12/09/11 – Black is Beautiful: a curated lineup of exceptional dark beers
For the past few years, the Young Winos of LA have hosted “winter beer” tastings in December. These were always dubious affairs in which our shameful lack of beer knowledge became increasingly apparent with each legitimate question put forth by members and each woefully untrue answer offered by us. Besides our 2008 tasting of the Schmaltz Brewing Company offerings, the Winos have never really brought in a genuine beer expert to moderate the discussion, provide context, and edify us on the intricacies of fine brewed beverages. It’s time to address this glaring oversight in our efforts to edutoxicate the young boozehounds of LA. It’s time for someone to teach us about beer.
This Friday, join Young Wino beer guru (and co-author of The Craft of Stone Brewing Co.: Liquid Lore, Epic Recipes, and Unabashed Arrogance) Randy Clemens as he guides us through a tasting of specially curated dark beers, including several rare and vintage offerings, with a large focus on California breweries. Here’s Randy’s description of this highly illustrious event:
In the world of beer, darker beers fall victim to a variety of misconceptions, the seemingly most prevalent being that all dark beer is heavy, or high alcohol, or (heavens no!) more caloric. The fact of the matter is, there are numerous wildly different styles of beer being unfairly lumped into the unfortunately nondescript “dark beer” category, sharing little to nothing in common excepting their noctiferous shade. Robust Porters, Imperial Russian Stouts, Black IPAs, Dunkelweizens, Rauchbiers, Schwarzbiers, Doppelbocks, oh my! Reject your preconceived notions of what dark beer is and come down to Noah and Sasha’s pad in Santa Monica on Friday, December 9th at 8pm.
Randy will be pouring us an inspired and unique lineup of seasonally-appropriate brews, including the Eagle Rock Solidarity, the Manzanita Where There’s Smoke, and the Eel River Organic Porter (along with a few barrel-aged rarities and awesome vintage bottles that shall remain surprises until Friday night). Around ten beers will on the menu, and Winos don’t need to bring their own beers to this tasting — instead, we simply ask everyone to bring $10 to reimburse Randy for the brews he brung.
We’ll be meeting at Noah and Sasha’s place in Santa Monica. The RSVP system functions like this: if you want in, you click on this link and tell me so (don’t forget your full name, e-mail address, and a cute message conveying to me your intentions), and I’ll send you a confirmation e-mail with the address. Space is limited, so please RSVP early to guarantee a spot.
Once you’ve received your confirmation, you’re good to go — and remember, please bring $10 to pay for the beers. Can’t wait to see you yuletide youngsters on Friday at 8pm!