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By Root 1254 0

Weil, a novice home brewer himself. “We have dishes like the classic moules frites or fried green tomatoes with shrimp and corn relish and a tomato salsa verde. We cook with beer all the time here,” he adds. What’s more, customers are also starting to order beers from the three-tap, ten-bottle list based on the reputation of brewers, rather than saying they’d like something, say, light or not too hoppy. “People are gravitating toward the producers,” Weil explains.

PHILOSOPHY

Visionary. Says Weil, “We still have the question, ‘don’t you have anything normal?’ But we’re not wanting to serve ‘regular’ beer. We want to push the envelope. We’re going to lightly force change through the absence of choice.”

KEY BEER

To start a meal, try White Apron, a dry, herbal, aromatic pilsner style made by Russian River (5.5% ABV). When it’s time for rich meats or cheeses, select the 7.2% ABV Blue Apron, Brooklyn Brewery’s offering, formerly only available at Per Se in New York and redolent of dark fruits (dates, figs), orange peel, and spices.

DETOUR

PROFILE: MARK JILG CRAFTSMAN BREWING COMPANY

1260 Lincoln Ave., No. 800 • Pasadena, CA 91105 • www.craftsman

brewing.com

Pasadena’s Mark Jilg is as likely to expound on the paradox of being an artisan brewer in the middle of Tinseltown as he is to offer an impromptu lecture on the tendency of hops to spontaneously combust (true story). About fifteen years ago, Jilg left his job as an analyst for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to make beer instead, founding Craftsman in 1995. Today, his tiny brewery, in an unassuming industrial park about 40 miles from Disneyland, produces beers that are defiantly pushing the outer limits, too, with Valencia orange rind, Cabernet grapes, white sage, and Brettanomyces. “There are a lot of people that are focused on food culture here, savoring wine and so on. But they haven’t considered beer, so when they taste something like mine, it blows their mind,” he told me.

His best-selling beer reflects craft brewing’s return to America’s pre-Prohibition beer landscape: 1903 is a 5.9% ABV lager using a proportion of corn in the mash (as lagers of that era did, adding body and a certain corn flakes–like flavor profile), bittered with Nugget hops and finished with late additions of Mt. Hood to add a nice delicate hop presentation and aroma.

Jilg doesn’t have a taproom or take visitors—it’s basically a one-man show in a 2,500-square-foot space—so look for the beer on tap at good L.A. beer bars like Laurel Tavern and Lucky Baldwin’s in Pasadena. Jilg hasn’t started bottling, but if he does, the whole operation ought to blast off. His delivery van may be a green 1946 M-15 Studebaker, but the beer is next generation.

LAUREL TAVERN

11938 Ventura Blvd. • Studio City, CA 91614 (818) 506-0777 • laureltavern.net • Established: 2008

SCENE & STORY

With its simple black façade, hardwood floors, exposed brick walls, pressed tin details, and L-shaped bar, this San Fernando Valley bar looks almost too perfect—like a movie set instead of a real, live, breathing beer bar. But it’s definitely the real deal. With sky blue metal stools along the bar, Edison lighting, and an artful food menu, there’s little not to like. The short but sweet menu is based around beer-friendly foods like prosciutto and burrata, chorizo fondue, roast marrowbones, a bratwurst plate, and a famed burger with white cheddar, arugula, and caramelized onions. As for the beers (sixteen on tap, no bottles), most are California taps, with a pair or three for East Coast treats like Allagash and Dogfish Head. Word to the wise: avoid weekend nights, or come in very early to get in position for the best people-watching.

PHILOSOPHY

Craft beer gets its SAG card.

KEY BEER

Craftsman Heavenly Hefeweizen for starters (4.7 % ABV), which has the lively spice and ample heft of authentic German hefeweizen. “I think it’s completely misunderstood in America,” says Craftsman brewer Mark Jilg, citing Widmer and Pyramid brewing companies by example, whose hefeweizens are markedly less spicy. “We’re going