Liquid Tuesday: You Can't Escape L.A. Beer Week
It's a sudsy sort of end-of-summer week, with the Los Angeles Beer Week swinging into full force in a few days. Until then, there's at least one fun wine event happening in Hermosa Beach, with Indian food no less. Elsewhere, smaller beer celebrations are taking place throughout the city, and Santa Monica is even playing host to a few barrel-aging distilleries on Sunday night. For the best of the best in this week's drinking events, this is Liquid Tuesday.
Kicking off your week with flair is this Wednesday night's wine pairing dinner, happening at the Hermosa Beach outpost of Akbar. The popular Indian cuisine mini-chain has brought in the Hartley Ostini Hitching Post Winery from the Santa Barbara region to match their pinot noirs (and a post-dinner syrah) with a delectable selection if Indian delights. Main dishes include tandoori salmon and roasted lamb. Of course, if you're looking for a non-beer event a little closer to home, Sunday's Beauty of the Barrel event on Sunday will play host to four different distilleries with a background in barrel aging. Taking place at The Victorian in Santa Monica, the afternoon-to-evening event will also have several mixologists on hand, using the on-hand distillations to make new and exciting cocktails. OK, OK, they'll have barrel-aged beer there, too (ten breweries, in fact), but you don't have to sip the suds if you don't want to!
After that, it's pretty much all beer all the time here in Los Angeles. The official L.A. Beer Week is something we brought to your attention last week, and it's kicking off with a couple of Stone Brewing parties in Pasadena on Thursday night. Of course, it's a loose association, so there are plenty of beer events happening from Thursday straight through to the end of the month, no matter where you live. If you're looking for something a little less publicized, but likely no less crowded, check out Septemberfest at the Santa Monica Pier this weekend. Built as a response to a certain German monthlong party, Septemberfest will have 150 different beers on hand and plenty of food trucks to keep you satisfied. Sign up early for tickets, and if you spring the $10 for VIP access, you get an extra hour of drinking.
More fond of things from across the pond? Sigh. Well, you can at least enjoy yourself at Wirtshaus' Oktoberfest kickoff celebration, on Saturday the 22nd. The party officially starts at 3pm, with a certain dubious German celebrity in attendance, plus free pours from the first German keg they tap. If you can't make it there this weekend, the party is running for a full month, so don't worry. As for Liquid Tuesday, the party never stops.
For more food and drink events visit kcet.org/events/food.