These photos were taken Saturday, September 16 at the Rancho Los Cerritos Historical Site in Long Beach, where Craft Beer LB held their 7th Annual Craft Beer LB Fest. The event featured plenty of craft beer from more than a dozen local breweries, sake, live music, and food for the approximate 1,000 attendees. It was a fun event that even the weather cooperated with.
I had to mention the weather because in the past I have mentioned how great the weather was, and frequently joke with festival organizer Dennis Trilles about how he seems to have a connection with the weather gods as no matter how sucky the weather might be prior to the event, it always seems to be nice on the day of the event. When I walked out of my house yesterday I could see that there must have been rain overnight. Having to utilize my windshield wipers on the way down to Long Beach I was beginning to wonder if I should have brought a windbreaker or not. While it was misting a little early on, the rain went away and the marine layer left everything comfortable in just a t-shirt. Continue reading
These photos were taken Friday afternoon at Common Space Brewery and Los Angeles Ale Works, where the two Hawthorne based production breweries teamed up to hold a block party as a part of the Los Angeles Beer Week 2023 festivities. Both locations had food, music, and games to accompany their plethora of craft beer.
I started off at Common Space where I met up with the guy that keeps more of the South Bay’s beer cold than any other single individual, my friend Phil and his wife Deborah.
While we were there, food was made available by Uncle Al’s BBQ, Long Beach Tacos, and Sad Girl Creamery to go along with the more than 20 craft beers pouring from their taps. I have to say, for being early Friday afternoon they had a pretty healthy number of customers. Continue reading
These photos were taken Saturday, June 10 at Shoreline Aquatic Park in Long Beach, where the Los Angeles County Brewers Guild held their LA Independent Beer Festival to kickoff LA Beer Week (LABW14) for the first time since 2019, due to that pesky pandemic. The ticketed event featured craft beer from approximately 75 member breweries, food from seven food trucks and one ice cream vendor, live music and games.
The event was advertised to be hosting 75 local breweries, providing 150 beers. Well, I did not go through the trouble of counting every brewery that showed up, but I can assure you that there were well over 150 beers, because there were several breweries that brought more than two beers, in fact there were breweries like LA Ale Works that had what seemed like 20 offerings, and they were not the only ones. I would guesstimate that there were closer to 250 beers available. Continue reading
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
These photos were taken Saturday afternoon, May 6, at Syncopated Brewing Company in Lakewood, where they were celebrating day two of their three day celebration of their second year anniversary and the birthday of Jason Van Fleet, one of the co-founders of syncopated brewing. The day featured food, live music, games, and a beer release.
While I was there, food was provided by Big Brian’s Meats. Music was provided by assistant brewer Elic Evans and his wife Mel. As I was preparing to leave The Bodleys were setting up; I was tempted to hang out later, but I try to avoid traffic. Continue reading
These photos were taken Saturday afternoon at the Smog City Brewing Company brewery and tasting room in Torrance where Smog City celebrated 12 years of brewing beer. The event featured multiple food trucks/popups, live music, a charity dunk tank, raffles, games and an anniversary beer to accompany the other 26 brews that were on the menu.
It is no secret that Smog City Brewing knows how to throw an anniversary party, and Saturday was no exception. Food was available from Pasta Selvatica with their handmade pasta created before your eyes, Proudly Serving was back with their delicious smash burgers, and All About the Cinnamon with their hip-hop influenced cinnamon rolls. Buddha Boy Tacos was setting up as I was leaving, so I am not exactly sure what else was available during the evening portion of the event. Continue reading
These photos were taken Saturday afternoon at The Dudes’ Brewing Company Torrance location where they celebrated their 10th anniversary of brewing in Torrance. The event featured live music, games, a food popup, and vendors selling clothing, plants, chocolates and coffee. Naturally, there was plenty of Dudes’ beer available for the attendees.
To be honest, I think this was the first anniversary party put on by The Dudes’, and I am not sure why they did not publicize this more, but the end result of the lack of publicity is that there were not very many people there. Luckily, since I had advertised it, I ran into several friends and Craft Beer Guy followers. Continue reading
These photos were taken Saturday afternoon at Common Space Brewery in Hawthorne, where they celebrated their fifth anniversary. The event featured food trucks, live music, DJs, tarot card readings, a caricature artist, live mural painting, and an anniversary beer to accompany the 20+ beers and seltzers that were available on tap.
I arrived around 1:00 and things were already popping with at least 100 Common Space fans, a few kids, and lots of dogs (which made my day). Continue reading
These photos were taken Sunday afternoon at Hermosa Brewing Company’s new brewery and tasting room in Torrance’s Beermuda Triangle, where they celebrated their five year anniversary. The family and dog friendly event featured 14 beers on tap, including their anniversary brew, Suburban Foam, a collaboration done with The Descendents, a punk rock band from the late 70s and 80s that was based out of Manhattan Beach.
The celebration also included food from Beach City Tacos, and the mellow tunes of guitarist Chris Shaw, followed by the rocking surf music of the Royal Rats. While I didn’t get food since that was already taken care of, the nachos looked amazing; and the Royal Rats caused me to hang out 30 minutes longer than planned. Continue reading
These photos were taken Saturday afternoon at Project Barley Square in Torrance, where they officially celebrated their grand opening in Torrance. The event featured eight draft brews, five hand pulled ales, a couple beer cocktails, and their typical offerings of wines and ciders. The day also included live music and the introduction of their new food menu.
In case you were not aware, the end of 2022 saw the “closure” of Yorkshire Square Brewery, which was immediately taken over by Project Barley, so the transition was fairly seamless. Continue reading