For these eleven days, beer had the starring role.  L.A. Beer Week consisted of an array of local breweries, beer, tastings and cuisine in brewpubs, retaurants and taverns across Los Angeles and Orange County. 

Consisting of about 6-10 events per night, there were brewery tours and tastings, beer dinners and specialty meet the brewer nights at pubs selling their beers on specialty menus. 

On Tuesday, October 20th, we headed to The Blue Palms Brew House on Hollywood Blvd. It was bustling with Angelenos chugging various beers from Green Flash Brewing Co.  Hailing from San Diego, Green Flash supplied 14 of their hand-crafted, premium ales such as the Summer Saison, West Coast, 30th Street, Hophead Red, Palate Wrecker and Le Freak. My first beer of the evening was the West Coast IPA cask ale.

Cask-conditioned beer, often referred to as 'real ale', is brewed from only traditional ingredients and allowed to mature naturally. The result is beer that feels much smoother and milder in the mouth, where the flavor and aroma are more pronounced.  A cask ale is ideally served between 54-56 degrees - cool, but not chilled like keg beers - and should have a noticeable natural carbonation from the secondary fermentation in the cask.

The West Coast IPA was excellent - and came with a free Green Flash pint glass! My blonde cohert for the evening was a sassy actress, who started with the 4.5% ABV summer saison priced at $6.  The beer flight of four 5 oz. tasters for $9 looked promising, so we started with Le Freak at 9.2%, Palate Wrecker at 9.0%, 30th Street and the Green Flash Trippel coming in at 8.5%. Yeah, we weren't fuckin' around.  Suffice it to say we took a cab. 

The Le Freak is a slightly unusual Belgian IPA, where American Imperial IPA is married with a Belgian Trippel. I wouldn't say this is really a 'beginner beer'. The little glass showed a hazed rich orange/amber color. Aroma is grassy up front with doses of lemony pepper, coriander, clove, with a slight caramel malt backing. Slightly warming, this beer has a complex flavor profile and demonstrates a rather unique styling by combining the spicy notes of Belgian yeast and hopped flavor of clove and coriander spice notes. Overall, a wonderfully unique beer.

Brewmaster Chuck Silva of Green Flash was there chatting with interested beer drinkers and the Blue Palms has specialty menus printed for the night, featuring beers on tap (others including Speakeasy Mickey Finn, Speakeasy Hunters Point, Bruery Hottenroth and Coney Island Freaktoberfest). 

Cabo Taco Baja Grill in La Mirada hosted a Fall Beer Dinner with Bootlegger’s Brewery on Thursday, October 22nd. I wasn't able to attend this beer dinner, but had attended a previous pairing a few months ago and it was great. Bootlegger’s is one of the newest breweries in Orange County.  They specialize in small batches and because of this they are able to create some great one of a kind beer. They created four tasty dishes that not only pair well with Bootlegger’s beer but are also made with their beer as an ingredient.  Bootlegger’s had six selections available for tasting, one of which is the brewers selection. The brewer has selected the Bourbon Barrel Golden Chaos.  This beer weighs in at a whopping 9% abv and has been aging in a bourbon barrel for 17 months.

October 23rd was the last weekend of the Oktoberfest, held in Torrance. It's the largest and longest Oktoberfest in Southern California.  Located in Alpine Village, the complex has a traditional German motif all year round. When we arrived, we strolled by three police security guards tackling a drunken patron to the asphalt...an interesting start. I suppose statistically there's always going to be some brawls or customers getting out of hand given the amount of beer that was being guzzled.  The beer garden also accommodates a lot of folks, up to 3,000 and includes a Bavarian brass-oom pa pa band from Germany, German dancers, contests and Authentic German food.  It was a full house and as we walked through, we found festive folks making beer cup pyramids on their section of the long wooden tables.  Some were dancing near the stage and most were just taking in the surroundings of a long-time German tradition involving beer, Bavarian music and hearty fare. 

Angel City Brewery is also located in the same village, just ~ 20 yards from the Oktoberfest tented area. Usually having a starring role in the German festivities next door, Angel City was not invited to the fest this year to showcase their - you guessed it - Oktoberfest beer. Instead, the Oktoberfest heads flew in Spaten beer from Bavaria.   Denying that the eviction order that Angel City Brewery owner, Michael Bowe was recently served has anything to do with changing the main German beer at the largest event of the year, Alpine Village General Manager Gerald King recently said that Spaten is one of the best-known beers, and they've been featuring it in their restaurant for some time now with a great response.  The two sides are still negotiating and Alpine Village's attorney had dismissed the tactics as merely typical hardball lease negotiations. 

But Bowe is taking it in stride.  He got involved in L.A. beer week by featuring his Oktoberfest and Lager on tap right in his brewery for $5/pint, just as Oktoberfest goers were heading to and/or spilling out of the event.  We enjoyed some fresh Angel City beers and chatted with Bowe about his brewery.  He and his Angel City staff were also giving tours of the brewery. 

That same weekend, but not officially part of Los Angeles Beer Week, was the Brewery Art Walk in downtown L.A.  The Brewery Art Walk is a semi-annual event featuring the work of artists and related businesses from the Brewery Arts Complex.  Artists open their studios and lofts within the worlds largest art complex.  Yep, you read it right - worlds largest.  Featuring over 100 participating resident artists, it's an awesome opportunity to see new works, discover new favorites, speak with the artists and purchase artwork directly from the artists at studio prices. 

Of course there's the rare, 'their selling that for THAT price?'  But overall, it's sightly inspiration and creativity spewing out from every corner.  Can it get any better?  Well, yeah. This year, there was also a little "bar", offering some craft beers like Pasadena's Craftsman Heavenly Hefe.  And of course Brandon Lee's shot up motorcycle would be hanging from the roof there.  Incredible, local art adorns the walls.  Perhaps the bar was there the whole time and we just didn't know about it the last few years.  The art colony is like a veritable modern day Alice in Wonderland neighborhood housing hippies, artists and musicians in a labyrinth of lofts, apartments and corridors.  You usually end up finding new corners to explore every year.  It almost makes me feel like Alice going to see what peculiar objects and wonderful nonsence will be waiting around each corner....without the whole body shrinking thing of course.

Overall, the week left me feeling inspired, with a vast yearning to create something.  It embraced the Los Angeles spirit as its finest.  Cheers L.A.!