Beer News

L.A. Local Craft Beer & Artisanal Food Fest Update: New Promo Code

Beer fest attendees

Alpine Village’s Beer Festivals are fun for all

As I mentioned a couple weeks ago, Alpine Village will hold their inaugural L.A. Local Craft Beer & Artisanal Food Fest on April 18, 2015 at the Alpine Inn Restaurant in Torrance. This craft beer festival will be unlike any others held at Alpine Village in that all the breweries and food vendors featured will be located in Los Angeles County.

While the current list of breweries is still incomplete and is subject to change, because sometimes things happen, it is shaping up to be a very fine event. The breweries that have confirmed attending as of this date are Absolution Brewing Company, Alosta Brewing, Angel City, Bravery Brewing, Claremont Craft Ales, Congregation Ale House, Cosmic Ales, Eagle Rock Brewery, El Segundo Brewing, Enegren Brewing, Golden Road Brewing, Hand Brewed Beer, Kinetic Brewing, King Harbor Brewing, Ladyface Ale Companie, MacLeod Ale, Monkish Brewing, Ohana Brewing Company, Phantom Carriage, Red Car Brewing, Santa Monica Brew Works, Smog City Brewing, Solarc Brewing, Strand Brewing, The Dudes’ Brewing, Three Weavers Brewing, Timeless Pints Brewing and Wolf Creek. There are a few LA area breweries that have yet to respond but there are high hopes that they will before it is too late. Some breweries just do not have enough beer on hand to participate, so we will have to wait until next year for them.

beerfest attendees

All Local Craft Beer

The L.A. Local Craft Beer & Artisanal Food Fest will be held at the Alpine Inn Restaurant in Torrance on April 18, from noon until 4:00 PM. General admission is $40 at the door, however if you purchase your ticket online and use PROMO CODE: LALOCCZ you will receive $5.00 off each ticket! You can purchase your tickets through Admit One Products or Eventbrite; be advised that Eventbrite has a little higher service fees so you might want to use Admit One Products. You should also know that Designated Drivers get in free, but they can purchase food tickets and non-alcoholic beverages. Continue reading

Strand Brewing Company to Relocate: CUP Approved

2201 Dominguez

Future home of Strand Brewing Company

On Wednesday evening, Strand Brewing Company owners Joel Elliott and Rich Marcello appeared before the Torrance Planning Commission to request that their Conditional Use Permit, CUP15-00004 be approved. The gist of the request is that Strand Brewing Company wants to move to a bigger facility, be open longer and to be able to host special or private events on the days that they are not normally open. They also asked for the ability to bring in food trucks that comply with Torrance’s rules and have all the required permits.

Joel Elliott presented the request to the Planning Commission and addressed an email correspondence from one Torrance citizen that was very animate that she was against the idea of a “bar” moving into the neighborhood with its noisy drunks wandering into people’s homes by mistake. He agreed that if this was the case he would not want it either; but anyone that goes to Strand Brewing Company or any local tasting room, knows this is not the case. Fortunately, there were six letters in favor of approval from neighboring businesses, customers, a charitable organization and a mix of all of the above. In addition, there must have been 10-15 supporters in the audience, four of us who spoke in favor of approval including Monkish Brewery owner, Henry Nguyen. Smog City Brewing owner Porter was in the audience in support of Elliott and Marcello’s request.

After I gave my prepared speech, Planning Commission Chair Steven Polcari mentioned that three or four had been sitting on the commission when Strand Brewing first applied almost six years ago. It was Commissioner Steve Skoll that asked the question everyone in the room wanted to know; “When are you opening?” Elliott said that he hoped for the end of May 2015, to which Skoll said he would tell everyone June. Elliott smiled and thanked him. The Conditional Use Permit was approved unanimously. Continue reading

Bottle share at Zayna Flaming Grill

On Saturday afternoon I happened to notice a post on my Facebook feed that there was a bottle share planned for 4:00 PM at Zayna Flaming Grill in Redondo Beach. There were a couple things that caught my eye; the first was most likely the photo accompanying the announcement that included ISO:FT by The Bruery, a Russian River Beatification and a Cigar City Hunahpu’s. The other was that it was being announced by Adam’s Fine Wines & Liquors. You see, the first time I met the owner of Adam’s, Kevin Olson, was at the first bottle share I ever attended back in July 2012 at Sophie’s Place. We had such a good time that I knew this would be a great one to attend; it turns out I was right.

As it was a last minute event, there were only a handful of attendees, only a couple of whom I knew; but after a couple hours everyone was chatting and sharing as though we had been friends for years. That is what craft beer does; it makes strangers into acquaintances and acquaintances into friends. There may have only been a few of us, but the beers that were brought showed that everyone involved enjoyed only the finest. The bottles that were shared included:

Sour in the Rye (Kumquats) (2013) by The Bruery
Hunahpu’s Imperial Stout (2013) by Cigar City Brewing
The Abyss (2013) by Deschutes Brewery
Apricot Ale (2013) by Cascade Brewing Company (USA)
Noyaux (2011) by Cascade Brewing Company (USA)
Batch #100 by Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project
Sanctification (Batch 112812) by Russian River Brewing Company
Supplication (Batch 092414) by Russian River Brewing Company
Beatification (Batch 006) by Russian River Brewing Company
Bourbon County Brand Stout Vanilla Rye (2014) by Goose Island Beer Co.
Darkstar November by Bottle Logic Brewing
ISO:FT by The Bruery
Veritas 013 by The Lost Abbey

Continue reading

L.A. Local Craft Beer & Artisanal Food Fest: Promo Code

**ATTENTION: NEW PROMO CODE FOR ONLINE PURCHASES BETWEEN APRIL 1 AND 18 IS NOW: LALOCCZ – SAVE $5.00 PER TICKET**

Alpine Beer Festival attendees

Join your friends at L.A. Local Craft Beer & Artisanal Food Fest April 18

Alpine Village in Torrance has announced the next in their continuing series of craft beer festivals, with this one concentrating solely on the Los Angeles area craft breweries and featuring a wide variety of artisanal foods made locally. Appropriately named the L.A. Local Craft Beer & Artisanal Food Fest, this event will be held Saturday, April 18, 2015 in the Alpine Inn Restaurant in Torrance and is expected to include more than 30 L.A. area craft breweries and more than a dozen food vendors all included in the price of admission.

As home to the biggest and longest running (almost 50 years) Oktoberfest this side of the Mississippi River, there is no doubt that Alpine Village has long been known as having one of the South Bay’s best selections of German and Czech biers; what has not been realized is what an outstanding selection of American craft beers they have. After their 2012 Alpine Bier Fest, which had almost as many craft beers to choose from as attendees, Alpine Village General Manager Otto Radtke confided to me that his intention was to make his craft beer festival grow into an internationally recognized beer festival. To that end he has had two more American craft beer festivals and last July they had their first Euro Bierfest. The L.A. Local Craft Beer & Artisanal Food Fest will feature Los Angeles area craft breweries and local artisanal food vendors. Continue reading

Brewtopia at Abigaile Restaurant Photos

These photos are from the Brewtopia Beer Garden which was held at Abigaile Restaurant and the Ocean Bar & Lounge located in Hermosa Beach. This was the second “beer garden” event held at Abigaile in the last four months that showcased LA Brewers Guild breweries and this time it featured a few breweries that came from out of the area.

The breweries that I noticed in attendance included Mammoth Brewing Company, Bootlegger’s, Hangar 24, Bravery, Kinetic, El Segundo Brewing, Monkish, Smog City, Taps Fish House, The Bruery, Three Weavers, Absolution, Golden Road, Eagle Rock, Coachella Valley Brewing, King Harbor and Noble Ale Works. Included in the price of admission was all the food you could get your hands on from Chef Tin’s grill which appeared to be quite popular; I just wish I had three hands so I could hold food and beer while still taking photos.

While this event seemed to be as well attended as the prior Novem-BEER-Fest as far as beer drinkers, the faces behind the breweries were not very well represented. Beerlebrity sightings while I was there was limited to Nigel Heath from Absolution Brewing and Brian Brewer, former brewer for The Brewery at Abigaile and brewer for the soon to be HopSaint brewpub that will be opening in Torrance. I also noticed several Craft Beer Guy followers, and I always personally appreciate that. Continue reading

2015 Taste of Brews’ Twilight Tasting Photos

These photos are from the Taste of Brews’ Second Annual Twilight Tasting that was held at Lyon Air Museum on Saturday evening. I have to start off by saying that this was one of the coolest, most photogenic locations for a beer festival that I can remember attending. As we walked in the door I told Tanya, “I will have to try to find some time to have a beer while I am here.”

While Lyon Air Museum was billed as a World War II museum, the first vehicle we were greeted by was a 1922 Ford Model T Roadster and it just got better from there. A beautiful 1931 Buick and the 1930 Cadillac V-16 Roadster were among my favorite cars; but there were military vehicles of all types and beautiful motorcycles. When you added in the aircraft it was pretty difficult to concentrate on the beer. But to be honest, I am not sure that craft beer was the number one thought of the attendees at this fundraiser for the Make-A-Wish Orange County/Inland Empire, The Little Red Dog out of Tustin and Ocean Education Outreach out of Newport Beach. I think it was one of those fundraisers that was priced so that it was more about the charity than the buzz. I don’t know, it just seemed a little classier than the standard local beer festival.

They did have some good food provided by Stonefire Grill, Rubio’s and Sol Agave; and some pretty tasty desserts from Nothing Bundt Cakes and Paradise Bakery to go with the various wines I saw being poured, so maybe that had something to do with it. So while I may have stayed for the cool museum pieces, I came for the beer. Continue reading

Brouwerij West at the Port of Los Angeles

Sometimes it is hard to remember that just a few years ago you could count the production breweries and brewpubs in the South Bay on one hand; now you need both of your hands and a foot to count them all and new locations are being constructed as you read this. A common question that has been debated frequently over the past couple of years is that of over saturation.

As a craft beer consumer, over saturation never really comes into play for me although I can understand how a brewery owner might not feel the same way. Of course, I might not feel the same way if all of our breweries were merely churning out the same brews and styles as the next guy, but the reality is that even though we have a dozen tasting rooms and brewpubs to visit in the general vicinity each is unique in their own way. I feel that as long as this trend continues the only problem the consumer will have is deciding which brewery to patronize on any particular day.

On Wednesday afternoon I headed over to the Port of Los Angeles and the future home of Brouwerij (pronounced: brewery) West. Those of you that were fortunate enough to attend The Festival 2014 at CRAFTED at the Port of Los Angeles back in November you probably remember the big Warehouse No. 9 that was located across the way from the warehouse that The Festival was held. This will be the new home for Brouwerij West. Continue reading

A Preview of Beachwood Blendery

It goes without saying; this is a great time to be living in Southern California when it comes to craft beer. I cannot imagine where the beer scene would be if it had taken off in the 1980’s the way it has in recent years. Living in the Los Angeles area when I became of legal age, I really knew nothing of craft beer. As I spent a lot of time in San Francisco, Guinness was my “special occasion” brew, but that was not really easy to find around here so I found myself drinking the typical Bud and Miller Lite with the occasional Beck’s Dark thrown in for good measure.

About 10 years ago I started discovering craft beer, even though I did not know it was called craft beer; to be honest, I am not even sure they called it “craft” yet. As I ventured into places like BJ’s and Gordon Biersch I started learning names like Pale Ale, IPA, Hefeweizen, Marzen, and Pilsner. Today, there are literally thousands of craft breweries around the country and worldwide; and there are relatively new, at least to me, styles than are coming on like gang busters. A new vocabulary had to be learned with sours, wild ales, lambics and guezes. As the beer drinking public developed their thirst and palates for sours, a few local breweries have decided to try their hand at brewing various sour styles and this has resulted in a new word that is becoming more popular, blendery. Continue reading

Twilight Tasting Returns to Lyon Air Museum: Promo Code

Twilight Tasting Banner

Taste of Brews Twilight Tasting 2015

This coming Saturday, March 7, Taste of Brews will host their Second Annual Twilight Tasting at Lyon Air Museum in Santa Ana, California. This Taste of Brews’ upscale event promises to be a remarkable evening featuring unlimited tastes of premium craft beers, hard ciders, wines and tasty foods with all proceeds benefiting various charities.

Breweries from Orange County, Los Angeles County, San Diego County and the Inland Empire will be featured as well as a few from Northern California, Vermont, Illinois and even Iceland. Local breweries scheduled to be on-hand include Beach City Brewery, Four Sons Brewing, Barley Forge, Bootlegger’s, Phantom Ales, Left Coast, Coronado, Karl Strauss, Stone Brewing, Mission Brewery, Hangar 24 and Absolution Brewing. Other, not so local breweries featured in the lineup include Firestone Walker, Drake’s, Einstok, Lagunitas, Sierra Nevada and Goose Island. The growing hard cider community will be represented by Reverend Nat’s Hard Cider and Woodchuck Cider. Continue reading

Brewtopia at Abigaile: Sunday, March 8

Novem-BEER-Fest attendees

Join the Fun at Brewtopia – March 8, 2015

Next Sunday, March 8, Abigaile Restaurant and Ocean Bar in Hermosa Beach will hold their inaugural Brewtopia Beer Garden, featuring 23 of Los Angeles’ finest craft breweries and food prepared by Abigail’s Chef Tin who will be providing his latest barbecue grill creations. This is the second beer garden event hosted by Abigaile, with the last one being their Novem-BEER-Fest which was held in the middle of last November. If you did not make it to Novem-BEER-Fest you missed a great event that featured some very good brews and lots of really tasty foods. Brewtopia will have even more breweries represented with more food at the same price as Novem-BEER-Fest.

The breweries scheduled to attend include Absolution, Alosta, Angel City, Beachwood, Bootlegger’s, Bravery, The Bruery, Eagle Rock, El Segundo, Golden Road, Kinetic, King Harbor, Ladyface, Monkish, MacLeod, Noble, Phantom, Progress, Smog City, Strand, Timeless Pints, The Dudes’ and Three Weavers. The food menu includes short-ribs, skewers, sliders, garlic knots and a lot more. If you have ever been to an Abigaile event you know the special treats that Chef Tin comes up with; if you have not, you are in for a special treat. I could tell you that the skewers will be made up of Katsu glazed salmon or Korean beef coconut or curry chicken sate; or that there will be Chilled Peanut Somen Noodle but the names, as exotic as they are, will fall short in describing the tasty foods you will experience if you show up at Brewtopia.

Brewtopia Beer Garden featuring 23 local craft breweries

Brewtopia Beer Garden featuring 23 local craft breweries

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