American Craft Beer Week 2014, Day1: Good, Better, Worst
Monday May 12 was day one of the 9th Annual American Craft Beer Week, and it is the third consecutive year that I have covered the event. In 2012 I participated by trying to find as many American craft beer locations as possible in the South Bay. In 2013 I set out to visit as many Great American Beer Festival gold medal award winning breweries as possible. Since there has been such an explosion of growth in the craft beer sector around here, I decided that this year will be devoted to the local craft breweries, brewpubs and gastropubs.
I started off by visiting San Pedro Brewing Company (SPBC), a brewpub that has been around for close to 15 years. They have won more than 40 medals at local county fairs, commercial beer competitions and international beer festivals. They have not entered competitions such as the Great American Beer Festival because they have a small brewing system and do not currently have the capacity to brew enough beers to handle the increased demand winning a competition like that would bring. That may soon change though as they are in the process of dealing with the paperwork to open a new location around the corner which will be called Port Town Brewing. SPBC Head Brewer Jason Welke will likely do the brewing for SPBC and Port Town with the SPBC system being used for experimental batches. The hope is to have Port Town Brewing open by next American Craft Beer Week. For those that like bourbon barrel aged brews, Wednesday evening at 6:30 SPBC will have their 2nd Bourbon Barrel Aged Beer Night featuring their Blitzen Belgian Winter Ale and Sunken City Imperial Stout. I went to their first barrel aged event in February and they had some delicious brews. If you are looking for something to do, you really cannot miss by attending this event. San Pedro Brewing Company is located at 331 W. 6th Street in San Pedro and is open seven days a week. Continue reading
Photos of The Bruery’s 6th Anniversary – Sucréversary
On Saturday afternoon, members of The Bruery’s Reserve and Hoarders Society and their guests gathered at The Phoenix Club in Anaheim to join The Bruery and many of the best local craft breweries to celebrate The Bruery’s Sucréversary, or 6th Anniversary. The proceeds from the event were to benefit the Boys & Girls Club of Santa Ana.
Since this was a private event I was a little surprised at how many attendees there were; this beer festival easily rivaled any of the local beer festivals I have attended in recent memory both in the number of people attending and the breweries represented. I got there a little early and even though they were not yet pouring beers, there were four very long lines as The Bruery had scattered three booths and a beer truck around the venue and their fans took advantage of the beer map to get in line for their favorite Bruery offering. To say there was a lot to choose from would be a definite understatement as The Bruery brought such ales as their Griffon Bruxellois, Oui Oui, Premiere, Batch #50, Confession, Sucré – Tawny Port, Grey Monday, Hottenroth, ORB, Grey Monday and many others. They even brought out some special beers such as Three Floyd’s 2013 Dark Lord.
Joining in the celebration were guest breweries Almanac Beer Company, Ballast Point, Beachwood Brewing, Bootleggers, Bottle Logic, Cismontane, Eagle Rock, Firestone Walker, Golden Road, Hangar 24, Kern River Brewing, King Harbor, Lost Abbey, Modern Times, Monkish, Noble Ale Works, Pizza Port – San Clemente, Smog City, Societe, St. Archer, Stone Brewing Co., TAPS, The Rare Barrel, Tustin Brewing and Valiant Brewing. The price of admission included a lunch catered by Beachwood BBQ; Chunk-n-Chip Cookies provided dessert. Continue reading
Business & Beer May gathering at Smog City Brewing Company
The Business & Beer networking group returned to Smog City Brewing Company on Thursday evening to the delight of all that attended. It was a nice group with people coming and going throughout the evening. It was almost like a reunion event as we had several members that we have not seen in a while return, and several of them brought guests. Smog City had a wide variety of brews available so that whether it had been a week or six months, there was definitely something new to be tried.
Last night it was mentioned by one attendee that Business & Beer seemed to be more about beer than business, so I would like to address that publicly. I have been attending trade shows for well over 10 years and I used to think that the trade show floor was where the business was being done; I eventually figured out that was not the case at all. The real business was being done at the suite parties or circle bar. Business relationships are built with people you know, and not all business deals are impulse buys. In fact, I may never have need for your particular product or service, but chances are I will know someone that does. Word of mouth is the best advertising and relationships bring referrals. I will never forget the guy that came to his first meeting as a guest; he did stained glass windows and figured the likelihood of someone at the gathering needing a stained glass window was pretty slim. To his surprise, another member needed just that. So come to Business & Beer and start building your potential referral list.
Business & Beer meets on the second Thursday of every month at a different craft beer tasting room or brewpub in the South Bay area. It is free and has no rules about how often you must show up or limiting the number of people in a certain field. It is very casual and the time was set up so you can bring your significant other if you wish. If you are a small business owner or networking is an important part of your job description, Business & Beer is the most fun way to accomplish your goal. You can follow Business & Beer on Facebook or sign up to their mailing list so that you know when and where the next gathering is. In June we will return to El Segundo Brewing Company. Cheers!
The Dudes’ Brewing Company approved for tasting room
The Dudes’
There were a couple conditions that need to be met before The Dudes’ can actually open the tasting room, but Humes seemed confident that they should be open by July at the latest. I think the commission might know how long we have been waiting as the permit is only good for one year; so it looks like Torrance will soon have another tasting room in our midst. Congrats to The Dudes’ Brewing Company and cheers!
Beer Paper LA celebrates One Year Later at Beachwood
On Wednesday evening, craft beer fans headed to Beachwood BBQ & Brewing in Long Beach to join Beer Paper LA as they celebrated their one year anniversary. Beer Paper LA is an online and monthly print paper that dedicates its pages to the local breweries and gastropubs in the Los Angeles, Orange County and Inland Empire areas of Southern California. As they had their launch party last year at Beachwood it made sense that they return for the anniversary party.
As anyone that frequents Beachwood knows, in addition to the fine beers Beachwood brews they always have a stellar guest tap list. Last night was no different with a selection of crafted brews from local craft breweries from central California to the Mexican border including The Brewery at Abigaile, Ladyface Ale Companie, TAPS Fish House & Brewery, Smog City, Strand Brewing, Noble Ale Works, Firestone Walker, Ohana Brewing Company, Pizza Port San Clemente and many more. It was a night to remember with many fine beers available.
Congratulations to Beer Paper LA on completing their first year and becoming practically a household name in the local craft beer scene. Cheers! Continue reading
Brew Dogs taping at Golden Road Brewing
Scottish “beer evangelists” and Esquire TV’s hosts James Watt and Martin Dickie showed up at Golden Road Brewing in Los Angeles last night for a taping of their television show Brew Dogs. The premise for last night’s taping was a brewing competition between Watt and Dickie, who normally brew together, but were paired with a couple local homebrewers. The two homebrewers, Dana Cordes and Andy Ziskin, are active members of one of, if not the oldest homebrewing club in the country, the Maltose Falcons. The challenge was to brew a beer that best reflected the Southern California craft beer scene using designated ingredients.
Dana Cordes was paired with Martin Dickie and they prepared a Double IPA that included several types of citrus and an avocado. Andy Ziskin teamed up with James Watt to create a Saison using sage, peppercorns and an avocado. Their entries were judged by an esteemed panel of experts; Sarah Bennett of Beer Paper LA, noted chef and owner of Father’s Office, Sang Yoon, and Golden Road Brewing owner, Meg Gill. Members of the audience were also given an opportunity to try the two brews and even though our vote did not count, it seemed that the audience agreed with the unanimous decision of the judges. I could throw in a spoiler and tell you who won, but you should probably watch the Brew Dogs episode to find out for yourself. Consult your local listings for when the program airs in your area. Cheers! Continue reading
Joel Elliott rides 328 miles for Hannah’s Voice
Joel Elliott completes 328 miles in 26.5 hours
The 328 miles represents the approximate number of days that his daughter has been a student without the proper support. While Elliott set a goal of completing this ride in 24 hours, taking time off for bathroom breaks, changing his socks and some leg massages he actually completed the ride in less than 26.5 hours. Actual saddle time came close to 24 hours so he was pretty darn close in accomplishing his goal. After the ride Elliott was understandably a little worn, but he came into the Strand Brewing Company taproom to thank everyone for their support claiming that this was a group effort.
To help offset some of the costs the Elliott family has incurred in their battle with the school district a donation jar was available as well as I Am Hannah’s Voice t-shirts. Continue reading
King Harbor Tap Takeover at Cork’er and a Proposal
These photos were taken Friday evening when Redondo Beach’s first production brewery, King Harbor Brewing Company, had a tap takeover at Cork’er, a new Irish pub/cafe in Redondo Beach. King Harbor brought out two versions of The Quest Pale Ale, Rakau and El Dorado; and their Abel Brown and Vanilla Abel brown ales to accompany the various dishes available at Cork’er. In addition to the good beer and food, King Harbor Brewing provided glassware to the first group of attendees and raffled off a King Harbor Brewing growler (with a free fill) as well as one of their hats. Cork’er raffled off tickets to an upcoming Dodgers vs. Giants game and $50 in cash.
Cork’er is owned by Larry Killian, for former owner of Killian’s in Torrance. The one thing that really sets Cork’er apart from other local businesses is that they really go to the limit when it comes to supporting other local businesses. The beer is almost all from our local craft brewers, their furniture was bought from a local furniture store just down the street from their location, the art on the walls is from local artists and Larry spends a lot of time at local farmers markets purchasing ingredients for the meals they prepare at Cork’er. There is no doubt that Cork’er is a local business that supports other local businesses. If you want to support their business, Cork’er is located at 2810 Artesia Boulevard in Redondo Beach and is open seven days a week from 7:00 AM until 10:00 PM. Continue reading
Taking a self-guided craft beer tour of California Highway 99
This particular self-guided craft beer tour will be a five (5) part series that covers a visit to 22 production breweries and brewpubs between Los Angeles and Santa Rosa. Let there be no mistake, there are far more than 22 craft breweries in that geographical area but we had a set amount of time. It was another of those “so many beers, so little time” situations. When I set out from LA there were three basic routes to take; I could drive Interstate 5 which is definitely the fastest route but the desert is a barren wasteland when it comes to craft beer. Taking US 101 up the coast takes significantly longer than I-5, but there are barrels and barrels of beer all along the way and if time is of any importance, there are far too many distractions. The third option and the one I opted to take was California Highway 99. When I opted to take 99 I knew the drive would take a little longer, but I also know that I would be able to find some craft beer along the way. This particular route was set going northbound, but you can easily reverse the map provided below and plug in your own starting point.
The locations visited on this leg of the self-guided craft beer tour were Lengthwise Brewing in Bakersfield, Full Circle Brewing Company in Fresno and Dust Bowl Brewing Company in Turlock. You can find the photos of the three locations at http://craftbeerguy.com/lengthwise-full-circle-dust-bowl-brewing/.
Photos of the Absolution Brewing Company Ribbon Cutting
On Friday afternoon Torrance’s newest production craft brewery, Absolution Brewing Company (ABC), held their official grand opening with a ribbon cutting ceremony. The ribbon cutting was attended by Mayor Frank Scotto and several members of the Torrance City Council as well as the Torrance Chamber of Commerce and assorted other officials. After the ribbon cutting and presentations the beer flowed with the addition of three new brews to the extensive Absolution Brewing tap list with their Holy Cow milk stout, Wanderin’ Possessed Easter Candy English porter and their Cloistered red ale. The Creative Eats food truck was on-hand with a special menu that was paired with the various ABC brews.
As you can tell from the photos, it was a very well attended event. In fact, I left after an hour or so and came back a couple hours later to what seemed to be an even larger group than before. It is probably safe to say that Absolution Brewing Company is a very welcome addition to the local craft beer scene. Absolution Brewing Company is located at 2878 Columbia Street in Torrance. Cheers! Continue reading
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