Hair of the Dog Dave | Los Angeles Beer Blog

Southern California is going cask crazy!

Next Friday and Saturday, June 13th and 14th, Pizza Port Carlsbad is hosting an all firkin festival.

The Real Ale Fest website boasts over 45 cask conditioned ales. They’ve got a fancy pants VIP lineup that is only available on Friday from 1-4pm, which consists of Green Flash Double Stout, Alpine Duet IPA, Ballast Point Tongue Buckler, Pizza Port Carlsbad Night Rider Imperial Stout, and Lost Abbey’s Angel Share. (UPDATE: VIP is sold out)

The but besides that, they have no listing of what cask ales will be available to us non-VIP peons. My guess is, it will be a pretty heavy lineup of local San Diego brews (keep in mind, these are just guesses):

-A few Ballast Points (Even Keel, Yellowtail, and maybe Wahoo Wheat?)

-Stone (Vanilla Bean Porter seems to be hot right now)

-Some Green Flash (maybe the West Coast IPA or the new Hop Head Red?)

-Alpine Ale, Pure Hoppiness, Ichabod?

-Definitely a wide selection of the Pizza Port brews

Plus I would be very disappointed if there weren’t a few Port/Lost Abbey offerings lined up. Maybe some of Port’s 2nd Anniversary Ale or the fabled Isabelle Proximus? Nah, I’m probably asking too much. I know there’s gotta be a few surprises, though.

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I have great news.

Phil brought back 2 beer engines from the UK, and tomorrow at 6pm, the Daily Pint is having another Firkin Friday.

The first experiment with cask ale was a huge success.  Firestone brought in a loaner beer engine and some Unfiltered Double Barrel Ale, and the keg was drained in 15 minutes.

Tomorrow they are bringing back more of the Unfiltered DBA, plus a cask of Stone Vanilla Bean Porter, which made it’s first LA appearance at Verdugo Bar a few weeks ago during their Stone tasting.  (For the record, as much as I love it, I don’t count Naja’s Place as “LA”)

Is cask ale going to be a permanent fixture at the Daily Pint?  With two new beer engines on hand, my guess is yes.

Angelenos have finally gotten a taste for fresh, delicious beer.  At this rate, I wouldn’t be surprised if Firkin Friday started becoming a weekly institution.

Tomorrow, June 6th, 2008 at 6pm SHARP

Daily Pint
2310 Pico Blvd.
Santa Monica

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Fresh out of the gates of their hard opening, Verdugo Bar is already working around the clock to dispel any rumors that LA doesn’t have a real beer scene.

This Tuesday, May 6th, Verdugo is welcoming Sarah Lescrauwaet of Duvel USA who is stopping by to conduct a beer and cheese pairing. The bar is opening at 7pm, an hour earlier than normal, to reward hard working beer drinkers with a whole evening of Happy Hour-type price breaks.

From the taps, there will be specials on Rare Cos Vos, Houblon Dobbelen (!!), and Maredsous 8. In bottles, specials on Duvel and Ommegangs.

AND the first 30 people through the door get their own Duvel glass, laser etched and everything, probably the finest beer glass known to man.

Keep your eye on the Verdugo Bar Events Page, they have a lot of great stuff coming up. Save the date for their Stone tasting on May 18th.

Verdugo Bar
3408 Verdugo Rd
Glassell Park, CA 90065
323-257-3408

Open Tuesday-Sunday 8pm-2am
Open 7 days a week starting May 12th!

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To celebrate the return of Dogfish Head to the California market, founder and President Sam Calagione will be pouring 90 Minute IPA, Midas Touch, and the new Palo Santo Marron, a unfiltered 12% malty brown ale aged in wood from the Paraguayan holy tree, Palo Santo.

This event is tonight, April 14th from 6pm to 10pm, at Tony P’s Dockside Grill in Marina Del Rey.

In order to age this new beer, DFH constructed a ginormous 10,000 gallon tank, and if you’ve got an extra 10 minutes, you should check out this video that gives some cool back story. The beer uses several varietes of Warrior hops, as well as Glacier and Palisade. A couple types of malts as well, including some chocolate malt, and tying it all together with a yeast strain used for Scottish ales.

Definitely looking forward to trying this one, as well as the whole new influx of DFH that should be hitting all the best LA beer stores soon!

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Tomorrow! Friday the 11th of April!

Sometime between 6 and 7 o’clock, the Daily Pint in Santa Monica is tapping a firkin of unfiltered Firestone Double Barrel Ale.

That’s right, Real Ale in Santa Monica. A rep from Firestone is bringing by a temporary beer engine for this single keg, and once it kicks, it’s gone.

If there is enough enthusiasm from the beer community, maybe we can convince Phil to put in a permanent beer engine? Bring your friends, and be sure to explain to them what they are getting into. Some people have not yet been exposed to the joys of warm, flat beer.

See you at the Pint.

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Time to add another amazing beer bar to your drinking repertoir.

After many months of building code snafus and limited business hours, Verdugo Bar is officially opening tonight.

God bless ‘em for their sense of humor, they’ve got Delirium Tremens and St. Bernardus Abt 12 on tap right next to Miller High Life. Click on the picture above to get an idea of their bottle selection (available to take home!), but keep in mind their selection has probably changed since this picture was taken a couple months ago.

Ryan, the resident beer geek, loves to rotate special beers through as they become available. I spoke with him yesterday and he mentioned they were working on getting a keg of Harviestoun Ola Dubh Special Reserve 30, which is aged in oak barrels previously used for maturing 30-year-old single malt Scotch.

I’ll believe that when I see it!

Verdugo Bar
3408 Verdugo Rd
Glassell Park, CA 90065
323-257-3408

Open Tuesday thru Sunday, 8pm til 2am.

New York Times: Long on Beer, Short on Pretense
Urban Daddy LA: Brew the Right Thing

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[Via Hot Knives]

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So yesterday, I was thinking about how much I love Eggs Benedict, and wondering why I have never tried to enjoy it in the comfort of my own home. Then it hit me: I have no idea how to poach an egg. I consulted Google and the first thing that caught my eye was the eggs-cellent How to Poach an Egg guide by Rob Manuel. (Side note: I am indebted to Rob for his research and eggs-periments. I too value results over choices. 2 minute boil in saran wrap takes the prize. Thanks Rob!)

After screwing around on his site for a good 30 minutes, I found this little gem he made last year. It’s a great song and an even more impressive stop-motion video starring a whole family of anthropomorphised pint glasses. You’ll be singing along by the end of the video!

Also, head over to William Brand’s Beer Newsletter for a great video of a bar in Belgium made entirely out of beer crates.

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When I first met Jessica, I had no idea that I had just met every beer geek’s dream girl. Smart, beautiful, and a virtual walking beer encyclopedia.

It was July 17th, 2007, and I was on the tail end of my Great Northwest Beer Adventure. After a month of busing, thumbing, and train-ing all the way up to Vancouver, I was on the last leg of my trip, staying in San Francisco’s Presidio with my buddy Spencer.

That afternoon, we had visited Magnolia where we thoroughly enjoyed the Blue Boy Bitter, the Lazy Boy IPA, the Prescription Pale, and their cask wheat beer (well, maybe we didn’t enjoy the cask wheat beer that much). It was still pretty early in the afternoon, and we had several more bars to hit, so we hopped on the bus and made our way down to the Toronado, a world renowned beer bar I had not yet visited.

It goes without saying that Toronado was everything I expected and more. The lovely Jennifer (aka Princess) recommended the Brother David’s Double, followed by some Old Foghorn on draft. As you can imagine, by this point we were on our way to getting absolutely snockered.

(By the way, thanks to Stonch for hosting this month’s Session!).

It was time to journey on, so we left Toronado to find our next bar. We made it all of about 10 feet before we decided we needed to take a hot dog break at the sausage shop next door, and it was there while waiting for my weiner I met Jessica.

“Did you guys just come from Toronado? I love that place. Proximity to Toronado was an important factor when I was looking for an apartment.”

Love at first sight?

(more…)

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[New and Improved Blog Feature: The First Edition of NAME THAT BEER STORE.]

City: Los Angeles, CA
Neighborhood: ??
Photos taken: 3/27/2008

This store just got a bunch of new stuff in. Do you recognize the shelves? There’s a ton of hints I could give, but I think this one is pretty easy.

(more…)

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Cracked the cap on the 750ml can and poured into my favorite frosted mug, it was a hot afternoon so I was glad I remembered to throw it in the freezer the night before. The beer poured out of the can a hazy straw color with minimal head and low carbonation. Before I lifted the glass to my lips to take that first blissful sip, the ding of the microwave reminded me my Jimmy Dean Chocolate Chip Pancakes & Sausage on a Stick was ready for consumption (well, maybe not quite ready. I always throw away the box before reading the “Let stand for 2 minutes before consuming. Product will be hot.”)

I set the glass down and walk back into the kitchen to retrieve my stick lunch. Failing to allow this culinary masterpiece a chance to cool down, my tongue is subjected to 2nd degree burns. As the skin cells burn off and slide down my throat, all I can think is, “Oh, this is what Wildbell’s post-Beer Ride cries of, ‘Painfully delicious!’ were all about.”

I return to my beverage to dowse the flames, and at a serving temperature of 33 degrees, Steel Reserve doesn’t disappoint. I am immediately greeted by malty cereal notes, with hints of battery acid and cat urine. Most traces of carbonation are gone, imparting a cask-like quality to the beer. The battery acid and cat urine undertones open up to a sharply metallic finish, presumably the Steel taste that gives this beer it’s name.

At $1.19 per can, Steel Reserve 211 is an uncommonly great deal. Intrigued by it’s mystique, I researched it’s MySpace page to find out more info. It was there I learned a lot about what Steel Reserve 211 is all about:

Making people have a good, making people have long lasting friendships, and short relationships. 211 is proud to make people lean to the left and has been lowering standards for many years now.

Steel Reserve is slow brewed in limited batches, using only the finest maleted barley & selected hops. We believe this to be among the very best beers in the world. Slow brewed in Fort Worth, TX for exceptionally smooth flavor.

An exceptional beer from an acceptable brewery. Available on college campuses nationwide and wherever Fine Beers are sold.

• Appearance: 2/3
• Aroma: 9/12
• Palate: 4/5
• Flavor: 18/20
• Overall: 8/10

Rating: 4.1

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It’s that time of the year again. Last week Stone released one of their most beloved seasonal beers, 2008’s Russian Imperial Stout. Buy a couple bottles if you’re lucky enough to find it, this is one of those beers that vanishes off the shelves pretty quickly. Part of the reason for this is because it is great for cellaring, so people tend to buy these beers as an investment in their collection, to be enjoyed years from now.

If you haven’t started a beer cellar yet, this is an excellent choice to get the ball rolling. But if you prefer instant gratification from your beer, there are 4 places here in LA that have this fabulous beer on tap: Library Alehouse, The Daily Pint, Lucky Devil’s, and BottleRock.

This is a beer that makes you glad to live in Southern California, since we get first dibs on it. It has a huge following all over the country, and is probably more appreciated in the Northwest than it is here. If you happen to be walking down the street in Portland, it’s not unlikely to see some guy watering his lawn while sporting his prized Stone Imperial Russian Stout T-shirt.

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With their 9% Belgian-style strong ale, Avery once again proves they can do no wrong.

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The Otheroom is one of the finer beer establishments on the westside that has not been written up on this blog before. Mainly because its crowded enough as it is and there’s no need to go telling even more people about it.

But here they are, celebrating their third year of beer and wine, I guess you can say the secret is out. Venice denizens, never fear - they will still let you cut the line if you flash a Venice address on your driver’s license.

So now let’s talk about their beer menu.

First off, you’ve gotta love a place that keeps Oaked Arrogant Bastard on tap. And it was pretty cool those few months when they had the “NO STELLA” sign hanging from their taps. Yeah, eventually the demand became so insane they had to relent and put it back on tap, but it was cool to see them take a stand and try to open people up to other beers. Damn it people, try something new!

The Paulaner Hef is great, with or without lemon! They’ve got Allagash White on tap! (skip the lemon) They’ve got the lovely Duchesse de Bourgogne, one of my favorite Flemish Red Ales, up on their chalkboard! And of course, there’s the always reliable Racer 5.

If you’re looking for Friday night crowds on a Tuesday, Otheroom tomorrow night is the place to be. And don’t order Stella, give something new a try.

Otheroom Anniversary Party
Tuesday, March 4th, 2008
Opens at 5pm
1201 Abbot Kinney Boulevard
Venice, CA 90291

[Via YoVenice!]

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Photo recap for your viewing pleasure.

Flickr photoset can be found here.

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