Craft beer in the Phoenix, AZ area
When I left off, we had visited Coachella Valley Brewing and La Quinta Brewing in the Inland Empire and began our drive to Arizona. Unfortunately, there were not a lot of options available to us between the Palm Springs area and our final destination, Tempe. Since it was a Wednesday afternoon there were some breweries that were open in the Phoenix area but most would be closed before we arrived; besides, we needed food as well so a brewpub would be the preferred choice or a gastropub if no brewpubs were available.
Tanya got online with her iPhone and discovered that SunUp Brewing, a brewpub in Phoenix, would be open so I set our GPS for Camelback Road. SunUp Brewing has a fairly wide food selection, primarily made up of the kinds of foods you would expect to find in the Southwest like nachos and chili, but also offering several salads, sandwiches and burgers. I left the food choice up to Tanya which resulted in our having a spinach salad, some chili and peach cobbler. The salad and chili were good, but the peaches were a little crunchy. But I was there for the beer. Our server, Emily, provided us with a flight of all nine of the brews they had on tap that night. We started with their Horizon Hefeweizen and Light Rail Cream Ale which were both solid but a little light for me, although the cloves and banana flavor of the hefeweizen were nice. The Stinger Pale Ale, Amber, Trooper IPA, Amber (w/ Cascade), Falcon Red, Vanilla Porter and Coffee Oatmeal Stout were more my style and quite enjoyable. All of their beers could qualify as session beers, so feel free to order a flight or a couple pints; you should be able to walk a straight line later. SunUp Brewing is located at 322 E. Camelback Road in Phoenix. Continue reading
New breweries in the Inland Empire
Last week I made my annual pilgrimage to Tempe, AZ. For the past couple of years we made it a habit to leave the night before my scheduled arrival date and always found myself at Babe’s BBQ & Brewhouse in Rancho Mirage because they were the only place open by the time we got in the area. While they have a nice selection of in-house brewed beers, decent food and amazing peach pie, this year I wanted to try something new; and I just knew that there had to be a couple new production breweries in the Palm Springs area. As I am inclined to do, I asked my Facebook followers if they had any suggestions; once again they did not let me down.
The first location I was directed to was Coachella Valley Brewing Company in Thousand Palms, a production brewery that has been in business about six months. To be honest, I had planned to leave town a little earlier than I did so I could spend more time at my destinations, but fate was not on my side. Add to that an extreme dust storm that literally brought traffic to a dead stop on I-10 and I was definitely running behind. When we arrived at Coachella Valley Brewing the sand in the air was so bad that I had concerns taking my camera out of the car; it was pretty nasty.
Once we got in I was pretty impressed; the place is massive. When I heard they were only six months old I was even more impressed. They advertise that free tours come with every pint purchased but the beertender appeared to be the only one on duty so I settled for taking a few photos of their brew house and sampling a flight. They had about 12 different options available on the day we were there. Our flight consisted of their Desert Swarm, a witbier featuring locally produced honey; a Sessions IPA that I guess is a session beer because of the 4% ABV and the poor flavor. We continued with a Harvester IPA which was quite enjoyable and ended with another enjoyable beer, their Whopper Imperial Chocolate Milk Stout that reminded me that my son has a Whopper Stout fermenting as I write this. As I only tried four of at least 20 options I don’t know that I can really judge them, but I am positive I will be back when I have more time so I can try some of their other options. Coachella Valley Brewing Company is located at 30640 Gunther Street in Thousand Palms. They are open six days a week (closed Mondays) so if you find yourself stranded in a dust storm, head over as they are likely open. Continue reading
Local craft brewers give back to the community
Torrance Education Foundation Donors
Since it was a Saturday and a beer sounded pretty good, I decided to make a visit to the Torrance tasting rooms to see what I could muster up. It was encouraging as I traveled from Smog City Brewing Company to Monkish Brewing Company to Strand Brewing Company to Absolution Brewing Company to answers that were always the same and with no hesitation; they would all be happy to contribute to the cause! While I was at Monkish Brewing, an LA Craft Beer Tours van pulled up so I asked Dale, a co-owner and driver that day, if they would be interested in participating. Again, the response was immediate; LA Craft Beer Tours was on-board. Since The Dudes’ Brewing Company and King Harbor Brewing Company did not have tasting rooms open yet, I contacted them over the next couple of days and both said they would contribute. Red Car Brewery had already been contacted by someone else from the TEF, so all the Torrance and Redondo Beach production breweries and brewpubs were now involved. Continue reading
King Harbor Brewing Company: From the beginning
I remember the day well; it was the 4th of July 2013 and Tanya and I were taking the dogs on their morning walk. We were walking through the strip mall that we walked through virtually every morning. Something caught Tanya’s eye on the window of one of vacant units, I glanced over and immediately recognized the ABC’s Public Notice of Application to Sell Alcoholic Beverages. I knew the neighborhood demographics well enough to know it wasn’t going to be a bar so I stopped to take a closer look. Could my eyes be deceiving me? Will there be a microbrewery a block from my house? Apparently Coastline Brewing was going to become my neighbor.
As soon as we got home from the walk I started doing some research and was soon in contact with the new microbrewery owners Tom Dunbabin and Will Daines. We set up a meeting for the upcoming week where we discovered we had met a couple weeks earlier at The Brewery at Abigaile. After some beer and discussion I offered to come speak at the CUP hearing they had scheduled in a couple weeks. The Redondo Beach Planning Commission approved the Conditional Use Permit and almost immediately Dunbabin and Daines started tearing apart their unit in preparation of building a production brewery and tasting room.
Within a couple months a decision was made to change the name to King Harbor Brewing Company (KHBC) because there is a winery up north in Santa Rosa, Coastline Cellars, and they did not want their beer brand confused with Coastline Cellar’s wine brand. While building King Harbor Brewing, Dunbabin and Daines also sought out a head brewer and came up with Phil McDaniel, a former brewer at Stone Brewing Company and Lead Brewer at The Bruery. It was all a matter of time; which was extended a little due to the government shutdown which caused all kinds of delays in the brewing world. Anyway, as you can tell by the photos, eventually all the permits were approved, i’s were dotted and t’s were crossed and KHBC was brewing. King Harbor Brewing now has a couple of soft opens under their belt, kegs distributed all over the South Bay and they are ready to have their Grand Opening! Continue reading
Strand Brewing brings March Madness to Naja’s Place
It is that time of year again for collegiate basketball fans; March Madness is upon us. Now I have to admit, I do not really have the time to follow basketball of any type so “March Madness” really has little bearing on my life but when I heard that Strand Brewing Company and Naja’s Place were teaming up for a March Madness tap-takeover it did not take much convincing to get me over to the International Boardwalk to attend their event.
Now, I guess “tap-takeover” might be a little exaggerated since Naja’s Place has 88 beers on tap, but Strand Brewing Company brought eight beers on tap; Musashi Black IPA, White Sand DIPA, 24th Street Pale Ale, Atticus IPA, Batch 100 Stout, Harvest Ball Orange Wheat, Beach House Amber Ale and Black Sand DIPA as well as their White Sand DIPA with Chinook hops on cask. There was a large contingency of Strand Brewing Company fans on hand that made short work of the cask, but there were plenty of other Strand Brewing Company beers for them to enjoy.
Strand Brewing Company is located at 23520 Telo Avenue in Torrance and Naja’s Place is located at 154 International Boardwalk in Redondo Beach. Cheers! Continue reading
Photos from the 2nd Annual Froth Awards at Saint Rocke
Saturday afternoon, the Saint Rocke concert club in Hermosa Beach held their 2nd Annual Froth Awards: Craft Beer Experience and Gastropub Invitational featuring five of the South Bay’s finest craft breweries paired with dishes provided by four South Bay gastropubs. In addition to the beer and food pairings, there was live music provided by the Aaron White Band, the Get Down Boys and Johnny Jump Up. There were also raffles with prizes such as growlers, hats and other swag donated by the participating breweries and gastropubs and free pizza provided by Fresh Brothers Pizza. They even had a “Best Beard” contest which was won by yours truly.
It was a fun day of music, beer and food that consisted of five courses. The first course featured Strand Brewing Company’s White Sand Double IPA with marinated short rib tacos from The Rockefeller gastropub. This was followed by El Segundo Brewing Company’s White Dog IPA paired with tri-tip sliders from California Rancher. The third course featured The Dudes’ Brewing Company and their Kolschtal Eddy which was paired with a Tuscan white braised pork shoulder provided by Bouzy Gastropub. Our fourth pairing was The Brewery at Abigaile’s 002 2nd Anniversary Double IPA with waffles and chicken provided by R10 Social House. The final course introduced everyone to the two newest participants, King Harbor Brewing Company with The Quest (Rakau) Pale Ale and Saint Rocke’s own Kitchen 142.
It really was a lot of fun with great beer, good food and fun people. If there is a third annual Froth Awards you can be sure I will be there; you should too. Cheers! Continue reading
Business & Beer gathering at Absolution Brewing Company
Thursday evening the Business & Beer networking group welcomed Absolution Brewing Company to the rotation of the South Bay breweries and brewpubs it visits. It was a great opportunity for many members to get their first chance to try beers from Torrance’s newest production brewery. In addition to the beer and networking, Business & Beer co-founder brought in some baked goods that she made using flour she made from Absolution Brewing’s Angel’s Demise IPA. Head Brewer Wes McCann also took some time to discuss the brewing process, recipes and future plans for Absolution Brewing Company. It was another enjoyable Business & Beer event.
If you live or work in the South Bay area and networking is important to you, and you enjoy craft beer, you might want to check out BusinessNBeer.com. This is the South Bay’s most fun and relaxed business networking group. They meet on the second Thursday of every month at a different production brewery or brewpub in the South Bay area. With all the additions to the craft beer scene recently, there is a good chance you have not had a chance to visit some of them. This is your chance and you might even do some business. Events are scheduled at 6:00 PM so you do not have to rush to work and you can bring your significant other so there is no need to rush home either. There are no rules and no dues; just come have a good time, meet some good people and enjoy a beer or two. You can find the schedule of upcoming events on their website or by following them on Facebook. Cheers! Continue reading
Monkish Brewing Company Celebrates Two Years
These photos are from Saturday, day one of Monkish Brewing Company’s 2 Year Anniversary celebration. The first time I visited Monkish Brewing Company, a production microbrewery specializing in Belgian style ales, was during American Craft Beer Week in 2012. They had only recently opened their doors and the craft beer scene in Torrance was in its infancy; in fact, Monkish was only the second production brewery in Torrance. At the time they offered four different brews; Oblate, Anomaly, Red Table and Feminist. Fast forward to 2014 and Monkish is now celebrating two years of being open with a two day party.
Two years later Monkish Brewing had 12 taps pouring yesterday as well as Shaolin Kick on cask. They also had about five of their beers available in bottles as well as The Lobos Truck providing food for those that might be interested. Attendees included several hundred of their fans as well as other local brewers and beer media types. Since a celebration of this type cannot really be done in one day, the party will continue on Sunday at noon until 6:00 PM. Featured today with be a second cask of Shaolin Kick, this time with Fatalii and Ghost chili peppers. In addition, there will be a keg tapping and bottle release of Apophatic; a Belgian-style strong dark ale brewed with orange peels, cinnamon, coriander seed, and fennel seed. This monster weighs in at 12% ABV, so it should be a good one. Also, for Sunday only, they will be allowing growler fills of their Seme Della Vita, a tripel with pistachios and vanilla beans; it is quite good. For those with an appetite, the Son of a Bun food truck will be there Sunday.
If you have not had an opportunity to visit Monkish Brewing Company yet, today would be the day to do it. All of their 8-12oz pours will be $1.00 off. What more could you ask for? Monkish Brewing is located at 20311 S. Western Avenue in Torrance, California. Cheers! Continue reading
2nd Annual Froth Awards Coming March 15
2nd Annual Froth Awards, March 15
Those of you that attended last year’s event will recall that it was originally set up as a competition with each brewery pairing one of their beers with a dish prepared by a local gastropub. This year it will be a little different in that the “competition” has been eliminated and instead it will be a day of craft beers and tasty locally prepared foods. As they put it, this year it will be “less of a competition and more of a party.” I don’t know; last year was a pretty great party. Just like last year, there will be live Bluegrass and Irish music all day as well as various raffles and contests going on.
The 2nd Annual Froth Awards: Beer Experience and Gastropub Invitational begins at 2:00 PM Saturday, March 15, 2014. The doors open at 1:00 PM. Tickets are $25 each, but because you read CraftBeerGuy.com you are entitled to a 20% discount; that means you get in for $20 each if you purchase your ticket ahead of time online. After you choose the number of tickets you want, click Checkout; on the top of the next page is a spot for you to put in your Promo Code: BADDOG (all caps) and your discount will be applied. Admission includes entry into the event; 8 oz tasters from all participants, raffle tickets to win valuable prizes and a commemorative glass. Saint Rocke is located at 142 Pacific Coast Highway in Hermosa Beach. I hope to see you there; I had a great time last year. Cheers! Continue reading
The Birth of Absolution Brewing Company, Torrance
I guess it was sometime in August or September that I was enjoying a beer at Smog City Brewing Company when I was approached by Wes McCann; “I was told I should introduce myself to you” was his opening comment. McCann was a partner and the head brewer for the soon to be Absolution Brewing Company, the latest production craft brewery to open in Torrance. Unfortunately, he did not have any business cards with him and it took me a while to remember the word “absolution” but eventually I was able figure it out and I worked my way over to the location that the brewery and tasting room were to be constructed. It was not long before I met and befriended the other co-owners, Nigel Heath and Steve Farguson.
As you may notice from the photos, the construction was a series of one step forward and two steps back as they discovered things like the floor not being suitable to support the weight of the brewing equipment they hope to eventually grow into. In fact, the building dwarfs the current fermenting tanks; it only takes a brief glance to see that Absolution Brewing Company has plenty of room for growth. Judging by the turnouts at the MUG Club soft open and their official opening on Saturday it will not be long before they grow out of their current system. Cheers! Continue reading
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