ribbon cutting

Transplants Brewing Grand Opening & a Tour of the Antelope Valley Craft Beer Scene

Back in July I told you that the Antelope Valley, about an hour northeast of Los Angeles, would soon become a craft beer destination; as of Saturday afternoon, I officially proclaim the Antelope Valley a bona fide craft beer destination when Transplants Brewing Company held their Grand Opening and ribbon cutting at their tasting room in Palmdale.

These photos were taken at the four craft breweries that are now open and brewing in the Antelope Valley. They include Transplants Brewing and Lucky Luke Brewing which are across the street from each other in Palmdale; and Bravery Brewing and Kinetic Brewing Company in Lancaster. The accompanying map is set up for doing your own self-guided craft beer tour of the Antelope Valley. Less than 10 miles separate Transplants and Kinetic which are at the far ends of the tour; they may catch up to Torrance at their current rate of expansion and after talking to a couple of the brewery owners, the owners would love it.

I started off at Transplants Brewing Company (Location A on map) for their ribbon cutting. I had visited the facility a couple times since July so I had a general idea of what they had in mind but was blown away by the visuals that immediately pounce on you. The mural is a work in progress but has so much going on; one could spend hours checking out all the intricacies of it. The artist, Brandon “BL” Singleton worked in collaboration with an artist he has worked with before and they do good work together. He worked on the front mural during the grand opening so visitors were able to watch his work progress. Continue reading

Strand Brewing Company Ribbon Cutting Photos

On Thursday afternoon, production brewery Strand Brewing Company officially opened their new Dominguez Street location with a ribbon cutting attended by numerous city and state representatives, the Torrance Area Chamber of Commerce and lots of friends and family. One might venture to say that while the group of a couple hundred probably would not fit in the doors of the old Telo location, the crowd began to make the new tasting room somewhat full for the first time since they opened the doors at this new location. A quick note about parking; if the parking lot looks full, there is additional parking on the north side of the building; that is the same side the food trucks set up.

The numerous attendees enjoyed their choice of brews including Beach House, 24th Street, Atticus, Batch 100, White Sand, Expression Session and Harvest Ball. Currently, 24th Street is the only beer brewed on the new system but that should be changing soon. For those with an appetite, the Barley Hops Grill was serving up plenty of their pulled pork treats.

Strand Brewing Company’s Grand Opening Weekend continues Friday, October 23 from 4:00-9:00 PM when they will have the BreadCrumbs Gourmet Sandwiches available for food. On Saturday, Strand will be open from noon until 9:00 PM, featuring the return of Barley Hops Grill; and the weekend will finish on Sunday when they will be open from noon until 8:00 PM and will feature the Brew Wings food truck. Strand Brewing Company is now located at 2201 Dominguez Street in Torrance. Continue reading

San Fernando Brewing Ribbon Cutting: The Valley is Now a Destination

On Friday afternoon the San Fernando Valley officially became a craft beer destination when San Fernando Brewing Company held their grand opening, making them the third craft brewery in the San Fernando Valley (SFV) with a tasting room. The accompanying photos are from their ribbon cutting which was attended by friends, family, various representatives of the City of San Fernando including the mayor and chief of police as well as lots of craft beer fans.

San Fernando Brewing Company is definitely a family operation with brothers Vic (the brewer) and Joe Chouchanian heading up things but you could tell that there were lots of family members involved, including mom. The tasting room was quite welcoming, not only in its clean appearance and setup, but they are one of the only brewery tasting rooms I can remember visiting that actually has air conditioning. Considering it was well over 100 yesterday, and even hotter the day before when one of the A/C units failed and had to be replaced.

San Fernando Brewing has had a soft open for the past six weeks, but used their grand opening to release the latest of their five brews, Sonora Wheat, which was definitely a crowd favorite while I was there and was probably my favorite as well. Sonora wheat was used in this beer because it used to be one of the natural crops in the San Fernando Valley. The other four included their Wolfskill IPA, O’Melveny Red Ale, Royal Road Pale Ale and Stoney Point Stout. One advantage San Fernando Brewing has that is rather unusual is that the city of San Fernando gets their water from a well; this water really brings out the flavor in the Stoney Point Stout. Continue reading

Phantom Carriage Ribbon Cutting

These photos were taken at the Phantom Carriage ribbon cutting which was held Thursday morning at their brewpub in Carson. Typically, the ribbon cuttings I have attended have been later in the afternoon, so I was pleasantly surprised to see the number of representatives from the City of Carson and the Carson Chamber of Commerce in attendance. Two things were pretty obvious; the first was that this was the first time coming to Phantom Carriage for many of them; the second was that they all seemed to enjoy the experience.

The Mayor of Carson, Jim Dear, started things off with a small ceremony out front to sign a petition in support of building an NFL stadium that theoretically would be the new home for the San Diego Chargers and the Oakland Raiders. They need about 8,000 signatures but Mayor Dear expects that they will get far more than that. You must be a Carson resident to sign the petition, so if you live in Carson and this is important to you, you might want to keep an eye out for signature gatherers.

After the petition ceremony we all moved inside for the ribbon cutting. Apparently, Dear is a fairly regular customer of Phantom Carriage and he made it clear that he has enjoyed his visits to Phantom and spoke of the success that their great brews and food have brought. One thing is quite certain, the City of Carson is very happy to have Phantom Carriage in their city and Mayor Dear looks forward to “several more” craft breweries calling Carson home. If the success of Phantom Carriage thus far is any indicator, Carson seems willing and able to become the latest craft beer Mecca of the Los Angeles area. Cheers! Continue reading

Photos of the Absolution Brewing Company Ribbon Cutting

On Friday afternoon Torrance’s newest production craft brewery, Absolution Brewing Company (ABC), held their official grand opening with a ribbon cutting ceremony. The ribbon cutting was attended by Mayor Frank Scotto and several members of the Torrance City Council as well as the Torrance Chamber of Commerce and assorted other officials. After the ribbon cutting and presentations the beer flowed with the addition of three new brews to the extensive Absolution Brewing tap list with their Holy Cow milk stout, Wanderin’ Possessed Easter Candy English porter and their Cloistered red ale. The Creative Eats food truck was on-hand with a special menu that was paired with the various ABC brews.

As you can tell from the photos, it was a very well attended event. In fact, I left after an hour or so and came back a couple hours later to what seemed to be an even larger group than before. It is probably safe to say that Absolution Brewing Company is a very welcome addition to the local craft beer scene. Absolution Brewing Company is located at 2878 Columbia Street in Torrance. Cheers! Continue reading

Photos from the Pac City Brewery ribbon cutting

Tuesday afternoon I took advantage of the great Earth Day weather and rode out to the Los Angeles suburb of Pacoima to attend the ribbon cutting and soft opening of Pacoima’s first production brewery, Pac City Brewery. Pac City Brewery is a three (3) barrel microbrewery that will not have a tasting room in the foreseeable future but plans on working closely with local eateries and drinking holes to ensure their beers are readily available to those seeking it out. While they cannot have a tasting room, they will be able to hold events that include their beers on the spacious property that their brewery is located on.

The Pac City Brewing team is made up of CEO and head brewer Robert Cortez, Miguel Duran, Fernando Palacios and Robert’s brother Art Cortez. The ribbon cutting was attended by several friends and family members as well as the LA City Council, the Chamber of Commerce, LAPD and several representatives of the local craft beer scene.

After a short speech the ribbon was cut and guests were invited in to sample four of their brews, their Caramel IPA, Not so Amber Ale, Toasted Oat American Wheat Ale and their Chocolate Raspberry Coconut Porter. They also offered ginger ale and tea that are brewed on-site as well as pizza and sandwiches. Judging by the smiles, everyone had a good time. I will be sure to let you know when I hear about any special events that are open to the public. Pac City Brewing is located at 12780 Pierce Street, Unit #5 in Pacoima. Congratulations and good luck to Robert and all the team. Cheers! Continue reading

Absolution Brewing Company ribbon cutting April 25

Absolution Brewing Company

Come to the Absolution Brewing Company Grand Opening

This coming Friday, April 25, 2014, Absolution Brewing Company will have their official grand opening complete with a ribbon cutting ceremony featuring the Mayor of Torrance, the Torrance City Council and the Torrance Chamber of Commerce. In addition to city representatives, Torrance Cable TV and various other news outlets are expected to attend.

Absolution’s Chief Tasting Officer Nigel Heath told me, “Everyone should come and enjoy all of ABC’s brews including: The Wicked double IPA, Purgatory Heff, Tribulation Cream Ale, Trespasser Belgian Ale, Trespasser Saison with organic strawberry, Sinner Stout, Possessed Porter, Cardinal Sin Crimson IPA, Angel’s Demise IPA finished with Mosaic and L’il Red Angel Sessionable IPA.”

“We will also be releasing some special surprise beers which will be paired with gourmet foods prepared by Chef Travis Porter of Creative Eats,” Heath added. “This should be a fun afternoon with fun promos all afternoon.”

Absolution Brewing Company is located at 2878 Columbia Street in Torrance. They will be open from 11:00 AM until 9:00 PM with the ribbon cutting ceremony beginning around 4:00 PM. I hope to see you there. Cheers!

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