Blue Palms BrewHouse

augustgarage

California

4.4/5  rDev -2.7%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4 | $$

I arrived at opening time on a Thursday evening. The interior is clean, well layed out, and casual. The beer list was fairly impressive (especially for Los Angeles), though the first three things I ordered were tapped out (including their cask selection, unfortunately).

Lots of special releases from The Bruery, Stone, and Firestone Walker. A couple Belgian ales on tap (even there, not the usual suspects; a flanders red rather than something like Chimay or Duval), and several in bottles (Trappist Rochefort, seasonal Fantome, Delerium Tremens, etc.).

The options for well drinks are decent as well (e.g. bourbons included Old Pappy Van Winkle 10yo 101; tequila selection was adequate; and they even offered fountain absinthe - albeit with "Bohemian" absinthe), though I didn't order a cocktail.

I only ordered sweet potato fries, but they arrived crisp, well seasoned, piping hot, and served with chipotle mayo (or whatever other condiment you request). The food that those around me ordered appeared quickly and seemed well prepared.

Bartenders are friendly, attentive, and chatty. They all seem to enjoy working there. Lots of regular beer-loving customers mingle with people meeting friends or playing bar-games while nursing a macro (Bud Light or Amstel Light are hiding in the fridge apparently).

Excluding the food (a bit expensive but reasonable), value is remarkable especially for the location. Most draught ales are $3 (!) during happy hour. There are also food specials (mostly up-market renditions of traditional bar-food, like Buffalo Wings). Time passes quickly and ale and conversation flows freely. I could see this turning into a regular haunt...

EDIT: October, 2009 - this has turned into my bar of choice in L.A. Brian is very friendly, generous (ask about a beer and you'll usually end up with a sample placed before you), and very in touch with the U.S. beer market, traveling frequently to enrich his knowledge and his (massive) stock of kegs and bottles.

05-08-2009 06:19:32 | More by augustgarage

corysmith01

New York

4.54/5  rDev +0.4%
vibe: 3.75 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

I was out in LA for a few days and knew from research that this was a place I should visit. Luckily our hotel was quite close so we were able to go twice during our three day stay. Also lucky for us, one of those days was a tap takeover (Dogfish Head).

On our first trip, I noted the 24 taps that others have mentioned. What I really liked was that there are two digital boards that list the beers with a coordinating number. You wouldn't think much of it, but it actually makes ordering very easy if for instance the bar is very noisy. Instead of throwing out a long name, you can simply ask for number 12, or number 5. Pretty convenient.

I stopped in specifically for the Indra Kunindra that I had scoped on their website (it's a favorite of mine, particularly on tap). But I was pleasantly surprised by a very cheerful and knowledgeable bartender who was more than happy to help me out with selection #2. Turns out, he pointed me in the direction of a beer I'd never heard of, never tried, and ended up being amazingly tasty...my opinion of course. He pointed me to Noble Ale Works' Naughty Sauce. Amazing.

Night two we were treated to a Dogfish Head tap takeover. All 24. Also amazing. Had some really interesting offerings from Dogfish that I'd never even heard of.

There seems to be plenty of room here, didn't seem too noisy and the bartenders seemed to know their stuff and are fans of beers. All of this combines to make it a "must hit" if you're in LA. I'll definitely revisit next time I'm out there.xt

05-12-2013 22:52:44 | More by corysmith01

DanSimonsen

California

4.48/5  rDev -0.9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 5 | food: 4.5 | $$

ONE OF THE BEST BEER AND SAUSAGE BARS ON THE WEST COAST. FIRST THE BEER:

OUTSTANDING SELECTION W/ ~30 TAPS INCLUDING 1 CASK. USUALLY RARE, HARD TO FIND BEERS, VINTAGE RELEASES, AND A HANDFULL OF FLEMISH REDS AND BELGIANS. VISITED DURING LA BEER WEEK & HAD SPEAKEASY BIG DADDY AND XV ANNIVERSARY. ALSO FIRST TIME HAVING FIRESTONE PARABOLA, DOUBLE JACK, AND DOUBLE DBA ALL IN THE SAME NIGHT!

FOOD: EXCELLENT SELECTION FOR WHATEVER TASTES YOU PREFER. MY WIFE IS VEGAN AND HAD VEGAN SAUSAGE - MADE WITH APPLE BRANDY?, AND BLACKENED TOFU. PROBABLY THE BEST SAUSAGE SELECTION OUT THERE: ALLIGATOR, BOAR, PHEASANT, DUCK, ELK.

WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND.

10-02-2012 22:00:24 | More by DanSimonsen

Aexoonge

California

4.95/5  rDev +9.5%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | food: 4.5 | $$

Very pleased to discover another killer craft beer bar in my area, the recently reopened Blue Palms! You can see the tap list at their website (http://www.bluepalmsbrewhouse.com/pages/beer.html) so you can start the tough decisions early. And when you get there, the list is displayed on a huge flatscreen above the bar - you get to see beers blink off when the kegs kick in real time!!

Plenty of delicious D/IPA flowing here: PtE, Blind Pig, FW Union Jack(!), Sculpin, AleSmith IPA, and their very own Blue Palms IPA. Holy shit, that's 5/24. They had great offerings in other styles too tho- got a taste of Allagash Curieux and a full snifter of Stone 2011 IRS for 'dessert'. All this at about $5.5~6.5! And during happy hour - Tuesdays - you can get Victory Prima Pils (MY JAM!) and their IPA and Hef (apparently brewed by Firestone Walker) &others for 4!

Had spinach dip which was cheesy and delicious, extra chips were provided before I could finish asking. Staff was friendly and knowledgeable all around. Bar has seats with backs instead of stools(my back craves support). Music was great, and not super loud, tv's had sports on.

FINALLY, they have a great Scotch selection, blended (JW, Chivas, Dewars) and single malt (Glenfiddich, Glenmorangie, Highland Park, Laphroaig)! The only thing I didn't like about this place is that it isn't right around the corner from me - I had a great time and will be back!

03-19-2012 08:28:27 | More by Aexoonge

northyorksammy

Ontario (Canada)

4.14/5  rDev -8.4%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$$

The best beer bar I have been to in LA. You come in, you feel already at home. Good parking next door (late enough it was free). About 95% guys and all efficiently served by Bix. Twenty five taps up electronically on a board, with lots of interesting choices. Great bottle selection too, but Black Tuesday at $90 was something I wanted but not at that price. Some other really rare ones, though prices were steep for those as well. Music was decent and toned down, so you can talk. with some TVs on. they are trying to get their sublease settled to stay in the current location.

01-18-2012 06:10:06 | More by northyorksammy

trancesk8er

California

5/5  rDev +10.6%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | food: 5 | $$

I've been going here since they opened. I am sad to see they are in danger of shuting their doors. I'm writing this mainly as an update to that statement. For people that thought you might have missed the final day open this past wednesday there is still time! They have reached an agreement with the owner of the Fonda to stay open for another 2-3 weeks. This is a place not to be missed. Get there quick before they are forced to close and you are left out in the cold until they can find a new location.

01-17-2012 21:54:28 | More by trancesk8er

BeerShman

California

4.71/5  rDev +4.2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | $$

First time into Blue Palms and I have to say, it made an impression with me. Not only was it packed for a Friday afternoon around 130pm, the service was top notch.

Very nice decor inside, good size televisions, great information on whats currently available on tap and a good setting all around. Was a little loud but i take that as a good place and people are having a good time.

My gf and I sat down at the bar to have a few beers. We were promptly served and taken care of. Not much to say about service, but it was top notch and we were served well.

Beers were great. Good selection, especially a good selection for everyone I felt like. It wasn't dominated by stouts or IPAs or sours. Good overall variety. What's even better is some beers were on happy hour for 4 bucks, even thought the prices were really reasonable. 5 bucks to 10 bucks( I think that was highest I saw).

Didn't try the food but I did see someone order and it looked really good! If I go back when they are open, I would definitely eat here.

Overall, really well established place. They know what they are doing and serve their customers well.

01-15-2012 07:08:10 | More by BeerShman

sprucetip

Alaska

4.22/5  rDev -6.6%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4 | $$

Went for dinner and brews with some (Mormon) friends who live in LA as I was passing through. Quite cool of my friends to indulge my hobby and take me to the beer parlor though they do not indulge themselves. The atmosphere could maybe score higher if it weren't so loud in the place. It was full-ish, but not late and not a weekend, but it was difficult to converse due to the acoustics. The food was good and reasonably priced, and had some funky twists like sausages made from atypical meats like venison and boar. But food was not the main motive for going there, or bothering to review the joint!

I started with the FiftyFifty Eclipse Elijah Craig 12 year. It was awesome, one of the best beers I've ever had. In retrospect, it shoulda been desert. Well, it was, I had another later! Damned good beer. In between I had Lagunitas Sucks, though I was thinking I should have something else that isn't so widely distributed, but it sounded good and it was.

There were 24 taps, with the lists displayed prominently on at least 2 large video screens. The bottle list was not huge but thoughtfully selected and inviting. And there was a vintage bottle list of older and hard to get stuff. Some reasonably priced, some priced to reflect the rarity, and understandable to me, though I'd never drop that kind of coin for a beer.

All in all, any beer geek would visiting this place should find some things to make them happy. It would be silly not to drop in if you were in the neighborhood and had the time to do so.

01-02-2012 23:36:27 | More by sprucetip

UCLABrewN84

California

4.38/5  rDev -3.1%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5 | $$

I visited Blue Palms yesterday for the first time to go to their Jingle Bell Jubilee. The entrance is a single small door next to a venue so it might be hard to see for some. Inside there is a very nice atmosphere with lots of wood and whatnot. They have a decent amount of tables for seating. They offer around 15-20 taps including a cask most of the time (finally tried a cask!). They also have a killer bottle list if you have some extra cash to burn. The service was good especially for the crowded event. My wife and I got some food that was very good too. Very reasonable prices for the beer (I was able to get a couple of flights and some half pints - both of which I love to see at beer bars). I will definitely be back again in the future.

12-11-2011 20:29:55 | More by UCLABrewN84

Beerandraiderfan

Nevada

4.33/5  rDev -4.2%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4 | $$

Thanks for koufax21 reminding me that despite having been here like a dozen times, I've never reviewed it.

First thing I really like about the atmosphere is that this is a sports loving craft beer bar. So many craft beer places shun sports, having this stereotype of avoiding dumb loud jocks. Not here, they're proud about their OSU and Steeler patronage (teams I hate, but I'd rather go to a place that supports their team v. hipster i don't follow sports douchery). Right next to the Fonda theatre (seen Aquabats & Rancid play an awesome set here).

High quality in terms of both beer selection and food. Tap list displayed largely. TVs all over. Fine wood decoration. Open spacing, never 'crowded' to the point of being a drawback. Good mix of favorites and local new stuff. Ask to see the bottle list. Some real good stuff in there. Some of it decently priced. $15 -bal aged 22oz stuff in Hollywood is amazingly priced (Old Dipsea).

Angel's share on tap, cheaper and more carbonated than in the bottle at a retail store.

Food has always been a notch above bar food.

11-28-2011 21:40:26 | More by Beerandraiderfan