There's no doubt our local craft beer scene has been on a serious rise of late, but Mark Jilg, brewmaster for Pasadena's
Craftsman Brewing, has been giving us unique SoCal brews since 1995. While the most well-known and available is probably the super quaffable 1903 pilsner, Jilg creates a slew of small-batch beers, and even custom brews for restaurants like
Maximiliano, Andre Guerrero's friendly Highland Park Italian spot. A spontaneous stop for dinner last night revealed two things: only Craftsman flows through all seven taps at Maximiliano, which may be the only place around LA to offer that, and on Mondays you can get a flight of five for $12. And so we did.
It gave us a chance to taste some of Jilg's beers we haven't before, including the full-bodied brown Acorn Saison and the crisp incredibly herbaceous house beer. The latter is now known as "pizza beer" because the oregano and other herbs really do resemble the flavors in pizza, and we found it to be a perfect accompaniment to the spaghetti and meatballs. On an unrelated note, the cannoli ain't so bad either.
