re: BEER VOTE: Best Beer Brewed in LA 2016 Edition

I don't agree with you but I respect your opinion. Bloom is Andrews's best IPA; it's better than Ghost. Further, I'd argue Great Raft's barrel aged sours, particularly what they are doing with the fruited additions, are excellent. Problem with Bloom is that it crashed hard and relatively fast. Still, it was exquisitely soft.

I do agree that we are waiting on other styles to emerge. Still waiting on a really badass stout, and a barrel aged stout. I'm not sure where it will come from. Great Raft is the only brewery in the state with a barrel program of note, but there doesn't seem to be an interest in making a big stout. Old Mad Joy is good, but I'd like bigger. As of right now, Parish's experiments with barrels aren't there yet. And their sours are riddled with off flavors. They are bad.

ETA you're also greatly over-valuing the NC beer scene.

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The truth hurts, there's not a single beer in LA that would crack the top 20 in NC or Florida. LA doesn't even compete in its own region much less the nation.

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Who in NC or Florida makes better hoppy beers than Parish? I've had a good bit from both states. NC makes a lot of nice sours, which I certainly envy. But overall, there is a ton of mediocre beer there. FL makes a lot of world-class Imperial stouts, which is great, but I infrequently dome 750s of high ABV beer. I guess JWB is making good sours there.

Like yeezy said, Great Raft is on its way with its sours, but it isn't a primary focus. Which sucks, because those are the best beers they've made IMO.

Regardless, I'm not sure how the state has fallen further behind. Where it was in 2013 is pretty much as bad as it gets.