Saturday was the first annual Hollywood On Tap event. A beer festival to benefit the Blank Theater the party was staged on the historic Paramount Studio’s New York Street backlot, and it was a really fun spot to have a party! It isn’t everyday that we get to walk down some NY streets while drinking our  fill of LA craft beers all in the heart of Hollywood!

 

There are a couple of other LA beer events that take place on studio lots around town, but this was our first time attending one, and the Streets of New York was a really cool spot to hold the event. Lots of space, lots of breweries – with a good focus on LA-based and other local breweries, and a good number of food options from the trucks parked around the festival area.

We really enjoyed being able to grab a taster of beer then cop a seat on the stoop of a near-by brownstone or under the awning of a faux-cafe. The brewery booths were well spaced without the traffic jams that can often form at these festivals, and even with the healthy crowd there was never more than a 2-person long line for a tasting pour.

Some of the beer highlights for us were:

• Kinetic Brewing’sCitrafuge Fresh Hop XPA
• Tap It Brewing’s GABF Winning IPA which several people we talked to were underwhelmed by, but I found it to be a well balanced showcase of resinous and citrusy hop flavors that was extremely drinkable.
• The Orange Blossom Honey Blonde from The Brewery at Abigale which was a light-but-flavorful blonde with rich orange blossom flavors and a nice dry finish.
• and of course White Dog IPA from El Segundo Brewing Co. One of my favorite brewed-in-LA beers.

The biggest highlight of the day was probably just getting to meet a bunch of brewers and brewery staff, and talk to many more beer industry people that we’ve met in the last few months. We were originally concerned that the pouring stations would be staffed mainly by festival volunteers, but it turned out that nearly every booth had a brewer or a sales team member who was passionate about what they were pouring and were happy to chat with us.

We went into the Hollywood On Tap event expecting to drink some beers and run into some friends, and we were pleasantly surprised with how well-run and diverse the event was. The crowd was well-mannered and there for the craft beer, the breweries sent some great beers and passionate people to pour them, and the location was pretty tough to beat (especially since we could just walk-home afterwards.) The Hollywood On Tap was a nicely organized and well run event, and we had a lot of fun drinking beers and making new friends on the gritty Streets of New York!

Check out our gallery of photos below, and don’t miss next year’s event!