Los Angeles
Guinness Beer Dinner Debuts Guinness Irish Wheat
On Tuesday evening, a couple dozen craft beer fans, social influencers and Guinness beer ambassadors met in Los Angeles at the Salt’s Cure restaurant to participate in the debut of the latest creation coming from Open Gate Brewery at St. James’s Gate, Guinness Irish Wheat.
Anyone that really knows me knows that my desert island beer is Guinness Stout, so whenever I am invited to try anything new from Guinness, you can be sure I will do my best to be there.
Guinness Irish Wheat is probably best described as a hefeweizen created with 100% wheat grown in Ireland and the same Guinness yeast found in every pint of Guinness Draught. My initial sip of Irish Wheat was crisp and seemed slightly lemony/citrusy flavor which was followed by subtle clove with a banana finish. My immediate thought was that this was the perfect time of year to release this beer as it comes across as very light compared to your standard creamy pint of Guinness; I was not the only one to suggest that this would be a very good beer to drink after mowing the yard or while grilling burgers and steaks in the back yard. I would go so far as to suggest that this might be one of the few beers I would consider drinking from a bottle at a barbecue. Continue reading
LA County Brewers Guild Inaugural Beer and Food Fest Photos
These photos were taken at the inaugural L.A. Beer and Food Festival, which was presented by the Los Angeles County Brewers Guild Saturday afternoon at the Mack Sennett Studios in the Silver Lake area of Los Angeles.
I was going to say that for an inaugural event, the turnout was outstanding; but the reality is that they sold out 650 tickets, which is pretty outstanding whether it was the inaugural or 10th annual event. The reality is that the venue probably could not hold much more and remain comfortable.
With close to 50 breweries, all members of the L.A. County Brewers Guild, and at least 15 food vendors there was something for everyone. Although the photos may give the impression that the place was packed, there were virtually no lines for beer. Some of the food vendors may have had a little trouble keeping up with demand, but I heard no complaints because everything (that I tried anyway) was delicious. Continue reading
Laughs By Volume III Updated Brewery Info
On April 23, PINT Magazine will hold their third in a continuing series of comedy shows that feature six comedians and unlimited pours of craft beer; all for less than you would pay to get in the door of any comedy club in Los Angeles, and no drink minimums! Laughs By Volume is returning April 23 to Honeypot LA for Laughs By Volume III.
Craft beer & comedy at one low price – Laughs By Volume
Since my last article, they have modified the breweries being featured; the beers being poured will come from The Dudes’, Stone Brewing, Absolution Brewing, Four Sons, Mission Brewery, El Segundo Brewing, Great Beer Co, Smog City, Refuge Brewery, Timeless Pints, Anaheim Brewery, Telegraph Brewing, Pizza Port Brewing, Julian Hard Cider, Tahoe Mountain Brewing, 21st Amendment, The Lost Abbey, Bear Republic, Victory Brewing, Oskar Blues, Ska Brewing, Alesmith, Brewery Ommegang, Boulevard Brewing, Maui Brewing, Double Mountain, Brouwerij Wolf, and Sixpoint Brewery. With a maximum of 150 tickets being available, you can see that there will be plenty for everyone and they never have lines. Continue reading
Laughs By Volume II – Comedy & Craft Beer-Discount Codes
The Laughs By Volume craft beer and comedy tour has expanded their list of participating breweries by 50% and has added some new discount codes to help you get to and from the event safely.
Laughs By Volume is best described as a comedy show featuring six comedians and unlimited pours from at least 20 different breweries. Laughs By Volume II will be held Sunday, March 20 at Honeypot LA from 2:00 to 5:00 PM. Honeypot LA is located at 212 W. 12th Street in Los Angeles.
The comedians that will be featured include Geoff Keith who has been seen on Comedy Central, HBO and MTV; Jonesy who has been on David Letterman, MTV and VH1; and MoMo Rodriguez who has appeared on the Carlos Mencia Tour. Also performing will be Graham Currin from Comedy Time TV, Ryan Higgins who competed on TBS’s National Comedy Competition; and Laura Crawford. Continue reading
Laughs By Volume II, March 20 – Discount Code
UPDATE – Price Change: After some discussions we have decided to lower the price to $25.00 for General Admission ($26.62 with fee) and Designated Driver tickets are $12.00 ($13.29 with fee). The CBG10 Promo Code will save you 10% on admission and you will get an extra 30 minutes at the end of the event.
Laughs By Volume II, March 20 – Use promo code CBG10 to save $$
Since the inaugural event the organizers and I have been working together, in that they bounce ideas off me and if I have a suggestion that makes sense they modify things accordingly. For instance, the first event had three sessions; it turned out that was not the best idea. The mid-afternoon session was the best attended of the three, so Laughs By Volume II will be one session, from 2:00 to 5:00 PM.
When I mentioned that there was going to be a series of these events the plan was to use different venues around Southern California. It was decided that this was a little too ambitious for a new venture, so it was decided that they would keep these shows a little more local to the Greater Los Angeles area. Laughs By Volume II will be held at Honeypot LA instead of out in Chino. Continue reading
Guinness Nitro IPA Advanced Tasting & Dinner at The Larchmont
These photos were taken at the advanced tasting of Guinness’ new Nitro IPA which was held Thursday evening at The Larchmont restaurant in Los Angeles. The event was put on by Taylor Strategy and featured Guinness Beer Ambassador, Keith Dunne and Diageo Customer Marketing Director, Jonathan Urch. While I am the Craft Beer Guy, we all had to start somewhere; for me, it was Guinness Draught. The fact of the matter is that if I was going to be stuck on a desert island and could only have one beer for the rest of my life, Guinness please.
For every article you read here about a beer dinner or special release I attend, there are probably five or six invitations I turn down; especially if it requires my driving to Los Angeles. When I got the invite to attend the Guinness Nitro IPA advanced tasting and dinner I put aside my disdain for rush hour traffic and accepted the invitation.
As Guinness has been doing these tastings around the country, I started seeing comments and links to articles about the experiences of others that had tried the Nitro IPA over the past week or so. Admittedly, the reviews were not exactly glowing but I am not the type to judge a beer by what someone else thinks (which is why this site is not a beer review site), and I had no idea if a guy from Philly even knew what a good IPA tasted like. Continue reading
A Visit to the L.A. Arts District: Mumford Brewing & Angel City
If you have been following along you know that on Saturday I was at the BEERS Summer Fest in downtown Los Angeles. As the day approached I could see by the weather reports that it was going to be a hot day in DTLA, and unless The Chair parking lot, where the event was being held, had a lot of trees it was going to have to be a pretty entertaining event for me to stay long. Luckily, I knew that Mumford Brewing was just a couple miles away and I knew Angel City was walking distance from there, so I had a backup plan. If not for the BEERS festival, I was going to save my visit to the L.A. Arts District breweries for when everyone was up and running. I had heard good things about Mumford and I think Angel City’s location is one of the more interesting breweries to photograph so it did not take much convincing to head over to the Arts District for some exploring.
When we arrived at Mumford Brewing I was not really sure what I thought. The exterior of the building was brightly colored, but as soon as you see the door you are greeted by the face of a stern Mr. Mumford and the first seating looked like something found in a hip or hep coffee shop. As I turned my gaze to the left I noticed the familiar chalkboards listing the available brews and a room that looked more like the tasting rooms I am familiar with; lots of concrete and basic tables with stools. There were not very many people at the time when compared to what I see in the South Bay breweries, but they had a fair number of customers. By the time we finished our flight it seemed like most tables had suddenly become occupied. Continue reading
BEERS Summer Fest: Festivals only look easy to put on
These photos were taken at the inaugural BEERS Summer Fest, which was held Saturday at The REEF, Chair Parking Lot in downtown Los Angeles. As one might guess, I am approached on a regular basis to promote craft beer festivals; some are large, well established events and others are smaller inaugural events. Some inaugural events are bigger and more successful than expected and others are probably not going to have a second annual event. Since there are a lot of newer beer festivals that seem to get the beer donated and donate a very small portion of the proceeds to a charity so they can get the permit, I have decided to start asking questions about how much actually will be donated before I consider promoting the event. Of even more importance is whether or not I think I will go to it; because I am not in the habit of promoting events that I am not attending.
When I was first approached about promoting the BEERS Magazine BEERS Summer Fest I was taken aback when I saw the pricing structure. $10 to get in, all of which would go to the charity; then $25 for the pint glass that you would get your beer poured in. No glass, no beer. I could not recall any event that I have attended that used this method. There was a $5.00 discount if you pre-paid for your glass, but when I inquired about getting an additional discount for my readers I was told they could not do that. So I started to wonder how much they were paying for the glassware. Continue reading
Beer festival season: Upcoming events for August
It is hard to believe that it has been over a month since the last beer festival I attended, but the break is over as there are three local beer festivals coming up between now and the end of August.
The first up will be Beers Summer Fest which will be held Saturday, August 15 at The REEF, Chair Parking Lot, 1933 S. Broadway in Los Angeles. This event will feature 10 breweries; Anchor Brewing, Wicks Brewing, Absolution Brewing, The Great Brewing Company, Solarc Brewing, Mission, Figueroa Mountain, Fireman’s Brew, Escape Craft Brewery and The Dudes’.
Presented by BEERS Magazine, this inaugural event is a little different in that it costs $10 to get in, but if you want to drink beer you will have to purchase one of their commemorative pint glasses. The glasses are $25 at the door, or you can purchase them in advance via Eventbrite for $20. I am told that the entire $10 from the admission price will be donated to the beneficiaries, RISE – Reaching and Improving Society with Education and Smiles for M.I.L.E.S. Foundation.
There will be food, games and music in addition to the beer. You can get more information at http://beersfest.com/. Continue reading
A Review of LA Beer Week 2015
Unity release at Smog City Brewing
The LA Beer Week Kickoff Party was held Saturday, June 20 at Exposition Park. I have to be honest, even though I have been documenting LA Beer Week since LABW4 in 2012 I have never attended any of their kickoff events. This was due primarily to preconceived misconceptions of what a madhouse it would be; plus I really do not like driving to DTLA. On the Wednesday before the kickoff party I happened to notice an email that came in from Absolution Brewing to members of their Mug Club in which they were offering VIP tickets to the first five “Muggers” that asked for them. I asked Tanya if she wanted to go and she responded immediately with, “No!.” This was because I had been saying we were not going for the past week, so I think she was just making sure I knew she was okay with it.
As I was going to the Torrance City Hall that night anyway for a Planning Commission hearing and Absolution was basically on the way home, it was decided that we would stop by after the Planning Commission hearing and see if any passes were still available. In other words, I was going to let others have an opportunity to score the passes before me. We showed up to Absolution shortly before they closed and no one had claimed any of the passes, so we decided to attend the kickoff.
Thank you to Absolution Brewing for the VIP passes
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