craft beer

11th South Bay Beer & Wine Festival Returning – Promo Code Inside

11th South Bay Beer & Wine Festival Returns May 19

It is that time of year again; specifically when the arguably best craft beer festival in the South Bay returns to Rolling Hills, and that is the 11th South Bay Beer & Wine Festival which will be held Sunday, May 19, 2024, from 1:00 to 5:00 PM at Ernie Howlett Park.

Proudly presented by the Rotary Clubs of Palos Verdes Peninsula, San Pedro, and South Bay Sunrise, this non-profit event puts 100% of the monies raised go back into helping families in the South Bay and Harbor areas.

I have to admit, I have been going back and forth about what I wanted to say about this event because I started attending it in 2015 when they had it at the South Coast Botanical Gardens. While it was a great venue, it was pretty obvious that they were going to outgrow it. That was their second annual festival and I was told they had about 700 attendees. The following year it was moved to Ernie Howlett Park and they had closer to 1,500 attendees. It was a good move. Continue reading

Boardroom Brewery Now Open in El Segundo

These photos were taken over the course of three years, beginning with my first visit in January 2020, a follow-up visit in January 2023, and ending with my visit on Memorial Day 2023 to Boardroom Brewery, El Segundo’s newest craft brewery.

So yeah, this tale begins back at the end of 2019 when Brouwerij West co-founder Dave Holop asked me if I knew anything about what was to be El Segundo’s fifth craft brewery. I was given an address and started dropping by every time I went to El Segundo. On January 8 I lucked out and showed up on a day that Forchi, the owner, happened to be there, having lunch as I recall. I introduced myself, and got permission to grab some photos. At that point in time Forchi knew he wanted to open a brewery; he was pretty much waiting for approval from the City of El Segundo and did not even have a name picked yet. If he did, he was holding it close to the vest. Continue reading

South Bay Beer and Wine Festival 10th Anniversary Photos

These photos were taken Sunday afternoon, May 21, at Ernie Howlett Park in Rolling Hills Estates, where the Rotary Clubs of San Pedro, Palos Verdes Peninsula, and South Bay Sunrise held the South Bay Beer and Wine Festival 10th Anniversary. The event featured food, beer, wine, and spirits from more than 100 local providers, including Smog City, HopSaint, Firestone Walker, El Segundo Brewing, Rock & Brews, Shore Grille, Truxton’s, Tito’s Vodka, and many more.

With how lousy our weather has been lately, it is kind of amazing how the last few weekends have been perfect for a day of day drinking in the park. The beer gods have definitely smiling upon us lately with the weather they have been providing. I actually got my first sunburn of 2023. Continue reading

South Bay Craft Beer Options Update

UPDATE: February 12, 2021 – The accuracy of this article leaves a lot to be desired. Please check with the brewery directly.

UPDATES: December 14 –The Crac Brewery and Grub now open for to-go beer pickup.
Eureka Brewing Company now open for to-go beer pickup.
In case you had not heard, there is currently NO DINE-IN in LA County.

UPDATES: September 13 – Burnin’ Daylight modifies Sunday hours.
Phantom Carriage adds days for to-go beer pickup.

UPDATE: September 4 – Culture Brewing Company now open.

I was going to update my last article on the South Bay breweries to-go and pickup options, but it looks like just about everything has changed so I might as well start from scratch.

Like the original article, this is solely a reference guide, so all breweries will be listed in alphabetical order for your ease and mine. Hours are subject to change so be sure to contact the brewery directly if you have questions.

Absolution Brewing Company – Cans, bottles, crowlers, growlers and kegs can be ordered online at https://www.absolutionbrewingcompany.com/shop-1. You can also order by phone at 310.490.4860 x101 or by email at orders@absolutionbrewingcompany.com. Deliveries are done Thursday through Sunday; order before 6:00 PM on those days for same day delivery. You can also pick up beers to-go at the brewery Monday through Wednesday from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM, Thursday and Friday from 9:00 to 7:00 PM, or on Saturday and Sunday from noon to 7:00 PM.

Brouwerij West – Brouwerij West now delivers throughout California; please visit https://www.brouwerijwest.com/buybeer for Pick Up, Local Delivery, and Shipping options. You can pick up beer to go at the brewery, daily from noon to 7:00 PM. Credit cards are preferred. Continue reading

Hermosa Brewing Company’s 2nd Anniversary Photos

These photos were taken Saturday evening at Hermosa Brewing Company in Hermosa Beach, where they celebrated their second anniversary. The event featured food specials, the debut of Future is Unwritten, a new DDH Hazy Double IPA, Suitcase in Berlin Berliner Weisse with raspberries and blackberries, and Belle Plage, a French Saison with passion fruit. They also brought back their coffee Pale Ale collaboration with Later Days Coffee Co, Wakey Wakey. Live music was provided featuring local favorites Jeff Baker and Mike Longacre. Like last year’s celebration, two collectable anniversary glasses (a Teku and a Pilsner style glass) were available for purchase. Both glasses came with a fill of your choice and include $1.00 off all pours for the balance of the weekend.

Hermosa Brewing has some big news coming up, but I am not at liberty to discuss it at this point. Suffice it say, 2020 is going to be huge for Hermosa Brewing and will result in more fresh craft beer for the South Bay. Stay tuned, I should be able to announce it in the next several weeks. Continue reading

Christmas Eve at The 4th Horseman

These photos were taken Tuesday, Christmas Eve 2019, at The 4th Horseman in Long Beach. The 4th Horseman is a pizza and beer bar that opened in November of 2018; they specialize in craft beer, fine wine, and apocalyptic pizza. The primary reason it is even on my radar is that two of the four founders are Martin Svab and Ryan Hughes, previously of Carson’s Phantom Carriage Brewery. The other two founders are Jeremy Schott of The Dark Art Emporium, and Chef Adam Schmalz who helped open Gabi James in Redondo Beach and used to run the kitchen at Phantom Carriage.

While The 4th Horseman has been open for a little more than a year, this was my first visit. While I am not really a pizza guy, I could not help but notice the accolades they have been receiving in the press over the last several months, as well as some amazing photos I have seen friends post on Facebook and Instagram. When The 4th Horseman first opened, they did not open until 4:00 PM and driving to Long Beach from the South Bay at that hour just didn’t make sense. Well, they now open at 11:00 AM, and since they were having a Christmas Eve special going on I headed out, confident traffic would not be an issue. Continue reading

Zymurgy Brew Works to Become Smog City West

notice of intent

Smog City Brewing to assume Zymurgy Brew Works

It was early 2016 when I was approached by Bill Baker and Jeff Jennewein; they wanted to open a Brew-on-Premises/Do-it-Yourself craft brewery in Torrance, with a focus on educating the public about craft beer with guest brewer sessions, beer tastings and brewing classes. They asked if I would be willing to speak before the Torrance Planning Commission in support of their Conditional Use Permit. As Baker is a Torrance school principal and Jennewein is a science and math teacher, I readily agreed because what better pairing for education about craft beer can you ask for than a science teacher and a school principal?

By the time Zymurgy had their grand opening, Jenniwein and Baker had decided that their friendship was more important than their business relationship; Baker and Jenniwein had an amicable separation, leaving Baker to run Zymurgy on his own. Continue reading

Photos from the Media Preview of California Sun

These photos were taken Tuesday evening at California Sun, a new gastropub in the Silver Lake area of Los Angeles. California Sun is part of the Artisanal Brewers Collective, a restaurant group co-founded by Tony Yanow, formerly of Golden Road Brewing. California Sun features New York and Detroit style pizzas, for vegans, vegetarians and omnivores, as well as lots and lots of craft beer from around the country and beyond.

Anyone that knows me personally, or reads my site on a regular basis, is probably aware that pizza does not rank very high on my list of food choices; so what the heck was I doing at a pizza place that took over an hour of driving to get to? Well, there are three reasons actually. Continue reading

A Visit to Tortugo Brewing Company

These photos were taken Saturday afternoon, when I made my first visit to Inglewood’s second craft brewery, Tortugo Brewing Company.

If you happened to read my review of 2018, you might recall my saying that I kind of feel like a slacker due to my inability to keep up with the local craft beer growth stating that there were at least two breweries in the South Bay that I had yet to visit; Tortugo Brewing was one of those two.

Tortugo opened at the end of June and definitely stands out as you drive down the street towards it. It is a 6,600 square foot building that appears even larger with its bright orange and blue highlights paint job. As founder Joe Kovach put it, there has been nothing new on the street in a couple decades; the color makes it pretty tough to not notice something new on the street. The color scheme is meant to represent a bright sunset (the orange) over the ocean (the blue). Continue reading

Media Preview of 6th and La Brea

These photos were taken Wednesday evening at the soon to be opened, 6th and La Brea; the newest brewpub opened by the Artisanal Brewers Collective, a restaurant group co-founded by Tony Yanow, formerly of Golden Road Brewing.

If you are unfamiliar with the Artisanal Brewers Collective, do not feel too bad; I may have heard the name mentioned a time or two, but the brewpubs and gastropubs they have opened and are opening from Los Angeles to San Diego are names that I have heard mentioned pretty frequently lately. These include Bluebird Brasserie in Sherman Oaks, The Stalking Horse in West LA, The Bell Marker in San Diego, as well as a number of other current and pending locations.

6th and La Brea is a very nice, 8,400 square foot location with a spacious patio for those that want to enjoy to Southern California climate while dining on menu offerings created by Chef Jihee Kim, or enjoying house brews crafted Director of Brewing, Noah Regnery. Continue reading

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