A visit to Ohana Brewing and 38 Degrees 5th Anniversary
On Saturday afternoon we headed out to Alhambra to attend the 38 Degrees Ale House & Grill’s 5th Anniversary Celebration. Unfortunately, Caltrans decided they were going to close several lanes of the 710 freeway turning what should have been a 30 minute drive into an hour-long battle. As we finally turned down Main Street and approached 38 Degrees we immediately noticed that they had a very long line of people waiting to get in. To be honest, I was not ready to stand in any line; I wanted a beer. Luckily for us, Ohana Brewing Company had opened their tasting room a few months ago and they are literally around the corner from 38 Degrees so they became our first stop.
I had an opportunity to visit the Ohana Brewing tasting room back in January shortly after they had been granted their Conditional Use Permit and it was pretty much just a storefront with dreams of what the future would bring. Yesterday, we discovered six taps of Ohana brews, displays featuring their glassware, growlers, shirts and snacks and several customers lined up at the counter trying flights and filling growlers. We ordered up a flight consisting of their Pacific Ale, Hollenbeck Amber Ale, Saison Kau Wela, #Hashtag Hops IPA, Spawater Saison, Surf Shack Saison and Acorn Ambition. All the beers were solid brews; I really enjoyed the Surf Shack Saison which is a very good entry level sour. Owner Andrew Luthi informed me that they have a Double IPA getting ready to be released and after trying the #Hashtag Hops I look forward to trying it. The Ohana Brewing Company tasting room is located at 7 S. 1st Street in Alhambra. Continue reading
Stone Brewery Dinner at The Brewery at Abigaile Photos
On Wednesday evening, Hermosa Beach brewpub The Brewery at Abigaile held another of their delicious Brewery Dinners, this time featuring Stone Brewing Company. The event was attended by a couple dozen craft beer fans and we were all treated to quite a meal with the food menu put together by Chef Tin and Chef Jorge.
The meal started with Stone’s Go To IPA paired with a grilled peach and arugula salad then progressed to Stone’s Saison paired with a Cuban sandwich that was unbelievable with its intense flavors. The third course consisted of a Sprocketbier paired with Patatas Bravas; which I think would make an amazing breakfast dish. The main course was the Collective Distortion IPA paired with Egyptian curried baramundi (a very tasty fish dish) and for dessert; Chipotle Smoked Porter paired with torn chocolate cake, sweet pickled mangoes, pinenut and roasted banana gelato. I know I am not alone in saying that by the time the meal was completed, we were stuffed; Chefs Tin and Jorge are to be congratulated for putting together another tasty meal. Abigaile Restaurant and The Brewery at Abigaile is located at 1301 Manhattan Avenue in Hermosa Beach. Cheers! Continue reading
Naja’s Place 6th Annual IPA Festival
On Wednesday afternoon, the legendary Naja’s Place in Redondo Beach began their 6th Annual IPA Festival; with arguably the best assortment of IPAs from around the country and at least one that I noticed from Belgium. There were Session IPAs, Single IPAs, Double, Triple and Quad IPAs; and Strand Brewing brought a cask of their award winning White Sand with Amarillo hops. While Naja’s has 88 taps, they have more IPAs than they have taps so not every beer will be available every day of this week long festival. In fact, they blew through nine kegs on the first day alone.
On Friday, June 27 Naja’s Place will be releasing several Stone Brewing Company IPAs and on Saturday Pizza Port’s IPAs will be featured. If you enjoy IPAs there really is only one place to be this week and that is Naja’s Place, you can bet they will have something there for you. I know I will be back for sure. Naja’s Place is located at 154 International Boardwalk in Redondo Beach. Cheers! Continue reading
Euro Bierfest 2014 coming July 19 – Get your discount info here
Euro Bierfest 2014, July 19 at Alpine Village
Alpine Village, located in Torrance at the 405 and 110 freeways was established in 1968 and has been the home of the biggest Oktoberfest celebration in Southern California for more than 40 years. In 2012 they held their first Alpine Bier Fest which had more than 100 beers with almost as many attendees. Believe me when I say, if you did not attend it was your loss; there were amazing brews there. Last year they had their 2nd Annual Alpine Bierfest which many of you did attend and can attest to the fact that this was another great beer event and possibly the best value of any beer festival I attended in 2013. The point is, Alpine Village has been doing beer festivals longer than anyone I can think of on this side of the Mississippi River. When Alpine Village says they are providing some of the most amazing beers from across the Atlantic for your tasting pleasure, they mean it. Belgian Sours, German Bocks, English Porters, French Ciders and more. Continue reading
Photos from South Bay Progressive II
Saturday evening I joined a few dozen others for the South Bay Progressive’s second “pub crawl” which included five South Bay venues that specialize in craft beer; each of whom showcased a different American craft brewery. The five venues and the breweries they featured were Brewco, Manhattan Beach featuring Smog City Brewing; The Brewery at Abigaile featuring Stone Brewing Company; Silvio’s Brazilian Barbecue featuring Modern Times Beer; Naja’s Place featuring The Bruery; and Select Beer Store who featured Great Divide Brewing Company. Transportation for the event was provided by LA Craft Beer Tours.
We started our tour at Naja’s Place since it was the closest with the best parking options; the fact that they were showcasing The Bruery made the decision process a little easier. I have to admit, I was a little shocked when I saw the Naja’s tap list as it was emptier than I have ever seen. I was then reminded that Naja’s is having their 6th Annual IPA Festival this coming Wednesday so they are in the process of cleaning all their lines. If you enjoy IPAs you will want to head to Naja’s Place for this week long event.
My intent was to visit The Brewery at Abigaile next with a stop by Silvio’s on the way back but a scheduling conflict resulted in Silvio’s closing at 7:00 PM for a private party so we headed to Silvio’s first then walked up the street to Abigaile. After grabbing a beer, some food and photos we headed to Brewco in Manhattan Beach. As one might imagine, Saturday night in Manhattan Beach meant a pretty large crowd but the service was fast and the people were friendly. After enjoying a beer most of us got back on the bus and headed back to Naja’s Place which was now jumping with live music and an even more lively audience.
South Bay Progressive is a collaboration between the five South Bay venues with a cross-promotion of some of the production breweries that have helped make the South Bay a craft beer destination. The event started last September for LA Beer Week and included four of last night’s participating five venues, with The Brewery at Abigaile joining in the fun this time around. This was the first time I have participated in an event like this but I have to say, if South Bay Progressive continues I will do my best to be there next time as well. Cheers! Continue reading
Home Brew Day: Glacier Summer Ale
I have discussed home brewing here a few times; primarily how much I respect those that do it and how home brewing really isn’t up my alley. I tried a Brooklyn Brewshop Beer Making Kit back in October and came away from the experience with the conclusion that when it comes to production or consumption I am a lot better at the latter. That being said, my son is an excellent home brewer. On Thursday afternoon I headed down to his place to participate in his 12th brew day.
Now it may seem that my son must be a total newbie when it comes to brewing since he “only” has twelve brews under his belt, but I am here to say that while he may be new at this there is no way you would taste his beers and come to that conclusion. I have had several of his brews including an IPA, DIPA, a red ale, a pale ale, his chocolate, vanilla, bourbon porter and most recently, his From Sochi to Stanley Stout and he has never failed to amaze; and that is not just the father in me talking. We both understand that good beer is more important than undeserved compliments. The fact is, I have been to many home brewing events and I would put my son’s brews up against most that I have tried; in fact, he is better than some breweries I have been to.
A couple weeks ago my son and his family went up to Montana to camp and visit places like Glacier National Park. While he was up there his wife came up with the idea of foraging for some items to use in his next brew. If you look closely at the photos you will notice a few things you do not normally find when brewing. The first thing you might notice are the stones in the brewing kettle. He gathered them at Avalanche Creek in Avalanche Gorge and included them throughout the process from beginning with the intent of adding additional minerals. Also included are fresh pine nuts and Forget-Me-Nots which he gathered from the trailhead of Trail of the Cedars and clumps of moss that he gathered from the Avalanche Lake trail. The water you see being added was fresh glacier water that he got from Avalanche Creek; I tasted a little before he added it to his wort and it was as tasty as water can be on its own. Because so many ingredients came from Glacier National Park he is naming this brew Glacier Summer Ale.
The last photo shows the color what the end result should be; which is exactly what he was aiming for. We will have to wait a couple weeks to try this brew but it should be interesting. I cannot wait to report back. Cheers! Continue reading
Stone Brewery Dinner at The Brewery at Abigaile
Come to the Stone Brewery Dinner, June 25 at Abigaile
The five course meal will feature Stone’s Go to IPA paired with a grilled peach and arugula salad, Stone’s Saison paired with a Cuban sandwich, Sprocketbier paired with Patatas bravas, Keri Kelli/Kyle Hollingsworth/Stone Collective Distortion IPA paired with Egyptian curried baramundi and for dessert, Chipotle Smoked Porter paired with torn chocolate cake, sweet pickled mangoes, pinenut and roasted banana gelato. Having attended a couple beer dinners at Abigaile I think it is safe to say that there could be some special surprises in store as Brewery at Abigaile head brewer, Brian Brewer will be joining us to answer all your beer questions.
The Stone Brewery Dinner will begin at 6:30 PM on June 25; tickets are $68.00 each plus tax and gratuity. There are limited tickets available so if you want to guarantee a seat or two you can purchase your tickets ahead of time by sending an email to abigaile.specialevents@gmail.com or by calling (310) 798-8227 (ask for Kyle). You can also buy them at Abigaile ahead on time or if you feel lucky you can try coming down Wednesday evening and ask if there are any seats available. Personally, I would not risk it; get your tickets early and be guaranteed a fun time with great beers and amazing food. You will not be disappointed; I hope to see you there.
The Brewery at Abigaile is located at 1301 Manhattan Avenue in Hermosa Beach. That is at the northwest corner of Manhattan Avenue and Pier Avenue. They do have underground parking for your convenience. Cheers!
A visit to Progress Brewing and an Angry Horse Brewing tasting party
I was invited to attend an event on Saturday featuring an Angry Horse Brewing tasting party for supporters of their Indiegogo campaign which was immediately followed by a birthday party for Angry Horse co-owner and head brewer Luis “Angry Lou” Michel. Before heading out to Montebello for the party I decided to read over their Indiegogo page again and noticed that they spoke of being inspired by the recent opening of Progress Brewing in a neighboring city. Since I was unfamiliar with Progress Brewing I decided to Google them and find out where they were in relation to the Angry Horse event. When I saw that they were only about five miles away from each other it was decided that we would stop by Progress Brewing in South El Monte before going to Montebello.
I will admit that after visiting the Progress Brewing website I was not really sure what to expect; I read a couple articles that seemed to emphasize the fact that Progress was in a Latino neighborhood, the brewer was Latino and they were the first microbrewery in South El Monte which was 85% Latino. When we first pulled up to Progress Brewing the Latino influence was readily apparent from the building design and the painted advertising on the walls. If I had not been looking for a brewery I would have thought it was a neighborhood carniceria. When I walked inside the motif continued to remind me of some cantinas I have visited in Baja with its bare walls, bench seating and tile floors. What really surprised me was their tap list and the pricing.
I started talking with co-owner Kevin Ogilby and discovered that Progress Brewing has only been open for about 10 months. I was immediately impressed because their tap list offered 10 different brews ranging from their Blonde Kölsch and Gold Rush Witbier to a really nice Porter and Fat Henry Russian Imperial Stout. In fact, at one point Tanya (my fiancee) mentioned that they had everything but a sour or barrel-aged option. When Ogilby asked our thoughts about their brews I mentioned Tanya’s observation and he said they were preparing a barrel-aged anniversary brew with a sour soon to be available. Continue reading
Business & Beer at El Segundo Brewing Company
These photos are of the June 2014 gathering of Business & Beer which was held Thursday evening at El Segundo Brewing Company. Business & Beer is an informal business networking group that was established in July of 2012 and currently meets of the second Thursday of every month at one of the tasting rooms or brewpubs found in the South Bay. This is a very informal group in that unlike other business networking groups there are no dues, no mandatory meetings and no restrictions on the type or number of businesses represented. The attendees cover a wide range of occupations including plumbing, accounting, insurance, web development and more. Frequently there will be members of the craft beer industry joining in, including professional brewers, home brewers and people that help new breweries get started. In a nutshell, everyone is welcome with the common denominator being that everyone enjoys craft beer. One of the advantages of joining the Business & Beer networking group is that you will have an opportunity to visit all the craft breweries the South Bay has to offer.
El Segundo Brewing Company had a full menu of their brews available both on tap and in bottles and everyone was able to find something they liked whether it was a hoppy Two 5 Left DIPA, a malty Station No. 1 red ale or a rich Standard Crude Imperial Stout. El Segundo Brewing Company is located at 140 Main Street in El Segundo. Cheers! Continue reading
L.A. Beer Bloggers Summit No. 11
On Sunday afternoon the L.A. Beer Bloggers held their LA Beer Bloggers Summit No. 11 with tours of two of L.A.’s newest production craft breweries; Pac City Brewery in Pacoima and MacLeod Ale Brewing Company in Van Nuys.
Pac City Brewery had their ribbon cutting was held at the end of April and since then they have been brewing up a storm, including the first beer ever named after me; Lloyd’s Hazel Nuts. While the beer was only a few days old it was pretty tasty, especially if you enjoy hazelnuts. I look forward to trying it again in a couple of weeks.
Because of the type of license Pac City Brewery has they cannot sell their brews at their tasting room, but they can give it away if having a function that is a fundraiser for a 501(C)(3) organization. So, while they work on getting the word out that Pacoima now has a craft brewery they have been displaying their beers by holding fundraisers such as their Beer Nights with Pac City which is being held Saturday, June 21 from 6:30-9:00. The $40 entry fee gets you full pint pours of whichever beer you desire, good music and Pac City tri-tip chili. A major portion of the monies raised will go to the LAPD Baker to Vegas running team. I sponsored Riverside Sheriffs a few years ago and went to photograph it; these guys are madmen. If you are interested, you can purchase tickets through Eventbrite. Pac City Brewery is located at 12780 Pierce Street in Pacoima. Continue reading
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