Tapped Out is a weekly round-up of the stories and posts that didn’t get covered on Beer of Tomorrow but that are still interesting and worth a read. So grab your favorite weekend beer and take a look!

It’s ok. You are close. So very close to our favorite time of the week: Beer O’clock on Friday! We’ve got some picks of the events going down this weekend and some links and stories to keep you distracted until the quittin’ bell sounds!

We’d like to say something like “it’s the calm before the storm of awesomeness that is LA Beer Week,” but it isn’t so calm! Great events happening this weekend, and we’ve got some great links saved up from the week for you! Don’t miss the story on how craft beer fans could be the deciding factor in the 2012 Presidential elections!

Our Event Picks

• Pucker Up at the Sheraton LAX’s Sour Beer Night: Head down to LAX tonight for a $35 12-Beer tasting; the souring begins at 6:30.
• Sunset Beer Co Turns One, the Party’s on Saturday. The live DJ, food trucks, and some special pours start at 1pm and go until close at Echo Park’s favorite bottle shop.
• Golden Road Brewing and Haven Gastropub Join Forces for a Pork-Heavy Meal and Tasting! The porkathon is on Sunday at the Golden Road campus starting at noon; tickets are $50, but you can get a $20 discount from Bierkast!
• LA Beer Bloggers Unite to Advance the Scene. The second LA Beer Bloggers Summit goes down on Sunday at 1pm; if you’ve got a beer blog or you write about beer and you’d like to attend get in-touch with Bierkast.
• Class Is In Session at Mohawk Bend on Monday: The second Back to School Beer Class seminar led by the incomparable Paige Reilly is focused on California Beers, styles and breweries. Call Mohawk to reserve a spot!
• El Segundo Brewing Co and Beer Belly LA Have a One Night Stand: Hit the K-Town craft beer hotspot on Wednesday for a ESBC tap take-over (including White Dog IPA on Cask with Pomegranates, need we say more?) It’ll be like appetizers to the LA Beer Week smorgasbord; we’ll be there so come by and say hi!

Plotting our schedule

One more thing… What was it?

Oh yeah: Thursday is the official start of LA Beer Week! So much awesome stuff is going down. Check out the official LABW website for details, follow the official tumblr blog for on-going commentary of the events and the scene, follow @LABeerWeek on Twitter, and start planning how you are going to celebrate!

As always, Beer Guy LA has a great list of all the events and activities happening around town.

Short Pours, Quick Sips, or Lacing on the Glass: More Beer Stories and News

• Mohawk Bend’s chef talks with LAist about his meat-free approach to the menu and how he keeps fans happy. Mike should be a culinary hero of LA because of the Whings, and we like his answer when asked about using vegan “substitutes:”

“I try and stay away from them. In moderation they are okay, but a lot of “fake” cheeses and meats use all kinds of chemicals and additives. I don’t want to eat or cook anything called “fake.”

• Only one LA beer bar made it into the finals of CraftBeer.com’s Best Beer Bar in America contest. Hit up the site’s regional finals and vote for Brewsters Bar and Grill at the Sheraton LAX. 
• Golden Road Brewing’s Meg Gill tells her story of getting started in the craft beer industry with Oskar Blues for Bierkast’s Women of Craft Beer series. We knew Meg was a hardcore work-hard/play-hard dynamo from past interviews, and when her story includes lines like “I told him I wanted the scar, that it would make me legitimate enough to sell his beer,” you know you’re in for a good read. 
• Remember last week when we mentioned that Obama’s release of the White House home brew recipes was a savvy political move? Turns out it was even more savvy than we’d thought! This piece on Philly.com outlines how craft beer fans might be an extremely important segment of voters. Important enough to swing the election:

It’s a stunning and previously unnoticed voting trend that almost certainly explains the presence last week of a craft brewer among the Democratic National Convention speakers, as well as the recent release of the Obama White House home-brew recipes.

Check out the full post for all of the interesting analysis!

• Eagle Rock Brewery has been busy! Not only have they put together the 2012 release of UNITY, the official beer of LA Beer Week, they’ve also introduced Imperialist; their new Double IPA, and Eradicator Bock (their Pro-Am entry into last year’s GABF)! They are also planning a bottling run of the fan-favorite Equinox sour, and we’ve heard rumors about a possible bottling of the Imperialistas well!

Equinox Barrels!