These photos were taken over the course of three days; Thursday evening at the King Harbor Brewery, Friday evening at the King Harbor Village Tap Room and the brewery, and Saturday afternoon and evening at the brewery, as all King Harbor Brewing Company locations closed effective Saturday, December 31.

4th of July 2013; I remember the day well. That morning, my girlfriend and I were doing our morning walk around The Galleria with the dogs when we were walking through the strip mall on 182nd Street and walked past a vacant spot that had a Notice of Intent to sell alcohol. Upon closer inspection I noticed that Coastline Brewing would be opening in that location; I was pretty stoked to hear that a brewery was opening within a 10 minute walk from my house. Two months later, to avoid a potential trademark dispute with a winery up north, Coastline Cellars, Coastline Brewing became King Harbor Brewing Company.

You know, sometimes people might suggest that a business they support is “like family”; in this case it was not just a cliché as their eventual general manager, A.J. is family; he is my nephew through marriage.

Not counting A.J., there is no question that the regulars and staff became like family. I have watched friends get married, have kids, adopt kids and everything in-between. I have established friendships that resulted in us traveling to other cities and states in the quest for craft beer. We have gone to craft beer festivals, dinners and more. When I started holding the Covid Craft Beer Exchanges, it was primarily King Harbor regulars that would show up. And the dogs; while there are plenty of people that I will miss; I am really going to miss all the friendly animals that became regular attendees as well.

A little bit of trivia; when King Harbor first opened, they were not dog friendly, it was Buddy that made that happen, and he and I visited King Harbor daily. He was in charge of cleaning the floors at closing time when food trucks were there.

Anyway, to help you through the photos, in case you are looking for something specific, page one is predominantly Thursday evening at the brewery itself. To be honest, I was not even planning on being there as I attended the Hermosa Brewing Company soft open and was prepared to spend the rest of the evening by my fireplace. As I pulled into my driveway I got a text suggesting I should come down to the brewery and I should bring my camera. It was a nice little reunion with two of the founders, Tom and Phil, showing up.

Friday at the Village Tap Room begins at the bottom of page one and goes through to the end of page 10. Friday was a crazy evening as it was Jaymes’ birthday on Saturday and many past employees showed up to help celebrate. There was live music provided by Glue LA, with Jaymes joining them to lend his vocals on a couple songs. It was an outstanding evening and it was really nice running into some of my favorite beertenders.

The balance of the photos are from Friday night at the brewery and all day Saturday when several regulars showed up for their final pour and to pick up some beer to-go as well as any other swag that was still available.

It is going to be odd not having somewhere I have visited for the last eight years available, but I know I will see most of you elsewhere. And while this article has pretty much been a downer, I will tell you that there is already talk about all three King Harbor locations being taken over by other breweries, so keep your fingers crossed. Happy New Year and cheers!

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