Left Coast Voo Doo is a black magic woman who's got a spell on me

Andrea and Sarah arrived from Chicago last night and we've been transversing Venice and its beach since (almost) sunrise mimosas. It was a fantastic day filled with sun, sand, beer and crazy Venice locals. Everything you want and hope for.

I also discovered that Rose Cafe may have the best huevos rancheros I've ever tasted. If you've ever seen ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO, the sequel to DESPERADO directed by Robert Rodriguez, you'll know that Johnny Depp's character orders the same pork plate at every restaurant he visits and if that plate is the best he's ever had, he goes back to the kitchen and shoots the cook so no one else will have it. Huevos Rancheros are my Johnny Depp pork plate, only I don't own a gun. I simply go back and shake the guy's hand and ask his mother out for a fine meal.

Beer for breakfast action

Anyway, we're back from our adventure buzzed and sunburned. Andrea's cooked up some mashed potatoes and lamb kebabs. For the last week, I've been dying to try this stout but have been waiting for a big meal. Waiting's over!

Welcome to the City of Angels Chicagoans!

This is a well made and goes well with food. It's only 6.8% alcohol but it seems higher. David and I had one of those looks moments that have happened all too many times this year, where we sip a beer, look across the room and nod enthusiastically. Yep, this is a good stout to compliment a meal because it's tasty but it doesn't overwhelm your palate or divert your attention from your food. It's damn good. THE ROCK rating

Left Coast Una Mas celebrates the Table of Glory and it's legend

Thora the explorer is still human-sitting David and I and she's currently reclining in front of the Table of Glory.

Lore has it, that this legendary table was discovered in an ancient fraternity house after it collapsed under the weight of a raging roof party. To those that own it, brings great glorious awesomeness. But with great glory, comes great responsibility. Which means you have to check I.D.'s.

No, not really. David and I built the 1500 beer cap table during our senior year of college. The center G embodies two thoughts; the table of glory, and also the name of David's house that year was "Grandma's House," named by one of their first visitors (me) after I walked in and announced that it smelled like an old lady's mansion. That smell didn't last long. It was a legendary year. It was a non-fraternity house and thousands of beers were drunk there. Legendary.

Too bad Thora's name ain't Gertrude

The table itself is nothing but a piece of work. The design was David's. It's a premiere Beer Pong table and is cut into two halves for easy transportation. There is a triangle on each side, Domestic vs. Foreign, and there are designated water cup spots on each side. My added design touch was the F-Zero like power triangles gracing either side of the triangle. There are even Red Stripe cap'd sight-lines near the G that guide a player's bounce (worth two cups in pong if it's made). It took two days in a poorly ventilated garage and a lot of brain cells for David and I to glue the caps down and fasten a plexiglas top to the board. I have never had a worse headache after that experience.

David and I didn't live together than, and I used to drive through Malibu Canyon (20mins each way) late at night during study breaks just to play a round or two of beer pong and shoot the shit around the Table O' Glory. It's a table that holds a lot of history and memories. Unfortunately, one of our friends left it out in the rain and the wood warped (grrrr). It was retired to the museum that is our living room, still full of beauty and dark secrets.

We continue our exploration of the Left Coast beers with Una Mas, a 6.4% amber ale. Not a lover of the ambers (a bit racist I am), and right off there's an off putting bold nutty aroma. But the taste, is actually decent for my least favorite beer. As a beer warms, the body opens up and the flavors come out. This beer is really cold. I should've realized this a long time ago, but I should have all my ambers cold. It'd be so much more enjoyable. Duly noted. ARMAGEDDON rating. 

Left Coast Trestles IPA readies for the Chicago invasion

Preparing for some rowdy Chicago friends, Sarah and Andrea, to hit LA tomorrow but I'm more focused on another sexy bitch right now, Thora! David's boss still needs us to dogsit and I'm excited because the extra time has really paid off. She only ignores me 85% of the time instead of 99%. Small steps, like a Leprechaun's stride. But Thora's not happy with me now thanks to several flashes from camera.

This is the first of four Left Coast ales that we'll be sampling. Trestles is an IPA with a thin caramel malt, and a sharp and grassy hop bite as it finishes. Love the malt, don't enjoy how the hops are handled especially the bite at the end. The beer is just like my relationship with sweet Thora. It's going good for a while, she wants to play, give me some sloppy kisses, and then she fell asleep. She left me down, as they/I just said and fell asleep just as the getting was good. They all do... ARMAGEDDON rating.

Hop Juice Left Coast is the strong sizzurp I need for a Fried Saturday

This is more of a social post than beer post, but sometimes that's what happens. Saturday I headed over to Aaron B's to meet David and co, I pickup some Hop Juice because this is what awaits me:

Yeah, that happened. Aaron has a deep fryer I didn't know about and they cooked up fried pickles, fried duck, and some amazing fried catfish, which was David's handiwork. 

Everyone was on the couch moaning about how the fried food took a toll on them but I paid them no heed. Turned out to be the wrong call and my stomach hated me later, but you only live once. Guess which food was on deck? Twinkies? No, we're still hungry - so why wait?

Fried Snickers!

Snickers give you wings..?

Pretty gnarly right? Pretty weird that the Snickers grew little mutant fried stumps. Those are fried Blintzes on the right. Both were really gooey and delicious. At the end of the evening though, I felt like there was a brick in my stomach

Anywho, beer time. Hop Juice is a solid DIPA. Alcohol clocks in at 9.9% alcohol and you can definitely taste it. As far as the hops go, it has a big bite which social IPA drinkers may not enjoy, but the hop enthused will dig. ARMAGEDDON rating. Between the alcohol and the hops, it's just the big beer I needed for all this fried nonsense.

David went to a Clippers game so I got to take Kamari for a stroll on Abbott Kenney, the best walkin street in Venice. I love dog-sitting that dog. I had more beer at The Other Room later, including Maredsous 8 and Arrogant Bastardo.

Fried meat, fried dessert, good dog and good beer. Awesomeness prevails.

Best dog ever