Monthly Archives: February 2019
Brewtopia at Abigaile Restaurant and Brewery Photos
These photos were taken Sunday afternoon at the Brewtopia beer festival in Hermosa Beach’s Alta House, formerly known as Ocean Bar, which is the upstairs area of Abigaile and The Brewery at Abigaile. The event featured craft beers and ciders from The Brewery at Abigaile, 101 Cider House, Angel City, Zymurgy Brew Works, Firestone Walker, and Santa Monica Brew Works.
Admission to the event included unlimited pours from the above mentioned breweries and access to a special brunch menu.
Long time followers may recall that The Brewery at Abigaile had done the Brewtopia beer festivals back in 2015; Sunday’s event was a mini-version of the prior events, but the few dozen people that did attend had a beautiful Sunday afternoon to enjoy craft brews on the Alta House patio. Continue reading
State Brewing 1 Year Anniversary Photos
These photos were taken Saturday afternoon in Gardena, at the 1st Anniversary of the State Brewing Company tasting room. If it seems like you have been drinking State’s beer for longer than a year, there is a very good chance of that as they have been brewing since at least the beginning of 2016. It was not until last February that they officially opened their tasting room to the public.
The anniversary event, which is still going on as I write this, featured over 20 beers from State Brewing, some of them being very small batches, food from Hotville Chicken and Tacos Bravo, a can release of their Cherry Moon Disco IPA, a DJ and Los Angeles area rapper, Murs (he came on after I left). Continue reading
8th Annual Pliny Fights Cancer Charity Raffle Results
These photos were taken Monday afternoon at Beachwood Blendery in Long Beach, where they held the drawing for their 8th Annual Pliny Fights Cancer Charity Raffle. As you are most likely aware, the beginning of February is when Russian River’s triple IPA, Pliny the Younger is released. It is highly sought after and usually requires trying to find a place that received a keg from Russian River, then figuring out the day it will be tapped and dealing with the inevitable lines. Beachwood BBQ & Brewing decided to do it a little differently. For eight years now they have been selling raffle tickets to get a 16oz pour for $5.00 with the proceeds going to the Melanoma Research Foundation in memory of a long time Beachwood friend, Tony Carbone who passed away in 2008 from Stage 3 Melanoma.
Like past years, the drawing was streamed live via the Four Brewers podcast and like last year, 200 winners were picked. This year, the raffle collected more than $7,000, bringing the total raised since the beginning to close to $93,000! Continue reading
Photos from Matinee Meltdown at King Harbor Brewing
These photos were taken Sunday afternoon at the King Harbor Brewing Company tasting room in Redondo Beach, where they held their first in what is hoped to be a continuing series of monthly Matinee Meltdowns; an afternoon of live music, DJs, local art and, of course, King Harbor Brewing’s craft beer.
Matinee Meltdown is the brainchild of former King Harbor Brewing rep, Pete Mauch, who also happens to have a band called Doom Lodge, a self-described Doom Punk Trio out of Hawthorne, whose musical genre falls under Psych Rock. In addition to the live music, DJ Dan Kennedy aka ShoeBox spun records when Doom Lodge wasn’t playing one of their two sets. Continue reading
Photos from the 2nd Anniversary Block Party at LA Ale Works
These photos were taken Saturday afternoon at Los Angeles Ale Works (LAAW), in Hawthorne, where they celebrated their second anniversary with an 80s themed block party featuring several food trucks, DJs, live music, pop rock beer slushies, candy necklaces, Micheladas, a laser light show, a double juicy IPA can release, and lots of other L.A. Ale Works beers.
I arrived about an hour after the official start time and the block party was already filling up with LAAW fans along with their families and dogs. DJ Sundy was providing music and food was being served up by Bartz BBQ, Kogi Korean BBQ, Hustle & Dough, and Scoops on Tap.
Inside the tasting room, there were at least 25 beers on tap, including the two beers featured in their can release, Lazer Star and Night Beams. There was an outdoor bar set up for their Reserve Beers, featuring options like Celestial Blüme Berliner with tea, Channel Conditions Brett Saison, and Olivera Blanc and Olivera Noir, their beer/wine hybrids. Also available were the 2017 and 2018 Rush’n Attack Imperial Stouts, Heavy Impulse Barleywine, and Sled Dog Imperial Stout. The outside bar is also where you would go for the pop rock slushies and Micheladas. Continue reading
A Beer For The Times: Ska Brewing Presents Moral Panic Brut IPA
Moral Panic – Now in cans!
“In sociology, moral panic is the process of arousing social concern over an issue, legitimate or not,” Thibodeau says. “On one hand we may be referring to Mods & Rockers, Satanism or Dungeons & Dragons, or the Haze craze — no matter what comes of the Brut IPA style, we certainly are enjoying drinking it right now.”
Over its 23 years in business Thibodeau and crew have witnessed its evolution and ultimate subcategorization. “We’re excited about this emerging Brut category because these beers are everything we love about IPA without any lingering bitterness, which makes them super approachable.” Continue reading
Photos from Hermosa Brewing’s 1st Anniversary Shindig
These photos were taken Friday evening at the Hermosa Brewing Company taproom in Hermosa Beach, where Hermosa Brewing kicked off their three day, 1st Anniversary Shindig. In addition to the 12 taps of Hermosa Brewing’s beers, the event features live music, and food and beer specials, including beer mocktails.
I arrived rather early in the evening, and while it was not very crowded when I first got there, it did not take long for the place to begin filling up. The live music, performed by Zeal Levin, began at 6:30 was pleasant and not overpowering; although I guess he did take up a couple spots that would have otherwise been used by the attendees. No one seemed to mind; it was nice to be able to be close to the music without having to yell over it. Continue reading
Cigar City Brewing Releases Mixed 12-Pack Featuring Space Pope IPA
Space Pope IPA – Cigar City Mixed 12-Pack
The introduction of the CCB Mixed 12-pack follows the successful launch of Jai Alai IPA 12-packs and the CANarchy Mixed 12-Pack Vol. 1, which features Jai Alai IPA and flagship brands from CANarchy portfolio-mates Oskar Blues Brewery, Perrin Brewing and Squatters Craft Beers. CCB looks to expand its presence in the 12-pack can segment as 12-packs of craft beer continue to grow in U.S. grocery*.
Most craft beer lovers are familiar with Jai Alai IPA, a 7.5% ABV American IPA dry-hopped with Simcoe hops and currently the second-best selling craft six-pack can nationwide*. Guayabera Citra Pale Ale, CCB’s second best-selling brand, brings a lower-alcohol yet hop-forward offering to CCB Mixed 12-pack, clocking in at 5.5% ABV; while Florida Cracker, a crisp Belgian-style White Ale of 5.5% ABV brewed with coriander and orange peel, is a refreshing wheat beer addition. Continue reading
Celebrating SF Beer Week with Humphry Slocombe Ice Creams
These photos were taken Thursday afternoon at Humphry Slocombe in Venice, and Firestone Walker’s The Propagator in Marina del Rel. Humphry Slocombe is an ice cream shop that opened in Venice this past August; it is the fourth in a chain of ice cream shops that has two locations in San Francisco where it was founded, and one in Oakland. The Propagator, if you were unaware, is Firestone Walker’s Los Angeles area brewpub; but you probably already knew that.
I frequently mention that I am not a foodie, I said that in my last article, so why am I visiting and writing about an ice cream shop? Well, as I mentioned above, Humphry Slocombe was founded in San Francisco, and it is currently SF Beer Week (it runs from February 1 – 10). In honor of the event, Humphry Slocombe joined forces with a few of its favorite Bay Area breweries to launch a series of one-time-only, beer-infused ice creams. As I was invited to try out some of these creations, I accepted the invitation and brought my friend Jaymes, of King Harbor Brewing and formerly AJ’s BBQ. Jaymes is a foodie the way I am a beer guy; maybe more. He plans vacations around the food he will find there, so I figured he would enjoy this adventure; I was right. Continue reading
Photos from the Media Preview of California Sun
These photos were taken Tuesday evening at California Sun, a new gastropub in the Silver Lake area of Los Angeles. California Sun is part of the Artisanal Brewers Collective, a restaurant group co-founded by Tony Yanow, formerly of Golden Road Brewing. California Sun features New York and Detroit style pizzas, for vegans, vegetarians and omnivores, as well as lots and lots of craft beer from around the country and beyond.
Anyone that knows me personally, or reads my site on a regular basis, is probably aware that pizza does not rank very high on my list of food choices; so what the heck was I doing at a pizza place that took over an hour of driving to get to? Well, there are three reasons actually. Continue reading
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