Russian River growlers Flickr shot by --Mark--

Every year beer geeks go insane for Russian River’s Pliny the Younger Triple IPA. So much so that labyrinthine lines form around the blocks of the very few bars that are lucky enough to get a hold of the allotted five gallons of the beer.

Yes, Pliny the Younger is only available for purchase at a very few bars because as the brewery’s site says “it is extremely difficult, time and space consuming, and very expensive to make.” Even mothership Russian River brewpub in Santa Rosa doesn’t allow growlers or bottles, rather you are welcome to a 10-ounce glass of the 10.5% ABV beer. And as if its rarity isn’t enough to fuel the fervor, currently Pliny the Younger, not to be confused with Russian River’s more readily available Pliny the Elder Double IPA? Ranks No. 1 out of 100 on Beer Advocate’s list of top beers. Settle down, settle down.

So where can you, a SoCal beer lover, get a hold of this NorCal ambrosia? Russian River Brewery has announced that Pliny will be released this Friday, February 3; and local beer bars Beachwood BBQ (Seal Beach) and Library Alehouse (Santa Monica) will indeed carry it! However the bars will be controlling the chaos by selling $5 raffle tickets for a chance to win/purchase a pint. So you don’t have to stand in line for the beer or suffer Walmart-on-Black-Friday-type crowds, PLUS 100% of the proceeds from the raffle ticket sales will go to the Melanoma Research Foundation, in memory of Beachwood BBQ’s friend Tony Carbone who died of melanoma in 2008.

Beachwood BBQ, both Seal Beach and Long Beach locations, has been selling tickets, to raffle off its 130 pints, since January 17 and will continue to do so til February 18. While Santa Monica’s Library Alehouse will start selling its tickets for a chance at purchasing one of 50 glasses of Pliny for 25 cents, on February 3rd. There’s no limit to how many raffle tickets you can buy but it is cash only.

Winners will then be drawn on February 20 and contacted via email and then have 10 days to fetch their pints. Mmm, can you taste it already?

By the way, other bars that will be carrying Pliny the Younger: Lucky Baldwin’s, Verdugo Bar and The Surly Goat!

Beachwood BBQ
131 1/2 Main Street
Seal Beach, California 90470 (map)
(562) 493-4500

210 E. 3rd Street
Long Beach, California 90802 (map)
(562) 436-4020
Facebook: Beachwood BBQ; Twitter: @BeachwoodBBQ

Library Alehouse
2911 Main Street
Santa Monica, California 90405 (map)
(310) 314-4855
Facebook: Library Alehouse; Twitter: @LibraryAlehouse

Bushmills Irish Whiskey Tasting at Neat
Dance a jig into your weekend with an Irish whiskey tasting followed by live Irish music. Whiskey Master Ed Adams will guide a tasting of the entire Bushmills line at Neat in Glendale. Afterward at 8:30p, the Irish band hits the stage.  RSVP to info@theneatbar.com for the tasting.

• 6:30-8pm. Neat, 1114 N Pacific Avenue, Glendale (map). (818) 241-4542.

Pegu Club Vet Scott James Teague Guest Bartending at 1886
Attention cocktail nerds, Scott Teague, head bartender of Alex Day and David Kaplan’s new NYC bar Demi Monde as well as Pegu Club veteran will be behind the stick at 1886 tonight! He’ll be serving up a special side menu while 1886 bartender Lacey Murillo does up 1886′s deelish winter cocktails.

• 1886 at The Raymond, 1250 South Fair Oaks Avenue, Pasadena (map). (626) 441-3136.

Friday, January 13

Happy Hour Sample Sale and Free St. Germain Cocktails at Space 15 Twenty
Yup, FREE cocktails. Oh and shopping where you can save 50 to 70% off collections by Nombre, Jill Lindsey and Sophmore priced at $10-$50. How can you turn that down? Drunk shopping FTW!

• 5-8pm. Project Urban Renewal Shop at Space 15 Twenty, 1520 N. Cahuenga Boulevard, Hollywood (map).

Saturday, January 14

The Tripel Debuts New Weekend Brunch With Bloody Beer and Duck Hash
Brooke Williamson and Nick Roberts introduce a brand-new brunch at their Playa del Rey gastropub, The Tripel, this weekend. Enjoy tasty craft brews and beer cocktails, like the Bloody Beer, along with dishes like The Cure burger with avocado and a fried egg and duck hash with lobster salted peewee potatoes, duck confit, fried egg, pancetta and vinegar cooked greens.

• 9:30am-4pm. The Tripel, 333 Culver Boulevard, Playa Del Rey (map).

Sunday, January 15

Grand Opening: The Pub at Golden Road
The new Pub at Golden Road Brewery will be celebrating its grand opening by debuting its new canned beer and featuring burger and beer specials. Check out its selection of vegan and nonvegan food offerings and 20 taps as well.

• 11am-11pm. 5430 San Fernando Road West, Los Angeles (map).

Tuesday, January 17

Pliny Fights Cancer Charity Raffle at Beachwood BBQ
Seal Beach’s Beachwood BBQ will be raffling off 130 pints of the highly coveted Pliny the Younger (which is released in February) for the Melanoma Research Foundation. Raffle tickets can be purchased at the restaurant from January 17th at 12pm to February 18th at 10pm. Tickets are $5 each and there’s no limit but it is cash only. And on February 20 the tickets will be drawn at random and winners will be notified by email or phone if they’re not present.

• January 17-February 18. Beachwood BBQ, 131 1/2 Main Street, Seal Beach (map). (562) 493-4500.

Save Blue Palms and especially its $4 Pint Tuesdays!

Update 1/11/12: Blue Palms got a 2-3-week reprieve! Discussing long-term solution with landlord right now.

L.A. beer lovers, Blue Palms Brewhouse in Hollywood needs your help. With the closing of Music Box and the venue’s landlord losing their lease, everyone’s favorite beer bar is in danger.

On Blue Palms Brewhouse Facebook page:

To all our Fans, In light of our landlord losing their lease, we are in middle of the fallout. WE are working very hard to work directly with the owner to resolve. The Blue Palms is a small company and in the world of sterile business, we are pawns. Please stay tuned, we love you guys and we are doing our best to convince the owners of our worth. Please help us in posting your support and we hope to keep you posted. from BP

According to L.A. Beer Week, one way you can start right now is to call the landlord’s attorney, Chris Leonard, at (310) 312-2000 and tell him how important it is that the bar and its awesome taps be saved.

But also keep an eye on the bar’s FB page for other ways to help. Help save Tuesdays $4 Pint Night, Lobster Mac & Cheese, those 24 glorious constantly rotating taps, all those awesome beer nights!

This wonderful beer bar that has played a major part in spreading the joy of beer and cultivating the L.A. beer culture must be saved.

Blue Palms Brewhouse
6124 Hollywood Boulevard
Hollywood, California 90028 (map)
(323) 464-BEER
Facebook: Blue Palms Brewhouse
Twitter: @BluePalms_Brew

Pub at Golden Road Brewing by Golden Road Brewing

L.A.’s newest brewery, Golden Road Brewing in Atwater Village, has launched its very own brewpub for your drinking and eating convenience. Here you can enjoy GR brews the best way possible, paired with food. That’s right, The Pub at Golden Road features vegan and non-vegan bites, salads, sandwiches and entrees meant to be paired with beer. And on the back patio during the weekends, you can score beer specials as well as rotating burger specials. There’s also a deli case for those who want to grab and go for lunch.

The Pub’s chef, Chef Adam Levoe (formerly of Pasadena’s Quadrupel), is actually a home brewer himself and is known for his beer and food creativity. Those scared away by the term “vegan” showing up on any menu needn’t fret. Levoe’s menu offers comfort foods like meatballs served on spicy vegan cornbread and a Sloppy Joseph made of Porter-braised beef short ribs and housemade BBQ sauce.

Here are a few of Chef Levoe’s food-beer pairing suggestions for your drooly consideration:

• Pulled Pork Sandwich with the Golden Road Hefeweizen (the pork in the sandwich is braised in the Hefe as well)
• Sun-dried tomato polenta with the Point the Way IPA
• Sloppy Joseph with the Schwartz Stout (the short ribs in the Sloppy Joseph are also braised in the Stout)
• Coconut “Noodle” Salad with the Festivus Cinnamon Bitter

The renovated 3,500-square-foot warehouse space, with its high ceilings and 30-foot bar, will accommodate 80 folks with 72 additional beer geeks on the patio. And seeing as how it’s the brewery’s own bar, it’ll offer all of Golden Road’s beers (five to start) as well as up to 15 guest taps. “All beers will come from friends of ours, as we want to support people that we respect and admire such as Dogfish Head, Oskar Blues, Firestone Walker, Avery, Stone and Hangar 24,” said brewmaster Jon Carpenter.

The Pub at Golden Road
5410 W. San Fernando Road
Los Angeles, California 90039 (map)
Hours: 11am to 11pm Daily
Twitter: @GoldenRoadBrew
Facebook: Golden Road Brewing

Friday, December 2

Rachel Pally Warehouse Sale
Shop Rachel Pally’s fall fashions for 55% – 85% off, including $25 – $75 last season racks. Stock up for holiday presents or for your own closet. Credit cards only.

• December 2-4, December 9-11. 2301 W 7th Street, Suite, C100, Los Angeles (map).

Saturday, December 3

ColLab Winterfest Beer Garden Postponed Drink Specials
Due to the destruction caused by Windapocalpyse, ColLAb Winterfest Beer Garden which was taking place on Saturday has been postponed. All advance payment through PayPal will automatically be reimbursed and those who already purchased the Winterfest glass will get admission to the next ColLAboration event which is scheduled for January 2012. To ease the pain, the following bars are offering $4 drink specials for tomorrow:

Mohawk Bend: ALL beers $4 from 12-5pm
Tony’s Darts Away: ALL beers $4 from 12-5pm.
38 Degrees Ale House & Grill: select beers $4 from 12-5pm
Verdugo Bar: select beers $4 from 3-5pm

Sunday, December 4

Food GPS’s Pigs & Pints at Biergarten
OK, this event boasts pork, beer and ice cream. ‘Nuff said. OK, maybe you need more deets. For $30 you get servings from a whole Filipino-style (haaay!) roasted pig with two sides, two pints of California craft beer (Ballast Point Sculpin IPA and The Lost Abbey Red Barn) and a special ice cream flavor from Scoops. Hmm, wonder if it somehow involves beer and bacon? Um. Yum!

• 1-4pm. $30. Biergarten, 206 N Western Avenue, Koreatown (map).

Monday, December 5

Public School 612′s Darker Side of Beer and Dessert
And yet another beer event you won’t want to miss. This one pairs beer with dessert. You heard me! At downtown’s Public School 612 guest professor Norm Stackhouse from Stone Brewing Co. will explore that odd but delicious combination of beer and dessert by pairing the likes of Speedway Stout, Stone Smoke Porter and Maui Porter with a trio of creme brulee, toasted marshmallow ice cream and pie with smoked bacon ice cream.

• 7:30pm. $25. Public School 612, 612 S. Flower Street, Los Angeles (map).

For Repeal Day weekend, here’s my LA Weekly Squid Ink post on where and what to drink, including cocktail recipes! Hooray booze!