“Shop, Hops & Slumber Fest,” a holiday campaign spearheaded by Discover Torrance Visitors Bureau has decided to take advantage of the craft beer craze in Torrance by combining our numerous tasting rooms with the ability to shop at the fifth largest shopping mall in the country and providing numerous locations for you to relax and get some sleep before doing it again the next day. The concept is pretty simple.
Book a room during the promotion which runs from November 4, 2013 through January 6, 2014 and automatically receive a “Shop, Hop & Slumber Fest” kit that includes a shopping tote for trips to the Del Amo Fashion Center, a beer mug and a sleep kit with eye mask, ear plugs and more. Participating hotels are offering special rates and added value to make an overnight shopping stay a no-brainer. I was looking through some of the hotel rates and I would have no problem referring a friend to any of these locations and the prices were very reasonable.
As far as the hops portion of this deal, Torrance is home to Strand Brewing Company, Monkish Brewing Company, Smog City Brewing and the Red Car Brewpub. LA Beer Hop is participating with a discount special of $20 off. If you spend a night or two, I would suggest reviewing my South Bay Beer Guide of local breweries, brewpubs and gastropubs and make it a very special visit. Continue reading
As you undoubtedly know, the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) was held again last October and California craft breweries pulled in close to 50 medals. More locally, Beachwood BBQ & Brewing out of Long Beach won five medals which made it Mid-Size Brewpub of the Year. A couple hundred miles north in Paso Robles, Firestone-Walker won four medals which made them Mid-Size Brewing Company and Mid-Size Brewing Company Brewer of the Year. Last night they held a Colossal Party for Two Mid-Size Champions at Beachwood BBQ & Brewing featuring 10 Firestone-Walker taps, including three of the four medal winners; Wookey Jack, Union Jack and Pivo. Of course, Beachwood had their standard multitude of house brews available, including three of their five medal winners; Foam Top, Kilgore Stout and Udder Love.
In addition to the great beer, Beachwood smoked up some of their delicious barbecue on wood from retired Firestone-Walker barrels. It was a great way to spend an evening and their fans were not going to let a little rain get in the way of the fun. Congratulations to Beachwood BBQ & Brewing and Firestone-Walker Brewing; we look forward to next year’s party. Cheers! Continue reading
Absolution Brewing Company will be open Wednesday through Sunday and have longer hours than any of the other Torrance tasting rooms, so who knows, maybe a pattern will be set and we will start seeing increased hours of operation at the others. They plan on brewing Old World styles of ales from England, Germany and Belgium using New World ingredients, especially the west coast hops that have become so popular around here. We can probably expect them to open by the beginning of 2014. I have been visiting the location over the last several weeks and they are really making progress. I heard a rumor that they may start with test batches very soon.
As I said in my statement to the Planning Commission, this is a great time for a craft beer fan to live in Torrance. Cheers!
As you have probably noticed; I attend quite a few beer festivals of various sizes. I recently had someone tell me that they like to get a list of the beers that will be there then write down the names of the beers that they will sample. The other day at the Alpine Kraft Bierfest I spoke with attendees that try to find their favorite brews and a few that go out to seek new beers. That is pretty much my game plan. I try to find breweries I have never sampled before; then I concentrate on beers brewed by breweries I have limited experience with, primarily focusing on the beer I have never tried. It was at Taste of Brews in Long Beach last August that I first became aware of Ninkasi Brewing Company and more specifically, their Total Domination IPA.
Ninkasi Brewing Company was established in 2006 in Eugene, Oregon where they began brewing in some space they leased at a local restaurant. By 2007 they had moved to their current location where they continued to expand their production to the point that they now have a 55-barrel brewing system, with the capacity of producing 95,000 barrels per year of Ninkasi goodness. With all that beer in a state the size of Oregon it only made sense that they increased their distribution to include Alaska, California, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia.
It was a few weeks after the Taste of Brews that I noticed Ninkasi’s Tricerahops Double IPA while I was doing some beer shopping at Total Wine. I remembered with fondness the taster I had at the beer festival, and I do enjoy a DIPA, so it did not take much convincing for me to grab a bottle; the $4.99 price tag on the 22oz bottle sealed the deal. A couple days later I was back at Total Wine, this time trying their Believer Double Red Ale. It was another very nice beer with an outstanding price tag. I rarely shop by price, but Ninkasi Brewing turns out a quality product and at $5.00 for a 22oz bomber, how can you go wrong? Continue reading
These photos are from the 2nd Annual Alpine Kraft Bierfest which was held Sunday afternoon in the Alpine Inn at Alpine Village in Torrance, CA. For those of you that attended, thank you very much; for those of you that missed it, you really missed it. I will admit that I took special interest in seeing this event succeed because I went to the first Alpine Kraft Bierfest and I did not want to see a repeat of last year’s dismal attendance. I was aware of the vision Otto Radtke, GM Of the Alpine Village Center, to see his craft beer festival bloom and grow into an internationally recognized beer festival. Last year there may have been 200 attendees; this year there were closer to 500. With growth like that, Radtke’s vision may come to fruition before too long.
An event of this size is rarely going to come off trouble free, but whatever issues were encountered yesterday were relatively minor and everyone seemed to be having a great time. There were about 50 breweries represented with [I am told] 101 different beers to choose from. Probably the most difficult task was tracking down specific beers that I wanted to try because many of the breweries did not send representatives or signage. Luckily, the organizers put together a map to assist attendees locate their favorite brews. Then it was just a matter of figuring out where to start and in what order. One day I am going to sit down and figure out a game plan before the event begins; I have heard of people that tried doing that, although I have yet to meet anyone that was able to stick to their plan.
I would like to congratulate Radtke, Todd Worley and the entire staff of the Alpine Inn for a job well done and I would like to thank all the Craft Beer Guy followers that came up an introduced themselves; I truly do enjoy meeting you. I hope to see all of you next year at the 3rd Annual Alpine Kraft Bierfest. Cheers! Continue reading
Saturday afternoon had a few events going on, plus there were last minute preparations for the 2nd Annual Alpine Kraft Bierfest to help out with, primarily making sure everyone knew about Sunday’s event; so I decided to go out and deliver the last of my fliers beginning with Strand Brewing Company. While there I took the opportunity to try out their new Expression Session Pale Ale which made the trip worthwhile on its own. While I was there I was talking to co-owner Rich Marcello and he mentioned that he was heading over to Total Wine & More in Redondo Beach to meet the guys from New Brew Thursday to participate in a podcast to promote the Strand Brewing Company 4th Anniversary party which is coming up on December 7. Since Total Wine is essentially across the street from me and I had to stop by the house to pick up my girlfriend anyway, I decided to head over to Total Wine to watch the podcast being made.
New Brew Thursday is a website run by four beer fans; Stephen Johnson, John Holzer, Matt Becker and Dr. Bill Sysak. In addition to the website, they [obviously] also produce a podcast where they review various craft beers and do some food and beer pairings. They did two podcasts on Saturday, the first being with a couple of Total Wine employees who discussed a new release from Innis & Gunn. When they finished that, Rich was interviewed while they enjoyed several of Strand’s brews; discussing the history of Strand Brewing Company, the boon of the South Bay craft beer scene and of course, the upcoming 4th Anniversary Party that Strand is having December 7, 2013 from 12:00-8:00 PM.
Strand Brewing Company is located at 23520 Telo Avenue, Unit #1 in Torrance; Total Wine is located at 1505 Hawthorne Boulevard in Redondo Beach. Cheers! Continue reading
Next Sunday, November 17, Alpine Village will host their 2nd Annual Alpine Kraft Bierfest in the Alpine Inn from 3:00-8:00 PM. This American craft beer festival is shaping up to be an outstanding event with at least 50 different breweries being represented, which means there will be at least 100 different beers to choose from.
According to the Alpine Village website, the craft beers scheduled to be poured are:
In case you missed it, last Friday, November 8, 2013 was the third annual International Stout Day. I guess that is one of the advantages of utilizing social media; you find out about this stuff on a regular basis. I am not sure how I missed it last year; perhaps I just do not remember it.
Stouts were actually my first journey into beers other than Budweiser when I was a kid; the beer of choice was always Guinness on tap, but back then bartenders had to know how to pour it right or they could not sell it. Stouts also happen to be a major favorite of my girlfriend. Even before she was able to join me when we found new breweries around the country, she always liked to sip on my stouts. She loved our visit to Dublin and St. James’s Gate. When I told her it was International Stout Day it did not take much convincing and I began searching for International Stout Day events in the area. Apparently it is not as big a deal as International IPA Day as I could find anything happening; I was going to have to create our own event.
There is not much question that if you want a wide variety of craft beers of tap in the South Bay, Naja’s Place on the International Boardwalk is going to have more than anyone else. It was nice out, so we headed over to Fisherman’s Wharf to see what stouts might be available. I was treated to a Speedway Stout by AleSmith Brewing Company and Tanya had a Campfire Stout by High Water Brewing. I think she has a new favorite stout. The other day I was given a blend of Campfire with Old Rasputin; if you like stouts, this is a great combination. Continue reading
Sunday afternoon November 4, Stout Burgers & Beer gastropub held their second BeerFest for BeerGeeks at their Studio City location. This beer festival was truly one for beer geeks and aficionados as Stout gathered about 20 different craft breweries from around the country and even a couple from Europe; each featuring barrel aged, sours or unique one-offs. There were about 38 different brews available to attendees. Due to constraints imposed by the city, only 200 tickets were available which meant that lines were non-existent and there were no concerns of running out of great beer. The timing of the event meant that some people had to choose between San Diego Beer Week (SDBW) and Stout’s BeerFest for BeerGeeks but SDBW goes on for 10 days and this beer festival was only a few hours long, so it was not a tough decision for me. A look at the beers available proves that the event at Stout easily compared with most events you will find in San Diego.
A few of the brews made available included Weizen Bam Bière by Jolly Pumpkin, A Hoppy Lovin’ Christmas by Mikkeller, Stone 11.11.11 Vertical Epic Ale aged In Red Wine Barrels, Total Crystalation by Ninkasi Brewing Company and White Pomeranian (White Dog W/ Pomegranate) by El Segundo Brewing Company. I could go on but suffice it to say, there was something for every palate no matter how advanced and a few that a beer newbie could easily enjoy; like American Dark Lager by Figueroa Mountain Brewing Company. Breweries represented included Almanac Beer Company, Ninkasi Brewing Company, Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales, Shipyard Brewing Company, Anderson Valley Brewing Company, Hangar 24 Craft Brewery, New Belgium Brewing, Figueroa Mountain Brewing Company, Drake’s Brewing Company, Mikkeller, Stone Brewing Company, Allagash Brewing Company, Phantom Carriage, Rodenbach Brewery, Boon Brewery, El Segundo Brewing Company, Valiant Brewing Company and Wolf Creek Brewery.
In addition to the fine beers, Stout Burgers & Beer provided some tasty treats free for attendees and their restaurant was open if you desired a little more than snacks. After speaking with organizers Joey and Jimmy it was evident that they are doing this for the love of the beer and to give craft beer more exposure. An event like this would have to charge $100 per person to come close to being a profitable venture so from one beer geek to another; if you see me post about another of these events, you might want to take a closer look. This was a great time for everyone that attended. Cheers! Continue reading
The other day I announced that this Sunday, November 3, Stout Burgers and Beer in Studio City was holding their second in a series of craft beer festivals, BeerFest for BeerGeeks. This beer festival will feature 20 different craft breweries from around the country, featuring some of our local breweries as well as a couple from Europe. Most breweries will be pouring two brews and all the beers will either be barrel aged, sours or unique one-offs. I have just been authorized to release a promotional code that will give you 33% off your online ticket purchase. You can order your tickets at http://www.eventbrite.com/event/7581507493/craftbeerguy and use promotional code ‘stoutpromo’ and your tickets will drop from $60.00 each to $40.00. With the list of breweries scheduled to attend, this is quite the deal.
Participating breweries include Almanac Beer Company, Ninkasi Brewing Company, Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales, Shipyard Brewing Company, Anderson Valley Brewing Company, Hangar 24 Craft Brewery, New Belgium Brewing, Figueroa Mountain Brewing Company, Drake’s Brewing Company, Mikkeller, Stone Brewing Company, Allagash Brewing Company, Phantom Carriage, Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, Rodenbach Brewery, Boon Brewery, El Segundo Brewing Company, Rough Draft Brewing Company, Valiant Brewing Company and Wolf Creek Restaurant & Brewing Company. Ticket holders will receive unlimited two ounce pours, a souvenir glass and appetizer type foods. They have canceled the second session, so 1:00 – 4:00 PM will be the only session. I hope to see you there. Stout Burgers & Beers is located at 11262 Ventura Boulevard in Studio City, CA. Cheers.
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