L.A. BEER FEST PHOTOS

Check out the full gallery: L.A. Beer Fest 2009 at Sony Pictures Lot.

THE SCENE AT L.A. BEER FEST RECAP

The Scene hit up the L.A. Beer Festival this Saturday, and a good time was had by all. The event — sponsored by us, among others — took place on Saturday and Sunday from 2 p.m.-5 p.m (It's too late now, obv, but more info here).

I have to admit, while I love beer, AND beer festivals, I had some misgivings about this one. For one, it was the first go-round, and the first time you try to hold an event of this size and scope — especially one involving essentially limitless amounts of booze — problems are likely to arise.

But aside from the website not being all that clear as to how to get into the Sony lot, or where on the giant Sony lot the beer fest was (once you get there, it’s pretty self-explanatory. But it’s very dangerous to assume that the average beer fest attendee can perform complex mental functions like map-reading and, well, even reading), everything ran very smoothly.

Parking was free; they had guys in the parking lot that told you where to find the will call tables; the lines at the will call tables were not long; the lines at the beer tents were also not long (although the food lines were, but I didn't eat because I'm hard core like that); the 4 oz. cups were NOT too small; and it turns out that three hours was plenty of time to drink your money's worth!

Seriously though, all things considered it was an amazingly well-run event. You can always use more bathrooms at a beer festival, but aside from that, impressive.

Also, the range of beers was really good. Everything from Pabst (You'd think after winning one Blue Ribbon they'd sort of pack it in, rest on their laurels, so to speak) to serious craft breweries like Quebec's Unibroue and The Bruery in O.C.

Now, obviously, after the first, like, 10 or so minicups of beer the memory starts to get hazy as to exactly what we were drinking, what was like whoa! and what was like meh. But, a few favorites:

The Union Jack IPA from Firestone
The first beer I had where I was like, "Damn! Give me a brochure!" If you are a fan of hoppy, strong-flavored IPAs, find some of this stuff.

Éphémère from Unibroue
I actually had this before, liked it, then forgot all about it. It's a Belgian-style white ale (The dude at the booth was pretty testy about calling his Quebecois beers "Belgian" or "Belgian-style" — and I left it alone because he was pretty swole, like Remy Marathe with legs (if you get that reference, good for you)) ... anyways, a BELGIAN-Style white ale brewed with apple. Delicious.

They also had a limited edition beer called Quatre-centieme, brewed to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the founding of Quebec. It was also very, very good. Although it might be hard to find now.

Angel City "Che"
I personally don't remember having this. But it was a favorite of Mike, our vp product.

Lagunitas Censored
Back in college, once the student loan checks cleared, we'd forgo the Keystone Ice and grab a six pack of Lagunitas IPA. I'd never had their Censored Ale before Saturday, and I got a pour out of the third-to-last bottle. If you like red/amber ales (Boont Amber, Red Nectar, Red Seal), you will really enjoy this one.

Newport Beach Brewing Co. Barlywine [sic]
I have never had a Barlywine I liked, ever. I got a cup of this because my girlfriend asked me what the hell a barleywine was. I tasted it first, to refresh my memory as to why barleywine is terrible — but it wasn't. In fact, it was incredibly good, so good that I thought it might have been mislabeled. So I made everyone else try it, and they all agreed. Unfortunately, not a word about any Barlywine on the NBBC website. But that's why you go to a beer fest, to taste stuff you might not find anywhere else.

So those were some of the beers that stuck out. For anyone who is disappointed they missed this event, or for those of you who went and are already jonesing for another all-you-can-drink-type beer-fest situation, you’re in luck! Coming to the Echoplex on Saturday, May 9, the first annual L.A. Craft Beer Fest!

So a few things to look forward to here. 1) This fest only costs $30, and that includes food as well as beer (Stout ice cream? Yes, please!). 2) This event goes from 2 p.m.-9 p.m. — a full SEVEN HOURS of all you can drink. 3) Local bands playing all day. 4) This is craft beers only, aka not PBR, aka expect a bunch of delicious, mad-scientist-type concoctions.

Hopefully, this 0-60 L.A. beer fest trend will continue.

THE SCENE WEDNESDAYS @ WINSTONS PARTY PHOTOS

Check out the full gallery: The Scene Wednesdays @ Winstons Grand Opening.

P.S. Get on The Scene Wednesdays guest list for future Wednesdays @ Winstons.

BLANKSPACES ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY PARTY WITH THE HOT KICKS AND DJ SYRENA

Okay: Let's say that you're an entrepreneur, or a writer, or you work from home because your company is based on the Internets. Or maybe you're a small company (2-10 people) that doesn't have a sweet office on Venice Beach like a certain nightlife and entertainment platform. And let's say that, working from home, you find yourself getting distracted easily — like maybe you get the sudden urge to clean your toilets, which in turn gives you the sudden urge to watch "The View." Two hours later ... you get the picture.

Well, lucky for you, Blankspaces exists. I'll let the company literature take over here, because I don't think I could do much better rewording it (although I will fix the punctuation):

"Blankspaces is a modern, co-working office space community that enables collaboration and provides professional freedom for entrepreneurs and independent professionals of all kinds. Blankspaces offers high-end architecture design; upgraded furniture; Wi-Fi and high-speed T1 Internet access and on-site networking; a communal work bar & lounge; high-tech conference room; high-definition TV monitors; color laser printing and scanning; direct-dial VolP phone system; mail and package receiving; securable storage areas; and on-site parking. Private offices and a conference room are also available for meetings. Flexible workspaces are available by the hour, day, week, month, or year."

Perfect, right? I know, right? Unfortunately, you might have to ditch the sweatpants and fuzzy slippers, but that's a small price to pay for productivity!

Well, Thursday, April 16, Blankspaces is celebrating its one-year anniversary with a three-hour staff meeting! Just kidding. A party. The festivities will be hosted by Internet celeb Shira Lazar, and there will be free Asahi beer and food from the Kogi BBQ truck, which you probably know about by now if you consume media of any kind. There will also be a live performance by the Hot Kicks and DJ Syrena will (wo)man the decks (see that "private event" listed on her MySpace caledar? That's this!! ZOMG!).

So if you want to check out a cool new office space — or you just want to eat Kogi BBQ without having to wait in a line — RSVP here and we'll see you there.