Hōkūle’a Brewing Company Soft Open Begins
These photos were taken Saturday afternoon at Hōkūle’a Brewing Company, when they officially opened their doors to begin their soft open, which will go on for a few weeks.
Although I arrived shortly after Hōkūle’a opened their doors, they already had 15 or 20 people seated trying the three Hōkūle’a brews that were available on day one; as well as the ciders from Southern California Cider Company (who shares the spot with Hōkūle’a), and a mead from Honest Abe’s.
Hōkūle’a’s three brews included their Gremmie Pils, Keiki IPA (a session IPA), and Key Lime Pai, a kettle sour. I think I enjoyed the Keiki IPA the most, but Key Lime Pai was definitely a crowd favorite when I was there. Continue reading
Hokulea Brewing: From the Beginning
The long awaited opening of Hokulea Brewing Company is upon us as it was announced today that Hokulea will begin their soft open Saturday, August 18. These photos show the build of Hokulea from when I first visited the location back in June 2017, through today.
Hokulea Brewing combined forces with The Honest Abe Cidery to create a brewpub with a brewery, cidery, and poke bar with 40 taps. Since they are a brewpub, they can sell beers from other breweries which is the plan is while Hokulea builds up its tap list of in-house brewed brews. You may notice the two very large fermenters in the photos; those are for the cider side of the house.
The soft open begins Saturday, and will continue daily until they have their official grand opening sometime in September. In the beginning, they hope to be able to offer food tastings, with the kitchen opening full time as soon as possible. Continue reading
Tortilla Cantina 8th Anniversary Photos
These photos were taken Saturday evening at Tortilla Cantina in Torrance, where they celebrated their 8th anniversary. The event featured craft beer pouring from close to 50 taps, live music from Ashleigh Correa, and Charlie Don’t Surf (Kemo and the boys), and complimentary appetizers for an hour or so.
Tortilla Cantina is a “taco bistro” that offers 18 varieties of tacos and usually has about 48 different beers on tap. They are also the home of the 4th Annual South Bay Tap Takeover, which will be held on September 6, from noon until 11:30 PM, and will feature their standard Happy Hour from noon to 7:00 PM, their wide selection of tacos, and live music by Ashleigh Correa.
The breweries scheduled to attend are Absolution Brewing, Brouwerij West, Common Space, The Dudes’, El Segundo Brewing, Hermosa Brewing Company, The Honest Abe Cidery, HopSaint, King Harbor Brewing, LA Ale Works, Phantom Carriage, Scholb, Smog City, State Brewing, Strand Brewing, Three Weavers, Ximix Craft Exploration, Yorkshire Square, and Zymurgy Brew Works. Continue reading
Strand Brewing Company’s 3rd Annual Backyard Barbecue
These photos were taken Saturday afternoon at Strand Brewing Company’s 3rd Annual Backyard Barbecue which was held at Strand’s production brewery and tasting room.
As I mentioned in my last article, Saturday had several events going on. While the music was just getting started at Absolution, Strand had live music going on all day and the tasting room was jumping with lots of families, with their dogs and kids; and several sub-parties going on at the same time.
In addition to the 12 Strand Brewing beers that were available, the Chefs in Shorts food truck was there providing the barbecued goodies; local live music was provided by Snake Oil Salesmen, Gilbert Louie Ray, South Bay All-Stars, and Ryan Collazo. It is safe to say that a good time was had by all. Cheers! Continue reading
Absolution Brewing Mid-Summer Party 2018
These photos were taken Saturday afternoon at the Absolution Brewing Company tasting room, where they held their Mid-Summer Party 2018. The event featured an all-you-can-taste firkin session, a live DJ set, live music, and a couple food trucks.
There are times during the year that it seems the weekends are non-stop craft beer events; this past Saturday was one of those days. Since there is only one of me, I am forced to split my time between events, and like Saturday, sometimes I have to skip an event or two.
When I have multiple events happening at the same time, I typically attend the one furthest from home, and work my way back; which meant that I went to Absolution Brewing first. Continue reading
Fundraiser for the Briseño Family at Smog City Brewing
These photos were taken Friday afternoon at Smog City Brewing in Torrance, where they held a fundraiser for the family of their Retail Director, Jason Briseño. A couple weeks ago, the family home of more than 30 years was destroyed by a quick moving fire that had started within the walls of the house. With no time to remove items from the house, the Briseños lost virtually everything they owned.
All day Friday, $3.00 from every pint sold went to the fund to help the family rebuild. While I was there, some great homemade cookies were made available for $1.00 each, which also went to the fund. As a side note, those cookies paired amazingly well with Smog City’s Infinite Wishes.
While there, I overheard a conversation between a Smog City regular and Smog City co-founder Laurie Porter. The regular had thanked Laurie and Smog City for putting the event together; Laurie’s response was pretty simple, “Jason is family.” Continue reading
DTLA Breweries United Fest 4.0 Photos
These photos were taken Sunday evening at the DTLA Breweries United 4.0 craft beer festival, which was held at the Triangle Lot outside Angel City Brewery. The event featured special brews from each of the seven participating breweries as well as a collaboration that involved all seven.
The fourth in a series of semiannual craft beer festivals put on by DTLA Breweries United, Sunday’s event featured beers from member breweries Angel City, Arts District Brewing, Dry River Brewing, Indie Brewing, Iron Triangle, Mumford and Boomtown Brewing. In addition to lots of good beer, food was made available by Peaches’ Food Truck. There was a DJ, a dunk tank featuring brewers from each of the participating breweries, cornhole, and lots of sunshine to keep the hundreds of attendees entertained. All the proceeds from the event went to benefit the Keep A Breast Foundation. Continue reading
Media Preview of 6th and La Brea
These photos were taken Wednesday evening at the soon to be opened, 6th and La Brea; the newest brewpub opened by the Artisanal Brewers Collective, a restaurant group co-founded by Tony Yanow, formerly of Golden Road Brewing.
If you are unfamiliar with the Artisanal Brewers Collective, do not feel too bad; I may have heard the name mentioned a time or two, but the brewpubs and gastropubs they have opened and are opening from Los Angeles to San Diego are names that I have heard mentioned pretty frequently lately. These include Bluebird Brasserie in Sherman Oaks, The Stalking Horse in West LA, The Bell Marker in San Diego, as well as a number of other current and pending locations.
6th and La Brea is a very nice, 8,400 square foot location with a spacious patio for those that want to enjoy to Southern California climate while dining on menu offerings created by Chef Jihee Kim, or enjoying house brews crafted Director of Brewing, Noah Regnery. Continue reading
4th Annual South Bay Tap Takeover Coming to Tortilla Cantina
4th Annual South Bay Tap Takeover – September 6, 2018
The first time I put on this event, in 2015, it consisted of 40 taps from 10 of the South Bay’s best craft breweries. This year we have 19 breweries currently confirmed as attending; the number of taps we will have has yet to be determined, but Tortilla Cantina’s owner Rick Gomez informed me that he has the ability to provide up to 50 taps, so we shall see.
The breweries scheduled to attend, in alphabetical order, are Absolution Brewing, Brouwerij West, Common Space, El Segundo Brewing, Hermosa Brewing Company, HopSaint, King Harbor Brewing, LA Ale Works, Phantom Carriage, Scholb, Smog City, State Brewing, Strand Brewing, The Dudes’, The Honest Abe Cidery, Three Weavers, Ximix, Yorkshire Square, and Zymurgy Brew Works. Continue reading
A Visit to Ten Mile Brewing Company
When I first started writing about craft breweries, it was pretty easy to keep up and even stay on top of things. Heck, you used to be able to visit all the Torrance breweries in one day without making it almost a chore. But the times are definitely changing and it has become difficult for me to stay current with the craft beer growth happening with our neighbors to the south of me, the Long Beach area.
Last Saturday I was in Signal Hill, a close neighbor of Long Beach, for the Festival Obscura at Sunnyside Cemetery. As I was talking to the guys manning the taps at the Ten Mile Brewing booth I learned that the craft brewery and tasting room were literally across the street from the cemetery; you could see the sign through the trees. I decided I would make one more stop after I finished up at the festival. Continue reading
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