Category: Los Angeles

Gift Guide to Father’s Day 2017

Posted on by LA Beer Hop

Unity Beer from the LA Brewers Guild

Go to El Segundo Brewing and pickup the new Unity Beer brewed by all of the LA Brewers Guild members.It’s an IPA (of course), and it’s delicious (of course).

LA Beer Week Opening Day Tickets

LA Beer Week is coming up and you can give him tickets to the Opening Kickoff on Saturday, June 17th. Tickets here.

LA Beer Hop Gift Certificate

Has your pappy visited the best breweries of LA? Take him on a Beer Hop! You can buy a specific ticket for a date or a general gift certificate good for any day.

Bine & Vine Store

Looking for hard-to-find beers? Check out BineAndVine.com for a bunch of rare and groundbreaking beers. Top pick today? SANTE ADAIRIUS BRIGHT SEA BLONDE 750 Ml

Teku Glass

The Teku Glass is the best beer glass in the world… and if you can imagine your father drinking from it, then it would be a great gift for him.

Yeti Hopper II Cooler

Dad’s always flip out about coolers. This Yeti Hopper II cooler will make all your Dad’s friends jealous.

Pico Brew

The PicoBrew is possibly the easiest way for your father to begin his dreams of being a homebrewer (it’s the beer equivalent of brewing coffee with a Keurig)

Klean Kanteen Insulated Growler

Of all the many, many growlers out there. This is my personal favorite. It’s shatter-proof, easy to clean, has a swing top and is insulated.

Tiny Wooden Barrel

I’ve personally used a 2 liter barrel to age a Manhattan Cocktail and a Boulevardier (it’s a Negroni, but with bourbon instead of gin). I recommend buying some neat bottles in conjunction with the barrel so your father can give samples out to his friends.

Portable Pizza Oven

I mean, come on, this uuni portable pizza oven looks awesome. What Dad doesn’t want to hang around, playing with fire, making pizza, and doing an Italian accent all night?

Aesop Grooming Kit

Does your Dad still use the word “Metrosexual”? Mine does. It’s just his way of saying that he likes to take care of himself. It’s okay Dad, we can all take care of ourselves, and part of doing that is never using the word “metrosexual” again. Grab him this Aesop grooming kit.

Indoor Comfort Meter

I can imagine this “Comfort Meter” sitting on a Dad’s desk. Leather bound books nearby. There’s a big dog. He has a decanter of whiskey that he keeps around for when company comes over. I wanna meet that Dad.

Google Home

“Okay, Google. Find my Dad a perfect gift… oh wait, I just did, it’s Google Home.” Seriously, we have Google Home in our house and we use it daily. We can ask it questions from almost any room in our house and it can hear us. Is it listening to every conversation we have? Yup. Is that terrifying? Only when I think about it.

Nasa Mug

There are a lot of space geek Dads out there. And rightfully so. Every man, at some point in his life should have dreamt of being an astronaut. Then we all watched Apollo 13 and decided we’d rather stay on Earth. Either way. Get your dad this sweet Nasa mug and he’ll be over the moon. (I have one at home).

Filson Travel Kitt

A man on the move should always have a handsome dopp kit. And consider this dopp kit an investment in an heirloom item that he can pass back down to you. All of the Filson goods are built to last for a few lifetimes, so you can be sure that this travel kit will be intact and it will have a beautiful patina of beard oil and sunscreen when he hands it down to you.

Lights

My Dad really likes lights: Security Lights, Flashlights, Headlamps, etc… and I’m pretty sure that all Dads do.

Blazing Block

My dad also flipped out over this portable campfire called Blazing Block. It’s just a piece of hollowed out wood, but it works incredibly well at keeping a whole campfire contained in one place.

Burnie Grill

Speaking of portable fires… this Burnie Grill is a neat gift as well. There are a ton of different ways to use it, including cooking right on the coals.

Watches

Watches always work, I like this one from Timex: Timex Waterbury and this Standard Issue Field Watch from Los Angeles watchmakers Weiss (I have one of these).

Knives

Any gift guide isn’t complete without a knife. This is my favorite: Buck 110. If that’s a little intense for you, go for the French folding knife Opinel.

Your Guide to Oktoberfest in Los Angeles

Posted on by LA Beer Hop

Wilkommen Los Angeles!

It’s that time of the year again: Oktoberfest 2016. The leaves are starting to turn the same golden hue as a delicious German Lager giving you a craving to head to a beer hall to consume as much beer as possible with a bunch of strangers while you claim you can speak German because you studied it for one year in high school. Men, grab your lederhosen. Ladies, grab your dirndl. Here’s your 2016 guide to the best places to celebrate Oktoberfest around Los Angeles:

South Bay

Alpine Village Oktoberfest
Place: 833 W Torrance Blvd. Torrance, 90502
Date: September 9  – October 29 2016
Link: http://www.alpinevillagecenter.com/oktoberfest/

LA Oktoberfest
Place: 1600 Rosecrans Avenue, Manhattan Beach, 90266
Date: October 22: 1pm – 5pm
Link: http://www.laoktoberfest.com/

Central Los Angeles

Vegan Oktoberfest 
Place: LA Center Studios – 450 S. Bixel Street, LA, 90017
Date: October 15, 2016
Link: veganoktoberfest.com

Wirsthaus
Place: 345 N La Brea Ave. LA, 90036
Date: Every Friday and Saturday
Link: wirtshausla.com

Iron Triangle Brewing Oktoberfest
Place: 1581 Industrial St. LA, 90021
Date: October 1
Link: irontrianglebrewing.com

Pershing Square Oktoberfest
Place: Pershing Square – 532 South Olive St., LA, 90013
Date: October 22
Link: OktoberfestDTLA.com

PPOA Oktoberfest
Place: The Standard Rooftop – 550 South Flower St. LA, 90071
Date: October 15
Link: eventbrite.com/e/4th-annual-ppoa-oktoberfest-tickets-27589579174?aff=es2

Orange County

Old World Oktoberfest
Date: September 11th – October 30th
Place: Old World German Village – 7561 Center Ave. Huntington Beach, 92647
Link: oldworld.ws/oktoberfest-orange-county

The Phoenix Club Oktoberfest
Date: Every Weekend until October 30th
Place:1340 S. Sanderson Avenue Anaheim, 92806
Link: thephoenixclub.com/oktoberfest/

East of Downtown

Slater’s 50/50 Oktoberfest VIP Dinner
Date: Thursday and Friday, October 13 & 14
Place: Slater’s 50/50 Pasadena – 61 North Raymond Ave. Pasadena, 91103
Link: eventbrite.com/e/oktoberfest-vip-dinner-tickets-27670991681?aff=es2

Oktoberfest at Fairplex
Date: October 7, 8, 14, 15, 21, 22, 28 and 29th
Place: Fairplex – 1101 W. McKinley Ave. Pomona, 91768
Link: oktoberfestatfairplex.com

Montrose Oktoberfest
Date: October 1
Place: 2400 Honolulu Ave, Montrose, CA 91020
Link: oktoberfest.montrosechamber.org

Or you can pickup a bunch of Firestone Oaktoberfest, Sierra Nevada Oktoberfest, a growler of Iron Triangle Brewing’s Oktoberfest or Eagle Rock Brewery’s Anton (it’s a Vienna Lager, which is very similar)  and make your own party. Just make sure to include pretzels.

New Brewery Alert – Boomtown Brewery

Posted on by LA Beer Hop

Okay, so they’re not new. But their hours are. Boomtown Brewery recently launched new hours for their Arts District taproom and you should probably go this weekend.

Samuel “Chewy” Chawinga, their brewmaster, has been busy brewing for the past two years. Developing all number of styles from a belgian white, to a blended pale, to the requisite slew of IPAs, but for various reasons, their taproom has only been open to the public on sporadic occasions. A few Friday nights here, a few specialty events there, but never a consistent schedule for you to be able to pop in for a pint. Until now. Their new taproom hours are:

Boomtown Brewery:

Thursday – 5pm to 12am
Friday – 5pm to 1am
Saturday – 12pm to 1am
Sunday – 12pm to 12am

Make your plans for this weekend. Feel free to bring all your beer-drinking friends because their taproom has plenty of space for you to run around like drunken children playing cornhole, velcro-darts, and the board games they have on hand.

Food trucks are usually present and if they’re not, don’t sweat it, Boomtown is walking distance from Arts District (which has a full restaurant attached) and Angel City, which has foodtrucks all-day, everyday (in fact, here’s a link to the foodtruck schedule at Angel City).

Look out for Boomtown to be joining our East & Central public tour soon.

Boomtown Brewery
Boomtown is gonna blow your mind.

BOOMTOWN BREWERY, 700 JACKSON ST, LOS ANGELES, CA 90012 

INFO@BOOMTOWNBREW.COM

P.S. We’re doing a DTLA Brewery Hop on Hop Off Bus this weekend on Sunday 9/25. We have two buses running consistently around the six Downtown LA brewery taprooms – Mumford, Angel City, Boomtown, Arts District, Indie Brew Co (where they will be pouring Dry River Beers) and Iron Triangle. Buses run from 1:00pm to 5:00pm. And did we mention it’s free? Yup, it’s free.

 

New Brewery Alert – Brewyard Brewing

Posted on by LA Beer Hop

We’ve had two breweries in Glendale for a while now: Golden Road and Eagle Rock Brewery… or so we thought. In reality, Golden Road is in Los Angeles and Eagle Rock Brewery is in Glassel Park, they’ve only been in the Glendale of our minds. However, the barley gods have given us a new brewery that is in both the Glendale of our minds and our maps. Brewyard Beer Company – 906 Western Ave, Glendale, CA 91201.

The homebrew duo Sherwin Antonio and Kirk Nishikawa just opened a 4,500 square foot facility in Glendale and will start seving beer to the public this month. They’re slated to start serving up four flagship beers: California Common Lager (Steam Beer), Passion Fruit Saison, Schwarzbier & an IPL (India Pale Lager). Which all sound like great additions to the growing roster of flagship beers available in Los Angeles.

With hours similar to that of the Eagle Rock Brewery taproom, they’ll be open Wednesday to Sunday with opening and closing varying each day.

And within a short time they’ll be a welcome addition to our East & Central tour, along with other (soon-to-be) newcomers like Arts District Brewing, Iron Triangle Brewing and Boomtown Brewery. We’ll keep you posted on the development of that.

Los Angeles Represents at the Great American Beer Fest

Posted on by LA Beer Hop

It’s award season! And we’re happy to report that our hometown Los Angeles and Orange County breweries racked up a bunch of awards to bring home from the Great American Beer Fest in Denver, which is definitely The Oscars for breweries. Fewer tuxes, more beards.

– Craft Beer Won – The Brewer’s Association just announced that there are now 4,000 craft breweries in the US. Well, make that 3,999 because Golden Road just jumped ship.

– Beachwood Brewery – Recieved a silver medal in the Coffee Beer Category for their Mocha Machine.

– Smog City Brewery – Received a silver medal in the Belgian-Style Fruit Beer Category for their Kumquat Saison.

– TAPS Fish House & Brewery – Received four medals for TAPS Kellerbier, Amend This! American-style Pilsener, The Velvet Hog Chocolate Beer, Irish Red and the esteemed Midsize Brewpub of the Year award.

– Bottle Logic – Received two medals for their Lagerithm and Cobaltic Porter.

– Noble Aleworks – Received a silver medal for their Session IPA Nose Candy.

As the LA Times points out, overall, California breweries were awarded 67 medals and four out of the seven brewery of the year awards.

Friday Tours

Posted on by LA Beer Hop

We’ve added Friday public tours to our calendar! We’ve added Friday public tours to our calendar! South Bay, East & Central and Long Beach all starting at 6:00pm. That gives you just long enough for you to get off of work and come join us at one of our meeting locations – El Segundo Metro, Union Station or Downtown Long Beach on 3rd.

Thirsty? All beer tasters are included at the three locations we visit.

Hungry? At least one of the locations we’ll be visiting will be serving food.

Traffic? Don’t sweat it. Our itinerary avoids traffic, we promise. And you’re not driving anyway.

Come join us to make new friends, meet new beers, and have a great time on our Friday evening tours.

Father’s Day Gifts!

Posted on by LA Beer Hop

This Father’s Day treat your old man to something you can enjoy together – A Beer Hop. All he wants to do is spend time with you. All you want to do is give him a gift to try and repay him for all of the horrible things you did as a child that caused all of his hair to turn gray (or fall out entirely). We’ve got Gift Certificates that never expire or you can purchase tickets for any of our Public Tours. But if that’s not enough, here are 20 other things you can get him…

There ya go, 20 Things (and 1 more for good measure)! Happy Father’s Day.

PS. Just brought to our attention is a real hole in one gift idea for the beer-loving golfer (which I imagine is every single golfer): Father’s Day Gift Set from Enegren Brewing

New Tour Alert – Greenbar Distillery

Posted on by LA Beer Hop

We’re adding to our East & Central Tour! Which isn’t crazy considering how much brewery growth there has been already in 2015. What is crazy is that it’s not beer. It’s liquor.

Greenbar Organic Distillery has been crafting an insane array of liquor in Downtown Los Angeles for over 10 years, but they were only recently able to operate a tasting room. They have every imaginable spirit is in their arsenal: vodka, whiskey, tequila (real tequila made with agave), rum, and as much brandy as you would ever want (which is a lot). And it’s all organic. And it’s all delicious. And it’s all yours. Well, not yet. But if you come on one of our East & Central tours it can be yours.

At each visit to Greenbar, you will taste a flight of five of their spirits, tour their distillery and learn as much about distilling liquor as you like. That’s right. Try five different liquors, but don’t worry… the liquor is before beer.

For the time being, we will be adding them to just one East & Central tour at the end of every month, with plans to expand that over time. We’ll be adding their distillery to our private tour selection as well.

If you have any questions about how you can visit Greenbar with us or even on your own, feel free to shoot us an email at contact@labeerhop.com.

What we’re drinking right now: Greenbar Organic Distillery Poppy Brandy (not kidding and it’s amazing).

Crawl for Nepal

Posted on by LA Beer Hop

Of course you want to help Nepal, you’re a good person who does good things for people, but you also want to enjoy your Saturday.  So the craft beer community of Los Angeles and Orange County is going to help you help others by hosting “Crawl 4 Nepal” an all-day multi-brewery event with proceeds going to Nepal. Here are the details:

Nick Gingold (of CA Brewmasters) and Kelly Erickson (of Girls Who Like Beer) are organizing a drinking fundraiser on Saturday, May 9th to benefit Nepal. A bunch of breweries (the list is still growing) are going to select one beer and donate 100% of proceeds from that beer all day long. So far here’s the list of breweries:

Tony’s Darts Away
Mohawk Bend
Golden Road Brewing
Eagle Rock Brewing Co
The Rookery Ale House
Ritual Brewing Co
Sunset Beer Co
Bread & Barley
Sanctum Brewing Co.
Three Weavers
Barley Forge
Cismontane Brewing

Check their Facebook Page for updates on more participating breweries. You can bet you’ll see our buses at Three Weavers, Sunset Beer Co, Eagle Rock and Golden Road.

All you have to do is go to any of those breweries on Saturday, May 9th and drink. If you don’t want to do that (which is crazy) you can just go directly to their website and donate there. They will be donating the money to GlobalGiving and here’s their link.

New Brewery Alert!

Posted on by LA Beer Hop

Get used to it because it’s going to keep happening. And it’s going to be wonderful. A new brewery has opened and you should check it out. It’s called Timeless Pints and it’s in Lakewood (basically Long Beach) and Cindy and I can assure you, the pints they are serving will make you lose time.

Tucked away in an industrial strip, no surprise there, Timeless Pints would be hard to find if it weren’t for the great logos they have adorning their windows and at the front of the parking lot. Parking is ample and if you’re arriving in style the Long Beach is across the street giving it a distinctly “Hangar 24-Feel”. In fact, if you search for Timeless Pints on Google Maps, the marker appears to be inside of the airport.

The interior has an industrial brewery meets Edward Gorey vibe. It’s large, spacious, has an L-shaped bar, about 10 table tops and plenty of room to mill about. A good too because from what I hear, the place has been filled every weekend because, let’s be honest, Long Beach knows how to drink craft beer.

The owners, Merri and Chris Sparacio, were both present when we stopped by and they couldn’t have been more pleasant. Welcoming, chatty, excited about their beer and to be a part of the local beer scene. 

Now, the beers. Wonderful. An 8% IPA with 92 IBU’s, a dry Wit, an Oatmeal Stout with Huckleberry. All fun, delicious and a few of them were slightly ambitious. Chris comes from a homebrewing background, so I expect some of that ingenuity and “brewing for fun” mentality to come through to this brewery.

We will be bringing tours there as often as we can and I will certainly be going there myself as often as I can.

Next up… FEDERAL BREWING.