Carson
A Review of LA Beer Week 2015
Unity release at Smog City Brewing
The LA Beer Week Kickoff Party was held Saturday, June 20 at Exposition Park. I have to be honest, even though I have been documenting LA Beer Week since LABW4 in 2012 I have never attended any of their kickoff events. This was due primarily to preconceived misconceptions of what a madhouse it would be; plus I really do not like driving to DTLA. On the Wednesday before the kickoff party I happened to notice an email that came in from Absolution Brewing to members of their Mug Club in which they were offering VIP tickets to the first five “Muggers” that asked for them. I asked Tanya if she wanted to go and she responded immediately with, “No!.” This was because I had been saying we were not going for the past week, so I think she was just making sure I knew she was okay with it.
As I was going to the Torrance City Hall that night anyway for a Planning Commission hearing and Absolution was basically on the way home, it was decided that we would stop by after the Planning Commission hearing and see if any passes were still available. In other words, I was going to let others have an opportunity to score the passes before me. We showed up to Absolution shortly before they closed and no one had claimed any of the passes, so we decided to attend the kickoff.
Thank you to Absolution Brewing for the VIP passes
LA Beer Week 2015: Father’s Day
Sunday was day two of the 2015 LA Beer Week (#LABW7) and it was Father’s Day. As my daughter wanted to take me out for Father’s Day and I wanted to take my dad out, we decided that we would all go together. My dad enjoys his craft beer but I know I have brought things over to the house that he just was not into; so I asked him if he had ever tried a wild ale or sour beer. He had not, but was willing to give it a try, so we decided that we would head over to Phantom Carriage for their Father’s Day Brunch and Vinyl Sunday.
I brought Elvis Costello’s “My Aim is True” which they put on the turntable while Tanya and I enjoyed Beer-Mosas with their Brewers Breakfast. In the meantime I introduced dad to Muis; it wasn’t his thing and he asked if they had an IPA. I brought him a Hoppy Birthday and his eyes lit up. After learning it wasn’t brewed by Phantom Carriage he said he wanted to try something else by them; I should just surprise him. Well, apparently his palate warmed up and he truly enjoyed the Dolores Nitro I presented.
We got there when they first opened and it had a decent group; by the time we finished eating, drinking and visiting the place was packed. It is good to see that they are continuing to grow. Speaking of which, they now have growlers of Muis available; bottles of some of their other brews will be there before you know it. Continue reading
Crawl 4 Nepal in the South Bay
On April 25, the village of Barpak in the Gorkha district of Nepal was hit with a severe earthquake with a magnitude ranging from 7.8 to 8.1. The earthquake was the most severe to hit Nepal since 1934 and killed upwards of 8,000 people with more than 14,500 injured. The quake literally flattened villages and left hundreds of thousands homeless. The earthquake triggered an avalanche on Mount Everest, which killed at least 19, making it the deadliest day on the mountain in recorded history. Needless to say, when I opened up my Facebook and Twitter feed that morning Nepal was definitely trending, to use the vernacular of the day.
To be honest, I am not really sure where I saw it first, or whose suggestion it was, but someone in the local craft beer community suggested that the beer community should do something to raise monies to help the relief efforts in Nepal. It was not long before Kelly Erickson and Nick Gingold of Craft Media Solutions teamed up with Global Giving and more than 30 craft breweries, brewpubs, gastropubs and bottle shops to form Day of Action: Crawl 4 Nepal OC/LA. Each location had a selection of beers that you could purchase with a portion of the proceeds being donated to the Global Giving account.
I decided to visit three of the South Bay locations that were participating, beginning with Phantom Carriage in Carson. Phantom Carriage tapped a one-off keg of Muis, their 100% Brett wild blonde, with organic blood oranges. When I was talking with Phantom Carriage co-owner, Martin Svab and Assistant Brewer Brendan Lake they both relayed the same story to me in that the day before they were not sure how the blood oranges were going to work as the flavor just was not coming out the way they hoped. By Saturday morning the flavors had settled and it was delicious with subtle blood orange flavor at the finish. It was so good that the keg tapped out in a couple hours; 100% of the proceeds from this keg were donated to Crawl4Nepal. Continue reading
Phantom Carriage Ribbon Cutting
These photos were taken at the Phantom Carriage ribbon cutting which was held Thursday morning at their brewpub in Carson. Typically, the ribbon cuttings I have attended have been later in the afternoon, so I was pleasantly surprised to see the number of representatives from the City of Carson and the Carson Chamber of Commerce in attendance. Two things were pretty obvious; the first was that this was the first time coming to Phantom Carriage for many of them; the second was that they all seemed to enjoy the experience.
The Mayor of Carson, Jim Dear, started things off with a small ceremony out front to sign a petition in support of building an NFL stadium that theoretically would be the new home for the San Diego Chargers and the Oakland Raiders. They need about 8,000 signatures but Mayor Dear expects that they will get far more than that. You must be a Carson resident to sign the petition, so if you live in Carson and this is important to you, you might want to keep an eye out for signature gatherers.
After the petition ceremony we all moved inside for the ribbon cutting. Apparently, Dear is a fairly regular customer of Phantom Carriage and he made it clear that he has enjoyed his visits to Phantom and spoke of the success that their great brews and food have brought. One thing is quite certain, the City of Carson is very happy to have Phantom Carriage in their city and Mayor Dear looks forward to “several more” craft breweries calling Carson home. If the success of Phantom Carriage thus far is any indicator, Carson seems willing and able to become the latest craft beer Mecca of the Los Angeles area. Cheers! Continue reading
Phantom Carriage Grand Opening Photos
When Phantom Carriage first announced that they would be opening in Carson and specialize in sours, saisons and barrel-aged brews I know I was not alone in wondering if the City of Carson could sustain a brewery/blendery seeking such a niche audience. When we made our first visit there for the Media Day Soft Open Tanya was less than enthusiastic about even going because their style of brews is just not her thing but she discovered that she pretty much enjoyed everything we tried.
A month later we returned to see what kind of progress had been made and discovered tweaks to the beer and food menus, as well as seemingly small adjustments to the interior lighting and longer hours. It was then that co-owner and founder Martin Svab informed me that the Phantom Carriage grand opening is “now until early March.” Well, it is now early March and Phantom Carriage has officially had their Grand Opening which was held on Saturday.
As we drove down Main Street towards Phantom Carriage we could not help but notice cars parked all along the normally empty street; we had a feeling that these must be Phantom Carriage customers. This was confirmed when we pulled into their parking lot only to be greeted by a “Lot Full” sign and a long line of people waiting to get into the brewery itself. As I had another event to cover later I decided to just grab some photos then return later for close-ups; so if the photos look like they are from two different days, that is because they are. Continue reading
Phantom Carriage: Officially Open
On Saturday afternoon I decided to stop by Phantom Carriage to see how much has changed since my last visit in the middle of December for their industry/media soft-open. I have been watching the numerous updates Phantom has made on their Facebook page and it was obvious that progress was being made and I want to be sure you are kept in the loop.
The first thing that should be mentioned is that Phantom Carriage is now officially open. When asked when the grand opening would be held, I was informed that the grand opening is “now until early March.” Their hours are currently Thursday and Friday from 11:30 – 10:00 PM, Saturday from noon until 10:00 PM and Sundays are noon until 8:00 PM. The plan is be open six days a week and that should happen within the next few weeks.
The beer tap list has definitely changed since my first visit when they were offering five of their brews and three guest taps that seemed to be thanking local breweries Smog City, El Segundo Brewing and Monkish Brewing for helping them get their start in the days before Phantom Carriage found a location to call their own. When we stopped by yesterday they were offering four of their beers but their guest tap list had increased to eight and definitely reflected the type of establishment it is. Included were selections from Almanac, Firestone Walker, Cismontane and a collaboration between Ommegang and Boulevard among others. The selections complimented the saisons and sours brewed and blended by Phantom Carriage. For those that want something entirely different, there is a wide selection of bottled beers available with everything from a $6.00 Go To IPA to a $42.00 Eclipse. All bottles must be consumed on the premises. Continue reading
Phantom Carriage readies for Grand Opening
The long awaited opening of the South Bay’s latest contribution to the craft beer scene, Phantom Carriage, is one step closer to becoming a reality. On Sunday afternoon various members of the craft beer industry gathered for a soft-open at the self-described Brewery, Blendery, Tasting Room and Cafe located in Carson. To say that Phantom Carriage is different than your typical tasting room would be an understatement. To say that Phantom Carriage is different than your typical brewpub would be just as much of an understatement, except owners Martin Svab and Simon Ford definitely do not consider Phantom Carriage to be a brewpub. It is a brewery that happens to offer food as well as wine and cocktails. I do not think you will be going to Phantom Carriage for a burger and a beer as their food menu is almost as refined as their beer offerings.
Yesterday we were able to try five of Phantom’s brews including their Oude Muis, the beer that pretty much launched the idea for commercially brewing for them, along with the Broadacres Berliner Weisse, Domingues Wild Porter, Lugosi Strong Dark Sour and Bergman Sour Blonde. As you might notice, the emphasis is on barrel aging and sours/wild ales.
The kitchen offered a Harvest Salad of arugula, baby spinach and apples as well as heartier plates including a Farmhouse Plate consisting of meats, cheeses, pate and other relishes. They also offered a Bratwurst Plate, Pulled Pork Panini, Brisket Sandwich and a Smoked Turkey Sandwich. The brisket was killer. Steve, who runs the kitchen, has a commercial smoker at home and he knows how to use it. Continue reading
You must be logged in to post a comment.