craft breweries

Discover Torrance: My Spring Break Staycation

These photos were taken April 1st and 2nd during my Spring Break staycation, when I stayed at the Bluestem Hotel and paid visits to the Madrona Marsh, Monkish Brewing, Smog City Brewing, Hermosa Brewing, Red Car Brewery, The Brews Hall, HopSaint Brewing, Absolution Brewing, Scholb Premium Ales, and Project Barley Square. This article is sponsored by Discover Torrance.

Numerous friends have asked, “You are retired, isn’t every day a staycation for you?” Well, maybe kinda, but sometimes one can be unhoused without being homeless. Sometimes, things can be too toxic to stay home; like if your home is being fumigated. While I have lived here longer than many of my readers have been alive, the reality is that when friends come into town I don’t help much when it comes to answering questions about what is the best deal as far as the 20+ hotels available in the City of Torrance. I decided I would reach out to the Discover Torrance Visitors Bureau to find out where the best deals were. That is when Debbie Hays, the Sales/Community Representative for Discover Torrance, stepped in and introduced me to the Bluestem Hotel. Continue reading

The Craft Beer Guy Recap of 2020

port-town-brewing

Port Town Brewing – progressing

Well, it is that time of year again. I usually call these articles a “review” of the prior year; but that would be a very short article. I give it two stars out of five, and would not recommend. Instead, this will be a recap of 2020; let’s see what happened.

January 2020

2020 started off mellow enough; little did we know what was in store for us. The highlight of the month, and possibly the year for some, was the Hop Culture Juicy Brews Beach Party Craft Beer Festival held at Brouwerij West. It was a very fun event featuring craft beer from more than 25 of the top breweries in the country.

The month ended with a going away party for Smog City’s taproom manager Jason “Breezy” Briseño as he and his bride prepared to move to Australia; I think COVID put a temporary damper on those plans. Continue reading

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