These photos were taken Saturday afternoon at Stout Burgers & Beers Hollywood location, where Stout’s Beer Fest for Beer Geeks held The Rarest Experience craft beer festival. The event featured 30 very rare beers from 22 craft breweries around the country and Belgium. These beers were not just rare, but a few were the last you will ever see in the US.

Joey Anderson, the National Beer Manager for Stout Burgers & Beers, curated the event with extremely rare beers collected and cellared by Anderson over the years. Some of the beers were actually sourced from the private collections of the breweries; to give you an idea of how rare some of the beers were.

Take a look at the official list:

Firestone

2010 XIV Anniversary. 12.5% – Blend Of 31% DDBA, 29% Stickee Monkee, 27% Parabola, 7% Velvet Merkin, 3% Black Xantus, & 3% Good Foot

2016 Feral One Batch #2, 6.7% – Third Anniversary Blend Of Wild Ales Aged 24 To 42 Months In 84% French Oak & 16% American Oak Bbls. Extremely Rare!

Stone

2012 Bbl Aged Smoked Porter – Stone Smoked Porter Aged In Lowland Scotch Whiskey Bbls

2013 Whiskey Bbl Aged Stout, 12.7% – Imperial Russian Stout Aged In Templeton Rye Whiskey Bbls

Allagash

2012 Interlude, 10.6% – Belgian Style Saison Fermented w/House Saison Yeast & House Brett w/A Portion Aged In Red Wine Bbls

2012 Bourbon Bbl Aged Black, 9.3% – Belgian Style Stout Brewed w/Dark Caramelized Belgian Candi Syrup & Aged In Bourbon Bbls

Uinta

2011 Labyrinth, 13.2% – Imperial Stout Brewed w/Licorice Sticks & Aged In Oak Bbls. Last Keg In Existence!

The Bruery

2014 Smoking Wood, 14% – Imperial Porter Brewed w/Beachwood & Cherrywood Smoked Malt & Aged In Bourbon Bbls

2014 Rueuze, 6% – Blonde Ale Soured In A Number Of Oak Bbls For Several Months To Several Years & Blended Using The Traditional Belgian Style Blend Of Lambics (Gueuze)

Anderson Valley

2013 Huge Arker, 13.5% – Imperial Stout Aged In Wild Turkey Bourbon Bbls Until Fully Matured

2014 Grand Cru, 9% – Brother David’s Double & Triple Soured 2-3 Years In Port Wine Bbls w/Horse Tongue Wheat Culture & Pediococcus

Highwater

2015 Ramble on Rose, 6% – Sour Ale Aged 1 Year In Used Wine Bbls w/Locally Grown Blueberries, Rose Buds, Rosehips, & Pink Peppercorns

2016 Stella Blue, 6% – Sour Ale Aged 1 Year In Wine Bbls w/Local Blueberries, Strawberries, & Rhubarb

Tahoe Mountain

2014 Dark Ages: Old Ale, 10% – Old Ale Aged Over A Year In American Oak Bourbon Bbls

2016 Evolution of the Barrel, 6.7% – Blend Of 1, 2, & 3 Year Old Bbl Fermented Golden Ale (Blended In The Tradition Of A Belgian Gueuze)

Breckenridge

2014 Twenty Five – Imperial Porter Aged In Barbados Rum Bbls w/Fresh Vanilla Beans From The Veracruz Region Of Mexico

Hanger 24

2013 Hammerhead – American Style Barleywine Aged 6 Months In Charred Oak Rye Whiskey & Bourbon Bbls

Drakes

2013 Zinkonic, 9% – Drakonic Imperial Stout Aged In Red Zinfandel Bbls

BOM (Both Beers No Longer Available In The US)

2015 Wild & Funky #1, 5.5% – Sour Ale Brewed w/Apple & Pear Poiret & Fermented w/Lactic Acid Bacteria, Brettanomyces From An Original Porter, White Wine Yeast, & Champagne Yeast, Then Blended w/A Portion Of Young Beer

2015 Wild & Funky #2, 5.5% – Sour Ale Brewed w/Apple & Pear Poiret & Fermented w/Lactic Acid Bacteria, Brettanomyces From An Original Porter, White Wine Yeast, & Champagne Yeast, Then Blended w/A Portion Of Young Beer

Dogfish Head

2013 120 Minute IPA, 18% – Imperial IPA Boiled & Continually Hopped For 2 Hours, Then Dry Hopped Every Day In The Fermenter For A Month, & Aged For A Month On Whole Leaf Hops

Joseph James

2015 Barrel Smoker, 11.5% – Wee Heavy w/Malt Smoked w/Bourbon Bbl Staves, Hickory, & Maple Wood, Then Aged In Bourbon Bbls

Lost Abbey

2014 Deliverance, 12.5% – Blend Of Bourbon Bbl Aged Serpent’s Stout & Brandy Bbl Aged Angel’s Share (Barleywine)

Epic

2013 Wild Brainless On Peaches, 11.4% – Belgian Style Golden Ale Aged In French Oak Chardonnay Bbls w/Peach Puree, Wild Yeast & Bacteria

Brouwerij Affligem

2011 Affligem Noel, 9% – Belgian Christmas Ale Brewed w/Spices & Caramel Color Added

Huyghe

2012 Delirium Noel, 10% – Belgian Christmas Ale

Het Anker

2011 Gouden Carolus Noel, 10.5% – Belgian Dark Strong Ale Brewed w/6 Different Kinds Of Herbs & Spices & 3 Different Kinds Of Hops

Dubuisson

2011 Scaldis Noel, 12% – Belgian Dark Strong Ale Using A Traditional Process Which Consists Of Placing Hops In The Vats w/The Beer For 4 To 6 Weeks

Brasserie d’Achouffe

2011 N’ice Chouffe, 10% – Belgium Belgian Dark Strong Ale Brewed w/Thyme & Curacao. Unfiltered & Refermented In The Keg

Jolly Pumpkin

2012 Noel de Calabaza, 8% – Dark Wild Ale Brewed w/Orange Peel & Coriander & Aged In Oak Bbls

As you can see, there was pretty much something for everyone; unless you wanted a west coast style IPA; but you could walk inside the restaurant to satisfy that desire.

In addition to the great beer selection, Stout provided sliders pretty much non-stop, along with plenty of water, cornhole and music. Luckily, Mother Nature cooperated and the weather stayed in the 80’s instead of the triple digit stuff LA was experiencing a week earlier.

Long time readers may recall that I attended a Beer Fest for Beer Geeks a few years ago at Stout’s Studio City location. Apparently they have tweaked the name a little and will be moving the Studio City festival to the Hollywood location as it has a bigger parking lot. This will be held yearly in November as The Rare Experience. The plan is to hold The Rarest Experience every other year.

The Rarest Experience was a great event as expected; there is no doubt that Anderson knows how to curate a beer festival.

Stout Burgers & Beer is located at 1544 N. Cahuenga Boulevard in Los Angeles. They are open daily from 11:30 AM to 4:00 AM. Cheers!

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