38 Degrees Ale House & Grill: Beer Lover's Paradise... in Alhambra

By Daniel Drennon Mon., Jun. 27 2011 at 11:00 AM

Categories: Beer

Daniel Drennon

Clay Harding, co-owner of 38 Degrees with 38 taps

Apparently the economic downturn has not hindered craft beer drinkers. They say, even in a recession, folks will still seek an escape from tough times at the movies. The same can now be said of beer bars. Despite dozens of housing projects downtown getting cancelled due to the financial malaise, beer bars are popping up at an exponential rate. Twenty-four taps here. Thirty-six taps there.

Only a handful of these beer bars, tap houses and ale houses are good enough to lay claim to the title, Best Beer Bar in All of Greater Los Angeles. That is rarified air and means you can compete with Hamilton's Tavern in San Diego or Monk's Kettle in San Francisco and that your beer selection is among the best in the world.

Surprisingly, one such establishment, 38 Degrees Ale House & Grill, can be found in scenic (not really) downtown Alhambra. This good-as-it-gets ale house offers 38 taps of elite craft beer such as Ballast Point Sculpin and Russian River's Pliny the Elder. 38 will be celebrating their 2nd Anniversary on Tuesday, June 28 beginning at 4 p.m., by pouring an exceptional selection of beers aged in wood barrels.

The rare, barrel-aged gems will be available in 5-ounce pours, full pours, or beer flights so you can try them all. If you haven't tried barrel-aged beers, they are "big beers," with tons of flavor and aged in red wine, white wine, brandy or even bourbon barrels. Some can be heavy, and most will be high alcohol by volume (abv). These beers are to be sipped and savored. You may also want to book a hotel nearby.

The Bruery's brilliant Maron Acidifie collaboration with Cigar City Brewing in Tampa, Florida, along with their 14.5% Cuir, will be among the featured brews. Other hard to get on draft offerings will include Lost Abbey's Framboise De Amorosa, Red Poppy, and Brandy Angel's Share, North Coast Old Rasputin XII, Eagle Rock Yearling, Moylans Old Blarney aged in port barrels with dates, Great Divide's Chocolate Oak Aged Yeti, Firestone's Abacus and Parabola, Flying Dog's Barrel Aged Gonzo, Stone Punishment, Allagash Confluence, Ballast Point Bourbon Barrel Aged Piper Down and Black Marlin, and Port's Older Viscosity 2010.

Daniel Drennon

Brian Sugita, co-owner of 38 Degrees

Clay Harding owns 38 Degrees along with partners Brian Sugita, Charles Fata and Mike Fata. Harding is also a quarter of the ColLAboration foursome (partners Brian Lenzo, Ryan Sweeney and Tony Yanow) that has been bringing hugely successful pop-up beer gardens to L.A. He says their philosophy at 38 Degrees is simple, "We aim to please every single guest that walks though the door. And I promise you I can find a craft beer for everyone, no matter what their taste in beer, or even if they think they don't like beer. That's something you can't do for people who don't like wine."

Michael Cimarusti, chef-owner of Providence, is a 38 regular. "38 has something for everybody, including my wife and kids," says Cimarusti. "They are one of the only bars in L.A. that has my favorite, Pliny the Elder, on tap everyday."

Alhambra is a trek and, to be honest, the second best thing there is that the 76 station on Atlantic Boulevard is charging eight cents less per gallon than the Mobil across the street. But if you want to experience one of the five best beer bars in a 500-square mile city with hundreds of beer bars, it's a trek worth making.

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38 Degrees Ale House & Grill

100 W. Main St., Alhambra, CA

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38 Degrees Ale House & Grill, beer, beer bars, Clay Harding, ColLAboration, Daniel Drennon, Michael Cimarusti, Patrick Rue, Providence LA

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Neptune and Me

The beer safari goes to Alhambra! I love tuning is to see what's next in Drennon's Wild Kingdom of Yeast and Hops!

Adam

Thanks for the post. I find the comments about Alhambra being such a geographic stretch highly amusing. It's like you are telling people to drive to Barstow or something.

Daniel Drennon

You're welcome, Adam. The trek theme was meant to be amusing, so glad you were. But which is closer to Alhambra, LA or Barstow? It's like when we visit my brother in Corona. I feel like we should continue on to Vegas to get our money's worth at that point. :)

Leslie McKenzie

"The trek theme was meant to be amusing ...."

You should get out more.

On 38 Degrees: I ate there last year and thought the burger was decent (but not great) and the beer collection was very good. However, I didn't see many from the generation that has made a virtue out of a long-time high-school and college-kid vice doing a lot of sipping and savoring. It's a little hard to appreciate an "exceptional selection of beers" to the tune of "you got that fuckin' right, man." (The same criticism applies to most of the beer bars I've gone to.) Incidentally, I take exception to Clay Harding's analysis of beer vs. wine drinkers. He should get out more, too.

Sean Inman Beer Search Party

There may be some craft beer spots that are too man-centric but most that I have visited have a really friendly vibe for all who walk in the door. May I suggest if you really want to experience the new craft beer scene in Los Angeles, you should go to one of the ColLAboration events in July on the Sunset Strip. I believe you will be surprised at how great the beer is and how great the beer community in LA is.

Mike G

I agree with Clay, I just will never like wine and you can't convince me otherwise. I guess once you're a beer guy there is no turning back, wine is too uppity and elitist in my book.. to each his own!

sinosoul

Huzzah, did the writer just rip Alhambra a new hole while covering 38 Degrees??

Yes, 38Deg has Elder on tap. Yes, they have brilliant $2 draft tasting. But have you actually eaten here recently? Or noticed the way the restaurant flummoxed a burrata salad by over styling it with 10 ingredients? Or the rather childish burger menu with the equally elementary results?

Alhambra is the western epicenter of the best(est) Chinese/Vietnamese food in all of Los Angeles County (with some Indonesia/Malaysian thrown in). Perhaps get a clue by reading some of the posts by a certain "staff writer" on your own publication? http://www.laweekly.com/search...

If you want to mock the plaster Arc de Triomphe on Valley, we'll all concede. But don't patronize the city while covering a beer bar with a rather downtrodden kitchen (despite receiving $425K from the CRA).