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

tortilla cantina

4th Annual South Bay Tap Takeover – September 6, 2018

Please save the date, Thursday, September 6, 2018, as the 4th Annual South Bay Tap Takeover is returning; this year the event will be hosted at Tortilla Cantina, in Torrance.

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

Lomita Alehouse Craft Beer Festival and Anniversary

These photos were taken Saturday evening at Lomita Alehouse, where they celebrated their second anniversary by holding Lomita’s first ever craft beer festival. The event featured beer and cider from about a dozen craft breweries and one cidery. Oaxaca on Wheels made food available, and live music was provided by Prime Livity. A portion of the proceeds from the event went to the Keep a Breast Foundation.

Participating breweries included long time local favorites like El Segundo Brewing, Smog City, King Harbor Brewing, Three Weavers, and The Dudes’, as well as the new guys on the block like Zymurgy, Yorkshire Square, and Ximix Craft Exploration. They even had a tap from Inglewood’s newest craft brewery, Tortugo Brewing Company. 101 Cider House, Hangar 24, Speakeasy Ales & Lagers, and Karl Strauss were also in attendance. Continue reading

Festival Obscura at Sunnyside Cemetery

These photos were taken Saturday afternoon at the inaugural, and hopefully the first of many, Festival Obscura at Sunnyside Cemetery in Long Beach, California. The event was a fundraiser for Sunnyside Cemetery; the second oldest cemetery in Long Beach and one of the oldest in California.

While the rest of the country was baking under a nationwide heat wave, the temperature in Long Beach was more like the mid to high-70s, with a cooling breeze that really felt nice; especially if you were in the shade.

While I did not count them, the sold-out event featured more than 40 craft breweries, wineries, and cider makers. In addition to the libations, there were at least 20 booths featuring macabre artists, historians, merchants, and at least one tarot card reader. There were also several food trucks, and live music provided by at least two bands that I noticed. Continue reading

King Harbor Brewing Village Tap Room Now Open

These photos were taken Thursday evening at King Harbor Brewing Company’s new satellite tasting room located in the Riviera Village area of Redondo Beach.

Redondo Beach’s first, and so far only, production brewery has announced that their dominance of Redondo is nearing completion with the opening of their second satellite tasting room, thus creating their own Beermuda Triangle.

Those of you that attended the Riviera Summer Festival last weekend and were paying attention, may have noticed that the King Harbor Village Tap Room had opened their doors for a “very soft” soft opening; apparently it was very well received by those that did notice. Thursday evening’s soft open was primarily a friends and family event, but a sandwich board was placed outside so those strolling by were aware that the doors were now open and the taps were flowing. Continue reading

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