Smuttynose Brewing Co. is delighted to announce their new California distribution partnerships with Craft Beer Guild Distributing of California (San Diego) and El Dorado Distributing (Signal Hill, CA in the Los Angeles area) who will bring New Hampshire’s leading craft brewer’s beers to the West Coast starting in September, 2013. Both distributorships are part of the L. Knife & Sons family of wholesalers. The deal with these new L. Knife divisions makes California the 24rd state where Smuttynose beers are available.

Smuttynose has successful, existing relationships with L. Knife family in Massachusetts, Virginia, New York, New Jersey, Kentucky and Wisconsin, so the California deal includes a certain amount of familiarity, but the newness of the situation creates an excellent opportunity for both brands brands to grow together. “We’ve shown strong growth in other L. Knife markets and they certainly know our beers,” said Smuttynose Founder and President Peter Egelston, “I have faith that we will see similar results in the California market, even though it’s a different landscape because we’re both starting fresh.”

The first Smuttynose shipment consists of bottled Big Beer Series releases; Homunculus and Rhye IPA, as well as three kegs of Cluster’s Last Stand that are heading to Stone Brewing Co. Smuttynose’s collaboration partner on the beer. Kegs of Finestkind IPA will also be heading to the Golden State.

Founded in 1994, Smuttynose is New Hampshire’s leading craft brewery. In 2012, its 50 employees worked to brew, package and sell nearly 41,000 barrels of beer. After nearly 20 years in their original home in Portsmouth, the international award-winning brewery will move into its new, LEED Gold-registered brewery and visitors’ center on the historic Towle Farm in Hampton, NH in 2014.

(Press Release)

LOS ANGELES—Summer may be winding down but things are just heating up at Angel City Brewery.  Angel City has been selling beer to local bars and restaurants for more than a year and has been open to the public since this spring.  Finally, Angel City Brewery’s beers are now available in bottles and bombers for Los Angeles’ craft beer loving denizens to enjoy at home.

Angel City’s two flagship brews –Eureka! Wit and Angeleno IPA – will be the inaugural lineup filling 12-ounch bottles and 22-ounce bombers. Eureka! Wit is a perfectly balanced Belgian Wit with bold fruit and clove notes, balanced with a subtle citrusy hop finish.  Angeleno IPA, is a big, bold, medium-bodied and copper-hued beer nuanced with grapefruit hop flavors and aroma. Whatever the preference – hop heads or session seekers – Angel City’s six packs and bombers will be easily found in liquor stores, specialty craft beer shops and convenience markets throughout L.A. A full list of locations can be found on the Angel City website.

In celebration of the brewery’s bottle launch, Angel City is also kicking off the “What Would You Brew?”contest, with the grand prize of a day of brewing with Angel City’s head brewer, Dieter Foerstner, an Angel City kegerator, tap handle, case of pint glasses and Angel City tin sign. Between now and October 31st, ambitious Angelenos are invited to enter the contest on Facebook by telling Angel City what beer they would brew for the city of L.A., why it embodies the City of Angels, any special ingredients and a beer name. Entrants will be judged by the Angel City Brewery Team based on the creativity and uniqueness of their answer, alignment with the Brewery’s values and the entrant’s passion for beer and the city of Los Angeles.

Score the grand prize or just bring home some Angel City six packs. Either way, you win.

Angel City Brewery celebrated its official opening on May 4 and is now fully open to the public after more than a year of building and brewing.  The Public House is Angel City’s own 19-tap bar serving a changing roster of classic and newly inspired brews. New hours are Monday-Thursday, 4:00pm – 10:00pm, Friday 4:00pm – 12am, Saturday 12:00pm – 12:00am, and Sunday 12:00pm – 10:00pm. The brewery will house a regular roster of events ranging from art shows and live music to game nights, and beyond.

About Angel City Brewery

Angel City Brewery™ is excited to be part of the renaissance of Downtown LA by bringing old-world, small-batch, craft brewing to the new world of the expanding Arts District. Angel City is committed to the continued growth and revitalization of its neighborhoods by being an interactive and supportive partner to the arts and business communities, as well as the burgeoning craft beer movement in Los Angeles. Angel City Brewery is located at located at 216 South Alameda Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012. Angel City Brewery is online at www.AngelCityBrewery.com, on Facebook and on Twitter. The phone number is (213) 622-1261.

No, the hamburger did not originate in Hamburg, but its exact origin is still disputed. “Hamburger” Charlie Nagreen of Seymour, WI, enjoys notoriety as the inventor in 1885, and there exists a Hamburger Hall of Fame―and an annual Hamburger Festival the first Saturday of August―in this town near Green Bay. That same year, brothers Frank and Charles Menches were said to have constructed the first in Akron, OH, where the Menches family still flips ’em to this day. And in 1891, Oscar Weber Bilby is heralded as the innovator of the hamburger on a bun, putting Tulsa, OK, on the burger map.

Any way you slice it, May is National Hamburger Month. Which is why we’re focusing on destinations where gastronomic playfulness, much like fermenting whimsy, and the superlative camaraderie of burger and beer can be found aplenty.

LOS ANGELES, CA

In the not so distant past, Los Angeles earned its reputation as a craft beer wasteland. After all, a city with a population of almost four million people and not a single craft brewery? (OK, fine, there were a couple in LA county, but then what are two breweries to nearly 10 million people?) Then, as soon as I hightailed it out of my native hamlet only a few years ago, actual beer bars and gastro-taverns sprouted up, taking their cue from the likes of Father’s Office (1018 Montana Ave., fathersoffice.com) in Santa Monica and Lucky Baldwins (17 S. Raymond Ave., luckybaldwins.com) in Pasadena. Incidentally, it was actually the burger that put Father’s Office on the map. It was so popular with the happy hour crowd―what with its dry-aged beef, caramelized onions, bacon compote, gruyere, Maytag Blue cheese and arugula―that you could expect to wait in line for it.

It’s great that more Angelenos are pairing slow beer with their slow food. Since Angelenos are always in a hurry (even though the freeways are always bumper-to-bumper), it’s no coincidence that SoCal is the birthplace of fast food burgers. McDonald’s first opened in San Bernadino in 1940. Eight years later, a superior drive-through was born, In-N-Out, which most visitors to California insist on trying. Better still in my opinion is Fatburger, another decades-old, indigenous chain where the skinny fries are the best. But for the record, as any native Angeleno will tell you―and  perhaps only a native would―the best burger in town comes from The Apple Pan (10801 Pico Blvd.), established in 1947 in West LA. Alas, none of these joints serve beer.