for them. Not only to support CA beers, but they are just a damn good beer. I look forward to trying their other beers!

I can’t not talk about the Sake Bomb. That was one of my favorite parts of the day. Bev Mo sells a Sake Bomb kit for about $12 and it wasn’t that bad. I mean if you have been to Tokyo Delves in No Ho you know a sake bomb doesn’t have to be the best quality to be way fun. This was tasty and cute and I think a great gift! http://bushibomb.com/home

I have to give a shout out to Widmer Brothers, out of Portland, also the home of my favorite Kona (they distribute for Hawaii). They were representing a few of their good ones. Including a Bourbon Barrel aged cider that was really smooth. http://widmerbrothers.com/beer/#barrel-aged-brrrbon-11 And just a quick shout for the Pipeline Porter from Kona. Kona you never let me down!

Mr Beerman wanted me to mention Ballast Points Indra Kunindra a India inspired stout. Lots of cumin, curry, coconut flavors. Again not a beer he could drink pints of, but it was interesting and yummy enough to mention. I bet it would make for good cooking!!

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Taxi Magic for providing everyone (I hope) safe rides from the event. And Wreck Check. I love these guys! Hands down the most fun at the event! They let us BLOW anytime we wanted to check our alcohol level. SO fun. And puts things in perspective. We may have been yelling “blow blow blow”!! and the crowd cheered everyone on. But I hope it once again proved, 1 beer or 200 call a taxi, use an app, share a ride. It’s the right thing to do, for your safety and everyone else on the road.http://wreckcheck.me/

Oh my gosh there were so many good beers there. I bet I will have a follow up blog once I finish going through all my notes. I have to go wrap some Santa gifts, and you know have the Bierlady/Mom balance going on… But I have to give a final shout out to Golden Road Brewery for not only hosting but providing their delicious brews. My favorite this time was their Surfliner, very coffee tasting, very tasty. If you haven’t been to Golden Road you should go. Not only do they have great folks working there, CRAZY NICE owners, and good beer, but you can bring friends, or family or just yourself and enjoy a beer outside or in. AND they have a cool tour of the brewery… What Bierlady did you go on the tour? I did. I wont lie it was about 3 hours into the fest. So I remember….some things…but I will say we took a lot of excellent pictures! So stay tuned. Next blog…the inside of a brewery.

My Christmas gift to you…I would 100% recommend this fest for you all to attend next year! Great fun, 4 hours, unlimited pours, $45. The gift that keeps on giving!!

1 Comment Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Beer, beerfestivals, bev mo, cabeers, craftbeer, goldenroadbrewing, Laholidaybeerfest, woodchuckcider

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