Category: News

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.

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).

2014 Great American Beer Fest Local Results

Posted on by LA Beer Hop

It’s been an amazing year so far in LA beer. We’ve had more breweries open and beers debut than we all know what to do with. And in fact… there is another brewery opening TODAY: Three Weavers Brewing in Inglewood. We’ll be at their opening party tonight, so if you’re there, come say hi. So to roll us into the end of the year… here are the local results from the 2014 Great American Beer Festival.

 

Large Brewpub and Large Brewpub Brewer of the Year

Beachwood BBQ & Brewing, Long Beach, CA

Julian Shrago & Ian McCall

 

Category: 10 Coffee Beer – 116 Entries

Gold: Mocha Machine, Beachwood BBQ & Brewing, Long Beach, CA

 

Category: 36 American-Style Cream Ale – 43 Entries

Gold: Primo, Pabst Brewing Co., Los Angeles, CA (next year will this say Russia?)

Silver: Old Style, Pabst Brewing Co., Los Angeles, CA

 

Category: 41 American-Style Dark Lager – 19 Entries

Gold: Lagerithm, Bottle Logic Brewing, Anaheim, CA

 

Category: 56 American-Style Amber/Red Ale – 140 Entries

Bronze: Rocco Red Ale, Bootlegger’s Brewery, Fullerton, CA

 

Category: 72 French- and Belgian-Style Saison – 115 Entries

Silver: Un Atout, Beachwood BBQ & Brewing, Long Beach, CA

 

Category: 74 Belgian-Style Lambic or Sour Ale – 60 Entries

Bronze: Jon Flanders, Tustin Brewing Co., Tustin, CA

 

Category: 89 Barley Wine-Style Ale – 51 Entries

Bronze: Galaxian, Bootlegger’s Brewery, Fullerton, CA

 

And here’s a link to all of the winners: 2014 List of GABF Winners

Cheese & Beer Pairing! – October 5th

Posted on by LA Beer Hop

Beer & Cheese share an incredible amount of similarities. They both have flavor profiles like tangy, funky, musty, nutty and earthy. They’re both made using historic methods employing microflora to do a lot of the heavy lifting. And most notably, there is a massive gap between what’s readily available to the public and “The Good Stuff”. On October 5th we’re going to take you on a special Food & Beer Hop where we’re going to examine exactly what the good stuff is in both cheese and beer and how they can work together to make mind-blowing pairings.

There is a cheese made by Chimay (those Beer & Cheese making Monks have the best job) and a Hereford Hop cheese that’s encrusted in toasted hops and those will pair incredibly naturally with beers. But how about a Humboldt Fog with a Saison Dupont to complement both the creamy nature of the cheese and the light spice, fruit and grass notes of the beer.

Mimolette

Or some local fresh burrata paired with the amazingly tart and crisp Hottenroth from The Bruery to bring out it’s natural fruit flavors of green apple and lemon? Maybe we’ll bring out Smog City’s Coffee Porter with notes of rich espresso, dark chocolate and coffee to pair with a Bleu Cheese. Or get really funky and pair Mimolette, a cheese that achieves its flavor from aging with “cheese-mites” with a St. Louis Gueuze Fond Tradition which gets it’s flavors from aging with equally strange wild yeast and bacteria. It’s gonna get weird folks, so come prepared to dive into the deep end with us and learn something along with way. 

The Cheese & Beer Pairing is hosted by Hal Mooney of the LA Beer Hop and John Verive, a cheese enthusiast, beer writer for the LA Times and Beer Paper LA, a Certified Cicerone and a general man about town. The tour is on Sunday, October 5th and will include beer and cheese along the way. We’ll be visiting Sunset Beer Company, Surly Goat and finishing off at Beer Belly where you’ll be able to purchase a cheese inspired dinner if all of the cheese, bread and beer that we give you isn’t enough. Tickets are available on our website on our SCHEDULE.

See you soon!

PS. If you’re a woman and this kind of thing interests you, check out the Women’s Beer Forum at Eagle Rock Brewery on September 17th. They’re doing a class on Cheese & Beer pairing and it’ll be great. I’d be there, except I’m not a woman, but you’ll probably see Cindy Mooney there.

PPS. Due to Cindy and my ability to consume cheese rapidly, the cover photo of the Lucerne Mexican Cheese was the only cheese I had in my fridge at the time of posting.

Your Invitation to the Pants Party

Posted on by LA Beer Hop

Don’t act like you’re not impressed. We’re doing a Ron Burgundy tour this Saturday night and it’s taking you to pleasure town.

Sponsored by Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues and Paramount Pictures, we’re going to have a hell of a night this Saturday on our East & Central Public Tour.

If you come join the tour you’ll get free t-shirts, mustaches, posters and a whole lot of beer tasters. We will be going to Angel City, Eagle Rock Brewery and Golden Road Brewery. The tour includes visits to those three locations, a brewery walkthrough, and all beer tasters. Pickup will be at Union Station in Downtown Los Angeles at 7:00pm.

On top of all of that we will be giving two lucky guests VIP Tickets to an early screening of the film!

So hop on down to the Pants Store, slap on your finest suit, and kick the vermouth to the side with a bair of steel-toed boots cause it’s gonna be a big night.

– Stay Classy Los Angeles

We’re on Vacation!

Posted on by LA Beer Hop

The LA Beer Hop will be tapped out from March 30 – April 22nd. Why? We’re getting married! Hal Mooney, the owner of LA Beer Hop, and his fiancee are getting hitched on 3.30.13 and heading out on their honeymoon after that. Feel free to cheers us!

Steve Nash, Hungover Cookbook, and New Beer Law in CA

Posted on by LA Beer Hop

Welcome to Monday everyone. We’ve got a big week coming up and by the end of it, we should be officially up and running to the public, the private and everything in between.

Today we have stories from all over, including a report on the new law that Governor Jerry Brown passed in California allowing brewers to ferment beer in barrels that have previously been used to distill spirits. We also have a video introducing Steve Nash to Los Angeles, a link to a “Hungover Cookbook”, IKEA Beer, an article about Obama and his beer tastes and finally how to host a Clambake.

Government

via GrubStreet

Governor Jerry Brown Votes FOR Beer

Barrel-aged beer is a great thing. It’s a straightforward process, you put beer in a barrel and you get beer out, but some government types were trying to qualify what came out of the barrels as “spirits”. Fools. Thankfully, Gov. Brown put a stop to that by passing a bill that states beer aged in barrels is still beer. Hooray for logic. Hooray for beer.

Books

via Bless This Stuff

The Hungover Cookbook

In the mornings that follow a night of heavy boozing, I treat myself to a three course meal. A bottle of gatorade. Followed by a second course of Advil and coffee. And I finish it all off with a big bowl of regret. This is the most that I can typically muster when I’m hungover. However, a new book has been published that will help you navigate those difficult times.

Beer

via Beer Search Party

Bjeër!

The second I get out of Ikea, there is one thing I need, and it’s not meatballs. It’s beer. Don’t get me wrong, I still get the meatballs. I always get meatballs. But now, at least in Britain IKEA is going to start selling it’s own IKEA Brand beer in it’s marketplaces. I wonder if it comes in balsa wood?

Video

via CBS News

Steve Nash Just Got Keystoned!

Welcome to Los Angeles Steve Nash! And in true Southern California fashion, our welcome party is a group of frat boys in an SUV drinking Keystone. The best part about this video? Nash looks as stoked as the guys giving him the beer.

President

via CNBC

Obama Drinks Bud Light, But Brews His Own Beer

Could Barack Obama be the first bi-partisan president? And by that I mean the two parties of cheap beer and craft beer. Who gives about real politics? Not this guy. Turns out Obama fancies the Joe Sixpack style of brew in public, while enjoying the finer points of homebrewed white house ale while at home. What I wouldn’t give to try the White House Honey Porter.

Food

via Bon Appetit

How to Host a Clambake

Want to have a clambake but only have one pot? Fear not. Bon Appetit is serving up a handy little guide to hosting a clambake with limited resources. Check it out.

The LABH Daily – July 12

Posted on by LA Beer Hop

Looks like it’s gonna be another scorcher in Southern California today. How are we beating the heat? We sit in our bus all day long with the air conditioning set on MAX. In case you haven’t met our bus, her name is Sue, and she’s great. Check out her website.

The biggest news in Beer Hop biz is that we announced our Bill Murray Tour. It’s a beer tasting and karaoke singing tour that’s tentatively happening on Monday, August 6th. Email info@labeerhop.com if you want to jump in on reservations.

Today we have stories from all over the web some of which may be questionably NSFW. Check em out.

Products

via Uncrate

Build Your Own Waterpark

This is an inflatable waterpark that you can purchase, inflate yourself, and play on. The description offers “offers a curved bridge, a cliff, a slide, a mini-pond, long jump and high jump areas, a trampoline, a swing, a free floating catapult, an “action tower”, a ramp, a balance beam, and, of course, a podium”. I’m not sure if I’ve wanted anything more in my entire life.

Culture

via ESPN

Naked Olympians

If you’ve followed any of my earlier posts, there seems to be a fascination with the beautiful bodies of the athletes that compete in the Olympics. Today, ESPN has a series of photos depicting naked athletes. I’ll be honest, some of the photos may breach on awkward, but they are all beautiful and interesting and of people at the peak of physical perfection. For one of the more interesting additions, make sure to check out photo 20 of a jockey named Mike Smith.

Science

via Fox News Latino

Worried About Bone Mass? Drink Beer!

Are you worried about bone mass? No, cause you’re not 88 years old and you’re not a scientist. And if you are worried about it, you should drink… heavily. Because that means you’re worrying too much. Chances are you’re also worrying about things like if you’re using the right juicer or that your multi-vitamin may not be doing as much as would you like it to. Either way, drinking beer can help create bone firmness. Drinking too much beer can lead to lack of bone firmness. You really got to find a perfect amount of beer for optimum bone firmness. See? I told you some of the stuff today was questionably NSFW.

Food

via Gear Patrol

Eating Like Ironman

Honestly, I’m more interested in drinking like Ironman. Which consists of lots of whiskey and snarky comments. However, if you’re interested in eating like someone who is preparing for an Ironman check out this posting.

Local Events

via Bon Appetit

The LA Grub Crawl is Happening This Weekend!

Hey, LA Beer Hop, I’m looking for an event this weekend that combines all of the best food in Los Angeles with drinking and exploration. Well, I don’t know why you’re asking me, I just do beer tours, but here is my recommendation. The Bon Appetit Grub Crawl! Happening over 3 days this weekend, this culinary adventure is all about the food, some of which is the best in LA. From Coles downtown to Father’s Office, the grub crawl is offering special plates, beers, booze and an experience you’re not soon to forget. Bikini body be damned.

Bill Murray is Coming To Party – August 6

Posted on by LA Beer Hop

This morning, the website SuperOfficialNews.com posted a story that sent tingles through every party-goers spine in America. Bill Murray is going on tour. Not a comedy tour, not a musical tour. A party tour.

Bill Murray is famous for many things, including crashing parties. Not hollywood parties. Your party. He’s also famous for a series of urban legends called “No One Will Ever Believe You”. You should look into that.

Today, it was announced that he is going on a formal party tour of the country. Dropping in on anyone who invites him, given that they meet a few stipulations. The party should probably include drinking and karaoke, and you must have a sign that says “Bill Murray Can Crash Here”. If your party fits those guidelines, the website has given a 24-Hour Bill Murray Party hotline that you can call to register your party.

Now, I understand that this is coming from a comedy news site, and the number they list is to the Westboro Baptist Church (famous for “hating fags”).

That being said, I am not one to let an opportunity like this go by the wayside. I am formally announcing a special tour for Monday, August 6, the day that Mr. Murray (aka Kaiser Soze) will be in Los Angeles according to his calendar. We will be doing a tour of Central Los Angeles, stopping at 3 locations, and ending at a Karaoke Bar. Details, of course are yet to be hammered out, and Mr. Murray’s attendance is questionable, but we will have a banner on the side of the bus that reads “Bill Murray Can Crash Here”, so he will at least know.

Half of the proceeds will be donated to Saint Vincent’s Healthcare, a charity supported Bill Murray.

Date: Monday, August 6.

Time: Starting at 7:00pm

Price: $75

Place: TBA

How to Reserve: Email info@labeerhop.com

More details and confirmation to come.

The LABH Daily – July 10

Posted on by LA Beer Hop

In tour news, we have added the Select Beer Store in Redondo Beach to our list of stops on the Beach Cities tour. What are we going there for? Ahh, funny you should ask. They have 12 rotating taps, where we will set up tastings of local brews for you, and over 350 bottles and cans that you can pick up for the ride. They’re good people and we’re lucky to offer them on the tour.

We have a wide variety of stories for you today: Does brewing your own beer save you Money? The Center for Disease Control has released a “how-to-survive a wedding” guide. Check out what the athletes are wearing to the Olympics and a few other stories as well.

Economy

via Business Insider

Does Home Brewing Save Money?

It turns out that home brewing on average, saves you about $62 a year. Not bad. I do a lot of DIY activities, not all of them have been successful or safe. Here’s a list of a few.

  • Purify your own water.
  • Composting.
  • Jewelry making.
  • Grow your own vegetables.
  • Make your own clothes.
  • Make your own Movies. Rom-Com’s are preferred.
  • Home government. Totalitarian regime is preferred.
  • Make your own car. Safety not guaranteed.
  • Chia pet.

 

These are just a few examples of all of the home projects I’ve tried.

Health

via NPR

CDC Now Offers a Guide to Surviving Your Wedding

I have a wedding coming up, this is no joke. I have very few requirements, which include having craft beer present, hosting the reception somewhere that stays open late, and that there is at least one use of a helicopter. I’m not going to give away how we plan to use it, just in case you are planning on attending, and if you are, I recommend you bring your own gas mask. It’s gonna get wild!

Sports

via Valet

Here’s a Look at What the Olympians are Wearing

As I’ve mentioned in earlier posts, I have a strong respect for the athletes in the olympics and a healthy admiration for how beautiful all of them are. That being said, why do we put them in clothes at all? I say let them strut naked like the olympians of old, showcasing what immaculate bodies they have crafted of themselves. Now, I don’t feel the same way about the famously less fun Winter Olympics, but for now, I vote for the “let it all hang out” approach to the XXX Olympiad.

Food

via Chow

Tip: How to Tell if Your Propane Tank is Empty

I can give you a laundry list of ways NOT to test if your propane tank is empty. First place? Take your tank into a small place, like a bathroom or a small car, open the valve and wait for a little while. If you can still breathe after 10 minutes it means it’s empty. That just wasn’t a good idea. Made for a very interesting nap. This video tip is actually neat, and very safe.

Los Angeles

via Brigham Yen

Church & State Owners Opening New Spot

One of the best restaurants in Downtown LA is making plans to open up a new French restaurant, called Spring, next year and we can’t wait. If you haven’t been to Church & State yet, you should make a point of it. It’s located in the SouthEast corner of downtown across from The Little Bear, which if you’re reading this you have probably been to. Check it out. Get their fries. It will all be worth it.