local brewers
Absolution Brewing Company Welcomes Bullington as Brewmaster
On Friday evening I headed over to Absolution Brewing Company, the newest production brewery to open in Torrance, where they were holding a small gathering to welcome their new brew master, Bart Bullington. Bullington, who will begin his brewing tasks on Monday, has quite a few years of brewing history under his belt including stints at a couple Southern California craft breweries including the Laguna Beach Brewing Company back in the mid-90s, as well as a couple others that are no longer around and most recently (going by memory) Solvang Brewing Company.
I was able to talk to him briefly and while he has no intention of changing the recipes of Absolution Brewing’s flagship brews he said that we should probably notice a slight difference as he adds his touch to them.
Absolution’s original head brewer, Wes McCann will be moving back to the Washington, D.C. area as his wife Ann will be decommissioning her Navy ship in San Diego this winter and is transferring to duties at the Pentagon. McCann has already been in talks with a brewery or two back east so I suspect we have not seen the last of him. We wish Wes and Ann the best of luck in their future. Cheers! Continue reading
Goldie comes to Smog City
Regular visitors to Smog City Brewing Company cannot help but notice the large number of aging barrels that have been accumulating in the tasting room and on Saturday afternoon Smog City released the first of their bourbon barrel-aged beers. Goldie, a Belgian Golden Strong Ale, was aged in those bourbon barrels for over five months. Goldie marks the first release of their boutique and limited release barrel series. Like just about everything that has come out of Smog City in the year and a half since they opened their production brewery in Torrance, it was outstanding. For those that enjoy watching the evolution of the beer they drink, Smog City also offered Atomic 82, Batch 1 and 2. Atomic 82, Batch 1 is what Goldie was before she entered the bourbon barrels. Atomic 82, Batch 2 will become next year’s Goldie. It was interesting how different 1 and 2 were from each other. If you have a chance to try them, I would recommend it. Bottles of Goldie are available at the tasting room; I would not expect to see it at any stores as bottling was extremely limited. So limited that the side labels each has the beer name, bottle number, ABV and bottled on date handwritten on them.
In addition to the Goldie release, Smog City used the opportunity to release their fall seasonal, Smoked Smaug Lager and a bunch of beers I had never tried like Gottalottahops and Wet Hop Hoptonic. It was a good beer day at Smog City Brewing Company. Smog City is located at 1901 Del Amo Boulevard in Torrance. Continue reading
Business & Beer returns to King Harbor Brewing
The Business & Beer networking group returned to King Harbor Brewing Company on Thursday evening for the first time since their soft open back in February. Back in February the King Harbor brewhouse was not yet powered up and all the available beers had been brewed via their pilot system. Eight months later a fully functional brewhouse provided the brews including The Quest Pale Ale with Mosaic Hops, their California Saison, the Abel Brown American Brown Ale and Swirly, which is essentially Abel Brown with vanilla.
In addition to the functioning brewhouse there have been several aesthetic improvements made with more seating at the bar, more tables and more decorations. King Harbor’s success has also resulted in their having more employees to make the customer experience more enjoyable.
Since it was Thursday that meant that it was also Bring Your Own Beer Mug night which allows customers to bring their favorite beer mug or stein and have it filled at the standard price. Those that brought their own mugs were entered into a contest King Harbor runs on their Instagram account; next week the photos will be posted and whoever gets the most votes will win a free growler and fill courtesy of King Harbor Brewing Company. This is a weekly event, so remember to bring your mugs on any Thursday you visit. Continue reading
Red Car Brewery Owners: Torrance Citizens of the Year
On Thursday afternoon I headed to the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel in Torrance for the annual State of the City Address given by our mayor and for the awarding of the Citizen of the Year Award. For 2014 it was actually the “Citizens of the Year” as Bob and Laurie Brandt, owners of Red Car Brewery & Restaurant in Old Torrance were both honored as the 2014 Citizens of the Year by the Torrance Area Chamber of Commerce for their support and contributions to numerous local charities over the years.
Red Car Brewery was the original craft brewery in the City of Torrance; helping Torrance to become the craft beer destination that it is now. Laurie Brandt thanked the Chamber for the recognition and reflected on Red Car’s time in Torrance, the organizations they donated to and the people they had the opportunity to interact with over the past 17 years. Bob Brandt also thanked the Chamber and encouraged local officials to speak up in favor of the new distilling industry stating that it is essentially in the same place as craft beer was 25 years ago.
You can find all the photos from the State of the City Address and the Citizens of the Year ceremony on GotBaddog.com. Red Car Brewery & Restaurant is located at 1266 Sartori Avenue in Torrance and is open daily at 11:30 AM weekdays and noon on the weekends. Cheers! Continue reading
Locals Night at Naja’s Place LA Beer Week 2014
The 6th Annual LA Beer Week begins Saturday, September 20 but Naja’s Place in Redondo Beach kicked it off a day early with their “Locals Night” which included close to 50 beers on tap from 18 local craft breweries. The local breweries spotlighted in last night’s event included, The Brewery at Abigaile, Angel City, Beachwood, Bottle Logic, The Bruery, The Dudes’ Brewing, Eagle Rock Brewing, El Segundo Brewing, Golden Road, Hangar 24, Kinetic Brewing, King Harbor Brewing, Ladyface, LA Ale Works, Monkish Brewing, Noble Ale Works, Smog City and Strand Brewing Company.
Naja’s Place will continue their celebration of LA Beer Week on Saturday by showcasing 30+ Pizza Port beers, followed by an Allagash tap takeover on Wednesday and a Firestone takeover next Saturday, September 27.
Los Angeles Beer Week (LABW6) officially runs from September 20 through September 28. There are events happening all over the Greater Los Angeles area; you can find the most up to date schedule of events on the LA Beer Week website. There are some great beers being brewed around here now, go out and celebrate it. Cheers! Continue reading
Photos from Rock & Brews’ 4th Annual Local Craft Beer Fest
On Sunday afternoon, Rock & Brews held their 4th Annual Local Craft Beer Fest at their Rock & Brews Garden on Main in El Segundo. There were 15 breweries pouring 30 beers as well as food and a game or two to keep you occupied; but most people seemed content to enjoy the shade in what was a very hot afternoon at the beach. To be honest, there were fewer kids and dogs than last year which cut down of the carnival atmosphere that was experienced last year. I suspect the lower attendance was due in part to the sweltering heat and the fact that Main Street was blocked off for construction, at least in the beginning.
The breweries in attendance were El Segundo Brewing Company, Ohana Brewing Company, The Dudes’ Brewing Company, King Harbor Brewing Company, Strand Brewing Company, Monkish Brewing Company, Smog City Brewing Company, Angel City Brewery, The Brewery at Abigaile, Absolution Brewing Company, Congregation Ale House, Bootlegger’s Brewery, Cosmic Ales, Hangar 24 Craft Brewery and Golden Road Brewery. Also in attendance were Bowser Beer’s Dirty Dog Squad and Popcornopolis Gourmet Popcorn, who was giving away samples of their gourmet popcorn as well as their brand new, hop infused popcorn! This is still in the development stage so keep an eye out for it as they plan on having popcorn pairings with craft beer within the next few months.
In addition to everything else that was going on, a panel with a Question and Answer period was moderated by Celebrator Beer News contributor Tomm Carroll and included Brian Brewer from The Brewery at Abigaile, Christopher Briles from Cosmic Ales, Rich Marcello from Strand Brewing Company, Rob Croxall from El Segundo Brewing Company and Steve Farguson from Absolution Brewing Company. Continue reading
The Brewery at Abigaile hosts September Business & Beer
On Thursday evening Business & Beer, arguably one of the South Bay’s more fun business networking groups, returned to the Brewery at Abigaile in Hermosa Beach. The Business & Beer networking group has been meeting since July of 2012 and The Brewery at Abigaile was the second venue visited, making it the longest running in the Business & Beer rotation. The Brewery at Abigaile is the only brewery in Hermosa Beach and is probably the biggest brewpub in the South Bay. We had a pretty nice turnout considering the number of competing beer events going on at the same time. There was a great mix of regulars and first time attendees which allowed everyone to get to know each other a little better; and about five minutes after everyone left a second wave of first timers showed up. I guess I will have to be sure to include the end time (8:00 PM) along with the start time for future events.
The Business & Beer networking group meets on the second Thursday of every month at a different production brewery tasting room or brewpub in the South Bay. Currently, that includes The Brewery at Abigaile, El Segundo Brewing Company, Strand Brewing Company, Monkish Brewing Company, The Dudes’ Brewing Company, King Harbor Brewing Company, Absolution Brewing Company and Smog City Brewing. The October 9 gathering will be held at King Harbor Brewing Company. If you live or work in the South Bay and networking is important to your business success or it falls under your job description and you enjoy craft beer, Business & Beer is going to be right up your alley.
You can sign up to the Business & Beer mailing list on their website or you can Like them on Facebook to be kept in the loop for upcoming events. All upcoming Business & Beer upcoming events can be found on the free craftbeerguy mobile app which is available for download on iTunes or Google Play. Cheers! Continue reading
Visits to Bottle Logic, Pacific Plate and Pac City Brewing
Saturday afternoon I decided to check out a couple relatively new production breweries that I had not visited yet and pay a return visit to the only craft brewery that has seen fit to name a beer after me. The tasting rooms I visited were Bottle Logic Brewing, Pacific Plate Brewing and Pac City Brewery; with a stop by Lucky Baldwin’s Delirium for a bite to eat.
Our first stop was Bottle Logic Brewing in Anaheim. Bottle Logic opened in February of this year and while this was my first visit to their tasting room, I did have an opportunity to try a couple of their beers at The Bruery’s Sucréversary event back in May so I had a fairly good idea of what to expect as far as their brews were concerned; I was not disappointed. On the day of our visit they had about 14 beers on tap, with the tap list being broken up to their five “Constants” which make up their flagship beers; and their six “Variables” which consist of their seasonal beers. There were also a few others that are experimental and one-offs. We started off with a flight of their Constants and their Lucky Panda; my fiancee really enjoyed their rice lagers, Hanamichi and Lucky Panda. For me, the Double Actuator Double IPA was my favorite, by far. I then tried the Dr. Strangematter Imperial Saison and immediately requested a bottle to go; it is delicious.
Bottle Logic founder and president Steve Napolitano gave me a little tour of the brewhouse and I have to say that for a brewery that is only six months old they have a pretty impressive setup with room to grow. Included in the growth plans is a barrel program that will soon include sours, which will require an additional brewhouse to avoid cross-contamination. I look forward to visiting them again in a few months to see how much they have progressed. Bottle Logic Brewing is located at 1072 N. Armando Street in Anaheim and is open Thursday through Monday. Continue reading
The Dudes’ Brewing Company hosts Business & Beer
On Thursday evening, the long awaited opening of The Dudes’ Brewing Company’s tasting room seemed to take another step closer to becoming reality when they hosted the August gathering of Business & Beer; the South Bay’s most fun business networking group. Now before you get too excited and start streaming over to The Dudes’ you might want to hold off because their tasting room is not yet officially open but work has begun and they are anticipating completion by mid-September. One might say, “they have been saying that for a year now,” and they would be right, but since The Dudes’ were granted their Conditional Use Permit for a tasting room back in May and it is only good for a year (meaning it must be opened within a year, or they have to reapply) they have actually begun work on the tasting room itself; including the addition of gender specific bathrooms.
There was an excellent turnout of attendees, with probably more than 30 people throughout the course of the evening stopping by to try one of four Dudes’ Brewing Company offerings currently available; Kolschtal Eddy, Grandma’s Pecan, Double Trunk DIPA and their latest, South Bay Session Ale. In addition to the beer there was free pizza and The Dudes’ Brewing Company assistant brewer, Rich Madden gave a tour of the facility which is unlike any other brewery in the South Bay. It looked like everyone really enjoyed checking it out.
People that live or work in the South Bay area that find networking to be a valuable tool for their business’ success should consider checking out the Business & Beer business networking group. This is an informal group of business people that share a common interest in locally brewer craft beer. Continue reading
4th Annual Brew at the LA Zoo
These photos were taken Friday night at the 4th Annual Brew at the LA Zoo, a fundraiser for the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association. The craft beer festival featured close to 40 different craft and microbreweries from all over California; including Port Town Brewing, San Pedro Brewing Company, Beachwood BBQ & Brewing, Lagunitas, Firestone Walker and Heretic Brewing Company. While the lines were a little longer that what I normally notice at local craft beer festivals, no one seemed to mind as there were smiles everywhere and lots of laughing.
In addition to the wide variety of craft beers there was live music provided by Indian School, the Spazmatics, and Jug or Nots as well as DJ Johnny Hawkes. Most of the zoo was closed off to the public but the 4,000 plus attendees were able to visit zoo exhibits like Elephants of Asia, Campo Gorilla Reserve, LAIR (Living Amphibians, Invertebrates and Reptiles) and the new Rainforest of the Americas. The gorillas seemed to be the biggest hams while I got the impression the other animals would have been happy to just go to sleep.
Last year there were 23 breweries and this year there were almost 40, so that is a pretty big leap. I was talking to L.A. Zoo Director John Lewis and he informed me that every year this event seems to get bigger and bigger and the LA Zoo really appreciates the support from the community. As this event has sold out for at least the last two years you must keep in the loop of craft beer events if you want an opportunity to go next year. I will try to find out with enough lead time to alert you next year so you can get tickets if you have not had the opportunity to attend a Brew at the LA Zoo yet. Continue reading