Sarah BennettWhen beer bars and gastropubs started sprouting up en masse across Los Angeles a few years ago, not many could have predicted the rise of Beer Belly.
Hidden off of Western near the Titantic-themed Cafe Jack and a two-story Kentucky Fried Chicken, the tiny former noodle house — which is brightly painted like a Giant Robot store — was an unlikely place to host some of the city's best beer events.
But with a central location, an impressively curated rotating taplist and a menu that indulges all that is duck fat and deep fried, Beer Belly has become a meeting spot for beerventure-seeking Angelenos who flock there for events like One Night Stand — its tap takeovers that feature a different local brewery each month.
This weekend, owners Jimmy and Yume Han are celebrating Beer Belly's second year as one of the top craft beer establishments in L.A. with a three-day party that will see more than 20 rare and unseen beers poured from the bar's 12 taps, including a new collaboration beer with Orange County's The Bruery made especially for this occasion.
Dubbed FUBRue (For Us, By Rue), Beer Belly's 2nd anniversary beer is a blended sour made with jujubes, black sesame seeds and azuki red beans — all ingredients that were purchased at a Korean market by Jimmy and Bruery owner Patrick Rue.
Sunday is the main chunk of this all-weekend party and, in addition to the tapping of FUBRue, Firestone XVI and Lost Abbey's Cuvee de Tomme, the kitchen will also be closed so that the Kogi and Seoul Sausage trucks can post up in the parking lot.
With a new IndieGoGo-funded front patio hand-built just in time for summer weather and a featured slot on a recent episode of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, two years seems like only the beginning of Beer Belly's well-deserved craft beer dominance.
Turn the page for Beer Belly's 2nd Anniversary tap list.
Beer Belly; Credit: LA Weekly
Friday, May 17th
Ballast Point Victory at sea
Lost Abbey Deliverance
Lagunitas A Little Sumpin' Wild
The Bruery Tart Of Darkness
Cismontane OSO Rye porter
Saturday, May 18th
Almanac Farmers reserve #2
Lost Abbey Mayan judgement day
Firestone Walker Sucaba
Hangar 24 Russian Imperial Stout
TAPS Imperial Balinese stout
The Bruery White Oak
Sunday, May 19th
The Bruery x Beer Belly COLLABORATION: FUBRue
Ladyface Palo Comado XPA
Beachwood The Falcon IPA
Smog City Quercus circus
Craftsman Cave art
The Bruery Sour in the rye
Almanac Barrel noir
Lost Abbey Cuvée de Tomme
Hangar 24 Hammerhead
Firestone Walker Anniversary XVI
El Segundo Standard Crude
Eagle Rock Tart Noir
See also:
– American Craft Beer Week Is Here: A List of Important Beer Events
– Budweiser's New Can Launches Today: We Test Its Functionality
– Q & A With Eagle Rock Brewery's Jeremy Raub: Session Fest + The Beer Community Grows Up
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