This summer is definitely the summer of festivals! Thanks to LA we found another one, and this one was all about beer. The Hollywood Beer & Music Festival is a half day event which I think has been going for the last 4 years. I’m not a big beer drinker but Al is so I was in.
It’s a bit of a weird set up- not bad, just weird. We assumed it would be outside but it is actually pretty much all inside of a big theatre. With it being a 30 degree day (nope, I’m not even trying to talk Fahrenheit, I don’t understand it) aircon turned out to be a good thing.
Like all of these sorts of events, you will be queuing. But it was no where near as bad as some places have been. They moved through them really quickly and there were a lot of different breweries represented so I’d say aside from the Taste of the Eastside and LA Winefest this has been one of the easiest to navigate through and actually take full advantage of.
Most of the beer vendors tended to have 2 types for tasting: a normal one (IPA seemed a big trend) and a flavored one (not for me, can’t stand flavored beer). I think, from my fuzzy memory, I liked Mad River Brewing Company, Brewyard, Boomtown. At least I think this is the 3 I mainly drank. I also like Angel City but I didn’t find them in there – from the comfy balcony position we ended up securing.
They had some cover bands playing: my personal favourite being Blink 180 True. You could sit back ,drink some beer and remember how much you love Blink182 or go down to the mini mosh pit like a true rock star. Turns out I am not a true rockstar, no mosh pit for me.
Oh, I forgot to mention the best thing I’ve ever seen!!!! Pretzel necklaces! genius. I’m making them for my next house party (step 1: make friends to invite to a party).
An afternoon of getting tipsy on beer meant it was inevitably going to lead to a pub crawl home. Pub crawling in LA is not as simple endeavor as it is in London. This city is sprawling and the Angelos do not seem to have the penchant for a pub on every corner like Londoners do. Actually, so far doesn’t seem like a big pub city, more bars and restaurants. But simple things like logistics were not going to stop us!
First stop: Sycamore Tavern. This wins the prize of being the first place we found after trying to avoid the tourist crowds on our way home! Quite a big bar with the usual suspects; pool table, arcade games (a big draw card for me especially if they’re the old table style which these were), sports on the Telly and a happy hour! They pitch themselves as a local neighborhood tavern and I’d say they’ve hit the mark
Second stop: Jones Hollywood. We’ve seen this 10,000 times walking up and down Santa Monica and finally made our way through the doors. Very much a restaurant but in true LA style you can go sit at the bar for drinks. I couldn’t resist ordering some calamari and the charcuterie board. Calamari was good, very crispy fried and a massive portion. The charcuterie could have been better, 2 cheeses and one was chunks of Parmesan which I don’t think belongs on a cheese board. The atmosphere of the place was great, it’s got that cool Italian- American look to it: I think it’s worth a trip back for dinner.
And that was the end of the pub crawl! We were pretty much home so although we’d finally hit the spot in the journey where there were multiple bars we needed to get home, sober up & get changed ready to head out again.
Jilltopia 