If you follow this site with any regularity you may recall that a few weeks ago I visited Flights Beer Bar in Hawthorne for the first time. To say that I was impressed would be an understatement and I believe I got that message across in the article that I wrote. A couple days after writing the article I received an email from Flights owner Jerry Jamgotchian suggesting that they would like to throw a private party for Craft Beer Guy. While I was definitely flattered, several of the local craft breweries had just had a birthday party for me a couple days before so I suggested that I would rather have a party that showcased all the breweries that had made the South Bay the craft beer destination that is has become. After speaking with Jerry and his manager/beer buyer Marc Dacal it was decided that they would let me curate a 40 tap, tap takeover featuring 10 production breweries that were based in the South Bay. That’s right, 40 taps of South Bay craft from 10 South Bay breweries.

While I have been to a few “South Bay tap takeovers” over the past few years, never before have we had 40 taps dedicated to just the South Bay’s breweries. The 10 that will be participating include Strand Brewing Company, Monkish Brewing, El Segundo Brewing, Absolution Brewing Company, Smog City Brewing, Three Weavers, The Dudes’, King Harbor Brewing, Phantom Carriage and introducing HopSaint! If you are thinking, “But HopSaint isn’t open yet.” you would be correct, but the brewhouse has been delivered and Brian Brewer will be brewing before their new brewpub opens. This tap takeover will likely be the first time any of us will be able to try Brian’s brews under the new label. UPDATE: HopSaint will not be able to make it, in their stead, Cosmic Brewery will step up.

Since the event is one month away, we are still determining which beers will be available as we will be working around some breweries’ brew schedule but I can promise you that we will have a little bit of everything; from Kolschs to wild ales, session IPAs to Double IPAs and everything in between. Some breweries will have more taps than others but a flight of all 40 will run the gamut of colors and flavors. I am really looking forward to this, and virtually every brewery owner I have spoken to personally seems to feel the same way. There is already talk about making this an annual event, so for now, we will call this our inaugural event.

Save the date: September 3, 2015. The event officially begins at 4:00 PM and will run until at least midnight, but Flights has agreed to stay open until 2:00 AM if the crowd justifies it. Flights is going all out on this event with specials all day long.

Highlights include:

40 taps of craft with South Bay Beer Flights and Craft Beer Guy Flights that will be my personal recommendations.
Happy Hour food pricing from 11:00 AM until 7:00 PM.
Special South Bay Chef’s Creations for the food menu.
Most, if not all the breweries will have representatives including their brewer so you have a chance to meet your favorite brewer.
There will be discounts all day long for those in the craft beer industry and for those that have downloaded the free Craft Beer Guy mobile app.

Industry discounts will be given to brewery employees, distributors and beer media types, as long as you have a business card. If you do not have a business card, everyone gets the same discount if they can show they have the Craft Beer Guy app. You can get it for free at your favorite app store; it is available for IOS and Android devices. Just search for craftbeerguy and you will see my smiling face when you have the right one.

This is going to be a great time and I hope you will join us at Flights on September 3. Flights is located at 5119 W. El Segundo Boulevard in Hawthorne. That is just east of the 405 freeway. I will post more details as they become available. Cheers!