Jenn Garbee“And God said, let there be beer, and there was beer. And God saw the beer, and it was good.” These are the sort of things you learn during your first Beer Church sermon, as did we on Sunday at The Daily Pint. Or something like that.
As the clock struck noon, a dozen devotees settled in with their bitter IPA's and tangy Belgian ales for conversation about the latest brewery openings, beer releases, and social injustices like the state of California's blatant disregard of growler worship (more on that later). Should you be interested in joining on a subsequent Sunday, do note that the preferred dress for this service was on the casual side, with over-sized beer t-shirts outnumbering J. Crew v-necks by a landslide.
Appropriate Beer Church Attire; Credit: JGarbee
The inaugural episode was organized by Beer Geek L.A., a group of, well, local beer geeks. Founder David Stickel describes his need to start Beer Church in the same devotional terms he describes Beer Geek L.A. “I just had to do it,” said Stickel as an evangelist lead a prayer from one of the bar's wall-mounted televisions. (No, we did not make that up.)
Beer offerings were varied, with several brown bag member offerings brought by Beer Church attendees including Abacus, Firestone Walker's latest barleywine release (review coming soon). The Daily Pint's offerings on this particular Sunday included an impressive array of Belgian beers, with several locally tapped brews from Eagle Rock in the mix. That the Lost Abbey Gift of the Magi we requested — of course we did — was foaming uncontrollably seemed so very perfect for a devout day's drinking.
Beer Church: For details on the next Beer Church, a “maybe bi-monthly, maybe monthly, I'm not sure yet” tasting gathering per Stickel, follow him on Twitter @BeerGeekLA or on BeekGeekLa.com.
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