These photos were taken June 27 and 28 at in Barstow, and Claremont Craft Ales in Claremont. A couple years ago one of Oggi’s prior PR companies had reached out to me about covering a beer release they were having at their some of Oggi’s 15 locations. Unfortunately, none of those locations were local or convenient for me to visit. Last month, my buddy Steve and I drove to Las Vegas to see Aerosmith; it was then that I decided we should stop in Barstow and check out Oggi’s Sports Brewhouse Pizza since you never want to get to Las Vegas before 3:00 PM.
I guess Oggi’s has been around about 20 years, but I never really paid much attention to is since I only ever saw it in Barstow, and stopping in Barstow for more than gas or an Egg McMuffin never made much sense to me. Since Steve and I based our drive on missing as much traffic as possible while not getting to Vegas prior to check-in time at the condo, a stop in Barstow for a couple beers made perfect sense. Continue reading
These photos were taken Saturday afternoon at the 8th Annual San Clemente Micro-Brew Festival, which was held in the Left Coast Brewing Company parking lot in San Clemente. Proceeds from the event went to benefit military welcome-home events hosted by the San Clemente Chamber of Commerce. Presented by Left Coast Brewing, the craft beer festival was sponsored by Sunwest Bank, MURF Electric Bikes and Essentia Water.
This was my second time attending, and the festival was significantly larger this year than last. In 2017 they had 13 craft breweries and one food truck; this year’s event featured 17 Orange County breweries and three food trucks. In addition, Sunwest Bank had some pretty tasty Mexican food available for VIP ticket holders.
In addition to the wide selection of beers and food stuffs that were available, local band Special Blend was there, playing their special blend of surf music, reggae, rock, and hip-hop. VIP ticket holders were also able to sign up for a tour of Left Coast Brewing’s production brewery. Continue reading
These photos were taken Saturday afternoon at the 7th Annual San Clemente Micro-Brew Festival, which was held in the Left Coast Brewing Company parking lot between their brewery and the tasting room. Proceeds from the event went to benefit military welcome-home events hosted by the San Clemente Chamber of Commerce. The event featured a little over a dozen local to San Clemente breweries as well as live music provided by Kalama Brothers, Special Blend and Rascalin. Wahoo’s food truck was also there for those that wanted food.
This was my first time attending this event, but just from the name “Micro-Brew Festival” I knew it was going to be old-school. When I arrived I noticed my preconceived notions were correct; not that this is a bad thing. It was nice and compact, with more than enough different beers available for any responsible craft beer fan, and they had plenty of bathrooms and free water. Continue reading