Category Archives: Bars

Firkin Friday x2 at the Daily Pint

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Google Firkin

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

Daily Pint Official Site

Duvel Soiree at Verdugo Bar This Tuesday

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[UPDATE: These Duvel glasses are available for sale at Beer Geek Shop.]

Duvel glass

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!

Real Ale in LA: Firestone Firkin Friday at the Daily Pint

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Firestone Walker Brewery

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.

Verdugo Bar Officially Open

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Verdugo Bar Beer To Go

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

The Session: Introducing the Thirsty Hopster

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The Thirsty Hopster enjoying a Deschutes Obsidian Stout

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.

Spencer at the Toronado

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.

The Thirsty Hopster(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?

Continue reading →

Now On Tap: Stone Imperial Russian Stout 2008

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Stone Imperial Russian Stout 2007

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.

Stone Russian Imperial Stout

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.Stone Brewing Imperial Russian Stout T-Shirt

The Otheroom Celebrates 3 Years in Venice

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Otheroom

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!]