Photos from the 2nd Annual South Bay Tap Takeover at Flights
These photos were taken Thursday evening at Flights during their 2nd Annual South Bay Tap Takeover. This year we featured 15 of the best production breweries in the South Bay; with Absolution Brewing, Brouwerij West, El Segundo Brewing, Honest Abe Hard Ciders, HopSaint Brewing Company, King Harbor Brewing, Phantom Carriage, Rob Rubens Distilling & Brewing, San Pedro Brewing Company, Scholb Premium Ales, Smog City Brewing, State Brewing Company, Strand Brewing Company, The Dudes’ Brewing, and Three Weavers Brewing filling all four tap lines. I watched as people in the craft beer industry as well as the hundreds of craft beer fans looked with amazement at what a South Bay tap list looks like.
While it did get a little crowded during the peak hours, Flights staff, under the guidance of their manager Michelle Pettie kept food and beer flowing with ease. It was pretty obvious that the additional year of experience by the serving staff made a huge difference; I did not notice any of the delays that were experienced last year. I am sure cutting back on the food menu helped as the kitchen was faster which meant people could eat and drink a little quicker and the steady flow of new guests did not cause any of the lines I heard existed last year. Continue reading
Photos from the Great Society Cider & Mead Grand Opening
These photos were taken Tuesday afternoon when Great Society Cider & Mead officially opened with a ribbon cutting and the presentation of a Certificate of Recognition by the City of Long Beach. With that, the cider and mead began flowing and some very good food started coming from the kitchen.
The event was attended by family, friends, and representatives from the City of Long Beach and the Downtown Long Beach Associates along with what is bound to be the first group of Great Society regulars. Everyone seemed really enjoy experimenting with the various ciders and mead that were available. Continue reading
Pub at the Club Beer and Food Festival Photos
The photos were taken Sunday at the Manhattan Beach Badminton Club where they held their inaugural Pub at the Club Craft Beer and Food Festival to benefit the Manhattan Beach Badminton Club’s Junior Foundation programs for special needs, Para and junior athletes. 100% of the ticket sales were donated to their Junior Foundation Programs; a charity dedicated to developing champions on and off the court by supporting all athletes, including special need and Para-athletes.
The intimate event had a couple hundred attendees who enjoyed the day in the sun with more than 30 craft breweries, a few crafty breweries and several local restaurants that provided unlimited craft beer pours and tasty food stuffs. Continue reading
Types of Beers and their Optimal Serving Temperatures
Guest Post
Temperature has a huge effect on how a beer tastes, and what flavors are most dominant when the brew hits your tongue. The optimal temperature of the beer depends a lot on the type of beer that you are serving. We’ve got the details, so let’s get started!
Hot and Cold
Chilled beer is obviously refreshing – but lower temperatures also affect our taste buds. First, cold temps will keep our tongues from sensing many of the flavors present in the average – we’re so busy experiencing the “cold” part of the beer, the “taste” part has less of an impact and our taste buds can become suppressed. Cold temperatures also have another effect – they slow down the volatilization of compounds in the beer. In other words, compounds that would normally be changing and giving off aromatic compounds stay sluggish: This usually means the beer has less flavor when icy cold than when at a higher temperature – there’s less interesting activity going on inside. From a more general perspective, cold temperatures also make it easier to notice carbonation, bitterness, and dry notes, which change the way you think about the beer. Continue reading
2nd Annual South Bay Tap Takeover at Flights – September 1
2nd Annual South Bay Tap Takeover, September 1
Those of you that attended our inaugural event last year will recall what a great time was had, with an amazing turnout; we had 40 taps of South Bay craft beer from 10 South Bay production breweries. This year we are going to make it even better by featuring 15 breweries from the South Bay. Continue reading
Cold War Brewing at Zymurgy Brew Works & Tasting Room
On Wednesday evening, Tanya and I headed over to Zymurgy Brew Works & Tasting Room where we met up with co-founder Bill Baker to try out their new Do-It-Yourself craft brewery which is slated to begin their soft-open on September 10, 2016. My brew would not only add some beer to my collection, but it would give Zymurgy an opportunity to dial in their system and it would provide samples for future brewers to enjoy during subsequent brews. I opted to brew a recipe my son has for his Sochi to Stanley Stout; a delicious Russian Imperial Stout. The reason for this was primarily because I did not want to power drink five gallons of an IPA; I would much rather open one bomber every few months and this beer would be just perfect for that.
I had sent the recipe to Baker ahead of time in order to ensure that all the ingredients or applicable substitutes were available. One substitute was replacing the pound of Special B malt with a pound a Crystal 120 which was presented to me as C-120; I thought that sounded like an explosive so I changed the name of the beer to Cold War Russian Imperial Stout. Homebrewers will acknowledge that a Russian Imperial Stout is a pretty ambitious beer for the average homebrewer; Zymurgy was excited to do it as it was a pretty safe bet that this would be one of the biggest beers they will brew there. Continue reading
DoorDash Now Offering Beer Delivery in LA/OC/SD
DoorDash Now Delivers Beer!
At the end of June I received an email telling me about a relatively new startup called DoorDash. DoorDash is a service that started as an on-demand food delivery service ala Pink Dot or UberEATS; and the reason they were contacting me is that they were getting ready to include alcohol delivery in Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties and they wanted all of you to know that you can have cold, fresh, craft beer delivered to you. What was ironic (to me, anyway) was that not more than an hour earlier one of my friends was on Facebook asking someone to deliver him a beer at work; DoorDash will do just that! Continue reading
Business & Beer Visits Rob Rubens Distilling & Brewing
These photos are from the August gathering of Business & Beer which was held Thursday evening at El Segundo’s newest production brewery, and Los Angeles’ only combination distillery and brewery, Rob Rubens Distilling & Brewing. As a co-founder of the Business & Beer networking group I have come to expect smaller than normal turnouts when we bring the group to the outback of El Segundo, so I was pleasantly surprised at the large turnout we had last night.
Founder and Master Distiller, Rob Rubens gave the group a tour of their operation, discussing the distilling as well as the brewing sides, their similarities and the differences. The group seemed to really enjoy the tour as there were plenty of questions being asked. One of the main differences is that it is a lot faster to distill spirits than brew beer; so while the spirits are not quite ready, they should be soon. Continue reading
Great Society Cider & Mead Now Open In Long Beach
Cider and mead lovers of Long Beach can rejoice as the long awaited opening of Great Society Cider & Mead is officially beginning their soft open Thursday, August 4 at 4:30 PM. Last night I had the opportunity to attend their private soft opening and if the turnout was any indicator of the future of Great Society Cider & Mead, it is bright indeed.
Great Society Cider & Mead provided 20 taps of ciders and mead as well as numerous bottles that pours could be purchased from. If you are someone that thinks ciders are all apples, pears and pineapple, you really owe it to yourself to check out their wide range of delicious beverages. The first we tried was the Grand Opening Gose prepared for Great Society by 101 Cider House; it really set the tempo for the interesting flavors we would experience. The Gose saltiness with a cider was unexpectedly tasty. The Space Bloody Orange by Ace Cider was my first attempt at a food pairing with a cider; it was great with the salmon cakes we got from the kitchen. The Black Fang and Savage Bois were both delicious examples of the mead available; to be honest, I cannot wait to get back to try even more. Continue reading
Cosmic Brewery Enters Soft Open Phase
The long awaited opening of Torrance’s newest production brewery, Cosmic Brewery, home of Cosmic Ales, is now a reality as they opened their tasting room to the public this past weekend. I only had a short window of opportunity to visit on Saturday evening but for making a last minute announcement on Friday that they would be open Saturday, the place was packed.
As you can see by my photos, as I watched the build-out of the brewery I never got any photos of the future tasting room. Owner Christopher Briles always kept that close to the vest and he did not want anyone to see it until it was ready. When it was revealed Saturday one had to admit, the cosmic theme is pretty cool.
The tap system is different than any tasting room I have visited in that you pour your own beer and are charged according to how much you pour. If you recall my article about zpizza a couple months ago, it is the same concept. You purchase a card that you insert on the tap, and you pour your beer. I did not play with it Saturday, but I will probably check it out this weekend. Continue reading
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