7th Annual South Bay Tap Takeover Coming September 2

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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

Paperback Brewing First Anniversary Photos

These photos were taken Sunday afternoon at Paperback Brewing Company in Glendale, where they not only celebrated their official grand opening, but their one year anniversary at the same time. So yeah, you read that right; it is their one year anniversary and they are just now officially open to the public. COVID strikes again.

If you will recall, last year the county let breweries open for a minute before they shut them down again; that is when Paperback was planning on opening to the public. Instead of filling their tasting room with customers like they had planned, they hooked up with a mobile canning unit and sold beer to go in cans and growlers. In fact, my first experience with Paperback was at a couple of the COVID can exchanges I have been putting on. When Paperback sent me a press release about their official opening to the public I decided to head over for what I discovered was also their one year anniversary. Continue reading

Beachwood Brewing 10th Anniversary Photos

These photos were taken Saturday afternoon at the Beachwood BBQ & Brewing brewpub in Long Beach, where Beachwood fans gathered to celebrate 10 years of great barbecue and even better beer.

If you have attended previous anniversary celebrations at Beachwood, the first thing you would notice is that there was no line to get in. In fact, there were very few lines at all during the two hours I was there. The one thing that today had in common with prior years was the amazing beer selection. By my count there were 23 house brews on tap, including one hard seltzer, and Hoppa Emeritus on cask, as well as six guest taps, and eight Blendery options. Continue reading

Karl Strauss and Rhinegeist Brewery Release a Collaboration IPA

all-the-peels fruited ipa

All the Peels Fruited IPA by Karl Strauss & Rhinegeist Brewery

San Diego, CA— Karl Strauss Brewing Company is celebrating the beginning of summer by debuting the latest in their acclaimed collaboration series. This brand new release is an innovative IPA brewed with their friends from Rhinegeist Brewery in Cincinnati, Ohio.

All The Peels Fruited IPA is brewed with California and Oregon sourced blood oranges (both peel and purée) for fragrant hits of citrus from beginning to end, backed by floral and resiny notes from Cascade, Crystal, Columbus, and Chinook hops.

As for Rhinegeist, the fast-growing Ohioan brewery has already made a huge impact on the Midwest craft beer scene. The Karl Strauss crew is thrilled to help further introduce this esteemed brewery to California and Arizona residents, who may be trying them for the very first time. Continue reading

Introducing Far Field Beer Company

These photos were taken Wednesday afternoon, when I headed over to Lawndale to visit the soon-to-open Far Field Beer Company. Yes, you read that right; Lawndale is getting their first craft brewery and tasting room; and the SpaceX Corridor is back to having four breweries.

When I first heard that Lawndale was getting a brewery, I had to question it; for as long as I have been the Craft Beer Guy, I thought that Lawndale had some law that made it difficult, if not impossible, to open a brewery in the city. When I discovered their location, the north side of Rosecrans just west of Hawthorne, I was relatively confident that was Hawthorne. Well, apparently Lawndale does a little jog across Rosecrans for a couple blocks. So, while the post office and your GPS will tell you it is in Hawthorne, they got their Conditional Use Permit through Lawndale. Continue reading

Doom Lodge at Eureka Brewing Company

These photos were taken Sunday afternoon at Eureka Brewing Company, in Gardena, where they held their first live music event, featuring Doom Lodge, a self-described Doom Punk Trio out of Hawthorne, whose musical genre falls under Psych Rock. One of the trio is Pete Mauch, head sales rep for Eureka Brewing.

In addition to the live music, and Eureka’s brews, seafood chimichangas were available from the Margi Chimichangas food truck.

Eureka Brewing Company is located at 13723 1/2 Harvard Place in Gardena; that is one block east of Western at 139th Street. Their hours are Monday through Thursday from 4:00 to 8:00 PM, Friday from 3:00 to 8:00 PM, and Saturday and Sunday from noon to 7:00 PM. Cheers! Continue reading

Absolution Brewing 7th Anniversary Photos

These photos were taken Saturday afternoon at the Absolution Brewing Company brewery and tasting room in Torrance, where Absolution and a few hundred of their fans gathered to celebrate their seventh anniversary.

The event included the release of their anniversary beer, Our Magnificent Seven, a quadruple IPA available on tap or in cans. While I was there, live music was provided by Nasty Bad Habit and there was food available from the Deli Belly food truck. Continue reading

Double Master Collaboration Beer Now Available from Red Clay Brewing and Miura Vineyards

red clay - miura collaboration

Red Clay Brewing & Miura Vineyard collaboration launching coast-to-coast

Opelika, AL – Master Brewer Kerry McGinnis of Red Clay Brewing Company has partnered up with Master Sommelier Emmanuel Kemiji of Miura Vineyards to create a line of experimental brews that introduce globally inspired flavors for the world’s first ever Double Master Collaboration Beer series.

Each beer was brewed at Red Clay Brewing Company at Opelika’s first brewery in central lower Alabama. Red Clay Brewing is firmly entrenched in the south and is named after the red clay earth found in Alabama. While Miura hails from Northern California and is named after the most legendary and mythical breeder of the most famous bulls in Spain, Emmanuel Kemiji and Kerry McGinnish found a path to partnership for this new lineup of globally inspired and complex beers.

While oenobeers (beers brewed using grapes or beers aged in wine barrels) are rising in popularity, there’s never been a collaboration where a Master sommelier and a Master brewer made a canned beer together. Continue reading

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