LA Beerfest at Sony Studio and Gordon's Imperial Red

Nick G, David and I did this beerfest two years ago and it was a wildly fun. Karl did it last year and enjoyed himself. Nick G gave up booze for lent so right now only Karl, David and I are standing in a massively long line. Massive. We're thinking it won't compare to the last beerfest we attended in October LA Beerfest at Union Station but we're pretty certain that it will take less than the three hours allotted to us to drink our $40 tickets worth. We're meeting up with a group of people including Kenny, our accomplice from the above mentioned beerfest, and Yooner.

As I enter the gate the security clicker counts me off as #1634 out of 2500 for the first three hour tasting. Madness (2nd one is from 5-8pm). I went to the port-o-potties and opened the first green door and walked right in on an older lady doing her business. She screamed and I yelped. From the very beginning I knew this whole thing was gonna be a...shit-show. zing

Also, Snoop Dog was there:

Kenny looked good in more ways than one. CHOMP

And there were seriously a billion people. This shot is just of the back area.

We charged pretty hard out of the gate. Karl and I counted 10 or 11 pours/tastings within the first half hour, which is a little under 4 beers. I stopped counting after that because I ran out of fingers.

There were two really strong standouts for the day. One of our first beers was the Gordon Imperial Red, which came in a can! David and I are big fans of imperial red ales and this was no exception. Even though we may be able to find this in the store, this brew demanded our attention. It's light and creamy with a sweet caramel flavor. It's really smooth and clocks in at 8.7%. And it's from a can! Holy smokes. THE ROCK rating. 

The welcome surprise for the afternoon was an upstart brewery call Cosmic Ales. They're brand new and don't have serious distribution for their brews yet, so if you are looking for a new brew in your bar check them out here, because they caught peoples' attention at beerfest Cosmic Brewery. David and I are in joint agreement on our dislike of brown and amber ales. However, David tracked me down through the madness to tell me I had to try their Brown Ale. The two fellows behind the table were incredibly friendly and enthusiastic about their product. I could tell they were simply excited to spread their passion to others and it was infectious.

The Brown Ale has 36 IBU and is 5.3% and whatever other brown ales you like are but mere shadows compared to this cosmic goodness. Living in LA, you see the ocean very often and you become used to it. But every once in a while you see the waves and suddenly it's like see the water for the first time. That's how it was for me tasting this brown ale. I saw the style in an entirely new light, what they could be. I wish these guys the best of luck in the future and will try to spread the word to the Surly Goat and other places I frequent.

I have a soft spot in my heart for anything Ninkasi brews.

Overall, what I expected to happen, happened. Everyone got "overserved" by the beer servers and became really happy and had a great time. We ran into an old college Caroline Heart, which was a delightful surprise. It was indeed not as delicious as the Union Station beerfest but it was just as fun.


Here are some random pics from the day, enjoy!

Sony Studio ain't a bad place to cut loose

Kenny and crew

Squinty Christian Bale made an appearance

You really thought we were gonna stop after the beerfest?

Party on Wayne.

Party on Garth.