The End of an Era: King Harbor Brewing Closes
These photos were taken over the course of three days; Thursday evening at the King Harbor Brewery, Friday evening at the King Harbor Village Tap Room and the brewery, and Saturday afternoon and evening at the brewery, as all King Harbor Brewing Company locations closed effective Saturday, December 31.
4th of July 2013; I remember the day well. That morning, my girlfriend and I were doing our morning walk around The Galleria with the dogs when we were walking through the strip mall on 182nd Street and walked past a vacant spot that had a Notice of Intent to sell alcohol. Upon closer inspection I noticed that Coastline Brewing would be opening in that location; I was pretty stoked to hear that a brewery was opening within a 10 minute walk from my house. Two months later, to avoid a potential trademark dispute with a winery up north, Coastline Cellars, Coastline Brewing became King Harbor Brewing Company. Continue reading
Soft Open of Hermosa Brewing in Torrance Photos
These photos were taken Thursday evening at the soon to be open Hermosa Brewing Company in Torrance, where they held a friends and family soft open in preparation of their grand opening, which should happen within the next couple of weeks.
The event featured burgers from Proudly Serving, live music by Righteous and The Soul, and of course, plenty of Hermosa Brewing Company beer, with 11 taps available. Continue reading
The Craft Beer Guy Recap of 2022
Well, it is that time of year again, when I try to recollect everything that happened in the craft beer world this year that I participated in. This is typically the most difficult article of the year for me to write because I go into it thinking, “What the hell did I do this year anyway?” 
I know I went on my annual craft beer tour, I know I was able to put on the 8th Annual South Bay Tap Takeover, and I know there was at least one brewery closure in the South Bay. I used to end these recaps by predicting what I expect to happen in the following year, but the last two years have been really tough to predict. Unfortunately, there is a lot slated for 2023 that is not exactly positive, but I don’t make the news, I only report it. So, let’s look back at 2022, because I am sure I must have done something more that what I have already mentioned. Continue reading
Holiday Sweaters Against Humanity Party at Naja’s Place
These photos were taken Wednesday evening at Naja’s Place on the International Boardwalk in Redondo Beach, where they held their Holiday Sweaters Against Humanity Party. The event featured an Ugly Sweater Contest, movies, three rare beer flights, and a few Christmas sweets.
There were three flights made available, including a Firestone Flight, a Goose Island Flight made up of various BCBS variants, and a Sour Flight consisting of sours from Three Weavers, Great Notion, New Belgium, Almanac, and Barrelworks. Continue reading
2nd Annual Ugly Sweater Party at Absolution Brewing Photos
These photos were taken Saturday afternoon at the 2nd Annual Ugly Sweater Party at Absolution Brewing Company, in Torrance. Since I had not brought my camera into Scholb Premium Ales in a while, I decided to walk over and grab a couple beers and photos there too.
Absolution’s Ugly Sweater Party featured photos with a petite Santa, raffles, a photo booth, Jenga, cornhole, darts, foosball, and music by DJ Jay Dieguez. In addition, there was food by Fresh off the Yacht, an Ugliest Sweater Contest, and lots of delicious beer. Continue reading
2022 Christmas Parade After-Party at El Segundo Brewing
These photos were taken Sunday afternoon at the El Segundo Brewing Company tasting room, where they held their annual El Segundo Christmas Parade After-Party. The event featured food from Saulitos BBQ, music by The Stocking Stuffers, the release of new beers (their 2022 Old Jetty Barrel Aged Barleywine and their Horus Aged Ales BOB 2.5 Barrel Aged Barleywine), as well as their “Christmas Break” Baltic Porter with ginger we brewed in collaboration with HopSaint Brewing, which was available on tap and “Poked.” They also had photo ops with Mrs. Claus, lots of donuts, and a return visit by our old friend, Bernie Wire.
So, because of the weather I did not make it to the actual parade, but made it to the after-party with my friends Phil and Deborah. While the parade is always entertaining, we were really there for the beer (poked and on draught) as well as an opportunity to see Bernie before he headed back to Minnesota. Continue reading
Craft Beer Guy Visits Booze Brothers – Fallbrook
These photos were taken Sunday afternoon, November 6, when I visited the Booze Brothers satellite tasting room in Fallbrook. Those of you paying close attention may recall that I occasionally visit breweries in the Inland Empire and that it usually coincides with my number one grandson performing in a play; Sunday was no exception.
So, first things first; when I was on Mission Road and my GPS unit suggested that Booze Brothers was coming up soon, on the right, I slowed to a speed that would allow me to make a quick turn into a parking lot should that be required. I drove to the first traffic signal and noticed by it being the 700 block of Mission, that I had apparently driven passed Booze Brothers. I made a u-turn and started paying attention to whatever street numbers I could find, but never saw a sign for Booze Brothers, so when I hit the 900 block I made another u-turn and parked at the first spot on the street I could find. Continue reading
Upshift and Surfridge Celebrate Three Years
These photos were taken Saturday, November 5, at Upshift Brewing Company and Surfridge Brewing Company, both of which are located in El Segundo and coincidentally, were both celebrating their third anniversaries. Both events featured food trucks and live music.
I started my day off at Upshift Brewing, for no particular reason (at the time) other than it was the only anniversary party I knew was happening. They had a ticketed VIP hour, but I showed up after that. There were a couple dozen people there when I arrived, but it did not take long for the inside and outside seating to begin filling up. Continue reading
Craft Beer Tour 2022 – Grand Rapids Area
These photos were taken Tuesday, October 11, day seven of my Craft Beer Tour 2022. As I mentioned in the last article, we headed back towards Ruth’s home in Grand Rapids so that I could hit up a few breweries in the area before I headed back to California. We visited Railtown Brewing Company in Dutton, Broad Leaf Brewery + Spirits in Kentwood, and City Built Brewing in Grand Rapids.
We started off the day by driving south a ways to Dutton, where we visited Railtown Brewing Company, a brewpub that opened in December 2014.
They have a 7bbl system, which offered 15 beers, a hard seltzer, and a cider on the day of our visit, with a nice variety of styles available. Being a creature of habit, I went with their Citra Warrior IIPA, Hophikers Guide to the Galaxy, and Harvest Smash ’22 their wet hopped harvest ale. All were solid, but I have to give the nod to the Citra Warrior as my favorite. Continue reading
Craft Beer Tour 2022 – ByGeorge Brewing and Rusted Spoke Brewing
These photos were taken Monday, October 10, day six of my Craft Beer Tour 2022. As I mentioned in the last article, my sister Ruth wanted to visit the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore so we set the GPS for Munising to check it out. We then visited ByGeorge Brewing (also in Munising) and Rusted Spoke Brewing in Mackinaw City.
While I figured that Pictured Rocks must be pretty photogenic, as we approached Munising I started having some concerns because virtually every billboard or sign that I saw mentioning Pictured Rocks seemed to include kayaks or boats; I was wondering how easy it was going to be to photograph this place from land. The GPS was not being very helpful either since dozens of places had “Pictured Rocks” in the name. Eventually we happened upon a helpful Park Service Ranger that told us we wanted to go to Miners Castle and gave us directions to get there. Continue reading
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