Ordering a beer at Father's Office Los Angeles

You ever walk into one of those fancy beer bars and hope you don’t say the wrong thing when ordering a beer? Well, thanks to three L.A. beer experts — Larry Caldwell of Father’s Office Santa Monica; Christina Perozzi, author of The Naked Pint and former beer sommelier of Rustic Canyon; and Ryan Sweeney of Verdugo Bar and The Surly Goat — I got five things not to say and why.

1. There’s too much head on the beer.
2. This glass isn’t frosted.
3. Why such a small pour for higher alcohol content beer?
4. What’s up with this girly tulip glass?
5. This beer isn’t cold enough.

These guys gave me the lowdown for my LA Weekly Squid Ink post “L.A. Beer Experts Mythbust 5 Complaints of Amateur Beer Drinkers.” And surprise, that whole Budweiser technology where the mountains on the can turn blue to let you know the beer is cold enough to drink is just a gimmick. Beer, at least good beer, should not be imbibed ice cold.

Anyway, I got the idea for this post when, at the Bruery’s 2nd anniversary party, I heard Natalie, Larry’s wife and the manager of FO Los Angeles, and Ryan complain about how certain customers give them grief for these very things. So I figure it would be good to share this knowledge with everyone because, like the average beer drinker, I don’t know half this stuff. Enjoy!