Who Are The Beer Chicks?
If you missed last weekend's The Taste, the premiere food and drink event put on by the Los Angeles Times, you might at this very moment be scanning through overheard conversations or food porn photos from the Paramount Studios lot. There certainly was plenty to see, eat and drink over the long weekend, but there was also a lot to learn. No less than a baker's dozen of cheflebrities and high-end restaurateurs were on hand to discuss the finer points of both food and drink to the thousands of attendees. However, anyone sticking around until Sunday night might have noticed a peculiar pair sharing the top bill at the Dinner & Drinks event. Who, exactly, are The Beer Chicks?
There is both a short and long answer to that question. On the short side, The Beer Chicks are Christina Perozzi and Hallie Beaune, two stunningly intelligent beer connoisseurs with a knack for curating beer lists and crafting taps at bars throughout Los Angeles. The pair first met at the original Father's Office in Santa Monica, already then a haven for drinkers interested in a quality pour. Together, they helped to manage Father's Office and their associated beer school, picking up accolades and TV appearances along the way.
The longer version of The Beer Chicks' tale is surprisingly short: The Beer Chicks are badasses. After years of pouring pints for others and talking into the early mornings about what makes a great beer, the two have parlayed their brains and their contact list into a full-time operation. In 2009, Perozzi was named LA Magazine's Best Beer Sommelier and around the same time the pair released their acclaimed first book The Naked Pint. Now, they're hired guns, working closely with bars, restaurants and pop-up chefs to create eclectic drink menus that have come to matter as much as the food itself. They're also quite adept at running some of the biggest beer parties the city has ever seen, including this year's third annual Craft Beer Crawl in downtown Los Angeles. Their Cooking Channel show Eat This, Drink That debuted in March of this year, they're currently producing a show for the fledgling foodie YouTube channel HUNGRY, they run downtown's 8th Street Bottle Shop and they've got a second book - The Naked Brewer - slated for a fall release. Busy, indeed.
So even if you hadn't heard of The Beer Chicks before Sunday's Dinner & Drinks event at The Taste, it's likely that you've come in contact with their handiwork. With the knowledge and passion that Christina Perozzi and Hallie Beaune bring to the LA beer scene, it's a shame they aren't more widely recognized for their efforts. But, ultimately, that's one of the best things any sort of curator can do for their patrons: let the quality of the product speak for itself. Sometimes, not knowing them is just another part of the job.
