Breweries

American Craft Beer Week is Here: A List of Important Beer Events

American Craft Beer Week is underway and picking up speed. The Brewers Association-- a non-profit group recognized as the central foundation for craft beer in America -- designates a week in May to the celebration of small and independent craft breweries. This year, May 13-19 serves as opportunity t ... More >>

Firestone Walker's Jeffers Richardson at Chloe in Golden Road Tonight

There are two compelling reasons why you should head to Atwater Village tonight, Thurs. at 7:00 p.m. To have unlimited access to Jeffers Richardson, Firestone Walker's "Barrelmeister" on one of the most exciting new barrel programs in craft beer. And to do your brainpicking at Golden Road's exclusiv ... More >>

New Faces of Targeted Beer Drinkers: Joe College and Hipsters

From Joe Six-Pack to Joe College, the face of the desired beer drinker has changed in the past few years with growing sales of craft beer brands and fruit flavors. Joe College, unlike his older and more blue-collar counterpart Joe Six-Pack, is a "lot more experimental than [he] used to be, sampling ... More >>

Q & A With Rich Marcello of Strand Brewing Company: This Weekend's Bottle Release, Texts From Fans How the Beer Scene is Like NASCAR

Less than two months after Strand Brewing Company celebrated its 3rd Anniversary -- and just over a year after opening its always-busy Torrance tap room -- the foundational South Bay beer-makers are ready for another epic milestone: bottles. Starting with a two-day kickoff at the tap room this wee ... More >>

Budweiser Allegedly Watered Down Beer 5 California Craft Alternatives

Anheuser-Busch InBev is being sued by consumers in Pennsylvania, California and New Jersey with companion suits coming from Ohio and Colorado, Bloomberg reports. The complaint filed in Philadelphia alleges that the alcohol content in a variety of Anheuser-Busch products is overstated, which would vi ... More >>

4 Los Angeles Brewery Kickstarter Campaigns: Invest in Your Beer Future

It's been a whirlwind start to 2013 for Los Angeles beer. The scene celebrated it's unofficial third birthday with the near-simultaneous anniversaries of Ladyface, Eagle Rock and Strand brewing companies and El Segundo Brewing Company released its first round of production bottles, which are now spr ... More >>

The Corona Compromise: Budweiser Making Expansion Deal

We warned you of the attempted word domination bid by Budweiser by way of beer earlier this month. The Justice Department had filed a lawsuit to block a merger between AB InBev and Grupo Modelo SAB by way of the former's purchase of the latter to the tune of $20.1 billion. It seems this had some e ... More >>

Q & A with Sam Adams Founder Jim Koch: Loan Program for Food & Beverage Business, Advice on Opening a Brewery Beer in a Can

It's a familiar story in the beer world: well-educated guy leaves stable or lucrative job to make his homebrewing hobby a profession. Jim Koch's history set the precedent for that narrative. Koch, who comes from a long line of brewers, founded The Boston Beer Company in 1984 with two friends he met ... More >>

What to Eat and Drink at This Weekend's Chinatown Festival

Chinese New Year officially began last Sunday, and the Year of the Snake promises change, contemplation, preparation, and perhaps most importantly, lots of good beer. That is, of course, if you're planning to spend this traditional time of reflection with a pint (or two, or three -- what the heck, i ... More >>

Budweiser Attempting World Domination, Justice Department Says 'Hell Naw'

Anheuser-Busch, brewer of Budweiser, has been looking to buy Mexican brewer Grupo Modelo for $20.1 billion, giving them ownership of brands like Corona, Pacifico and Negro Modelo. But yesterday, the Justice Department sued to stop the merger, saying it would lead to an unfair market share for Anheus ... More >>

Ladyface Ale Companie Celebrates 3 Years as a Top L.A. Brewery

Though Ladyface Ale Companie will be celebrating its third anniversary this week, it was this time eight years ago -- during San Francisco Beer Week 2005 -- that salt-and-pepper-haired Cyrena Nouzille first thought about opening up a microbrewery in the unlikely L.A. suburb of Agoura Hills. Back t ... More >>

Top 6 Los Angeles Breweries to Watch In 2013

Los Angeles might have one of the younger beer communities on the West Coast, but it is certainly making up for lost time. The city that once lived in the shadow of beer powerhouses like San Diego and Portland is finally starting to come into its own with new breweries beginning to ship suds and man ... More >>

Happy National Lager Day A Beer Venn Diagram

Today is National Lager Day, a grassroots holiday started as a way to celebrate the many faces of the world's most produced type of beer. But what the hell is a lager anyway? Is it an ale? Is it a style of beer? Is it a corporate marketing term expertly concocted to roll off the tongue so perfectly ... More >>

Top 5 Beers of San Diego Beer Week: Barrel-Aged Brews, Political Beers Pasadena Sours

A wise San Diego brewer once said, "Every week in San Diego is beer week," an undeniable truth for a county with more than 60 breweries and two decades of beer culture to its fame. And still, the ten-day festival officially known as San Diego Beer Week continues to amaze palettes, concluding its 4 ... More >>

Pumpkin Beer: Good for what Ales Ya, Or Not

Is there really a demand for pumpkin beer? Do squash aficionados start summer letter writing campaigns to make sure their fridges are stocked in November? Do brewmasters have a secret fervor for Charlie Brown cartoon reruns? Do they respond to skewed surveys that weigh the answers of the ardent few, ... More >>

Win Free Beer for a Year

Want to win free craft beer for a year? So do we! LetsPour, which leads the web in craft beer sales, has a current promotion if you sign up for its website. On Nov. 5th they will announce the lucky registrant who will receive six bottles of craft beer (including shipping) every month for a year, bec ... More >>

L.A. Beer Week: More Local Breweries Bring Shuttles and Tours

There are many ways in which the fourth annual Los Angeles Beer Week, which began last night, represents a major milestone in the city's craft beer scene. In addition to the dizzying number of events this year (the official calendar lists at least 20 separate events happening each day through next ... More >>

Best Beer in America Results: Hoppy Beers Continue to Reign California Brewers Clean Up

The results are in for the tenth annual "Best Beers in America" poll from Zymurgy Magazine, craftbeer.com reports. A Colorado-based publication of the American Homebrewers Association (AHA), Zymurgy has long-asked its readers to vote for their favorite commercially available beers. This year's polli ... More >>

Hipsters Rejoice: More Americans Drinking Canned Beer

"We want to change the way people buy craft beer in L.A. County," Golden Road Brewing's president and co-founder Meg Gill told us upon the release of the brewery's canned beer earlier this year. As it turns out, they may not have too much trouble convincing people to make that change: According to ... More >>

Budweiser Magnum Soon to be the Costliest Beer in India

Last week Anheuser-Busch InBev announced that the new Budweiser Magnum will become the highest priced super-premium beer in India, Economic Times reports. The strong, American-style lager will debut in a 650 ml bottle (22 oz. bomber) for 150 rupees. Is that a wildly high price? While 150 Rs comes in ... More >>

Thanks for Drinking: Craft Beer Sales Rise Despite Sluggish Overall Market

The Brewers Association has just released this year's numbers on U.S. beer sales. If you prefer Manifesto Eagle Rock Wit to Blue Moon (which is owned by MillerCoors) the news is good. Beer sales slowed overall, slipping 1.3% by volume. Within the craft beer industry numbers continued to rise with a ... More >>

L.A.'s Craft Beer Revolution Has Golden State's Jason Bernstein Raising His Pint Glass

Jason Bernstein on Craft Beer: Pliny the Younger, Dark Lord Extreme Beer Mania

Want a beer right now? More specifically, want a pint of some terribly cool ale or rare craft beer brewed by a solitary guy in an undisclosed location and sold for only two days a year? If that, or something like that, sounds like your idea of a good time, then you should read today's feature food s ... More >>

Coors to Launch Iced Tea-flavored Beer

Flavored iced tea has been all the rage for a while now (passionfruit-acai-goji berry comes to mind). So the brilliant minds at Coors thought: Why not iced tea-flavored BEER? Last week, Golden, Colo.-based Molson Coors Brewing Co. announced it will launch Coors Light Iced T in Canada next month ahea ... More >>

Top Hops: Best 5 New Craft Beer Bars of 2011

Over the past few years, sales of mass-produced beer (Bud, Miller, Coors and the like) are down along with housing, investments and other barometers of economic growth. Guess what is not down? Craft breweries. Craft beer bars. Craft beer sales. According to the Brewers Association, which represents ... More >>

Far Bar in Little Tokyo: 2011 Most Improved Craft Beer Bar in L.A.

Far Bar Little TokyoSample glasses of craft beer​In a sign of the craft beer times, Far Bar opened in 2006 as a cocktail bar. Over the ensuing five years, it has morphed into a beer and cocktails bar and, in 2011, thanks to the commitment of co-owners Don Tahara and Mike Gin along with manage ... More >>

Q & A with David Larsen of Haven Gastropub Brewery: Beer Geeks in Pasadena, Adventures in Dry Pork Your Brewmaster as Ukekele Player

Orange County's Haven Gastropub has a reputation for rather maniacally obtaining their mercurial selection of craft brews. On one occasion, Beverage Director Wil Dee took a Smokey and the Bandit-style run up to San Francisco to bootleg a vanload from 21st Amendment Brewery, which has no wholesale d ... More >>

Interactive Sausage Rare Beer at The Yard

jamesjustinSausages await consumption ​ If you've been to Hot Doug's in Chicago, then you already know the adage. "There are no two finer words in the English language than 'encased meats', my friend." True. And if there's anything in this world that could possibly trump a fresh, handmade saus ... More >>

Q & A With Far Bar's Jimmy Smith: Little Tokyo's Craft Beer Scene, How Beer Brings People Together Little Tokyo's Beer Week Coming Out Party

Far BarJapanese craft beers available at Little Tokyo's Far Bar ​For decades, Little Tokyo has been a destination for its history, food and art venues alike. But in the last year, Little Tokyo has put itself on the radar for another, more unlikely offering--craft beer. And as the second half o ... More >>

SoCal's 8 Best Breweries: Cismontane's Evan Weinberg Tells All

beerguy.tvCismontane Brewing Co.'s Evan Weinberg harvests wild California buckwheat ​ Last month, we asked Stone Brewing Company's Greg Koch and Golden Road Brewing's Meg Gill to share some of their favorite beers. And this month, we contacted Cismontane Brewing Company's Evan Weinberg to do ... More >>

How to Deconstruct a Beer: Firestone XV Anniversary

Firestone Walker Brewing Company, three-time World Beer Cup champion and just named "Mid-Sized Brewery of the Year" at the Great American Beer Festival for an unprecedented third time, is hosting the most innovative event at this year's L.A. Beer Week: "Deconstructed LA." Sean Z. Paxton (aka the H ... More >>

LA Beer Week 2011: Opening Night Kicks Off at Naja's

We love the fact that LA Beer Week is actually two weeks. From the kick off party at Naja's Place on tonight, October 10, through the closing beer festival at Union Station on Sunday October 23, this is an L.A. beer lover's dream month. Each and every day, multiple bars will be hosting "Event Nigh ... More >>

Meg Gill's Top 5 L.A.-area Beers

Tyler KempMeg Gill skates into L.A.'s craft beer scene​ Last week, we shared a list of six essential West Coast beers hand-picked by Greg Koch, the CEO and Co-Founder of Southern California's largest craft brewery: Stone Brewing Company in Escondido. This week, we've done something similar wit ... More >>

Sunset Beer Company Opens in Echo Park Tomorrow

Steven ArmstrongThe sun sets behind Sunset Beer Company​ In April, Squid Ink introduced Sunset Beer Company, a new craft beer bottle shop and tasting bar that was slated to debut in May. Today, the fledgling beer store, nestled in the southeast corner of an Echo Park strip mall, remains dark. ... More >>

More L.A. Craft Beer News: Enegren Brewing Company

Steven ArmstrongJoe Nascenzi and Matt Enegren at Enegren Brewing Co. ​ As often happens in life, collegiate eccentricities lead to post-baccalaureate vocations. For one Harvard dropout, late-night computer programming led to multi-billion dollar "facebooking." And for three Loyola Marymount gr ... More >>

Brew at the Zoo: Craft Beers Party Animals

gourmetpigs/flickrEagle Rock Brewery's Solidarity​ A dive bar on a bad night can feel like a zoo. Mobs of sweaty and not infrequently hairy folk barrel through spaces designed for fewer bodies. They feed at over-populated troughs: the bar itself, studded with glasses and bottles. They bark ... More >>

Top 10 California Pale Ales

Jake OgleThe Classic American Pale Ale​ American Pale Ales, arguably the most popular beer style for craft brewers, tend to range between 5-6 % alcohol by volume (abv). That makes them what some beer geeks call "sessionable," meaning you can enjoy quite a few of them in a single sitting witho ... More >>

Beachwood BBQ and Brewing Opens in Long Beach

Southern BBQ and Craft Beer at Beachwood​ Beachwood BBQ of Seal Beach, rated as one of the Top 5 Beer Bars in America by Beer Advocate magazine, is opening a second location on the Promenade in downtown Long Beach on Tuesday, July 5. Beachwood BBQ and Brewing is easily one of the most anticip ... More >>

Golden Road Brewing to Open in Atwater Village

​Because running one successful beer bar (Tony's Darts Away), working to open another (Mohawk Bend, delayed from its June 28th opening) and helping to organize a roving beer pop-up (ColLAboration) doesn't keep him busy enough, Tony Yanow is now launching his own brewery. Come September, Golde ... More >>

L.A. joins the Craft Beer Revolution: ColLAboration Rock & Brews

Daniel DrennonRob Croxall, El Segundo Brewing, with Jennifer Greenhalgh, Rock and Brews​ This past weekend, legions of L.A. beer fans descended upon two beer "events" -- ColLAboration 2 in Hollywood on Saturday and the Rock and Brews Festival in El Segundo on Sunday. The huge turnout and joyo ... More >>

Book Review: Beer Craft: A Simple Guide to Making Craft Beer Is Simply Good

​Flipping through new home brewing books like Beer Craft: A Simple Guide to Making Craft Beer is a reminder how different the average home brewing recipe book is from the standard cookbook. For starters, the number of pages dedicated to basic homebrew techniques makes them more of a general gu ... More >>

Sunset Beer Company Retail Beer Shop And Tasting Bar Opening Soon In Echo Park

JGarbeeAlex Macy And Beer Consultant Christina Perozzi With That Westy 12​If you know Alex Macy, co-founder of the LA Craft Beer Crawl and a beer consultant for several local bars over the years, you will appreciate the irony of a recent e-newsletter from Eagle Rock's Colorado Wine Company ann ... More >>

Q & A With Shanghai's Kelley Lee, Part 2: On Molecular Cocktails Craft Beer In China

Kelley LeeLee Enjoying That Rare Home Cooked Meal​When we first spoke with L.A.-turned-Shanghai chef/restaurateur Kelley Lee, the 33-year-old was telling us about the more than half dozen American-style restaurants she's opened in China since moving there seven years ago. Not that it's all bee ... More >>

LA Ale Club's Chili Cook-Off: Pints For Prostates

LA Ale ClubSpradley (left) and 38 Degrees' Co-Owner Brian Sugita At Last Year's Event​Got a killer chili recipe? Of course you do. Get your ingredients ready for the 2nd annual L.A. Ale Club Chili Cook-off on April 2nd at 38 Degrees Ale House. Organized by L.A. Ale Club founder Chris Spradley, ... More >>

L.A.'s Vegan Beer Festival Comes to The Roxy on Sunset

Flickr/jefflisaSierra Nevada Brewery: Part of this weekend's Vegan Beer Festival​ Last month's downtown Craft Beer Festival may be over, but there's still a chance to get your hop on. Mark your calendar for this Saturday, November 6 from 1-5 p.m, when the L.A. Vegan Beer Festival (that's righ ... More >>

Widmer's New Release: A New Bourbon Barrel-Aged Ale For That "Craft-Like" Taste

J. GarbeeWidmer Bros. Reserve vs. Pappy Van Winkle​What happens when a small craft brewery officially tips over into the mid-sized brewery world? At Widmer Brothers, which merged with Redhook a few years ago, a reserve series is born. According to a press release, the third (and new) release i ... More >>

Beer Lobby Gives $10,000 To 'No' On Proposition 19 Pot Legalization

Beer​Update: We got an email from Tom McCormick of the California Small Brewers Association -- they're the ones who make good beers. He says, whoa, we got nothing to do with this effort to beat Prop. 19. Text of the email appear at the end, after the jump. A political action committee of the ... More >>

Book (Or Guidebook?) Review: Great American Craft Beer by Andy Crouch

​With this month's release of Great American Craft Beer: A Guide to the Nation's Finest Beers and Breweries by Andy Crouch, it appears food and beverage guidebooks can officially no longer be simply the Frommer's guide to a specific ingestible (beer, wine, restaurant dishes). They must address ... More >>

American Craft Beer Week: Declare Your Parabola Independence

drinkwiththewench.comBehold: Craft Beer​ Welcome to American Craft Beer Week, the "We Are The World" of good beer. Today through Sunday, we have an official excuse to celebrate this country's sudsy best by indulging in craft beer specials around town, signing the Declaration of Beer Independe ... More >>

Is Ethanol the New Home Brew? Karl Strauss to Recycle its Suds

If burping cows are significant contributors to global warming, will those of us who let out the occasional lager-laden belch after downing a few cold ones soon be subject to EPA regulations? Not to worry. Anyone suffering from gastro-intestinal beer consumption guilt will be relieved to learn tha ... More >>