Craft Beer Tour 2021: Klamath Falls, OR

These photos were taken over the course of two days, September 16 and 17, days two and three of my Craft Beer Tour 2021, or the quest for the best fresh, wet hop IPA in the land; no judgement though. Anyway, as the title suggests this takes place in and around Klamath Falls, Oregon.

Blame it on old age or whatever you want, but for some reason I thought I had been to Klamath Falls back in 2018, but when I got into town nothing looked familiar and when I looked through the list of breweries I had visited in Oregon, I realized I was thinking of Grants Pass and I had never been here before. As I thought about it, I remembered I never traveled to Bend, the eventual destination, from the south. I was on the other side of the state. Continue reading

Craft Beer Tour 2021: Sacramento Area

So, I am on the road again; this time for the Craft Beer Tour 2021, which I considered calling the COVID Beer Tour, but let’s keep our fingers crossed. This is the first road trip I have done without Buddy in a very long time, so please forgive me if I forget to mention whether or not the location is dog friendly or not. This is also the first time that I am trying out using AirBNB, which as of this writing, has been okay.

These photos were taken September 15, day one of this adventure. Now, to be honest, I was not exactly aiming for Sacramento as my destination for day one; I wanted to go to Roseville, but AirBNB figured it was close enough, and they don’t really tell you where you are going to be until you make the reservation, but the price was right, so I ended up spending the night in Sacramento. Continue reading

Craft Beer LB Fest 2021 Photos

These photos were taken Saturday afternoon at the 5th Annual Craft Beer LB Fest, which was held at the Rancho Los Cerritos Historic Site in Long Beach. The family friendly event featured craft beer from about a dozen Long Beach breweries, a couple homebrew clubs, and one cidery.

While I have attended each of the prior events, it seems that I typically had several events to photograph the same day, so I always attended the VIP session; I was late for the VIP session this time and it really showed me just how crowded this festival gets. Continue reading

El Segundo Brewing 10th Anniversary Photos

These photos were taken Saturday afternoon at the El Segundo Brewing Company tasting room, where El Segundo Brewing celebrated their 10 year anniversary. The event included the release of their Hüftgold Festbier and VollerKOLSCHster, as well as the re-release of their 10th anniversary triple IPA. The Slice and Pint provided bratwursts and sauerkraut, and Röckenwagner Bakery provided their giant pretzels. Live Bavarian polka music was provided by Hammerstein Band (their singer had a beautiful voice).

This was a very fun event, and very well attended; I heard several people mention that is almost seemed like the pre-COVID days. With all the smiles and a tap list boasting more than 20 available brews, I have to agree. Continue reading

Photos of the 7th Annual South Bay Tap Takeover

These photos were taken Thursday at Tortilla Cantina in Torrance, where they hosted my 7th Annual South Bay Tap Takeover, featuring 28 of the South Bay’s craft breweries, with more than 50 taps pouring, and a couple brews that came in cans as keg space was becoming an issue.

I do not know what to say other than thank you to everyone that came out to enjoy the liquid gold provided by the participating breweries, cidery, and meadery. And thanks definitely have to be given to the servers who were kept pretty busy from noon until well after 10:00. The star of the day has to go to Rick who literally took things into his own hands when kitchen staff came up short. Continue reading

7th South Bay Tap Takeover to Feature 28 Breweries

The 7th Annual South Bay Tap Takeover is two days away, and as hard as it may be for me to believe, this may be the first time that I am not going to be rushing around trying to fill taps with less than 24 hours to go; knock on wood.

Just in case this is the first you have heard about my event, shame on me, but this is what you need to know.

The tap takeover is returning to Tortilla Cantina in Old Torrance, from noon until 10:00 PM. Tortilla Cantina is located at 1225 El Prado, in Torrance. Parking is always free in Torrance and there is a large parking structure just south of Tortilla Cantina. Continue reading

Greg Visits Far Field Beer

These photos were taken Saturday evening at Far Field Beer Company, the South Bay’s newest craft brewery, where they hosted a celebration of sorts for Instagram beerlebrity, GregVisitsBreweries, as he celebrated the 1,000th brewery that he has visited since he started counting back in the 20th century.

I first learned of Greg’s upcoming fete a couple weeks ago when my friend Jeff asked me if I followed Greg. When I admitted that I may have seen the name but that was it, I was informed that Greg had been documenting his brewery visits on Instagram and his 1,000th visit would be at Far Field Beer. Naturally, I reached out to Greg and we met at Far Field. Continue reading

7th Annual South Bay Tap Takeover Coming September 2

commemorative-glassware

7th Annual South Bay Tap Takeover September 2

I have to admit, I do not think I ever anticipated saying this back when I put on the first South Bay Tap Takeover, but the 7th Annual South Bay Tap Takeover will be here September 2! And I am sure that even if there was someone that had that kind of optimism, they would not have foretold the event growing from 10 South Bay breweries to 25.

These tap takeovers have been a great success since the first one in 2015; over 400 people attended the inaugural event. Only due to a temporary change in management at the original venue, Flights Beer Bar, was I forced to find somewhere else in the South Bay that could accommodate the amount of beer I wanted to bring in; Tortilla Cantina fit the bill nicely as they actually had more taps than Flights. Icing on the cake was that owner Rick Gomez already had a positive relationship with all the local breweries.

The transition was smooth enough that we even survived the Great 2020 Pandemic, even if the second or third lockdown was scheduled to begin the day after the 6th Annual South Bay Tap Takeover. At least this year we do not have to worry about another lockdown disrupting the event as there is no way Newsom will do that right before the election, so we are a definite go. Continue reading

Far Field Beer Grand Opening Photos

These photos were taken Saturday afternoon at the South Bay’s newest craft brewery, Far Field Beer Company, who celebrated their grand opening in Lawndale. The event had a pretty nice turnout, with lots of families in attendance as well as many local craft beer fans that are frequently seen at the South Bay’s other tasting rooms. For a time they had a pretty consistent line for beer, but the staff made the line seem short and quick.

Like the soft open of last week, Far Field offered seven brews, including their Two Wheeler Berliner Weisse, All-Terrain Cream Ale, Common Misconception California Common, Feller Pilsner, Nebula Session IPA, Field of View Hazy IPA, and Home Range West Coast IPA. The primary difference being that in addition to full and half pours, 4 ounce tasters are now available. Corner Joint, a local restaurant literally around the corner, returned with their wide variety of pizzas available for those wishing solid food. Continue reading

Far Field Beer Company Soft Open Photos

These photos were taken Saturday afternoon at Far Field Beer Company, in Lawndale, where they opened their tasting room to the public for the first time with a soft open.

For the soft open, Far Field offered seven brews, including their Two Wheeler Berliner Weisse, All-Terrain Cream Ale, Common Misconception California Common, Feller Pilsner, Nebula Session IPA, Field of View Hazy IPA, and Home Range West Coast IPA. Corner Joint, a local restaurant literally around the corner had a wide variety of pizzas available for those wishing solid food. Continue reading

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