Happy weekend!  In a minute, I’m going to be passing off the mic to Beerface McGillicutty and his thoughts plus favorite beer picks for the Beer, Art & Music Festival.  But first, I wanted to mention how awesome our time was here!  I captured some of it in our Snapchat video below, and I’m so glad we made the trip up to enjoy some brews and the great atmosphere.  You gotta love how summer beer festivals last through October here in California!  Take it away, Beerface!

Beerface McGillicutty here.  Recently, I was out at BAM Fest in Santa Monica, CA, which is a fundraising event for the 18th Street Arts Center, a non-profit artist residency center between  and beer festival. The setup was very tight together in between buildings, though it never felt too crowded to maneuver or grab any beer you wanted at any given time. The art venues present were a nice to touch to take a break out of the hot sun while enjoying one of the many great beers being offered. Now, drumroll to the reason you are reading this, BEER TIME!

Selecting which beers to highlight in this piece was really a daunting task as there were so many stars of the day. I really had to sit down to determine which ones I would narrow down to. Without further rambling…

The Hoppy Poppy IPA is really standout primarily because IPA’s not my favorite style of beer, that is not to say I do not enjoy a great one when I have the opportunity, so please put away your pitchforks. Well, Hoppy Poppy happens to be just that, a great one. Up front you get a nice kick of citrus, followed out back by surprise, surprise by being true to its namesake a floral finish, which is subtle enough where it does not feel as if you are chewing on flowers, but enough to make you say, “Damn, this is a great beer”. Certainly one of the lighter IPA’s in body, yet exquisite nonetheless

Pairs well with: poultry, seafood

You want to talk about beers that are rich in deep flavor, you have come to the correct place as this farmhouse ale is about as rich with caramel notes as a farmhouse ale can be. You catch that caramelized flavor right away as you sweep he glass, it only intensifies as it hits your palate, continuing on through the finish. Has bit of a heavy side to it, likely from its slight noted Belgian influence. This is one of those beers you can enjoy a fine meal alongside. Bravo, Phantom Carriage.

Pairs well with: Meats, poultry, grains

A black cider, I repeat, an actual black cider. It tastes like awesome alcoholic lemonade, and that is precisely what it is with a nice bite right on the finish. The black color reportedly comes from activates charcoal which in turn comes from tropical coconuts as the Ciderhouse vendor informed me. This is definitely a refresher of sorts and it was stellar. I would employ this while grilling up some food on an extremely hot day.

Pairs well with: grilled and charred meats

Do you enjoy chocolate? Are you a chocolate fiend? Alright, good. This porter is an absolute chocolate lover’s dream, though you would never know from its appearance, it is in fact a pale colored porter, yes that was not a slip. I watched the vendor pour thinking “I think this guy has had one-too many because I clearly asked for the porter” I said, thank you and proceeded to sweep the glass, was that chocolate? You bet your arse it was! I took my first confused sip, whoa, that was a ton of chocolate, that tasted incredibly rich, and it is coming from this light colored liquid in my glass. Yes, this porter indeed paid homage to the saying of never judging a book by its cover. I was blown away to say the least. This was probably the very best chocolate porter I have ever tasted.

Pairs well with: meat, and more meat, or vanilla ice cream as a float of sorts

The festival was ran nicely without a hitch, I thoroughly enjoyed every bit of my time out at BAMfest. The art was wonderful, and the beer even better. It showcased some lessor familiar brewing companies to the general public, and for that I applaud them. It was exceptional.

Look forward to more event and beer reviews from Beerface McGillicutty and follow on Twitter at @BeerfaceM and Instagram at @BeerfaceM.

By the way, The Episodic Eater is new on Snapchat!  Check out a sneak peek of the event snap story below, and make sure to follow me at @episodiceater for more new food adventures!

See how amazing it was?!?!  We loved the music, the art, and definitely the beer!  We’ll be back next year for sure.  In fact, mark your calendars for September 24, 2016 to make sure you don’t miss it.  We’ll see you there!

Beer Art Music Festival @ 18th Street Arts Center
1639 18th Street
Santa Monica, CA 90404
http://18thstreet.org/bam
(310) 453-3711