Skip to main content
John Verive on Muck Rack

John Verive

Verified
Los Angeles
As seen in: HuffPost, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Lifehacker, VICE, Orlando Sentinel, Paste, Los Angeles Magazine, The Daily Meal, Craft Beer and
Covers:  music, beer and food, beer business, craft beer, los angeles, beer, craft beers and microbreweries, travel, technology, productivity
Doesn't Cover: wine
My profile is woefully out of date. I used to write for lots of places. (I still write, but I used to write too.)
Back to John Verive’s profile

John Verive’s Journalist Portfolio

View as a grid

Finders Keepers

Finders Keepers

beerandbrewing.com — A dozen miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles, in the sage-scented hills below the San Gabriel Mountains, a brewer walks with a purpose. Founder of Pasadena's Craftsman Brewing, Mark Jilg is a trailblazer of artisanal beer in Los Angeles, and Craftsman started making distinctive beers long before craft beer caught on in the region. Triple White Sage is a yearly signature brew that captures the "rather assertive aroma" of the chaparral woodlands, and Jilg forages the hills for the Belgian ale's key ingredient. "I used to spend a lot of time mountain biking in the Front Range [of the Angeles National Forest]," Jilg explains.
View PDF Who shared?

Popular Eagle Rock Brewery faces yet another hearing to continue operation

Popular Eagle Rock Brewery faces yet another hearing to continue operation

LA Times — Pioneering craft brewery Eagle Rock Brewery is heading into yet another public hearing next week in an effort to renew the city license that allows it to continue to operate. While opening a brewery and tasting room anywhere in California requires extensive battles with red tape, the city of L.A. imposes additional scrutiny before a conditional use permit (or C.U.P.) is granted that allows the sale of alcohol. Applicants must conduct costly surveys of nearby businesses and residences, send informational mailings to those parties, and then petition the zoning administration in a public hearing.
Who shared?

Hops' Flavor Too Big to be Contained by Beer Alone

Hops' Flavor Too Big to be Contained by Beer Alone

www.beerpaperla.com — Photo by Conor Hunter Hops. Humulus Lupulus. Houblon, if you're in a certain part of Belgium. It's a weed that's fueled the beer renaissance, and the acids and resinous oils found in the plant's flowers (catkins, really, but who's counting) have converted legions of light beer drinkers into craft devotees. The flower of the hop vine has a unique chemical composition resulting in a variety of aromas waiting to be coaxed out by a skilled brewer. These aromas don't have perfect analogue among other foods, though we try to convey our impressions of with all manner of descriptive terms from the general ("fruity", "piney") to the meticulous ("Chinese gooseberry", "cat pee").
Who shared?

I'm Pretty Sure We Partied: My Afternoon on The Hold Steady's Tour Bus

I'm Pretty Sure We Partied: My Afternoon on The Hold Steady's Tour Bus

www.pastemagazine.com — It was a warm, uncharacteristically muggy August evening in the deep generica heart of Orange County, California. I adjusted the 12-pack under my arm, hoisted a bag of loose bottles and took a deep breath. I'd been waiting for this for half a year-visualizing how it would go down and playing through a thousand imaginary conversations in my head. It was my birthday, and I was about to meet my favorite band. "Be cool. Don't geek out." I told myself for the millionth time as the door to the 40-foot coach swung open.
Who shared?

So You Wanna Be A Cicerone? - Los Angeles Magazine

So You Wanna Be A Cicerone? - Los Angeles Magazine

www.lamag.com — I sat in the nameless coffee shop nervously blowing on a cup of coffee and waiting. I hadn't taken a test of any import in over a decade, and I'd forgotten how anxious I would get before exams in college. I half-heartedly flipped through my deck of beer flashcards, and carefully sipped from my hot coffee. The last thing I wanted to do was burn my tongue before taking the beer tasting portion of the Certified Cicerone® exam. What does it take to be an expert in beer?
Who shared?

Meet Your Brewer: Bob Kunz of Highland Park Brewery - Los Angeles Magazine

Meet Your Brewer: Bob Kunz of Highland Park Brewery - Los Angeles Magazine

www.lamag.com — Bob Kunz of Highland Park Brewery The Father's Office alum puts infectious creativity on display at Highland Park Brewery Meet Your Brewer puts the spotlight on some of the unsung heros behind L.A.'s growing craft beer scene and gives a glimpse into what drives their passion for beer. When brewer Bob Kunz moved to Los Angeles in 2006, there wasn't much of a craft beer scene. There were a few scattered brewpubs, a handful of beer bars stocked with craft taps, and there was Pasadena's Craftsman Brewing Co.
Who shared?

Why These California Brewers Are Dyeing Beer with Bugs

Why These California Brewers Are Dyeing Beer with Bugs

Vice — Sometimes, a brewer wants to make a beer that doesn't fit into the the established spectrums, like a low-alcohol stout made with crushed up red bugs.
Who shared?

Pliny lives! Firestone Walker steps in to keep vaunted brew flowing

Pliny lives! Firestone Walker steps in to keep vaunted brew flowing

LA Times — Paso Robles' Firestone Walker Brewery is lending a hand, and a brewhouse, to their friends at Russian River Brewing to keep kegs of Pliny the Elder flowing while upgrades are made to the Russian River Brewery. Russian River Brewery is perhaps most loved for its superlative double IPA Pliny the Elder, and the Santa Rosa brewery has long struggled to keep up with demand for the hoppy brew. A new production brewery was built in 2008 that included a secondhand brewhouse (the equipment that cooks the grains and boils the wort in the brewing process) sourced from Delaware's Dogfish Head Brewery.
Who shared?

Exploring L.A.'s Cuisine de Biere | CraftBeer.com

Exploring L.A.'s Cuisine de Biere | CraftBeer.com

craftbeer.com — The City of Angels is a foodie town. L.A.'s vast sprawl is a stew of diverse cultures and cuisines. It's full of world famous fine-dining venues that have launched national food fads and populated by chefs at the center of the cult of celebrity. But Los Angeles wasn't, until very recently, much of a town for beer. Angelenos still love a stiff drink, but Mexican imports have been the go-to brews while the region's culture of cocktails and wine lists have long loitered in the spotlight. That's finally changing, thanks in no small part to decades of effort by homebrewers.
Who shared?

How to Get the Perfect LA Summer Beer Experience

How to Get the Perfect LA Summer Beer Experience

www.beerpaperla.com — The long days and warm nights of summer in SoCal represent endless potential for millions living in Los Angeles and beyond. Whether you're catching waves, soaking in rays, diving, hiking or just enjoying a classic BBQ, there's one near-universal thing that unifies summer fun for everyone in the Southland: beer. Instead of the one-size-fits-all approach of American macro beer-where only the marketing campaigns change with the seasons-craft beer offers an option for anything a California summer can throw at you.
Who shared?

They came, they sang, they drank -- highlights from L.A. Beer Week

They came, they sang, they drank -- highlights from L.A. Beer Week

LA Times — After a frenetic nine days, L.A. Beer Week 2014 ended on Sunday, and after speaking to the brewers, barkeepers, and beer fans attending the events, I'd say it was a successful showcase of the rising tide of craft beer in Los Angeles. Here are a few highlights and takeaways from the celebrations: L.A. Brewers Guild Festival in Chinatown Taking the place of the festival that had closed out L.A. Beer Week in years past, the kickoff celebration in the Chinatown central plaza was a success, and it set the tone for the week of beer-focused events and showcases.
Who shared?

7 Ways To Be a Better Beer Taster

7 Ways To Be a Better Beer Taster

www.pastemagazine.com — Have you ever read a beer review, or perused the entries for a brew on Beer Advocate or Rate Beer, and when presented with a particularly florid description, thought to yourself "gooseberries, fig jam, and jasmine flowers'? This reviewer has got to just be making that up!" Anyone who's developed an appreciation for craft beer has, at some point in their development as a taster, felt frustration at their seeming inability to discern the nuances and details of a beer. Beer is an acquired taste, and tasting beer is a skill that you can improve with a little conscious effort.
Who shared?

5 Essential Made-in-L.A. IPAs - Los Angeles Magazine

5 Essential Made-in-L.A. IPAs - Los Angeles Magazine

www.lamag.com — Craft beer's ascent to popularity was fueled by the IPA. It's one of the most brewed, most beloved, and most discussed styles of beer, and the hoppy ales have become a barometer for craft beer culture from San Diego to Maine. The craft scene in Los Angeles may be young, but there are some world-class IPAs available if you know where to look.
Who shared?

Long Beach's Beachwood Brewing named brewpub of the year

Long Beach's Beachwood Brewing named brewpub of the year

LA Times — Long Beach's Beachwood Brewing has a couple more medals to add to its trophy case after the Great American Beer Fest (GABF) was held in Denver over the weekend, including "large brewpub of the year." Beachwood Brewing also earned a coveted gold medal in the "coffee beers" category for Mocha Machine and a silver medal in "French- and Belgian-style saison" for Un Atout, and the Beachwood brewing team of Julian Shrago and Ian McCall were named Champion Brewers. Last year, Beachwood took home five medals and was named "mid-sized brewpub of the year."
Who shared?

Smog City Brewery Fires Up Bottling Line for Special and Regular Releases

Smog City Brewery Fires Up Bottling Line for Special and Regular Releases

www.beerpaperla.com — Photos courtesy of Smog City It's hard to believe that the busy brewers at Smog City have only been making beer in their Torrance brewery for a year. The brand has expanded from an under-the-radar favorite of craft beer scenesters to one of the most exciting and popular breweries in Los Angeles, all on the strength of their taproom and draft accounts. That will change this month when Smog City releases their first bottled brews. Originally slated for release during their 1st anniversary celebration, Brewery owners Laurie and Jonathan Porter ran into delays with the government approval on their labels, and the release event is now happening on June 7th at the Torrance tap room with the release of two beers.
Who shared?

Monkish Brewing Company | CraftBeer.com

Monkish Brewing Company | CraftBeer.com

craftbeer.com — Tucked away in an industrial park in the South Bay region of Los Angeles, Monkish Brewing Company has developed a distinct identity and thirsty following in just three years. It's an identity that founder and brewer Henry Nguyen obsesses over, and Monkish is on the cusp of a dramatic shift in focus and production that will further distinguish the young brewery in the thriving Los Angeles craft beer scene. While Nguyen has produced a litany of flavorful creations based on Belgian styles and brewing traditions, a mysterious force has slowly infiltrated the wood and the stainless steel of his brewery, a force that is changing the very identity of the young brand.
Who shared?

The 12 Best Drive-By Truckers Songs

The 12 Best Drive-By Truckers Songs

pastemagazine.com — It's been a long road for the Drive-By Truckers. In the nearly 20 years since the Truckers formed in Athens, Ga. the band has worked with a half dozen members rotating through the roster, released 10 studio albums and a handful of collections, and seen their stock rise from "those alt-country guys that sing about good ol' boy debauchery" to one of the most respected acts in rock and roll. The core of the Truckers has alwfays been the dual voices of chief songwriters and guitarists Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley, and these two Southern boys mix a reverence for the sound of bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd and Molly Hatchet with a lyrical darkness and penchant for tales that would be at home in a gothic novel.
Who shared?

The Pilsner Landscape

The Pilsner Landscape

beerandbrewing.com — Pilsner is "a brewer's beer" style. You hear it again and again when you talk to brewers about their favorite styles or when you ask them what their "desert-island beers" are-it's the bitter golden lager that they love to drink when they're off the clock. Pilsner is an easy style to fall for.
Who shared?

Breakout Brewer: El Segundo Brewing

Breakout Brewer: El Segundo Brewing

beerandbrewing.com — In a sleepy beach town less than twenty miles from downtown Los Angeles, a five-year-old craft brewery is on a mission to change how people see-and taste-hoppy beer. El Segundo Brewing Company has quickly evolved from a favorite of local beer geeks to a destination in L.A.'s thriving South Bay craft-beer scene.
Who shared?

The IPAs of California

The IPAs of California

beerandbrewing.com — While the India Pale Ale wasn't born in California, it was reinvented in the Golden State. From Anchor Brewing to New Albion Brewing Co. to Sierra Nevada, the first generation of modern craft brewers found a niche adapting the strong, hoppy British pale ales into a streamlined vehicle for delivering the essence of New World hops.
Who shared?

Hrishikesh Hirway on the Magic of Music and Food

Hrishikesh Hirway on the Magic of Music and Food

Paste Magazine — Song Exploder is "like being able to taste all of the ingredients in a meal before you eat it," Hrishikesh Hirway says. "Listening to a song is like just going to a restaurant and getting a dish, but there's a deeper appreciation for what you're consuming when you can take it apart."
Who shared?

DIY Flavored IPAs with Cocktail Bitters

DIY Flavored IPAs with Cocktail Bitters

Paste Magazine — Love fruity IPAs? You're not alone, but why settle for whatever combinations of beer and fruit you can find for sale at your local craft beer retailer? Why not concoct your own custom-flavored IPA - no brewing required? Just take a page from the bartender's playbook and reach for a bottle of cocktail bitters.
Who shared?

The Haze and the Hops - A Tale of Two Go To IPAs * thefullpint.com

The Haze and the Hops - A Tale of Two Go To IPAs * thefullpint.com

thefullpint.com — If you're looking for the best brews for your beer money, where you shop could have as much impact as what you're shopping for. This point was made for me a couple of weeks ago when I bought some bad beer at the supermarket. Not surprising perhaps, but I'd done the necessary due diligence.
Who shared?