Several weeks ago , an LA tour guide named Hal Mooney stumbled upon a brilliant idea : instead of limiting his encyclopedic knowledge to ticketed tourist , why not ship it out on demand to any old suds - guzzling fool with a phone ? And thus , the Craft Beer Hotline was pay .
Naturally , we Thrillist beer swot just had to hear that hotline bling . So I dialed , and within four or five rings , Hal find fault up .
“ My wife and I run theLA Beer Hop , which is a brewery circuit fellowship in Los Angeles and we ’ve been cling out , taste beers , and you cognize , talking about beer all day for about four years , ” he told me . “ I guess we just wanted to do that for people who are n’t on our bus . ”
Courtesy of Hal Mooney
The concept is simple . Pick up the phone , telephone dial 1 - 855 - LA - BEERS ( yes , it ’s toll - destitute and no , I wo n’t write out the numbers for you right now ) and either Hal or his adorable married woman will pick up the telephone , primed and ready to harness whateverlingering questionis bouncing around your fuzzy brainpower . suppose a live - legal action Google , if Google only join to random beer info .
“ Our focus is on LA beer specifically but I ’m also aCertified Cicerone[aka an prescribed beer expert ] , so I know a lot about beer chronicle , beer mating , beer service , pouring , cleanliness – all of it , ” Hal explained . “ We can answer just about anything . ”
During the hotline ’s initial soft roll - out , Hal told me that he and his wife Cindy mostly fielded calls from trolling friends and family line members under various anonym . Now that they ’ve officially plunge to the public , however , the line are starting to fall up like afrat male child at a keg party .
“ It ’s kind of blow up over the retiring two day , ” marvel the guile beer wizard . “ We were getting a twain an minute yesterday afternoon , and then a few more than that at night when it seemed like people were out drinking and wanting to lecture . That was moderately fun , really , because if they ’re drinking , you screw , I might be drinking , too . They might get a loose operator on the line . ”
And with that , I put the ol’ bland operator to the examination with this batch of intemperately deliberated over , highly severely - hitting , and vastly significant inquiry .
What do you say to people who claim to not like beer?
There ’s no such matter as a person who does n’t like beer , it ’s just a person who has n’t meet the proper beer yet .
Bottles or cans?
Cansare great . They ’re more versatile , they work really well , they ’re immeasurably recyclable , and they can go anywhere . Beer should be for backpack trip , wassail poolside , or at baseball game games – all of the spot where glass bottles can get you in trouble . There ’s no reason not to go with seat .
What day of the week is best for drinking beer and why?
Any day that ends in y. But also , I really care Thursdays . Most of the brewery are open but they ’re significantly less crowded and you ’re way more potential to die hard into the brewers then . It ’s just more involved .
Which of life’s many problems cannot be solved with a beer?
dipsomania ?
If Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump were beers, what beers would they be?
Hillary Clinton would be a Honey Blonde . It kind of looks like her . And it ’s nice , easy going , gets the Book of Job done . It ’s straight to the point . Donald Trump would be – they ’re refer to asalcopops . Something like an orange vanilla apple ale . There ’s like no beer in it , just a destiny of clobber made in a lab .
Are you drinking a beer right now?
I ’m not . I ’m drive decently now actually . I run to limit commingle the two .
What beer would you pair with gummy worms?
Let ’s see . You ca n’t do anything that ’s overly sweet or excessively tart because that ’ll be too much together . I would do a funky Lambic , like something fromBeachwood Blendery . It has some tart notes and some sweet note but it has a lot of funk and black pepper in the back . The candy would add out elements in the beer and the beer would wash down all the treacly fragrancy of the gummy worms .
If you could change one thing about craft beer what would it be?
The thing is , craft beer ’s such a novel secret plan , it ’s always change . For awhile , I wanted more transcribed beer , and now there ’s canned beer . I desire more everyday drinkers , and now there ’s that . Now , I want more multitude loving what ’s made locally as opposed totrying to trace down the " it beer . "
Bang, marry, kill: Gose, Imperial Stout, Session IPA
I ’m go to have to wed a Session IPA , because the whole idea behind a session beer is that you’re able to drink a set of it day by day . And if I had to pick one in finical , it would probably be Stateside fromThree Weavers Brewingin Englewood . Then , I would bang Imperial Stouts – I could never pour down Imperial Stouts . They ’re so utile for dismal , cold night , bounteous foods , and desserts . And , by nonremittal , I’llkill the Gose . I ’ve had way more bad Goses than bad Imperial Stouts .
If I want to be “seen” in LA, what beer should I have in my hand?
The hippest panache correctly now is the hazy IPA , or the Northeastern style IPA . If you ’re fancy with a can ofMonkishHazy IPA , that ’s the hippest you could get . It ’s not very vitriolic and it ’s really red-hot , like you get a lot of mango succus and orange juice out of it . Also , it ’s a excellently ugly beer – it looks a bunch likeDonald Trump ’s hair . But it ’s delicious .
Finish the sentence: An apple a day keeps the doctor away. A beer a day _____.
… is just a good idea , menses .
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