A brewery birthday in El Monte

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We have so few local breweries that it’s worth noting when one survives its first year. Skyscraper Brewing -- the only brewery in El Monte -- just passed that milestone, having fought its way into some notable markets and bars (there’s a list on the website), so it had a birthday party Saturday, attended by at least 80 members of the proverbially sociable beer world. A writer for the beer magazine Celebrator was there. The L.A. rep of Stone Brewing in Escondido was there. Members of the Pacific Gravity home brew club were milling around (‘pacific gravity’ being a pun on ‘specific gravity,’ which is -- oh, never mind; it’s something brewers have to keep track of).

Everybody was sipping Skyscraper’s two regular brews, a lager and a subtly honey-flavored ale, and brewmaster Phil Sutton was showing off his Winter Warmer, a malty ale with notes of cherry and chocolate. Not that anybody needed much warming, since it was a typical L.A. January day, meaning shirt-sleeve weather. But the thought counts.

You could hear people saying things that might be beer-geeky or just beery. ‘Eating is a state of mind,’ said one Winter Warmer sipper. ‘This beer is like food.’

‘It’s bread,’ said another. ‘It’s just liquid bread.’

Sutton was set up for barbecuing hot dogs for the hordes, and some Mexican food was coming from El Gordito down on Valley Boulevard. ‘The owner isn’t even a beer customer of mine,’ Sutton said, ‘but a couple of months ago I donated some beer to his campaign when he was running for the school board.’

Hey, that’s how it works. One bottle washes another.

-- Charles Perry