Our favorites from the Hollywood on Tap beer fest

As we mentioned in our post yesterday, we’ve been playing a little catchup after a couple of extremely busy and extremely sickly months.

One of the events we never got a chance to follow up on was the Hollywood on Tap Beer Festival at the Paramount Studios New York lot (so cool) last October, featuring dozens of breweries like Strand Brewing Company, Stone, Lagunitas, Hangar 24, etc. One of the absolute best parts about the entire fest was how easy it was to get drinks and eats – unlike most over-attended festivals in Los Angeles, you didn’t have to wait in line for 20 minutes at a food truck. Bonus points for having plenty of beer to choose from! Check out our photos below and our favorite brews after the jump.

Hollywood on Tap

Strand Brewing Company

I first tried the Torrance brewery’s Beach House Amber a little while back at Silver Lake’s Barbarella Bar, so it was on our top three list right away. It has a mild/restrained bitterness, finished really crisp, and pours a a copper color. It’s a beer you can sit and drink for hours without being to weak on the alcohol at 5.1%, not too bitter, and is just really nicely balanced.

Greathead Brew at Hollywood on Tap beer fest

Greathead Brew had killer Black IPA

Surf Brewing at Hollywood on Tap beer fest

Surf Brewing’s Surf Partrol Black IPA

Next up: It’s the battle of the Black IPAs that, with no problem, are both on our top three. It’s between Greathead Brew’s After Hours Black IPA and Surf Brewing’s Surf Patrol Black IPA, both of which marry together a perfect world of the bitter IPA with toasty dark malts. This should be the beer style of California, cold weather beer meets warm weather beer that’s perfect on the Cali beach, or the desert, or the snowy mountains, or the…. Well you get the picture. Greathead focuses their flavors on chocolate and coffee notes, while Surf has some citrus tones alongside toasted malts and cocoa – but both pack the punch of a solid IPA. Yum!

Figeuroa Mountain Brewing Co.

Figueroa Mountain Brewing Company won the Bronze in American-Style Wheat Beer with Yeast for its Wrangler Wheat.

Beachwood Brewing

Beachwood Brewing is a Long Beach brewery, but they also have a restaurant in Seal Beach called Beachwood BBQ. We recommend going to either, and make sure you try the Foam Top Cream Ale. Like most cream ales, it pours of straw or goldish color with a white head, and like most this has a nice understated flavor with traditional and balanced fruit and honey. I’ve been known to pick up either this or Surf Brewery’s Cream Ale if I don’t want something too overwhelming.

Enjoy the rest of the photos!