El Segundo

Hermosa Brewing Now Brewing in El Segundo

These photos were taken at Hermosa Brewing Company’s new production facility in El Segundo. They begin with photos from mid-March when the new 15bbl Portland Kettle Works brewhouse was moved in, and end with how it looks present day.

Back in February I wrote an article about Hermosa Brewing Company’s second anniversary. In it I mentioned that Hermosa Brewing had some “big news coming up” that I wasn’t at liberty to talk about. Almost a month to the day, Hermosa Brewing was bringing in their new brewhouse to El Segundo.

Hermosa Brewing is sharing the space at R6 Distillery formerly used by Rob Rubens Distilling & Brewing, followed by Three Chiefs Brewing; both of whom used Strand Brewing Company’s initial brewhouse. That brewhouse was obtained by Extralegal Brewing in Redondo Beach, and Hermosa Brewing installed their new Portland Kettle Works brewhouse. Continue reading

Upshift Brewing Company Grand Opening Photos

These photos were taken Saturday afternoon at one of El Segundo’s newest craft breweries, Upshift Brewing Company, where they held their official grand opening. Attendees had 10 Upshift brews to choose from, as well as two food trucks; Cheddr Wheel and Swami’s Sandwiches. For entertainment there was a raffle, live music provided by Green Hills Band, and there was a mini car show in the parking lot shared with the food trucks. Of course, there was Giant Jenga and cornhole for the competitive types.

The beers Upshift currently has on tap includes their Kolschwagen, Bench Seat Blonde, PRNDL Pale Ale, Track Sesh IPA, Wind Wing IPA, Big Block Brown, Off Camber Amber, Pole Position Pale Ale, Pit Stop Porter, and their newest, G.T. Oatmeal Stout. Continue reading

Surfridge Brewing: and Then There Were Four

These photos were taken Thursday afternoon, October 24, at Surfridge Brewing Company, El Segundo’s fourth craft brewery. Yes, you read that right, El Segundo now has four craft breweries, making El Segundo twice the craft beer destination it was a mere month ago.

Followers of the Craft Beer Guy Facebook page may recall that I put up a few photos from Surfridge Brewing at the end of July, but in all honesty, owners Steve and Jennifer Lieberman were still keeping things close to the vest and really only let me photograph their six 20bbl fermenters. When I first saw the tasting room that was really what I wanted to shoot. Continue reading

Upshift Brewing – El Segundo’s Newest Craft Brewery Opens

I remember the day well, July 19, the day I began to experience self doubt as to how in touch with the local craft beer scene I really was. I was enjoying a beer at Burnin’ Daylight when I received a text from Dave Holop of Brouwerij West asking me what I knew about three potential new breweries opening in El Segundo; like he said, I always seemed to be in the know for the latest brewery openings. I began to have my doubts.

I immediately started doing some research and reached out to the ones I could; the first to respond to me was Upshift Brewing. A week later I made my first visit to Upshift; the first six photos are from that visit. To be honest, they were so close to completion that we spoke about the possibility of Upshift being featured at my 5th Annual South Bay Tap Takeover. Within a couple weeks it became clear that this wasn’t going to happen, so I put them on the back burner and waited to hear from them regarding their opening date. Continue reading

L.A. Beer Week 11 Continues with Pizza and Beer

These photos were taken Wednesday evening at The Slice and Pint in El Segundo, where they held a pizza and craft beer pairing, Pizza & Beer – Things We Knead. The LA Beer Week 11 event featured pizza and beer pairings suggested by seven Certified and Advanced Cicerones and the head chef of The Slice and Pint.

The Cicerones participating included Tom Kelley of El Segundo Brewing Company and The Slice and Pint, Cindy and Hal Mooney of LA Beer Hop, Jace Milstead of Craft LA, Jonathan Porter of Smog City, Greg Bechtel of Simmzy’s Restaurants, and Blanca Quintero of Firestone Walker. The Slice and Pint’s Head Chef, Matt Ranney, also included his favorite pizza and beer pairing. While most of the pizzas were paired with beer from El Segundo Brewing Company, The Slice and Pint has several guest taps, three of which (Smog City, Oxbow Brewing Company, and Cellador Ales) were also included in the pairings. Continue reading

Photos from the El Segundo Brewing 8th Anniversary

These photos were taken Saturday afternoon at the El Segundo Brewing Company tasting room, where they celebrated eight years of brewing their hopcentric ales. The celebration was spread over three days with a bottle release on Friday, the anniversary party on Saturday, and a Michelada party on Sunday.

Attendees on Saturday had 20 El Segundo brews to choose from, including their anniversary beer, Ochos Locos DIPA on draught and a hazy cask version done with vanilla beans. In addition to the quality brews we have come to expect, Bartz Barbecue was there with their special offerings along with Churro Garage with their tasty desserts.

Entertainment was provided by Beer & Magic who delighted attendees with their close-up magic and slight-of-hand. I am not sure, but there may have been some wizardry involved as well. Kids that were too short to watch the magic entertained themselves with cornhole and Jenga. Continue reading

Bertcast at El Segundo Brewing Company

These photos were taken Wednesday afternoon at the El Segundo Brewing Company taproom, where they hosted a live podcast starring comedian Bert “The Machine” Kreischer. The Machine was joined by El Segundo resident, comedian, and “Chef to the Headliners”, Dave Williamson, founder and creator of The Gundo Comedy Festival which is celebrating its 5th Annual Gundo Comedy Festival this week in El Segundo.

The free to attend event was pretty crowded, considering that it was held at noon on a Wednesday. This was the fifth year Bertcast was held at El Segundo Brewing, meaning El Segundo Brewing was hosting the event before Kreischer became the big name star he is today. El Segundo Brewing co-founder Tom Kelley told me that former employee Gordon Whelpley is the one that turned him on to Kreischer. During the podcast Kreischer revealed that he never enjoyed the IPA style of beer until coming to El Segundo Brewing, and it was El Segundo’s beertender/brand ambassador Brandon Ortega that introduced him to his first enjoyable IPA; it was all about the grapefruit.

While this was my first time attending the event, it was obvious that several of the attendees had attended some of the previous events. Of course, the El Segundo Brewing beer and free Bartz Barbecue probably contributed to filling up the taproom. Continue reading

The Meltdown – Power Plant Release Photos

These photos were taken Friday afternoon at El Segundo Brewing Company, and Friday evening at Tortilla Cantina, home of the 5th Annual South Bay Tap Takeover. Friday was day one of El Segundo Brewing’s release of their Power Plant Triple IPA, which included a synchronized release with about 20 other locations in Southern California; one of which was Tortilla Cantina.

This is the time of year that triple IPAs start finding their way up and down the state of California, probably due in large part to the fact that for the last 15 years Russian River Brewing has released their Pliny the Younger Triple IPA on the first Friday of February. El Segundo Brewing has been releasing Power Plant at about the same time for the last five years. Continue reading

Photos from The Slice and Pint Soft Open

UPDATE: Soft open to the public begins Thursday, January 24 at 5:00 PM

These photos were taken Sunday afternoon at the soft open of El Segundo Brewing Company’s, The Slice and Pint, a new restaurant featuring craft beer, local wines, and a variety of pizzas, salads and appetizers including such items as chicken wings, meatballs, Garlic Knots and calamari.

The event was limited to friends, family, and craft beer industry types, but was very well attended; even with the Rams game on. Of course, those that wanted to watch the game were able to do so as The Slice and Pint had six or seven large screen televisions placed strategically so that you would have to go out of your way to avoid seeing one. Continue reading

2018 El Segundo Holiday Parade Photos

These photos were taken Sunday afternoon at El Segundo Brewing Company and Main Street in El Segundo, where the El Segundo Chamber of Commerce presented the 55th Annual El Segundo Holiday Parade. The parade featured marching bands, floats, classic cars, a life size Hot Wheels Car and more. This year the Grand Marshal was El Segundo’s Citizen of the Year and father to El Segundo Brewing co-founder Rob Croxall, Dick Croxall.

One of the main floats, in my biased opinion, was presented by El Segundo Brewing Company and featured the “The Stocking Stuffers” along with The Angry Elf and Merry Manders. Continue reading

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