Figueroa Mountain
Photos from the 2nd Annual Drink Good Beerfest at The Factory
Saturday afternoon, September 14, The Factory Gastrobar held their 2nd Annual Drink Good Beerfest in Long Beach, CA. Sponsored by The Factory Gastrobar, Cismontane Brewing Company and Beer Paper LA, this beer festival featured close to 30 different craft and microbreweries from around the country as well as live music provided by Doug Means of the Doug Means Project and Project LBC. There was food and games to go along with the beer and sunshine and it appeared that everyone was having a very good time. Unlike some craft beer festivals, the brewers brought out some of their big guns in addition to their flagship beers. Since it was so hot out and I did have to drive, I forced myself to stick with the lower ABV brews, but there was something for everyone with everything from 3.5 session IPA’s to 11.0’s and above barleywines and barrel aged brews available.
The breweries that I saw in attendance included Bootlegger’s Brewery, Cismontane Brewing Company, Congregation Ale House Chapters Brewing, Crazy Mountain Brewing, The Dudes’ Brewing Company, Figueroa Mountain, Firestone Walker, Eagle Rock Brewing, Epic Brewing, El Segundo Brewing Company, Golden Road Brewing, Hangar 24 Craft Brewery, Iron Fist Brewing, Karl Strauss Brewing Company, Kinetic Brewing Company, Los Angeles Ale Works, Monkish Brewing Company, New Belgium Brewing, Ohana Brewing Company, Ritual Brewing Company, Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, Strand Brewing Company, Stone Brewing Company, Smog City Brewing, Tenaya Creek Brewery, The Bruery and Triple Voodoo Brewing.
In addition to the flowing beer and musical entertainment, they announced the winners of the Drink Good Beer Mash-Up Homebrew Competition of which I was a judge for the Best of Show. The winners were:
Peter & Kimberly Mynar – Tread Lightly (IPA) – First Place
Jon Silvertooth – Lampo Bianco (Saison) – Second Place
Ray Grace – Flop Guts (American Ale) – Third Place
Peter and Kimberly Mynar – Russian Spy (Imperial Stout) -Supporting Category
It was a very good time and I look forward to next year’s Drink Good Beerfest. The Factory Gastrobar is located at 4020 Atlantic Avenue in Long Beach, CA. Continue reading
8th Annual American Craft Beer Week, Day 7
The 8th Annual American Craft Beer Week (ACBW) came to an end on Sunday, but not before I got an opportunity to track down some more award winning breweries. As it happened, I had a wine festival to cover on Sunday; it was a fundraiser for a non-profit, which is why I let it cut into my beer time. Since the event was out in Santa Monica, I took advantage of my geographical location and took a break from the wine event to seek a local craft beer spot that I was unaware of. I was pretty surprised when we found Westwood Brewing Company because Westwood is a high rent area which means it had to have been there for a while; why had I never heard of it?
Turns out that Westwood Brewing Company (WBC) has been around for about 20 years, stopped brewing about 9 years ago and won some awards at local beer shows. Sadly they will be closing in August to become a crab restaurant. Not sure if they are using the kettles to boil the crabs or not. Anyway, there was no WBC beer to be had, so I had a Chainbreaker White IPA by Deschute’s (2012 GABF Silver Medal) which was perfect on the hot summer day. Not much to say about the place since they are closing other than I am sure they will be missed by the UCLA students.
Later that day we headed to Sophie’s Place in Redondo Beach. Sophie’s Place is a nice little gastropub, located in the Riviera Village section of Redondo. They have 8 rotating taps and about 50 other craft beers available in bottles and cans. It is hard to believe that I only started going there 10 months ago because it sure seems like I am there a lot. It is owned by three brothers, one of which, Bobby, is a big fan of craft beer and does some home brewing. Bobby takes pride in the beers he has available and frequently hosts events to promote our local microbreweries. For day 7 of ACBW, Bobby divided his taps between two Central California craft brewers, Figueroa Mountain Brewing Company and Firestone Walker Brewing Company; both of which are GABF award winners. Since I was not ready to do a flight of eight, I opted for a 2nd Anniversary Grand Cru, a Hurricane Deck and Big Cone Black Ale from Figueroa Mountain; and a Sucaba from Firestone.
It was another fun American Craft Beer Week; I am going to have to figure out something different for next year. Continue reading