Spring Brewhaha

In the spring, a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of--beer.

Young women, too, may be daydreaming about the delicate hefeweizens, crisp lagers and robust ales that will be sipped Tuesday at the Seventh Festival of Beers at Weber’s Place tavern in Reseda.

Brandy McKay, the tall, redheaded pub keeper, started the twice-a-year fests four years ago and has watched them soar in popularity along with the consumption of trendy microbrews. “This has gotten so big, I might have to move out to a ballroom somewhere,” she said, looking around the spacious, wood-paneled sports bar.

Back when the craft beer movement was still nascent in Southern California, McKay decided the Valley deserved its own quality-brew festival. Now, Weber’s is regarded as one of the best--both for the wide variety of well-crafted beverages celebrated and for the credentials of the participants.

“A lot of brewers and sales representatives show up, so it’s a good opportunity to come and learn more about all the different styles of beer,” McKay said.

The festival is staged with the products grouped by brewery or distributor and dispensed from a dozen or so decorated booths. A few ounces of beer is offered per taste.

As with any reputable beer festival, the primary goal is not inebriation.

“You can’t drink too much, or we ask you to leave,” McKay said. “You are here to learn about the beers.”

The offerings are intended to be examples of commercially available products rather than experimental or small-batch specialty brews that are offered at some festivals. Rather than expecting some once-in-a-lifetime taste sensation, you may wish to bring a note pad and jot down the names and qualities of products you will want to shop for on the way home.

Also, the lineup of brews varies by season. Weber’s May festival toasts the astonishing diversity of American craft beers, including English-style ales and porters, American lagers and steam beers and also the newest honey beers, various fruit beers and the most traditional hearty barley wines.

In October, the festival turns to celebrating European lagers, pilseners, lambics and other imported Continental brews.

Tickets are sold at the door for $12 on a first-come, first-served basis, so overflow crowds are typical. Only 150 customers are allowed at a time into the bar, so a line normally forms in the parking lot as people wait for somebody to leave so they can be admitted. About 300 people went through the establishment last fall, McKay said. Each taster gets a souvenir glass, a light meal of Italian sausage and a chance to sample upward of 40 bottled and 27 draft brews.

The admission charge would seem to be a good value. Those who navigate the ever-changing landscape of high-end beers on the market will recognize the importance of a chance to sip around in search of new favorites without paying the usual $7 or $8 for a six-pack of craft beer.

More important, it’s rare for the average beer lover to rub elbows with such an educated crowd. And for the novice, it’s an especially good way to get acquainted with the new breed of craft beers, McKay pointed out.

“If all you drink is Bud, then a good beer to start with is Hollywood Blonde,” McKay suggests. “That one is very crisp and well-balanced.”

Hollywood Blonde represents a style emerging as a bona fide Southern California niche beer: the very pale, very charactery brew.

Thus, a couple of Southern California-born pale beers will probably draw a lot of attention Tuesday: Firestone-Walker Windsor, a pale ale from Los Olivos, and Angel City, a fast-growing golden German-style lager made by Culver City brewer Michael Bowe.

Two notable Northern California craft breweries will send their entries in this niche: Chico-based Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. will pour its new pale bock, and Pyramid Breweries of Berkeley will roll out Sun Fest golden lager for the summer season. Weber’s always has Gordon Biersch products on tap, and recently it has been dispensing a lot of the San Jose-based brewer’s marzenbier, a traditional spring favorite in Munich.

Blonde is also a German-inspired product, made with Kolsch yeast from Cologne, Germany, which gives it a remarkably swift, clean finish. Blonde’s brewer, UCLA radiation oncologist Meribeth Raines-Casselman, of Woodland Hills, said she has always been impressed by the diverse crowds drawn to the Weber’s fests.

“You have some people who have never been in a bar before, and they learn a little about beer and will want to come back,” she said. “And then you add craft beer enthusiasts and brewers and distributors. And then you have the bar’s regular crowd, that aren’t really craft beer drinkers, but they are always willing to try something new. And everybody mingles with everybody else.”

Like many home brewers in the Valley, Raines-Casselman first learned the skill as a member of the Maltose Falcons.

Samuel Green, the Falcons’ spokesman, said that although the group was known for many years as strictly a brewing guild, it has expanded its mission recently to include educational activities for beer aficionados disinclined to do actual brewing.

“Most beer drinkers always like to become more sophisticated about their knowledge of beer,” Green said. “Our club has monthly tastings, and it’s a great way to learn about subtleties of flavor and aroma, and distinguishing between one style and another and even between different labels of the same style.”

Raines-Casselman, now a nationally recognized authority and judge of the brewing arts, usually offers a brief presentation on beer appreciation for the Weber’s festivals.

“I have a whole program I use for tasting beer. I talk about malt, hops, flavor, carbonation and go over some of the descriptors I use to describe beer,” Raines-Casselman said.

She said that other brewers on hand will rise at times to share their impressions about a particularly excellent product.

Many great labels are expected to be represented: Thomas Kemper, Bert Grant, Lost Coast, Anderson Valley, Anchor Brewing.

But don’t show up expecting to quaff those most popular of brews, the classic American pilsener.

“Miller-Bud-Coors aren’t allowed,” McKay said.

Instead, she added, “people try all the different beers. It’s exciting to see how they’re amazed at how good they are with no preservatives, no additives.

“And they cross over: They come over to the good side.”

BE THERE

Festival of Beers, Tuesday 6-9 p.m. at Weber’s Place, 19312 Vanowen St., Reseda, (818) 345-9800. $12, at the door only. For information on the Maltose Falcons, call John Rasmussen (818) 367-3445.