Brewco Manhattan Beach
Culture Brewing Opens Taproom in Manhattan Beach
These photos were taken Wednesday, September 9 at Culture Brewing Company’s newest taproom, which opened last week in Manhattan Beach.
Last Friday, Culture Brewing Company of Solana Beach in San Diego County, opened a satellite taproom in Manhattan Beach. This marks the first time Manhattan Beach has had a brewery or brewery taproom since Brewco Manhattan Beach stopped brewing back in 2007 or 2008.
One might think that this is a weird time to open a taproom with to-go beers only, and I am pretty sure Culture Brewing would agree; the thing is, this has been in the works for two years now. Apparently it was one of the South Bay’s best kept secrets. To be honest, if it were not for a Craft Beer Guy follower on Facebook, I probably would not have been aware that they were opening up here. Continue reading
4th Annual Pub at the Club Photos
These photos were taken Sunday afternoon at the Manhattan Beach Badminton Club Junior Foundation’s 4th Annual Pub at the Club; which was presented by Porsche South Bay and held at the Manhattan Beach Badminton Club in Manhattan Beach. The event featured at least 12 breweries and cideries, as well as numerous wineries and food from local restaurants.
100% of the proceeds, which included ticket sales, raffles and a silent auction went to the Manhattan Beach Badminton Club Junior Foundation, a charity dedicated to developing champions on and off the court by supporting all athletes, including special needs and Para-athletes.
Taking into consideration how hot and humid it has been the past week, Sunday’s weather was amazing, with plenty of sunshine combined with a nice cooling ocean breeze. Continue reading
2nd Annual Pub at the Club Photos
These photos were taken Sunday afternoon at the Manhattan Beach Badminton Club, where the Manhattan Beach Badminton Club Junior Foundation held their 2nd Annual Pub at the Club Craft Beer, Wine and Food Festival. 100% of the ticket sales went to the Manhattan Beach Badminton Club Junior Foundation, a charity dedicated to developing champions on and off the court by supporting all athletes, including special needs and Para-athletes.
Price of admission included unlimited tastings from more than 15 breweries, 10 vintners, and 10 local restaurants. The breweries that I noticed in attendance included El Segundo Brewing Company, Strand Brewing Company, Stone Brewing, Rob Rubens Distilling & Brewing, Lagunitas, Eel River Brewing, Coronado Brewing Company, Black Market Brewing Company, Bootleggers Brewery, Smog City Brewing, Sierra Nevada, Speakeasy Ales and Lagers, Los Angeles Ale Works, Ritual Brewing Company, and Santa Monica Brew Works. Continue reading
Chad’s Beer Cellar IV Photos
These photos were taken Saturday at the Chad’s Beer Cellar IV bottle share which was held at King Harbor Brewing Company in Redondo Beach. This event was the fourth and possibly final bottle share put on by local beer hoarder and King Harbor Brewing investor, Chad Hazen. All the funds from the event went to benefit the Richstone Family Center which is located in Hawthorne. The Richstone Family Center is dedicated to preventing and treating child abuse.
First off, I would like to personally thank everyone that showed up. While my involvement with the event was limited to getting the word out, the previous events never sold out, which I found incredulous considering the quality of the beers that were made available. I made it a personal goal to see that they did sell all 100 tickets this year, and it happened. While all the monies have not been tabulated yet, with ticket sales, raffles and the silent auction, over $8,000 was raised for Richstone. Of course, none of this would have been possible without Chad.
The first of these bottle shares was held in December of 2014 when Hazen decided he wanted to quit drinking beer for a year while he trained for a marathon as he felt his collection of beer was just a little too much temptation. He got together with King Harbor Brewing Company and they decided they would have a bottle share benefiting Richstone Family Center. Continue reading
Photos from the 2015 Pacific Brewers Cup
These photos are from the 2015 Pacific Brewers Cup homebrew competition which was held Saturday afternoon at Four Points by Sheraton at LAX. The event was hosted by Strand Brewers Club, Long Beach Homebrewers, and Pacific Gravity. There were 458 entries consisting of beer, mead and ciders.
While these photos were all taken Saturday, the fact of the matter is that with 458 entries, the judging portion actually started two weeks ago when members of the Strand Brewers Club had to sort the 1300 plus bottles into categories and get all the information entered in the competitions database. I helped out on the sorting by scanning in the entries with their assigned competition number; this gave me an opportunity to see where the entries came from. I have to admit, I was pretty surprised at how far and wide they came from; with several entries coming from out of state. Because of the substantial number of entries, there were a couple judging sessions done ahead of time.
As you might think, it is quite the task to judge 458 beers, mead and ciders and it truly takes a lot of work by an organized team to pull that off. The team yesterday consisted of 70 judges and 42 stewards. I met one of the judges yesterday that came all the way from Chandler, Arizona “for the love of beer” as opposed to trying to escape Chandler’s 100+ weather. While the judges were truly put to the test, I doubt that the event could have moved as smoothly as it did without the efforts of the stewards. Head Steward Barbara Bovee is to be congratulated for keeping things as organized as they were. Continue reading
Firestone Walker Tap Takeover at Brewco Manhattan Beach
When I was a young speed demon, racing fast cars and motorcycles, we had a saying; “there is no substitute for cubic inches.” I have come to the conclusion that in the craft beer world, specifically when it comes to tap takeovers, there is no substitute for experience. Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoy each of our local craft breweries and I attempt to go to as many of their tap takeovers as possible; but the oldest production brewery in the South Bay is Strand Brewing Company and they will be celebrating their fifth anniversary in December. Last night we headed to Brewco in Manhattan Beach for a Firestone Walker tap takeover and Firestone Walker Regional Sales Manager Shane Kral pretty much pulled all the stops with this one, featuring brews ranging from their 2011 Parabola to their XVIII Anniversary Ale.
This was a tap takeover that drew people from near and far as the tap list was something that you would have difficulty emulating without taking a trip to Firestone Walker’s Buellton or Paso Robles locations; even then it might prove difficult. In addition to Firestone’s core beers on tap, DBA, Union Jack, Pivo Pils and Velvet Merlin, they also offered 2011 Black Xantus, 2013 Double DBA, 2014 Agrestic, 2014 Velvet Merkin and the Firestone XVIII Anniversary Ale. For good measure there were bottles of 2011 Parabola and 2013 Sucaba also available. As if these were not enough, for dessert they offered Pazookis (a hot brownie cake) topped with Velvet Merlin Ice Cream crafted from Sweet Rose Creamery in Santa Monica. To say it was delicious would be like saying Union Jack is hoppy.
Since the main problem with an event like this is how to sample all these wonderful [and somewhat high-octane] brews in one sitting, Brewco created a couple flights for the occasion. The Lion and Bear Flight consisted of Pivo Pils, DBA, Union Jack and Agrestic. Their Vintage Flight was made up of tasters consisting of 2011 Black Xantus, 2013 Double DBA, 2014 Velvet Merkin and the 18th (XVIII) Anniversary Ale. Those that opted for full pours also got to bring their Firestone Walker glassware home with them. Rumor is that there are only one or two kegs of the 2011 Black Xantus left on the face of the earth, so that beer alone pretty much made this a one-of-a-kind event. 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