Photo by Brian Addison.
The massive ode to the county’s obsession with hops, yeast, and malt that is LA Beer Week (LABW) kicks off this Saturday. Though there are extraordinarily large events—the kick off celebration in Chinatown or Oktoberfest at Angel City for starters—it is the smaller ones that we find far more intriguing.
Yes, while we are curious about the mystery taps set to take over Stone’s brick-and-mortar Pasadena location, we are personally wet with hoppy happiness over Bixby Knolls gastropub The Factory’s own kick off for the week-long celebration. This Sunday, she will be host to Cal Heights residents Chris Klein, the masterful brewer at Ballast Point, and Chris Walowski, the equally masterful brewer at Smog City, to bring beers that Long Beachers would otherwise never taste unless they ventured to the tasting rooms of the breweries.
“It’s just a cool way to kick off LABW,” Klein said, “to do something that isn’t one of the bigger events and do something in Long Beach. I’ve known Natalie for a long time and I love what she does so I wanted to return the favor by bringing up some special beers.”
Klein will be paying it forward with three delectable offerings on tap from the San Diegan brewery he calls home, Ballast Point:
- Victory at Sea [pictured right]
: This particular keg of the brewery’s popular Imperial Porter dark brew is made with Ballast Point Distillery’s Three Sheets Rum, with cinnamon sticks soaking in the brew and extra vanilla added to create a robust, caramel-y, malty combination. - Sour Wench: Pucker up, Long Beach, as this Berliner Weiße that is typically made with blackberries will be offered at The Factory with a special one-off batch that was made with black currants instead.
- Electric Ray: Oh yes. There is a reason Philadelphia Weekly called this Imperial Pale Lager their Beer of the Year. A collaboration between Ballast Point and Sierra Nevada and a mixture of the former’s Fathom IPL and the latter’s Torpedo IPA, this hoppy, high ABV lager is made for summer.
Walowski, just up in the way in Torrance with Smog City, will bring two beers:
- Hop Tango: A play on their regular Hoptonic, Hop Tango is an IPA that brings on the mango madness in its flavor profile. Do we smell the possible brilliance of Beachwood Seven (our favorite beer this year)?
- California Love: The Factory is bringing you another collaborative effort, this time between Smog City and San Francisco-based 21st Amendment Brewery. This Imperial Red is sure to please any rose-tinted palate with its citrus peel, Pinot Noir grapes and over-hopping given the triad of Amarillo, Centennial and Galaxy hop varieties.
Gutenkauf won’t be stopping on Sunday. Come Monday, the gastropub will be unveiling their Craft Beer Cocktail Menu. For those curious about what that specifically entails, well, think a Barcelona Boilermaker: a shot of Sandeman Port Wine in Estrella Damm Lager garnished with a Spanish Pincho (marinated olive, mushroom, manchego cheese on a skewer). Yes, please, thank you.
Wednesday will welcome the 5th Annual Night of a 1000 IBUs (held twice a year: once during American Craft Beer Week and the other during LABW) where Gutenkauf and crew will be offering everything hoppy:
- Knee Deep Hopoholic: this quadruple IPA sits at a staggering 12.5% ABV (might as well be barely wine) and holds some 138 IBUs in bitter deliciousness. Not for the faint of heart.
- Green Flash Green Bullet: This IIIPA gets its namesake from the New Zealand hop, which is also combined with another Kiwi hop, Pacific Gem, to reate a piney, tropical IPA will still knock you on your ass unexpectedly (10.1%ABV).
- Port Hop 15: Hoporageous, this one: 15 hops invade this IIPA and scored the San Marcos brewery two silvers at the Great American Beer Fest. Just beware: it doesn’t remotely taste like a 10% ABV beer going down.
- Ohana Rhino’s Redemption: This was the Angelino brewery’s first bottle release and was initially brewed by Walowski when he was head brewer at Ohana. Tenuous Long Beach connections.
Lastly but not least, The Factory will be hosting a special night of beer’n’jerky pairing with the boys behind Long Beach Jerky Company. Nine beers—including The Bruery’s Oude Tart, Hangar 24’s Hammerhead, and Port’s Older Viscosity, just to name a few—tall tales, some jerky, and definitely good times. The pairing makes sense since the jerky pair’s offerings are already being offered at Timeless Pints, Smog City, Valiant Brewing Co, and El Segundo
“My business partner and I are both avid craft beer lovers so to us it makes perfect sense to tap into the craft beer market with our jerky,” said Long Beach Jerky Company co-founder Richie Beckman. “The two go hand in hand. Our goal is to become known as the ‘beer drinkers’ jerky.’ Being originally from Colorado and being around so many breweries sparked our love for craft beer. Seeing it really start to take off in Long Beach recently, we feel we have the perfect product to complement it. We are so thrilled to have this opportunity to be apart of this upcoming LABW event at The Factory to celebrate craft beer and to pair it with our craft jerky.”
Let’s do LABW Long Beach-style.
The Factory is located at 4020 Atlantic Ave. and will host its kick off to LABW this Sunday at noon.
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