Beer, Bratwurst & Piece of Mind with the 2nd Annual Vegan Oktoberfest

A fine beer may be judged with only one sip, but it’s better to be thoroughly sure.”

-Czech proverb

Beer and Bratwurst served with a side order of piece of mind.  Prost to that!

Coming back for a second year, Vegan Oktoberfest is a traditional Oktoberfest celebration featuring great vegan Bavarian food, live Oompah and dance music, and refreshing and delicious beer!  Held October 3rd and 4th at LA Center Studios, the event will feature over 30 food vendors, 50 different beers, and Full Size steins.  So there's no reason to wait to grab your tixs; especially because they won't be sold at the door!

Talk about a selection of suds to Prost to!  The Vegan Oktoberfest’s choices include Edible Skinny favorites Angel City Brewery and Lagunitas Brewing Company, along with other hoppy brands such as Ritual Brewing Co., Bison Organic Beer, Coronado Brewing Company, Drakes Brewing Company, Knee Deep Brewing Co., SolarC Beer Co., Einstök Brewery, Ace premium Ciders, Eel River Brewing Company, Modern Times Beer, Venice Duck Brewery, The Dudes’ Brewing Company, Bootlegger’s Brewery, Bell’s, Samuel Adams Boston Lager, Craft Beer Kings, Bravery Brewing, and Reverand Nat’s Hard Cider.

Looking to eat all things Oktoberfest with a clean conscious?  This is LA.... ;-) The Vegan Oktoberfest offers over 30 food vendors that are both delicious and kind to our furry friends.  The spectacularly amazing Sage Organic Vegan Bistro and Kind Kreme will be featuring German style soft pretzels, their famous cauliflower hot wings, and delicious vegan ice cream!  If you haven’t experienced any of these fantastic dishes this is your opportunity to have your mind blown!!!   

Other yummy vendors include The Green Truck, Dogtown Dogs, Southern Fried Vegan, Urban Pie, Shugah Mama, and Califia Farms! 

Vegan Oktoberfest is produced by Red Pill Productions LLC, a company founded by Los Angeles animal rights attorneys David Edward Burke and Jill Ryther.  Vegan Oktoberfest will also benefit a good cause, with a portion of the proceeds going to Expand Animal Rights Now, an organization dedicated to using the legal system to help animals.

VIP Admission ($55) allows for five hours of drinking, from 12:00pm to 5:00pm, and includes complimentary 14oz stein and unlimited beer (unlimited sample pours and 3 full 14oz pours)!  General Admission ($45) allows for four hours of drinking from 1:00pm to 5:00pm along with the aforementioned complimentary 14oz stein and unlimited beer (unlimited sample pours and 3 full 14oz pours)!  Tickets are available at:
http://www.veganoktoberfest.com/buy-tickets/

Here’s to life being delicious, celebrating furry friends, and Prost-ing on!

California Beer Festival: The State's Finest Brews Pour in San Dimas This Weekend

By Kelly Grace Thomas

On the first (unofficial) weekend of fall, what is better than enjoying a full-flavored craft beer with those you love? Enjoying 85! Or at least not having to choose just one:)  This weekend, beer lovers can taste bold IPAs, subtle Saisons and many more of the finest brews the Golden State has to offer at the California Beer Festival. Held lakeside at the beautiful Frank G. Bonelli Park in San Dimas on September 12-13, the two-day, multi-themed festival has a little something for everyone.

While providing a safe and fun atmosphere, the California Beer Festival aims toward the education and appreciation of various craft and microbrews. As California’s largest traveling beer event, Saturday’s “Craft Beer Heaven” offers 85 ice-cold craft beers and ciders from local and state-wide breweries such as: Alosta Brewing Co., Angel City Brewery, Fireman’s Brew, Elysian Brewing, Karl Strauss, Wicks Brewing, Ballast Point, Lagunitas and many more. Besides its offering of outstanding pours, Saturday will also feature live performances from popular local bands, games such as bikini bocce ball and delicious food options such as garlic fries, sliders and tacos. All individuals must be 21 years of age or older with a valid ID to enter the California Beer Festival on Saturday. Tickets include either VIP or general admission and come with a souvenir tasting cup.

Sunday aims for more family-focused fun at the California Beer Festival. Appropriately named “Hamburgers and Hops” Sunday is a picnic style day for all ages to enjoy. At this outdoor event, attendees are invited to pull up blankets, umbrellas and chairs as they enjoy juicy hamburgers and top tapping performances from a dynamic musical lineup including Foreverland, a nationally renowned 14-piece Michael Jackson tribute band. Sunday families can either purchase general admission tickets or receive a souvenir cup for up to four craft beer samplings. Food and additional beer will be available for purchase.

So whether you want sunshine and a few sips, or a passport tour of California’s finest, the California Beer Festival offers the perfect opportunity to pamper the palette and and soak in the outdoors. Edible Skinny will be there, making life more delicious. Will you?

Purchase tickets at http://californiabeerfestival.com.

A Tale of Two Agendas @VeganOktFest: Beer and Vegan Bratwurst

Edible Skinny was lucky enough to check out the first ever Vegan Oktoberfest a few weeks ago!  Held just steps away from the Pacific Ocean the event featured traditional (Vegan) German food, live Oompah bands, and delicious craft beer poured to perfection by a bevy of great breweries.  

It was a sweltering hot day with shade (not beer) being the hardest thing to procure.  But regardless of the heat, bedecked Bavarian maidens strolled the landscape much to the pleasure of the ironic t-shirt wearing clientele (our favorite: Eat Pussy, Not Animals).

The Thomas Gals had a double threat agenda: Kelly came for the beer, I came for the Vegan food (it’s not very often I get to experience a traditional Oktoberfest with a clear conscience…).  But regardless of schemes each of us got to enjoy our taste of Germany!  

Kelly’s favorite beer choice was the Karl Strauss Brewing Company with its Carmel undertones.  Karl Strauss pioneered the San Diego beer scene since 1989 with innovative beer releases like Big Barrel IIPA, Wreck Alley Imperial Stout and Mosaic Session Ale. The brewery has won 64 medals over the past four years and its Red Trolley Ale is one of the most award winning beers in the world. The company is currently ranked #41 on the list of the country’s top craft breweries (which is super impressive because it only distributes in the state of California).

 

Another beer favorite for Kelly was the irreverent

Lagunitas Brewing Company (which we had the pleasure of visitingin April).  The brewery (which you might be familiar with through the Beer Wars documentary) was started in 1993 in the form of a Christmas homebrew kit that founder Tony Magee received while living in Lagunitas, California.  The company now produces 2.4 million barrels, making Lagunitas as the second-largest “craft” brewery behind The Boston Beer Company in terms of brewing capacity.  They are known for iconoclastic interpretations of traditional beer styles, and irreverent descriptive text, and hysterical stories on their packaging

I ended up mostly drinking Ace Cider as it was the perfect choice for those who didn’t love the world of hoppy aftertaste (which full disclosure is yours truly!).  ACE ciders has been brewed in the beautiful Sebastopol area of Sonoma County in California.  At Vegan Oktoberfest they were offering the cider flavors Pear, Pineapple, and… wait for it, wait for it…Pumpkin.  Ace first made their Pumpkin cider in the fall of 2010 and has returned every year since then (because as John Oliver notes Americans are bat shit crazy for pumpkin).  And it’s true, ACE added cinnamon, cloves, and allspice to fermented apple juice to produce a 5% ABV cider which tastes just like pumpkin pie!  Delicious and absolutely perfect for Vegan Oktoberfest!

Participating food vendors included many of LA’s most acclaimed vegan restaurants such as Sage Organic Bistro who prepared potato pancakes, cauliflower hot wings, and German style soft pretzels, Southern Fried Vegan offered Fried Chickun and Mac N’ Cheeze, while Urban Pie delighted with sausage and potato pizzas.  We ended up sampling from Pop ‘n Mamas Kettle Corn and Funnel Cake (growing up on the Jersey Shore, Kelly and I have a soft spot for Funnel Cakes). 

 

This sold out event was super crowded.  As the person standing next to us noted: “there are people in line to get food with food because the wait is so long.” (Definitely the land of First World problems…)  But it was worth the wait as I was delighted by their Vegan Bratwurst and noted how I could have never enjoyed this Oktoberfest moment at your standard carnivore based Oktoberfest event!  

Prost!

Kronik and Craft: Lagunitas Brewing Company

When Edible Skinny takes a break from wine they drink beer and we took a break from all those grapes to experience the world of the craft brewery at Lagunitas Brewing Company. 

The brewery (which you might be familiar with through the Beer Wars documentary) was started in 1993 in the form of a Christmas homebrew kit that Tony Magee received while living in Lagunitas, California.  He brewed to district himself from the $30,000 he was in debt for and within a short time he had graduated to a 3 ½ barrel system.  Magee started making beer and selling kegs to local bars and restaurants out of the back of his Ford Ranger pickup truck.  The company moved up to a 15-barrel system and started bottling and distributing keys and bottles through the San Francisco Bay area in 1995.

Wandering northbound, the brewery found its home in Petaluma, California, (home of the egg incubator and the world ugliest dog contest).  Lagunitas is now distributed in 32 states and 5 countries.  Since the mid-2000s, Lagunitas has been one of the fastest growing craft breweries in the United States, increasing from 27,000 barrels in 2004 to 700,000 barrels in 2013.

2005, Lagunitas was the subject of an eight-week undercover investigation wherein it was suspected of selling marijuana.  The funny thing is, when the government agents tried to buy weed from the employees, they simply offered them a joint for free.  Eventually, the brewery was charged with Moral Turpitude and Disorderly House, laws that were used to shut down brothels during Prohibition, and forced to close the operation for 20 days.  The company advantageously used this time to install a new bottling line.  Every March, Lagunitas releases a beer called Undercover Investigation Shut-Down Ale because as the label states, “We did the crime. We did the time. We got the bragging rights.”

This brewery loves gettin’ on the wrong side of the law.  In addition to the Undercover Investigation escapade, the brewery's released a beer called the Kronik (slapping with censored bar on the label to get it approved once the federal label-approving agency, the BATF realized what Kronik actually references. Hint: it’s Marijuana).  Lagunitas slapped a “Censored” sticker on it as a joke and they accepted.  Thus, from the smoky clouds of a 420 haze their Censored Beer was born.  


TonyMagee vowed Lagunitas would never go pubic, because he wanted to make craft beers and didn’t want to focus on the bottom line.  The result is a following that would put Miley Cyrus fans to shame and a company that’s rapidly expanding.  In May, Lagunitas had its official opening for their second plant in Chicago (Magee’s hometown), which will bring in a whopping 1.7 million barrels a year (on top of 700k barrels at the Petaluma). 

At 2.4 million barrels, that would put Lagunitas as the second-largest “craft” brewery behind The Boston Beer Company in terms of brewing capacity.  Numbers that are serious (regardless of what you’ve been smoking).