El Segundo

Travis and Josh Birthday Party at South Bay Customs

These photos were taken Saturday evening at South Bay Customs in El Segundo, where Travis Lavoie celebrated his 40th birthday, and his friend Josh Linden celebrated his 35th birthday. The birthday party was attended by close to 100 of their friends and family, and featured live music by local band, Pork Chop Express who provided the music for my first experience of live punk/rock karaoke.

Anyone that has been a long-time fan of El Segundo Brewing, and has visited their tasting room, probably either knows, or at least has met Travis. I think I met him there about six years ago when I first started going to El Segundo Brewing. Josh is another local El Segundo guy that I just met last night, but apparently went to El Segundo High the same time my kids did. The party had the feel that the attendees were long time friends, so most of them probably grew up in El Segundo; it was a fun group. Continue reading

El Segundo Brewing Says Cheers to 7 Years

These photos were taken Saturday afternoon at El Segundo Brewing Company, where they celebrated seven years of brewing some of the most hopcentric beers in the South Bay. The celebration featured pretty much everything you would expect to find at a birthday party for a seven year-old; party favors, hats, a barbecue that you could smell for blocks around, birthday cake, a balloon artist and beer, lots and lots of beer, 23 of them to be exact.

El Segundo Brewing Company’s history pretty much reflects the entire South Bay craft beer scene when you stop to think about it. The first time I visited El Segundo Brewing the South Bay had three craft breweries (although they called them microbreweries back then), El Segundo Brewing, Strand Brewing and Monkish Brewing. In fact, on the date of my first visit to El Segundo Brewing they only had three beers available (four taps seemed like the norm in 2012). Today the South Bay has grown from three craft breweries to 23, and El Segundo’s tap list has expanded from three to 23. Continue reading

Rob Rubens One Year Spirits & Beer Anniversary

These photos were taken Saturday afternoon at Rob Rubens Distilling & Brewing, when they held their Rob Rubens One Year Spirits & Beer Anniversary party. Now, if it seems like I just covered a one year anniversary at Rob Rubens, you would be correct; back in June they held an anniversary party to celebrate one year of brewing beer. As spirits take longer than the typical craft beer to ferment, Rubens launched by brewing beer, following shortly thereafter with the distilling of spirits.

Currently, Rob Rubens is bottling Rob Rubens Rye, Single Malt, and Wheat whiskies along with their American Vandal Vodka, Eighteenth Amendment Gin, Hideaway Whiskey, Mickey’s Beach Rum, and Rob Rubens Bourbon along with their numerous beers which range from a Gose and Kolsch to a Russian Imperial Stout and a Belgian Quad, and everything in-between. Continue reading

Photos from Rob Rubens Distilling & Brewing One Year Beerversary

These photos were taken Saturday at Rob Rubens Distilling & Brewing in El Segundo, where they held their One Year Beerversary Party. If it seems hard to believe that they have been open for one year already, that may be because the actual anniversary is June 17, but I think they held it a little early to avoid competing with LA Beer Week for their anniversary party.

The celebration included several special release beers, music by Mark Righteous and Double Batch Daddy, and food from Son of a Bun and Macheen.

While Rob Rubens Distilling & Brewing’s beers are a different style than other local craft breweries, what really sets them apart from anyone in Los Angeles is their still . . . and the spirits they distill. Continue reading

Jeffers Drops Acid at Rock & Brews

These photos were taken Wednesday evening as a couple dozen craft beer fans gathered at Rock & Brews in El Segundo, to watch and participate as Firestone Walker’s first employee and current Director of the Firestone Walker Barrelworks (aka Barrelmeister), Jeffers Richardson dropped massive amounts of acid knowledge on us.

I arrived early and immediately noticed that each setting at the tables had nine little cups; eight with what I thought was water and one with a jelly bean. I also noticed five plastic bottles labeled as either Lactic or Acetic Acid, with varying descriptions of their contents. In my head I thought this was going to be way out of my league and I would probably just take photos rather than participate. I could not have been more wrong; this was a very educational event. Continue reading

An Accurate List of All the South Bay Breweries

Recently there have been a couple articles circulating around social media claiming to list all of the South Bay breweries; one that went around yesterday missed four or five of them, depending on whether or not a tasting room was required. As the Craft Beer Guy I have been fortunate to have this craft beer boom explode all around my home; I also feel obligated to provide an accurate list of all the breweries currently brewing in the South Bay as well as the next two scheduled to open.

In order to not show favoritism, and to give credit where credit is due, I will list all the South Bay breweries by the date they opened. As I have visited each brewery, I will provide a link to each so you can look at my articles to determine if you want to visit them. The photos are in order as well. Continue reading

Photos from Rock & Brews 6th Annual Local Craft Beer Fest

These photos were taken at the 6th Annual Local Craft Beer Fest which was held at the El Segundo Rock & Brews on Sunday afternoon. Admission to the family and pet friendly event included 10 beer tickets, with a choice of 12 local breweries; as well as a barbecued tri-tip lunch.

As far as the breweries pouring at the event, there was the cast of usual attendees like El Segundo Brewing, Strand Brewing, King Harbor Brewing, Ohana Brewing, Barley Forge Brewing and Three Weavers. Relative newcomers like Iron Triangle, Indie Brewing, Reel Brewery and Solarc Brewing welcomed the new kids on the block, Rob Rubens Distilling & Brewing and Two Coast Brewing Company.

While previous editions of the Local Craft Beer Fest featured games, this year they decided to replace the games with live music provided by local alternative 80’s band, The One 80’s. To say they were well received would be an understatement. They had everyone up on their feet rocking out; I think live music is a nice touch to this annual event, I hope they keep it up. Cheers! Continue reading

Business & Beer Visits Rob Rubens Distilling & Brewing

These photos are from the August gathering of Business & Beer which was held Thursday evening at El Segundo’s newest production brewery, and Los Angeles’ only combination distillery and brewery, Rob Rubens Distilling & Brewing. As a co-founder of the Business & Beer networking group I have come to expect smaller than normal turnouts when we bring the group to the outback of El Segundo, so I was pleasantly surprised at the large turnout we had last night.

Founder and Master Distiller, Rob Rubens gave the group a tour of their operation, discussing the distilling as well as the brewing sides, their similarities and the differences. The group seemed to really enjoy the tour as there were plenty of questions being asked. One of the main differences is that it is a lot faster to distill spirits than brew beer; so while the spirits are not quite ready, they should be soon. Continue reading

Brewers Panel at Rock & Brews

Thursday evening, for LA Beer Week (LABW8), Rock & Brews in El Segundo hosted “So You Want to Open a Brewery in LA?” brewers panel, which was moderated by Celebrator Beer News writer Tomm Carroll and featured brewers and brewery owners from all ends of the Los Angeles area craft beer scene.

The breweries included a well established brewery like Firestone Walker, to contract brewers and breweries that have recently opened; to operations that are just getting started. In addition to David Walker of Firestone Walker, we heard from Bill Reider of Reel Brewery, Patrick Schulz of Scholb Premium Ales, Todd Tisdell of Pocock Brewing, Kristofor Barnes of Los Angeles Ale Works, Matthew Garcia of Homage Brewing, Kevin Osbourne of Cellador Ales, Mike Hancock of Rob Rubens Distilling & Brewing, and Andy Black of Yorkshire Square Brewing Company. Continue reading

Rob Rubens Distilling & Brewing Opens This Weekend

Back in September I informed you that Rob Rubens Distilling & Brewing would be opening in El Segundo; in fact, I predicted mid-2016 as when the doors would actually open. It turns out I was correct, as just in time for LA Beer Week, Rob Rubens will open their doors to the general public this Friday, June 17 with their soft open beginning at 4:30 PM and they will continue to be open seven days a week from that point on.

These photos include a few visits that I made over the past nine months while documenting their progress as well as their Friends & Family party that they had at the production brewery’s tasting room on Wednesday evening.

Since distilling spirits takes a little more time and money than brewing beer, Rob Rubens Distilling & Brewing is starting off with providing craft beer with the spirits becoming available in the coming months. Last night we were able to sample a few of Ruben’s flagship beers, such as their Gunpowder Cream Ale, Hitman Ale Altbier, a yet to be named pale ale and a stout. The brews were all solid and I learned something about cream ales; it is not about vanilla flavors at all. Cream ale is essentially ale brewed with ale or lager yeast at lower temperatures, and then cold aged. It reminded me of a hoppy lager with a pilsner finish; it makes for a very tasty session brew. Continue reading

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