Cask Beers

[TrojanAnteater]

I've never had something that was from a Cask and was wondering what are some places in So. Cal that keep stuff on Cask???

[studentofbeer]

probably not close, but it appears lucky baldwins in Pasadena serves cask beer. i've never been but it gets lots of raves. try beerfly at BA.com (http://www.beeradvocate.com/beerfly/) it might be able to help you, or i'm sure someone more knowledgable about the greater LA area can help.

or you can just take a trip to london ;)

enjoy your first cask beer, it will (hopefully) be a pleasant surprise.

[chazwicke]

Originally posted by studentofbeer

or you can just take a trip to london ;)



Very well said. Go in early August to the Great British Beer Festival.


Also, try your local brewpub. Ask what they have on cask. Many brewpubs are trying their hands at cask conditioned beer. If they have it, it probably won't be on par with the normal Cask beers in the UK but I have had some that were. American brewers are getting closer to the mark everyday. 10 years from now I'm hoping that most brewers and good beer bars and pubs will feature a good cask ale in their establishments.

[TrojanAnteater]

yeah Lucky Baldwins is only about 30 min from me, I've been meaning to go there. The closest brewpub we have around here is BJ's. I think I did hear they open a cask like once a week or something.

[Wolf359]

You could just wait until June and attend the San Diego Real Ale Festival in Carslbad, 40+ cask beers of all varieties and flavors. As far as places in the LA area with casks I know that most of the BJs that have breweries in place have casks on the weekends. Lucky Balwins usually has a cask beer on the weekends, as does Naja's in Redondo Beach.

[chazwicke]

Wolf, Is there a website giving the dates of the SD fest?.

[warmstorage]

in San Diego (Mission Beach), Liar's Club has a local cask on every Friday (which is local pint night: $2.50 for everything local!). also one of the best local beer selections in far Southern California.

also in SD, O'Brien's also does a cask, Thursdays I think, but their overall beer selection and atmosphere aren't as good as Liar's Club.

of course, with traffic, i see this could be several hours for you...

[Wolf359]

Hey Chaz, the dates are not posted on www.pizzaport.com as of yet. But the official dates were released to beeradvocate.com shortly after Pizza Port's Belgian beer festival last weekend. June 10 and 11, Friday and Saturday. This will be my third SDRA festival, and I've already got my rooms booked for this one.

[chazwicke]

I enjoyed the Real Ale festival at Bru Rm in New Haven and the host / brewmaster Jeff Browning is a friend of mine, a good guy, and a fine brewer. I think the beers were very good especially the Ossian (SP). But the place was extremely crowded and actually getting a beer could be difficult. When it comes to real ale, I guess we all have to make some sacrifices.

[newportstorm]

Here's one listing on the San Diego RAF from BA's calendar:

Cask or bust! (http://www.beeradvocate.com/events/calendar.php?show=4571)

$20 for all that is a frickin' steal!!! Someday I'll make it out there for this. Enjoy!

Cheers!

[chazwicke]

Looks very good. And I do have relatives in SD. But I've got 3 graduations coming up from May till late June.

[L.H.H.H.Brown]

FYI At Naja's they usually have one cask rolling all the time, usually an IPA or Dbl IPA. Yes BJ's has a cask every Tues ( or Wed, I'm not sure ). Of course Lucky's does but they don't know how to pour it ( not criticizing, just mentioning ). Then there's the Pizza Port extravaganza. Hope you have fun in your quest. Realize that ( as a Stone rep and I concurred ) L.A. is sort of a wasteland for beer, considering the millions of people.

[Kalleh1]

Here I am with my husband in L.A. We searched the cask beer lists, and lo and behold...none in L.A.! Geez! I thought, given the excellent cask beers in NY and Chicago, we'd find one measly place! What's up with that?:mad:

What places for good draft beer do you recommend? We are at the Downtown Radisson, but we do have a car.

[chazwicke]

YIKES!!! I hope you find something paletable. Keep us posted.

[xtalman]

Yea, I have found with all the good west coast breweries that LA is a beer wasteland. The 7-11 in Monteray had a better selection of beer then most LA supermarkets.

That being said, I am not familar with downtown, but take a drive up the 110 either early in the afternoon or after 7 pm to Pasadena and hit Lucky Baldwin's. My understanding is they are one of the better places around here and Old Town Pasadena has some nice shops.

[Kalleh1]

Well, Chaz, nothing exciting to report. Our concierge knew nothing; apparently they all drink wine in Southern California!;) The best we could do was bottled Anchor Steam and Sierra Nevada. It wasn't too bad, but we surely would have preferred it to be on draft.

[chazwicke]

:eek: I recently had some of the Anchor beers at a tasting with Fritz Maytag. He has some interesting stories but I found I did not always agree with his perceptions of English and German beers. Sorry you had bad luck finding good beers there.

[L.H.H.H.Brown]

Too bad. Since you were downtown you shoulda gone to Lucky Baldwins. A 10 mile drive, most freeway. I'm not surprised the concierge knew nothing. Oh well.

[hopjack13]

Originally posted by TrojanAnteater
I've never had something that was from a Cask and was wondering what are some places in So. Cal that keep stuff on Cask???
only about 5 months late here buuuuut.....
if you are in upland then the closest thing to you serving cask is in brea, shoot down the 57 and head west on imperial highway. you'll find a BJ's there that serves cask, of course i would just keep going west about a mile or 2 where you will find taps brewery and fish house. they have cask there and thier beer is much better then BJs imo. also the food is great.