It appears L.A.’s much ballyhooed cocktail craze will have to share the spotlight with craft beer bars, which have proliferated across the city. The L.A. Times charts the rise of the city’s taverns that are dedicated to excellent brews, from Westside Tavern in Westwood, Boho and Stout in Hollywood, Wurstkuche in Downtown, The Valley’s Blue Dog Beer Tavern, Henry’s Hat, and Laurel Tavern, and Black Boar in Eagle Rock, among others, like the coming Surly Goat. Beer Chick and suds sommelier Christina Perozzi even wonders if we’re not “getting over-saturated” with pubs.
Food GPS’ resident beer expert Sean Inman seems slightly overwhelmed himself, though he’s nothing but a fan of L.A.’s blossoming beer culture. He took a minute out of reviewing Stout and 5th Amendment to apologize to readers for not keeping up with the swelling scene, saying the boom of new places has come so fast that he’s just a little behind in reviewing them all in his “Beer Blasts.”
Both writers and interviewees agree that the exaltation of excellent beer is a nothing but a great trend for the city. We concur, remembering the dark days when this country’s beer was nothing but a mass-produced laughingstock and L.A. was more concerned with bottle service and velvet rope-hopping, and less with quality hops. As Verdugo Bar owner Ryan Sweeney sums it up for The L.A. Times, “We have enough clubs and ultra lounges.”
Beer Bars Are Blooming in L.A. [Los Angeles Times]
