Photos from the Media Preview of California Sun

These photos were taken Tuesday evening at California Sun, a new gastropub in the Silver Lake area of Los Angeles. California Sun is part of the Artisanal Brewers Collective, a restaurant group co-founded by Tony Yanow, formerly of Golden Road Brewing. California Sun features New York and Detroit style pizzas, for vegans, vegetarians and omnivores, as well as lots and lots of craft beer from around the country and beyond.

Anyone that knows me personally, or reads my site on a regular basis, is probably aware that pizza does not rank very high on my list of food choices; so what the heck was I doing at a pizza place that took over an hour of driving to get to? Well, there are three reasons actually. Continue reading

Fremont Brewing Introduces Sky Kraken

Sky Kraken

Sky Kraken by Freemont Brewing

Fremont Brewing of Seattle, Washington will release a new year-round beer called Sky Kraken Hazy Pale Ale on Thursday, January 24th at Fremont’s Urban Beer Garden starting at 4:00 PM. It will be available in 12oz cans, kegs, and 22oz bottles across Fremont’s entire distribution footprint. Sky Kraken is Fremont’s newest year-round release since Lush in 2017 which started as a seasonal in 2016.

A naturally unfiltered beer, Sky Kraken is made with Strata, Mosaic and a touch of Citra hops and 2-Row Pale malt, malted oats, white wheat and flaked wheat. Sky Kraken swims through the sky with ripe melon, juicy citrus, pineapple, and pepper flavors.

“We released the Kraken because Krakens can only be kept a secret for so long,” explained Matt Lincecum, Fremont Brewing CEO. “Nicknamed ‘Sky’, this Kraken likes watercolors, chocolate cookies, tuna snacks and dislikes being alone. So, if you see the Kraken, please take it home and share it with friends.” Continue reading

A Visit to Hermosa Brewing Company

These photos were taken Friday evening at Hermosa Brewing Company, a relatively new taproom in Hermosa Beach. It is literally around the corner from The Brewery at Abigaile, so I headed there after attending Abigaile’s Meet the Brewer event.

Regular readers may recall that in my review of 2018 I said that there were a couple breweries in the South Bay that I had yet to visit; one was Tortugo Brewing, which I took care of a few weeks ago, the second was Hermosa Brewing Company. While I had visited Hermosa Brewing back in August, it was pretty much to choose a couple of their beers for the 4th Annual South Bay Tap Takeover. This was my first visit with customers. Continue reading

Photos from Meet the Brewer at The Brewery at Abigaile

These photos were taken Friday evening at Alta House, formerly known as Ocean Bar, which is the upstairs area of Abigaile and The Brewery at Abigaile. The event was hosted to introduce The Brewery at Abigaile’s new brewer, Josh McCombs.

A question that I have been asked pretty frequently lately is, “What’s going on at Abigaile?” It was a legitimate question since their last brewer that I was aware of, Mitchell Riser, left several months ago and since they are licensed as a brewpub, they need to be brewing beer. That issue was resolved at the beginning of January when Josh McCombs came onboard as their new brewer. Continue reading

Photos from Bar Talk with Brooklyn Brewery

These photos were taken Wednesday evening at Beelman’s in downtown Los Angeles, where they hosted Brooklyn Brewery’s “Bar Talk: Craft Beer, Innovation & The Great Cape Debate with Steve Hindy & Garrett Oliver”; which was then followed up with an after party a couple doors down from Beelman’s at Spring Street Bar. For those unaware, Steve Hindy is the founder of Brooklyn Brewery, and Garrett Oliver has been their brewmaster since joining Brooklyn Brewery in 1994.

The event was to announce the launch of Brooklyn Brewery’s distribution in California, and as Garrett Oliver put it, they go where their beer goes. Apparently this was one of the few times that Hindy and Garrett has shared the stage together but, to this observer, the discussion ran so smoothly you might have thought it was entirely scripted; it was not. Continue reading

Dust Bowl Brewing Introduces Dump Truck of the Gods

dump truck of the gods

Dump Truck of the Gods released by Dust Bowl Brewing

Dust Bowl Brewing Co. continues to expand its specialty can portfolio with the introduction of Dump Truck of the Gods. The Mega IPA was first offered in draft in August 2014 and rolls out to retailers this month in the 16 oz./pint can format. It’s on the schedule for another run in May. Dump Truck of the Gods features a hefty 11.7% ABV and 130 IBUs. Huge aromas of candied orange, papaya and a little booziness accompany the full-bodied, caramel malt sweetness.

Brewmaster, Don Oliver, reflects on the first brew, “In the quest for ever hoppier beers, I was formulating two brews, one a standard IPA with the largest hop load we had tried, which also incorporated hop extracts, and a double IPA using hops named after gods – Apollo, Zeus and Merkur. That exercise lead me to combine the two ideas for a high-gravity Mega IPA, which quickly became a hit at our taprooms.” Continue reading

The Meltdown – Power Plant Release Photos

These photos were taken Friday afternoon at El Segundo Brewing Company, and Friday evening at Tortilla Cantina, home of the 5th Annual South Bay Tap Takeover. Friday was day one of El Segundo Brewing’s release of their Power Plant Triple IPA, which included a synchronized release with about 20 other locations in Southern California; one of which was Tortilla Cantina.

This is the time of year that triple IPAs start finding their way up and down the state of California, probably due in large part to the fact that for the last 15 years Russian River Brewing has released their Pliny the Younger Triple IPA on the first Friday of February. El Segundo Brewing has been releasing Power Plant at about the same time for the last five years. Continue reading

Burnin’ Daylight Soft Open Photos

These photos were taken Thursday afternoon at the soft open of Burnin’ Daylight Brewing Company, a brewpub in the City of Lomita. As you can tell from the photos, the long anticipated opening was very well received.

The doors officially opened at 3:00 PM; I arrived by 3:30 and there was already a line out the door. By the time I got done taking my first batch of photos, the line had doubled in length. You would think that the staff at Burnin’ Daylight had been doing this for years, as the wait was never more than 13 minutes when the line was the longest I saw (I was in it). It was pretty obvious that the customers were enjoying the brews, and the few I spoke with about the food said it was very good; the inside seating area sure smelled good with the spices from the chicken wings wafting through the air. Continue reading

Photos from The Slice and Pint Soft Open

UPDATE: Soft open to the public begins Thursday, January 24 at 5:00 PM

These photos were taken Sunday afternoon at the soft open of El Segundo Brewing Company’s, The Slice and Pint, a new restaurant featuring craft beer, local wines, and a variety of pizzas, salads and appetizers including such items as chicken wings, meatballs, Garlic Knots and calamari.

The event was limited to friends, family, and craft beer industry types, but was very well attended; even with the Rams game on. Of course, those that wanted to watch the game were able to do so as The Slice and Pint had six or seven large screen televisions placed strategically so that you would have to go out of your way to avoid seeing one. Continue reading

Burnin’ Daylight Brewing Company: From the beginning

These photos were taken between June 23, 2017 and January 18, 2019 of the construction of Lomita’s first brewpub, Burnin’ Daylight Brewing Company. While it has been a long journey, your patience is about to be rewarded.

It was April 18, 2017 when Burnin’ Daylight Brewing Company had their Conditional Use Permit granted by the Lomita City Council; it took the changing of some laws, but Lomita really wanted to get in on the craft beer craze going on in the South Bay. Two months later I started stopping by to take photos of the build. There would be periods with lots of change and some that seemed nothing was happening, but the Lake family, Head Brewer Brendan along with mom and dad Shannon and Bob, kept plodding along and are now ready to announce the soft open of Burnin’ Daylight Brewing Company. Continue reading

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Archives