It is easy to get in a negative mindset about the traffic here in Los Angeles, but don’t let that stop you from embarking on beer adventures. Believe it or not, but if you get up early on a Sunday morning, you can get to LAX from Glendale in under 30 minutes.

In that spirit, here are three addresses to punch into the onboard GPS.

Eagle Rock Brewery
ADDRESS: 3056 Roswell Street Los Angeles, CA 90065

Eagle Rock Brewery has hit the ground running. And now they are ready to “officially” celebrate their grand opening. On Friday February 26th starting at 4pm all eight taps will be flowing. They will have their Solidarity, Manifesto and Revolution along with their new Imperial Amber Wit (Libertine) and guest taps! The Belgian IPA, My Bloody Valentine from AleSmith might make an appearance amongst other hard to get beers. The Frysmith truck will be there to dispense all variety of fries too.

I recently had Libertine and it is great. It has a green apple aroma and an engaging sweetness from sixty pounds of honey. It has a sparkly texture to it and leaves a pleasant dryness at the end. A nice spin on both wit bier and amber styles. It will be followed by a homebrew collaboration of an Imperial Red ale made with rye. They are also playing a bit with some sour beers too. I just missed their EagleGoat Bock at the…

The Surly Goat
ADDRESS: 7929 Santa Monica Boulevard West Hollywood, CA 90046

… which is now through the soft opening phase and open for regular business. You have read about the lengths that Ryan Sweeney and his team have gone through to train his staff (right here at FoodGPS) and it will pay off when you visit. As you have come to expect from the Verdugo, the beer selection is diverse and high quality.

I will go back just to get my first taste of the aforementioned bock but if you want foreign beer, they have it. In the mood for an IPA, they have Pliny the Elder, Sculpin from Ballast Point or (one of my favorites that I discovered last year) Just Outstanding IPA from Kern River Brewing.

Plus they have Pac-Man!

Cabo Taco Baja Grill
ADDRESS:15294 Rosecrans Avenue, La Mirada, CA 90638

The last stop on the itinerary is Cabo Taco Baja Grill. La Mirada is not where you expect to go for a Mexican food and winter craft beer pairing but they pulled off a very well run event with beers that Southern California usually does not see.

Their bottle list was amazing. Laurelwood Vinter Varmer from Portland, Oakshire’s Ill Tempered Gnome from Eugene, Southern Oregon’s Old Humbug and Ninkasi’s Oatis representing Oregon. Then you check the tap list and you Hop Sauce from Rubicon in Sacramento and Jolly Roger from Drakes in San Leandro. You got a pint glass and eight tasting tickets for $25.00 to spend on 8 winter warmers in bottles and 14 taps.

And all the food was made with the beers on the menu. The White Christmas Tacos were great and the Santa’s Little Helper cupcake really had a nice beery aftertaste.

Cabo Taco will be holding another beer and food event later this year. I strongly suggest making the trip.

The beer of the week is O’Hara’s Irish Stout. I know that St. Patrick’s is three weeks away but you are allowed to have a solid smoky Irish Stout in February. This is a nice example of the style and a chance to support an Irish brewery not based in Dublin.

Find more of Sean Inman’s writing on his blog, Beer Search Party.