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Angelenos flocked to the fifth annual L.A. Vegan Beer & Food Festival on the Sunset Strip on Saturday for a day full of unlimited beer samples and mouth-watering vegan dishes.
The event, which was sold out ten weeks before the festival, was a well-organized foodie gathering with short lines for its over 40 craft breweries and 30 food purveyors. Beer-enthusiasts walked around with pencils, marking down their beer checklists, and hoping to taste as many as they could. (There were over 100 beer samples to try there.) Others wore pretzel necklaces to snack on while they boozed up. Folks sat under trees decorated with piñatas and on haystacks under umbrellas listening to the live bands during the hot day.
Some of our favorite brews from the fest included Wolf Creek Brewery's Timber Wolf, a bourbon-soaked red ale; Noble Ale Work's Gosebusters brew, a German-style beer infused with magnolia oolong tea; and Ballast Point's Habanero Sculpin, a spicy IPA that really lingered with you long after you finished it. For the IPA-lovers, Abigaile's Altered State IPA was delicious with its Citra and Nelson hops and El Segundo Brewing brought out their Two 5 Left double IPA that they aged in a cask for a year. Monkish Brewing Co.'s Sema Della Vita was a flavorful belgian-style tripel with pistachios and vanilla bean. Some lighter and unique beers included Bravery's pink-hued La Fleur wheat beer that was brewed with hibiscus flowers and Ace Cider's pineapple cider, which was a popular one at the fest. And the event wasn't complete without Golden Road Brewing's once-a-year special, the Almond Milk Stout.
In addition to all the beers at the fest being vegan, food vendors also brought out all-vegan menus. Popular items included Doomie's take on the Big Mac, Costa Mesa favorite Seabirds Kitchen's beer-battered avocado tacos, and the Frankenstand's "They Live" hot dog with crispy onions on top. Grilled Cheese Truck went all-vegan for the first time at the fest and brought out items like Cheesy Mac & "Rib" Melt and "Chicken" & Waffles Melt. And as for deserts, folks devoured Brambles Cake Shop's vegan Twinkies and Real Food Daily's debut of their vegan cronut, which eventually sold out.
It was a stellar fest, and we can't stop thinking about some of the special craft beers and dishes. Next year can't come soon enough for the next L.A. Vegan Beer & Food Festival.
