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In past years, it would be hard to snag a ticket for the annual L.A. Vegan Beer & Food Fest since it used to be held in a small parking lot on the Sunset Strip. Now in its sixth year, the event heads have stepped up their game and expanded in a new location: Pasadena's Rose Bowl. And we have the scoop on the special dishes and beers you can expect to try at the festival next month.
The event, which is helmed by Tony Yanow (Golden Road Brewing, Tony's Darts Away), vegan blogger Quarry Girl and Nic Adler of The Roxy, will take place on May 16. Folks will get unlimited pours from over 40 breweries with 100 kinds of beers. The fest will also feature over 40 restaurant and food vendors with vegan dishes. Food isn't included in the ticket price, but they do have some tasty options this year. Pace yourselves, guys!
If you're wondering why beers aren't vegan already, it's because some brewers add non-vegan-friendly additives to beers. Some will add gelatin and fish finings in the beer to filter out the goop produced during the brewing process, but it's not always properly labeled. Vegans won't have to worry about that at this festival.
Some of the breweries we can look forward to this year include newcomers like Inglewood's Three Weavers, a female-owned and operated brewery, and Bell's Brewery based out of Kalamazoo, Mich. There will be a long list of breweries returning like Modern Times, Golden Road Brewing, Noble Ale Works, and Lagunitas. These are the specialty brews that you shouldn't miss:
*Bell's Brewery's "Two Hearted Ale": an American-style IPA with grapefruit and pine aromas.
*Karl Strauss' "Mosaic Session Ale": this beer has citrus and tropical fruit flavors
*Fireman's Brew's "Brunette Beer": A rich and traditionally-styled German Doublebock made with hops and chocolate malts
*Golden Road Brewing's "Almond Milk Stout": this creamy and sweet stout that's made from almond milk and is a great alternative for vegans who don't drink standard milk stouts
*El Segundo Brewing's "Mayberry IPA": a fruity IPA with notes of mandarin orange, kiwi, guava and mango
Beer isn't the only thing that draws crowds to this festival. It's also all about the vegan food vendors, like Sage Vegan Bistro, Grilled Cheese Truck, Mohawk Bend, M Cafe and Mudhen Tavern. Here are some of the most mouth-watering dishes:
Clean South's fried chicken (Photo courtesy of L.A. Vegan Beer & Food Fest)
*Clean South: bringing Southern comfort food like fried "chicken," buffalo wings made from seitan, BBQ pulled pork with collard greens, beer and pimento mac 'n' cheese
Real Food Daily's Fauxnut Maple Tempeh Bacon one the left (Photo by Pastry Zealot, via Real Food Daily)
*Real Food Daily: they'll have their own version of the cronut, their vegan fauxnut with maple glaze, topped with house-smoked tempeh bacon
Suncafe's chili fries (Photo courtesy of L.A. Vegan Beer & Food Fest)
*Suncafe: their chili fries come with a chili base made of Golden Road's "Get Up Offa That Brown" beer, topped with smoked tempeh, ghost pepper salt, cashew and coconut sour cream, and green onions.
*Mudhen Tavern: walnut chorizo tostadas with refried pinto beans, salsa verde and citrus slaw
*Health & Spice: savory Indian waffles with a kick, served alongside scrambled tofu and cilantro sauce
*Divine Dips: vegan ice cream made from coconuts and cashews
Vietnamese Nachos from Mandoline Grill (Photo via Facebook)
*Mandoline Grill: Vietnamese nachos made with vegan lemongrass tofu, vegan Sriracha aioli, herbs and scallion oil
Here's the list of the confirmed breweries, food vendors, and musical acts participating in the event so far:
L.A. Vegan Beer & Food Fest lineup (Photo via Instagram)
General admission tickets are $50 if you buy online and $65 at the door. That will get you a 4-ounce glass and unlimited pours starting at 1 p.m. until the fest ends at 7 p.m. VIP tickets are $80 online and $95 at the door. They get unlimited pours starting at 12 p.m., exclusive beers, access to a special VIP lounge, and early entrance. For the designated drivers, there are also non-drinking general admission tickets for $30 that allow entrance to the festival at 1 p.m. and a kombucha tasting. However, that ticket must be bought in conjunction with a general admission or VIP ticket. The Rose Bowl is located at 1001 Rose Bowl Dr., Pasadena. More info on the fest here. Buy your tickets here.
Editor's Note: Pizza Port is no longer participating in the event, so we have removed the brewery from an earlier version of this story.
