Avery Brewing Company

Festival Obscura at Sunnyside Cemetery

These photos were taken Saturday afternoon at the inaugural, and hopefully the first of many, Festival Obscura at Sunnyside Cemetery in Long Beach, California. The event was a fundraiser for Sunnyside Cemetery; the second oldest cemetery in Long Beach and one of the oldest in California.

While the rest of the country was baking under a nationwide heat wave, the temperature in Long Beach was more like the mid to high-70s, with a cooling breeze that really felt nice; especially if you were in the shade.

While I did not count them, the sold-out event featured more than 40 craft breweries, wineries, and cider makers. In addition to the libations, there were at least 20 booths featuring macabre artists, historians, merchants, and at least one tarot card reader. There were also several food trucks, and live music provided by at least two bands that I noticed. Continue reading

Barrel-Aged Beer Day at GABF with Avery Brewing Company

Friday was day two of the 36th annual Great American Beer Festival (GABF), and it also happened to be Barrel-Aged Beer Day which was very convenient as I was invited to a guided beer tasting with Avery Brewing Company’s Andy Parker, the “Chief Barrel Herder” at Avery Brewing, which was held at Tap Fourteen in Denver. The press-only event featured pours from five different barrel-aged brews; Tweak, Coconut Porter, Amicitia, Ginger Sour, and Islay.

While we enjoyed the various options, Parker gave us a little background on his 10 year history of barrel aging and how when he brought up the idea of buying some barrels to Adam Avery, Avery’s response was so enthusiastic that Parker didn’t bother saying anything else, he just got the barrels and the rest is history. Continue reading

4th Annual South Bay Beer & Wine Festival Photos

These photos were taken Sunday at the 4th Annual South Bay Beer & Wine Festival which was held at Ernie Howlett Park in Rolling Hills Estates. This annual fundraising event was presented by the Rotary Clubs of El Segundo, Palos Verdes Peninsula and South Bay Sunrise; the event featured about 30 craft breweries as well as 15 wineries and food from close to 30 local restaurants. All proceeds fund the community outreach programs of Rotary Clubs within the South Bay and Harbor cities of Los Angeles.

The beer portion of the event was curated with the assistance of Beer Paper L.A.’s own Daniel Drennon, which has caused some to know the festival as the Daniel Drennon (DFD) Invitational. The list of breweries pouring was pretty much an A to Z list of craft with everything from Absolution Brewing and Arts District Brewing to Yorkshire Square Brewery and Zymurgy Brew Works. Of course, the selections were not limited to Los Angeles area breweries as we were joined by Avery Brewing and Ska Brewing from Colorado, as well as such California powerhouses as Sierra Nevada and Firestone Walker. Continue reading

5th Annual Firestone Walker Invitational Photos: FWIBF16

These photos are from the 5th Annual Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Festival (FWIBF16) which was held this past Saturday afternoon at the Paso Robles Event Center and featured about 50 breweries and 200 craft beers from around the world as well as foods from 33 local area restaurants.

The Firestone Invitational is one of, if not the best run craft beer events I have ever attended. I remember attending last year’s Invitational and being quite surprised to learn that it was only the fourth one as it was run so smoothly; from ensuring ticketed attendees were in the gates and ready to go by the time the event officially started, to making sure water was readily available no matter where you happened to be in the venue. If I did not know better, I would have guessed that they had to be doing it for 10 years instead of four.

Since this was my second opportunity to attend the Firestone Walker Invitational, I used my experience from last year to make this year’s event even more fun. Continue reading

Photos from the 3rd Annual South Bay Beer & Wine Festival

These photos are from the 3rd Annual South Bay Beer & Wine Festival, which was held Sunday afternoon at Ernie Howlett Park in Rolling Hills Estates. Presented by the Rotary Clubs of El Segundo, Palos Verdes Peninsula and South Bay Sunrise this charity event featured almost 40 craft breweries as well as 15 wineries and food from about 36 local restaurants. In addition to the beer, wine and food, music was provided by Detour.

Moving the festival to Ernie Howlett Park was a smart move as it is much more spacious than the South Coast Botanical Gardens, where the event was held last year, as there were probably 10 more breweries than last year and it allowed them to sell more tickets. When I asked how many attendees came out, I was told they sold about 1,400 tickets, which was almost double from last year. The additional space made it really difficult to judge the number of people in attendance because it was so spread out. The main thing is that there were no lines that had more than four or five people in them. Continue reading

3rd Annual South Bay Beer & Wine Festival Coming May 15, 2016

South Bay Beer & Wine Fest

Join Us Sunday, May 15

The 3rd Annual South Bay Beer & Wine Festival will be held on Sunday afternoon, May 15 from 1:00-5:00 PM at Ernie Howlett Park in Rolling Hills Estates. Proceeds from this charity fundraising event will go to support the humanitarian programs of the El Segundo Rotary Club, Palos Verdes Peninsula Rotary Club, and South Bay Rotary Club. The Rotary Club supports community programs focused on health and nutrition, high school Interact and leadership, education and literacy, vocational training, and community space restoration and renovation. A few of the organizations they support include El Segundo Teen Center, C.A.S.E. Food Pantry, Switzer Learning Center, Mychal’s Learning Place, Cancer Support Community, Caring House, ARC House, Norris Theatre and South Bay Mobile Medical Clinics.

The craft breweries were assembled by Beer Paper L.A.’s own Daniel Drennon; if you were there last year and thought he did a great job, wait until you see who is scheduled for this year’s event. On tap include Absolution Brewing, Anchor Brewing, Artifex, Avery, Ballast Point, Beachwood, Bottle Logic, Drake’s, Arts District, Brouwerij West, El Segundo Brewing, Firestone Walker, Fireman’s Brew, Founder’s, Ironfire Brewing, King Harbor Brewing, Ladyface, Mission Brewery, New Belgium, Phantom Carriage, Pizza Port Brewing, Red Car Brewery, Baja Brewing, Headlands, HopSaint, Sierra Nevada, Smog City, Stone Brewing, Strand Brewing, Tenaya Creek, Mother Earth, Ska and Three Weavers will all be providing brews to sample. Continue reading

Laughs By Volume III – April 23: Laughter & Beer

jonesy laughs by volume

6 Comedians and Craft Beer at Laughs By Volume III

PINT Magazine’s Laughs By Volume, the beer festival with comedy, is returning April 23 to Honeypot LA for Laughs By Volume III. As one of the few that has been able to watch the evolution of the Laughs By Volume concept, I cannot wait to see the improvements that will be in store for this event. While Laughs By Volume II was a significant improvement over their inaugural event, there were still very minor issues (it started a few minutes late). What I have observed is that when they notice room for improvement they do what they can to make it happen.

As I have explained before, Laughs By Volume is essentially a comedy show featuring six comedians and unlimited pours of craft beer from about 25 breweries. The breweries on tap for Laughs By Volume III include The Dudes’ Brewing, Stone Brewing, Absolution Brewing, Four Sons Brewing, Mission Brewery, El Segundo Brewing, Great Beer Co., Smog City, Refuge Brewery, Timeless Pints, Anaheim Brewery, Three Weavers, Eagle Rock Brewing, Telegraph Brewing, Tahoe Mountain Brewing, 21st Amendment Brewery, The Lost Abbey, AleSmith Brewing, Brewery Ommegang, Boulevard Brewing, Anthem Cider, Maui Brewing, Avery Brewing, Double Mountain Brewery, Brouwerij Wolf, and Sixpoint Brewery. If history has taught me anything, this list will be modified in the next month so you might want to follow the Laughs By Volume Facebook page for updates. Continue reading

Photos from Laughs By Volume II

On Sunday afternoon, PINT Magazine held their second in a series of comedy shows featuring craft beer, Laughs By Volume; this time held at Honeypot LA. One thing that was readily apparent to anyone that may have attended the inaugural Laughs By Volume is that practice makes perfect. While there may have been a couple issues that resulted in Laughs By Volume II getting a late start, it was like a well oiled machine when compared to the first one.

We had a pretty nice turnout considering only about 100 tickets were to be sold; I would venture to say that we had pretty close to that many in attendance, if not a few more. I took some time to chat with a few of the attendees, all of which were first time attendees, and everyone seemed to really enjoy everything about the event. There was plenty of beer, really funny comedians and virtually no lines; except maybe for the bathrooms.

The breweries featured included Sixpoint Brewery, The Lost Abbey, Anthem Cider, Brouwerij Wolf, Double Mountain Brewery, Tahoe Mountain Brewing Co., Anaheim Brewery, The Great Beer Co., Mission Brewery, Four Sons Brewing Co., Stone Brewing, Eagle Rock Brewery, Maui Brewing Co., Alesmith Brewing Co., 21st Amendment Brewery, Telegraph Brewing Co., Smog City Brewing, Absolution Brewing, Avery Brewing, The Dudes’ Brewing, Refuge Brewery, Timeless Pints, Boulevard Brewing, Brewery Ommegang, Three Weavers and El Segundo Brewing. Continue reading

Laughs By Volume: Do you enoy comedy & craft beer?

Laughs By Volume 1

Laughs By Volume – Comedy and Craft Beer

Since the beginning of the year you have heard me talk about PINT Magazine’s Laughs By Volume, but after speaking with several Craft Beer Guy followers, I don’t think I have really explained the concept of the Laughs By Volume experience properly; at least when it comes to what should be expected, and whether or not this event is really for you. Let’s begin with the latter first.

If your idea of a beer festival is something like BAM Fest, Taste of Brews or the Firestone Invitational, Laughs By Volume may not be the event for you. Yes, it will be cheaper; and there will only be 100 people there so there won’t be any lines. It is inside so weather is not an issue and there is plenty of seating; but there may not be as many beer varieties available. The upcoming Laughs By Volume II will feature about 36 or 37 beers from 25 breweries. Here is the list as of the moment. Continue reading

Laughs By Volume II – Comedy & Craft Beer-Discount Codes

The Laughs By Volume craft beer and comedy tour has expanded their list of participating breweries by 50% and has added some new discount codes to help you get to and from the event safely.

Laughs By Volume is best described as a comedy show featuring six comedians and unlimited pours from at least 20 different breweries. Laughs By Volume II will be held Sunday, March 20 at Honeypot LA from 2:00 to 5:00 PM. Honeypot LA is located at 212 W. 12th Street in Los Angeles.

The comedians that will be featured include Geoff Keith who has been seen on Comedy Central, HBO and MTV; Jonesy who has been on David Letterman, MTV and VH1; and MoMo Rodriguez who has appeared on the Carlos Mencia Tour. Also performing will be Graham Currin from Comedy Time TV, Ryan Higgins who competed on TBS’s National Comedy Competition; and Laura Crawford. Continue reading

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