Microbreweries
Smog City Brewing 13th Anniversary Photos
These photos were taken Saturday afternoon at Smog City Brewing Company, in Torrance, where hundreds of friends, family, and fans gathered to celebrate Smog City’s 13th Anniversary. If you have ever attended a Smog City anniversary celebration in the past, you know that this was another very fun event.
I was there for the early portion of the event, which featured axe throwing for adults, and kids, as well as numerous food trucks/popups, pie throwing for charity, live music, the release of their 13th Anniversary IPA, and a special guest, my new dog, Roxy. Continue reading
LA Ale Works 7ish Anniversary Photos
These photos were taken Saturday afternoon at Los Angeles Ale Works in Hawthorne, where friends, fans, and family gathered to celebrate 7ish years of brewing beer in Hawthorne. The reason they called it the “7ish” anniversary is that they actually had their grand opening in February of 2017, but as co-founder Andrew Fowler explained, moving the party back a few weeks will usually result in better weather; that policy definitely worked to their advantage yesterday.
Anyway, the very well-attended event featured live music, a myriad of food trucks, specialty drinks, a balloon artist, games for the kids, lots of cool dogs, and of course, the release of their anniversary beer, 7ish, an IPA. Continue reading
Hermosa Brewing 6th Anniversary Photos
These photos were taken Saturday at Hermosa Brewing Company’s Torrance location where they had a party celebrating six years of brewing beer. I actually made two visits, the first being early in the afternoon with my friend Phil, on the way home from the Brouwerij West party. I returned a few hours later solo; those photos start on page two.
When Phil and I arrived there was still plenty of parking. They had a couple food trucks and almost as many dogs as people, which was definitely fine with me. We each had a beer and Phil got some food for his wife at which point we headed to his place. Continue reading
Brouwerij West 8th Anniversary Photos
These photos were taken Saturday afternoon at Brouwerij West in San Pedro, where they celebrated their eighth anniversary. The all day long event began with a pancake breakfast and concluded with a concert by Metalachi, the world’s first and only heavy metal mariachi band. There were also a couple food trucks, and the release of their anniversary beer, 8 Times 8 Times.
While I did not arrive for breakfast or stick around for the concert, I did bring my buddy Phil for his first visit to Brouwerij West and we had a couple beers. Considering the early hour and the weather, they had a pretty nice crowd. Knowing Brouwerij West the way I do, I am confident that they had an even larger group by the end of the evening. Continue reading
TrustedGut Grand Opening Photos
These photos were taken Saturday afternoon at the TrustedGut/King Harbor Brewery and Taproom in Redondo Beach, where TrustedGut and a few hundred of their friends, fans, and family gathered to celebrate their grand opening. The well attended event featured a ribbon cutting, three food trucks, a couple different live bands and DJs, games and a Guinness World Record attempt.
First off, a couple observations; I don’t know who Chris at TrustedGut knows, but that person set us up with amazing weather; one of the nicest days of 2024. Lots of t-shirts out there yesterday; I am wearing a sweater today, so well done on the weather. Secondly, TrustedGut promotes themselves as a family and pet friendly taproom, and it sure showed yesterday; lots of families and so many dogs. Even the dogs all seemed to enjoy the groove. Continue reading
The Meltdown 2024 Photos
These photos were taken Saturday afternoon at El Segundo Brewing Company, where they held their annual can release of Power Plant Triple IPA and Nuclear Power Plant, their quadruple IPA.
So, it is that time of year again when everyone releases their Triple IPAs, or like ESBC, a Triple and a Quad.
I had a very busy Saturday scheduled, so I arrived at El Segundo Brewing when they first opened, and they already had several people there enjoying both the Power Plant and Nuclear Power Plant. In addition to the beer, co-founder Tommy Kelley was melting down a wheel of raclette cheese to go over a bowl of potatoes. People seemed to enjoy it, but I had places to go and people to see so I was unable to try it out. Continue reading
King Harbor Brewing Reunion at TrustedGut Brewing
These photos were taken Friday evening, December 22, at TrustedGut Brewing in Redondo Beach, where they held a combination reunion of King Harbor Brewing regulars and Ugly Sweater/Christmas party.
So, I guess it was sometime around Thanksgiving that I was at TrustedGut Brewing when my friends Juan and Claudia came in. As is my habit, I introduced them to Chris Garrett, the CEO and founder of TrustedGut. I am not really sure how the conversation turned to Christmas, but before I knew it, there was a party being planned and Claudia and I were tasked with creating a guest list with a maximum of 45 people in attendance (fire department capacity), which meant there was no way I could promote it on this site or via social media. What I discovered was just how many people leave town for Christmas; luckily, a few people come into town for Christmas too, thanks Chad. Continue reading
Cellador Ales Celebrates 7 Years
These photos were taken Saturday afternoon, December 16 at Cellador Ales, a blendery in Torrance, where they celebrated seven years of blending sour ales. The event featured $5.00 pours, new beer releases, snacks and cake.
To say that Cellador Ales has had a tough row to hoe is definitely an understatement. Yeah, everyone has had a tough three years due to the global pandemic, but Cellador has had to tackle a couple extra hurdles.
Last June, Kevin and Sara Osborne announced that their brewery/blendery and taproom in North Hills would close at the end of 2022. According to Kevin’s announcement, it was a combination of Covid related “financial issues, lease issues, personal life changes, and more.” Continue reading
Photos from the TrustedGut Soft Open Preview
These photos were taken Saturday and Sunday at the new TrustedGut Brewing location in Redondo Beach, where they held what was described as their “soft open preview” which will officially begin on Tuesday.
Saturday and Sunday were primarily open so TrustedGut could get a grasp on how things would go as well as an opportunity to complete some of the finish work to get the taproom ready for the throngs that have been waiting for the former King Harbor Brewing location to reopen. This included figuring out NFL Sunday Ticket, which was definitely a welcome addition. Continue reading
TrustedGut Brewing Soft Open Begins Today
These photos were primarily taken Thursday and Friday, October 5 and 6, at the new TrustedGut Brewing location in Redondo Beach, where I was given a sneak preview of the new TrustedGut. Since my post a couple days ago confused at least one person, TrustedGut has now officially taken over the old King Harbor Brewing Company location on 182nd Street.
For those unfamiliar with TrustedGut, they have been around for a couple years now, primarily known in the Long Beach area for their hard seltzers and kombucha. Word is that the Long Beach location will likely open in the next few months. In the meantime, beer will be produced and poured at their new Redondo Beach location. Continue reading