Leap Year At The Lab Elite Event

I really dug the care and craft that went into the beer making at this place. All of the staff really knew their stuff when it came to the suds. During the tour of their brewery, their head brewer had mentioned he spent a year in Belgium learning from the best.
It’s little things like that that make «The Lab» a great spot for some quality beer and some good eats!
The Elite event was fantastic as there was food-​a-​plenty and live music to boot. Sure it was a bit of a hike as far as «West LA» is concerned, but I’ll go far and wide for good beer!
Thanks to Brittany and Katie for setting this up!

Great beer, great food, great music!
What a cool place — the drinks are clearly brewed on location and tastier than you could ever imagine. Make sure you try the coffee beer! The food was pretty good too — the lamb was slightly gamey but tasty nonetheless; sliders, mac ‘n’ cheese, risotto, and ahi tacos were also yummy! Loved the music as well. And if you’re totally into learning the ins ‘n’ outs of brewing, take a tour from the brewmaster.
Thanks again to the Lab & Unilocal for a great event.

Didn’t have to turn my swag on since there was plenty being given away!
in a serious note, this was a culmination of perfect events.
Working down the street, being a Unilocal elite, an Elite Event at one of my regular spots and good company? Yes, yes, yes and yes.
The Lab is really a great spot regardless of the occasion. The beer selection is nothing short of brilliant and you can tell the food is made with the utmost care in selection of ingredients.
You missed out if you weren’t here. The people who were here only missed out on all of the great menu items that The Lab didn’t get a chance to serve; spicy artichoke dip being one of them.

Another successful event put on by our fantastic LA West and LA East Directors Brittany & Katie.
I was thrilled that this event was in Agoura — as it’s finally closer to my side of LA (woodland hills) and was so anxious to go. The Lab is a great spot and I’ve been looking forward to visiting it for quite some time. Glad this finally got me out there.
The Beer was excellent — I love our California style brew. The coffee one was a bit strong for my taste, but I appreciated the concept and enjoyed a few sips. The triple belgian was my absolute favorite — so yummy! Can’t wait to go get some more.
AND THE FOOD — What a spread! I loved the it. And even more, I loved that the ingredients were so fresh and thoughtfully chosen. Any place loyal to local is a friend of mine. I do wish I could have got my hands on one of those sliders though — guess I’ll have to go back ;)
NOW for the best part of the evening — the music was phenomenal. It was like the whipped cream frosting to a perfect mocha cake. fantastic!!! Preston Smith is such a talented artist and I felt very special sharing the room with him. Incredible.
I’m so grateful to be part of such a great group of people and am honored to have been chosen as Elite — these events are so much fun — thank you SO much LA West! (My beer class is well appreciated — best Swag yet! OH AND I FINALLY GOT MY HANDS ON A UnilocalTICK — HELL YES!) Also, a big thanks to PictureHealing for your excellent shots once again.
Woot! 2012 is an excellent year to be Elite :)

So, Anthony started petting my hair. That was fun. How do people know I like that? I almost forgot this was an event review and not «things that make me happy.» I really liked this event! It was «close,» which is really the same distance as West LA to my house in the Valley, but felt way more local, so that was nice. I also used this as an experience to introduce to a non-​Yelper. I hope I will be able to turn another one of them!
I know The Lab definitely appreciated the exposure from the party, but maybe not since the outdoor area was full of locals enjoying a quiet dinner by the fire.
Thanks to Leap Year At the Lab, I will definitely come back, and bring my group of friends with me!
P. S. I am definitely going to use my super cool Unilocal CA glass to spread the Unilocal word!

I’m lucky I have a pretty flexible work schedule, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to make it to this great event all the way in Agoura Hills!
I took my bf as my +1, and he was excited about all the different beers we’d be trying. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to try every single beer. It seemed like our section kept getting skipped. However, the waiters were quick to bring us our beers when we requested them. One of the waiters (a Clark Kent look-​alike) also took the time to explain to us the difference between some of the beers and how they were made. Out of the 5 beers we tried, the ones I really liked were the Milk Stout (creamy!) and Coffee Porter (I’m a huge coffee person).
The Lab put out a small buffet station and the waiters were continually serving food too. I ate a lot, and really enjoyed the mini sliders, risotto, meatballs, and tuna tacos.
On top of all the food and beer, we were all given a card for a complimentary beer, and all the elites received a beer glass.
What a great way to celebrate the leap year! Thanks to Brittany B. and the rest of the Unilocal crew for organizing this event!

What a night !! All the food was great and it kept coming… Loved the tuna tartar taco’s (spicy, yum) The beers were very creative and artisan. The coffee beer was wonderful as well as the triple. These people were so generous and kind I am still in awe. Best part is… I live about 2 miles away !!! Great job Brittany !! we had a great time. I was amazed at the brew master and how exited he was to tell you about his craft. He has quite the office view… vats of beer !!! Again thanks for great evening Brittany and all the staff at The Lab !! Michael & Martin… where were you, you missed a great time.

I had so much fun here meeting other Unilocalers and drinking loads of beer! YAY!

Holy cow Agora Hills! Who would’ve thought that such a gem would be nestled all the way out here! Well, great first impression! Great job Brittany B! First, the food!
Great buffet laid out, favorites included the mac n’ cheese (strong cheese, guessing gruyère), hummus with olive tapenade, & spinach linguini. Lamb skewers & hamburger sliders were circulating, but my favorite was the tuna tartar tacos. Sweetness in the initial bites, spicy on the back end.
Now the beer. Extra Pale Ale & the red were both nice. The Milk Stout, what a revelation, never had a stout with added lactose. The Java Porter was very espresso potent, I loved it! My friend Eric & I joined a tour of the brewery lead by Brewmaster Roger. Afterwards, as everyone left, we struck him up in conversation. What a friendly dude! He gave us tastings of the very potent, Belgian style trippel. So smooth, one of the best tripels I’ve ever tried. Brewmaster Roger mentioned he spent a year in Belgium, & you can definitely taste it. We also tried the IPA. A lot of bite, but very malty for an IPA. Finally, we were hooked up with an early tasting of the yet to be unveiled Honey Blonde, straight up from the fermenting vat. So fucking cool! Made with local sage honey, you could definitely smell it. It tasted a little yeasty unfiltered, but what a cool experience! Unfortunately I forgot my free swag, beer glass, etc. I hope I have an opportunity soon to return to Agora Hills, just so I can go back to their great food & outstanding craft brews!

Leap day is the day where you are supposed to take wild and crazy chances, because it’s day that only occurs every 4 years and technically, it doesn’t even exist. My crazy adventure was going to Leap Year at The Lab with my fellow elites. ;)
Parking was really easy to find, the place used to be a bar called Moe’s so there’s tons of parking in the back and in the front. Inside, it’s nice and dark and spacious. I didn’t get a chance to check out the entire place but it seems pretty big. Roger gave us a tour of the brewery, was very knowledgeable and handed out a sample of this delicious milk stout, which was nice and heavy (like the texture of a milk shake) and had a sweetness about it. The food was delicious! The risotto and mac and cheese (Troy, my man!) were the best. The ahi tuna tacos were fantastic and spicy, first time I’ve tried ahi tuna and won’t be the last. While I didn’t get a chance to eat the lamb skewers or burgers, my father seemed to really enjoy those. The beer itself was really good. We started off with a nice hefenweisen and then moved onto the XPA, then the red ale, the porter, the stout… I lost count as I kept indulging.
I had an amazing time mingling with my fellow Unilocalers and meeting new people. Shoutouts to Hovik, Troy, Christina and Katie for keeping the night exciting! Thank you so much Brittany for another amazing event!

I usually have so much to say about Elite events that they end up being long stories, so I’ll make it concise:
what I LOVED:
— The very social, hospitable brew-​master Roger, who gave us tours and taught us more about brewing than I’d ever learned. Say hi to him if you ever come here!
— GREAT beers brought to our table, all brewed in-​house and traveling no more than 40 feet to get to us after they’re made! Loved the coffee beer and the Take Her Home.
— Amazing food, my favorites being the tuna tacos, mac and cheese, and pork sliders, but also the lamb kebabs, pasta, risotto, and burgers.
— I really enjoyed the live music by Preston Smith, and wanted to sing to everything he played, especially after a few beers. His impressive bio made me feel special that he was here with us Unilocalers.
— Swag, swag, and more swag, including Unilocal pint glasses!
— Being in good company of Laura S, Richard P, and my very social plus one, Phillip N.
— Anthony N’s hilarious stories and helping out with the tip jar. They should hire him!
— Our cute, funny server, BEER MAN, who we hopefully convinced to join us on Unilocal by bequeathing him with swag. If someone needed beer, BEER MAN was there to save the day.
— Spacious, laid-​back atmosphere, with seating for all to eat/​relax and plenty of room to mingle and make friends
— The friendly, hilarious guys from Picture Healing and their willingness to accentuate Laura’s photos :)
what I DID NOT LIKE:
— That I couldn’t stay longer and had to work the next day!
I was very, very impressed by The Lab’s generosity, and this would be totally worth the drive another time. UYE, perhaps? I can’t wait to go back! THANK YOU Brittany, Katie, and the rest of the Unilocal crew for putting on such a fun night out for us!

Leap Year at the Lab was an awesome event! I originally did not plan on attending this event, because Agoura Hills is FAR, but luckily Laura S. got off the waitlist and convinced me to go last minute. I am glad we attended. It was worth the drive!
Thanks to The Lab for their generosity. The food was awesome! I loved the mini burgers, and the mac and cheese was amazing. Also the beers were great. I loved the Coffee Flavored beer, as well as the Whit (Hefeweizen). The staff was also super friendly and helpful. Marty (aka Clack Kent) our server was great. He was very energetic and helpful! Alan (Marketing and Friends with Roger) was great to talk to. He sat at our table most of the night telling us about the great food and beer they have. He made sure we didn’t miss out on the good stuff! Last but not least Roger (Owner/​Brew Master) was great on the tour. I learned a lot about the beer making process.
A special thanks to Brittany B. and the rest of the Unilocal crew, Katie B. and Monique K. You guys always do an awesome job throwing enjoyable events!

What has four thumbs and drank some fantastic beer last night? This gal and my one and only Joey P.
Being that it was a jump, skip, hop, a few more jumps, and a long ride up the 405 to get to the Lab, I didn’t expect to see any of the usual suspects, so when I walked in and there sat Philip N. you can imagine how surprised I was. I was also surprised with the one and only Anthony N. and Janee! Together, we had the pleasure of showing Lisette C. and Jihad the ropes to their first Unilocal event. Always one of my favorite things to do!
My favorite-​est thing to do, as we all know, is to drink beer, and drink beer I did. Delicious. I also love behind the scene tour-​types, and we jam packed the brewing area so we could learn about the process!
It was great food, amazing beer, and the best people! Such a great event!
Thank you Brittany B., Katie B., and Christina Y. You ladies always do such a fantastic job.

It was my first time and the oxytocin is flooding my brain– I’m in love!
Thank you Brittany B for putting this together! and thank you to the super friendly Unilocalers that took me (and my +1) under their wing and encouraged me to shamelessly bag up the Unilocal swag and hit up the buffet thrice!
Shout out to Phillip N, Mary C, Joey, Brittany B. Christina Y. and Laura S. for making me feel so welcome and for all the Unilocal tips.
The Lab staff was fantastic! Friendly, funny, accomodating — just plain cool! The beer was sooooo good! My favorite was the wheat bear. Crisp, light and smooth — perfect for a summer afternoon. THe space was great and totally happening for a Wednesday night — props to the Lab!
The Highlights:
* The mini Lab Burger — DEEEELISH!
* The Spicy Lamb skewers (incl. when «Mary C. had a little lamb»)
* Beer Braised Meatballs
* Mushroom Risotto
* The beer tour by the amazing Roger
All this made for the BEST LEAP YEAR EVER!

Great event! Thanks Unilocal team and fellow Unilocaler’s for another great time. Glad to see another micro brew pooping up. Risotto and the spicy tuna tacos were great. I think you have a winner with the burger sliders.
Beer:
The Milk Stout was amazing! Not a big fan of stout but I would drink that one all day.
The Triple Belgium was fantastic. Great stuff! I look forward to trying your double and triple IPA’s. Good luck with the business.

Let me start off by saying, another awesome Unilocal event. Especially when a micro brew is involved! The beer was great. Between the the Milk Stout and the Triple Belgium I enjoyed both of them. The food was just as good. The mac n cheese went down as smooth as the risotto. Great flavor. The sliders were enjoyable as well.
The dessert was a filling cheesecake that many of us could eat all day. It went great with the beer. Hey, pair beer and cheesecake right? Roger, who is the majority owner, was down to earth and gave us a beer tour. Love the initials LAB «Leave Amgen Behind». Continue to be the beer scientist that you are Roger. If you need taste testers let me know :)
Once again Katie and Brittany did an awesome job. It was great meeting Hovik, Salma, Kelly and Anna. Love meeting new Unilocal peeps.
Keep up the good work!

Beer? Check.
Food? Check.
New Unilocal swag: Check.
Awesome staff: Check.
Hot server: Super Check
Parking: Check.
Music? Awesome
Unilocalers: check!
SO.Worth.the.drive
Oh Leap day was so unexpected. I got off the wait list THAT day. I decided it was fate (and awesome fellow eliter Richard P — single, ladies… And a sweet, quiet modest engineer — who was able to give me a ride to the place).
Parking: easy. It SAYS two hours… But you know what that means… Move it or else towing… No the guy said its fine! :)
Ambiance: it is a laid back bar area. I like it. It had a stage or local bands and you cn see the place where they make the beer. Very laid back. I love those kinds of places.
Food:
Tuna tartae taco: this… was a orgasm in my mouth… I dont say dirty words often, but this was seriously a orgasm. It was spicy and the texture melted in my mouth. Omg. I wanted to do what Sally did eating this. (if you are too young, it’s from When Harry Met Sally… It’s ok, I was 5 when it came out)
Mac N Cheese– yes. I love Mac n cheese. This was white cheese. Classy.
Pork Slider: yes! Sooooo good. The texture was not sloppy. It was not like a sloppy joe. Very smooth.
Pasta: ok, I forgot the pasta name but it was chicken, white and yummy.
Beer:
Ohhhh yeah…
The Whit (hef): yes. If you like light beers, this is it. I don’t like too much hops in beer. I’m not a dark beer fan so this was perfect for me. I was also able to down two!
Bad Influence IPA: this was a IPA and it was strong. I could tell it had a good amount of hops bc it was kinda bitter but… I drank it all!
Cold fusion java porter: coffee… Beer… Where the f have you been all my life? Yes. It tasted like coffee without the grimey taste! This could be a breakfast beer… If you don’t have a job. :P
I was not served the fourth one :(
Take Me Home (belgian style tripel): 11% alcohol… And you can’t even taste it! I cold drink this like water and be so drunk… And who knows what I’d do… Def not hit on the hot server working there… Nooooo…
Service:
Great service! Got to chat with Alan (marketing) and he was really excited about this business. That’s what I love about going to independent businesses… They have the drive for it. Passion. Roger (the brewmaster) was so friendly and you could tell… This was his baby. Brewing since he was a teen… (awesome). He gave us a tour of the facility and being the studious Asian kid… I asked a lot of questions. Very nice.
The staff were helpful. Nice people. Special shout out to the Clark Kent /​Superman lookalike Marty Ball… Hawt. So Hawt that I’m spelling hot wrong. It’s a modest hotness too bc he’s a modest nice guy from Colorado um, hot. I’m engaged… So I’m telling you ladies (and some gentlemen) for your sake. Hawtttttttt.
Music: Preston Smith was amazing. He’s now doing the small club circuit for muic. very talented with SO much experience in the business. I kept his card info and will scan it. He’s worked with a lot of legends so please listen to his stuff.
Photos: I love the guys at PictureHealing. Woot to Mike and Chris (Jose). Great for nonprofits and just really a genuine group of selfless guys who do photos for charity. Props to them. Download their app iPhone users (it helps charities).
Plus these guys are such great sports and are doing me a favor by editing one of the photos to… Show off my assets. ;)
Overall: great event. It was really a well put together brewfest! The people were well behaved. There was a good energy. very well planned.
I’m planning a trip w a few friends (fellow Unilocalers) to come back (carpool)… Let me know if you’re interested!
Shout outs: fellow Unilocalers: Bridget P, Richard P, Phillip N, Lisette C, Dom N, Anthony N (the full Asian), Katie B (so sad,. We didn’t take our usual photo), Monique K (always love seeing you) and of course — thank you Brittany B! I loved it!
Thank you Lab Brewery (Roger and Alan), hottie Marty, Preston Scott and Picture Healing too!
Brittany B! Thanks! Awesome!

Coffee beer?! Yes please! This was my favorite from the batch that I had, you can definitely taste the coffee, but only something that I can have in small doses as it is a darker beer.
I use to go here as it was Moz and I like how they changed up tbe place. The décor is nice, very modern but still has that low key bar feel. The staff was helpful but I believed my friend and I sat in the wrong place. We kept getting skipped over but thankfully everything got fixed and the staff was very attentive, thank you!
The entertainment was great! I love listening to the old songs, classic rock for once. Good voice by Preston Smith… two thumbs up!
My favorite dish was the ahi tacos, had a nice spicy kick! The lamb wasn’t too bad, a little chewy but great flavor. The rice was nice as well, loved the garlic and mushrooms in it. The burgers with pulled pork was good, buns a bit dry. Really enjoyed the meatballs, rarely do I have those anymore, good comfort foods. I thought the Mac and Cheese could have used a bit more flavor as well. But overall, i think the food wasn’t half bad! Quite enjoyed most of it.
I loved getting the glasses that were passed out in the end and the free drink card. Very generous!
Great event! nice it was closer to home for me and I didn’t know this place exited. The event was well organizated as well. Another home run for Brittany! Thank you for all that you do and to The Lab… also liked thr mini tour to learn a bit more about beer!

Thank goodness for events in the Valley and, even better, in the West Valley/​Conejo area! =) Thanks, Brittany =)
People at The Lab were very nice and tried to make the evening an enjoyable one. I will say that the brewmaster spoke to us a few times and was very excited about the 8 beers we were going to taste. Me too. We got two pretty easily, the Witbier and the XPA. Then I saw tons of people getting the Porter. We were apparently in a no-man’s-land of getting served. I finally found someone and explained to them that about three or four tables didn’t get the Porter. We finally did! And, I don’t like dark beers, but it was tasty! =) A while later, a server, Marty (aka Clark Kent!) came by to refill our beers with the Tripel (which we never had). I had to pound my Porter to taste the Tripel (are any of those euphemisms? just saying…). That’s a total of 4 beers, out of 8, allegedly.
I like the vibe of this place, the stage for music, the nice servers, etc. The food was decent, but nothing mind-​blowing (we were served in large format, so that’s a consideration). The beers were nicely made, but it would’ve been awesome to taste all 8 of them!
I’ll probably stop by sometime, because I’m close by. Thanks again, Brittany and The Lab!

Though the new Unilocal swag, a beer glass, was only suppose to be for confirmed Elite guests, Brittany B was giving it to all Elites and I totally benefited. Yay Brittany B!
As always, this was a great Unilocal event. Great hosts, food, people, and conversations. I can’t ask for more or even think of what I would want more out of this evening.
I reconnected with Mary C who I haven’t seen since her birthday due to her grad school.
Made a new friend in new Elite Unilocaler Lisette C, who is just lovely.
And mingled with Laura S, Richard P, and Bridget P who I haven’t seen since Monday.
All that and I chatted with Monique K who I never really chatted with and we have so much in common! Love it all!
The Lab staff were great hosts and I really loved chatting with them and getting to know the place. Such good people.
Food shout out to risotto and ahi tuna tacos. Those are two of my favorite foods. I always eat them with love.
Great way to celebrate the Leap Year! A Unilocal and personal first.