LA Beer Week's Musical Beer Crawl Hits Echo Park Tonight

Cambria Griffith

Craft beer takes over the taps at the Short Stop

The third annual LA Beer Week (this year's "week" is fourteen days long) kicked off yesterday with a two-part, eight-hour party at Naja's Place in Redondo Beach. But if you missed out on the festivities, fret not. The celebration continues this evening with a thirteen-stop Musical Beer Crawl along Sunset Blvd in Echo Park. And the best part? It's free! Well, sort of.

While you don't have to pay to participate in the inaugural Musical Beer Crawl, you do have to pay for your food and drink. But if you show your Musical Beer Crawl passport to participating vendors, you'll get exclusive access to killer deals, including 15% off your beer tab at Mohawk Bend, 15% off your food and drink tab at Taix 321 Lounge, 10% off at Masa Cafe, a $10 combo meal at Grill 'Em All (they'll be parked on Sunset between Logan and Echo Park -- near the Walgreens), and two-for-one slices of pizza at Two Boots.

So after you gorge yourself on food, you'll want to fill up on the crawl's main attractions: music and beer. On the beer front, you'll find super-secret, ultra-special kegs on tap at The Echo, El Prado, and the Short Stop, happy hour prices at City Sip between 5:30 p.m. and 7 p.m., draughts of Weihenstephan's export-only Hopplosion at Lot 1 Cafe (along with a few $4 pints), and reduced priced beers at Sunset Beer Company (along with a zero-dollar beer bottle corkage fee). On the music front, Mohawk Bend, Backside Clothing, and the Short Stop will all feature DJs; Taix 321 Lounge, The Echo, and Lot 1 Cafe will feature live bands; and every Tuesday is Record Club at El Prado.

When we asked Cambria Griffith, the event's organizer, what inspired her to create the Musical Beer Crawl, she said that with so many great music venues and beer bars in Echo Park, it seemed only natural to unite them under a single event. So what's Ms. Griffith most excited for tonight? "I'm looking forward to dancing my pants off at the Short Stop," she said. If you see her there, you may want to buy her a beer. They're only $4 for passport holders between 5 p.m. and 10 p.m.