Ralph’s on Lincoln, Across from Bay Cities

Its overwhelming how much beer they have here. I guess its not that surprising considering the overall size of the store. I would hate getting groceries here, its just too big. Helpful hint: the beer is in the front, to the right.

Great for picking up a six pack of something new for yourself, or a 30 pack of Bud to take to a party. They’ve got your Pyramids, your Pete’s Wicked Ales, a couple Redhooks (IPA and ESB), some Widmer, some Gordon Biersch.

Glad to see they’ve got Firestone Double Barrel and Pale Ale. It’s also nice to see beers like Anchor Steam and Shiner Bock hitting the mainstream here in LA.

ALSO, in addition to the cans, they have Modelo in the bottle. I am a huge fan of Negra Modelo, and obviously la Negra es mucha mejor, but still, I don’t know where else you can find Modelo Especial in bottles. (UPDATE: Nevermind, I’m seeing it all over town now)

More interesting 6 packs: Lost Coast’s Downtown Brown and Great White, Deschutes’s Mirror Pond and Black Butte, Oregon Honey, Karl Strauss, Flying Dog’s Old Scratch and Road Dog, Mendocino Red Nectar, North Coast’s Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout, Spatin Pils and Oktoberfest, and Warsteiner.

Not a bad place for 12 packs, either. Blue Moon, at least 4 types of Sam Adams; Boston Lager, Light, Black Lager & Winter, plus all the other stuff you’d expect – Newcastle, Guinness, Heineken, Sierra Nevada. They’ve even got a little love for Canadians, with twelvers of Molson and Moosehead (Moosehead? When was the last time I saw this stuff?)

Single Bottles: A little disappointing, but to their credit, they have Franziskaner, Chimay Premiere (red) and Grand Reserve (blue), and Fischer Amber.

While they don’t score huge on obscurity points, they’ve got several beers you’ve probably never heard of, dozens that you’ve probably never tried, and a ton of your favorite go-to beers. Definitely check this place out.

Ralph’s on Lincoln, Across from Bay Cities

Firestone Double Barrel

Firestone Double BarrelFirestone Double Barrel Ale is made up north in Paso Robles, California, just outside of San Luis Obispo. So for us kids at UCSB, it always had the street cred of being our local brew. Just like the kids from Chico who can never have a conversation about beer without claiming Sierra Nevada as their own, us UCSB’ers love us some Double Barrel.

It was on tap all over the place, you could get it at Woodstock’s with a Garlic Bird pizza, MMMmmmm. But in LA I am just as content to drink it out of the bottle.  Fortuately, it’s starting to show up more and more around here, in grocery stores and on tap.  I found one at Ralph’s the other day. Such a pleasant and soothing taste that always puts a smile on my face.

Small & diminishing head, clear (and quite loverly) light brown color. The hops give an earthy, flowery smell. It has a complex, full body with medium carbonation. Sharp and crisp at first, yielding to a medium bitter, short lasting finish.

  • Appearance: 2.5/3
  • Aroma: 10/12
  • Palate: 4/5
  • Flavor: 17/20
  • Overall: 8.5/10

Rating: 4.2