Long Beach

Halfway to Halloween Hootenanny Photos

These photos were taken Saturday afternoon, April 23, at the Museum of Latin American Art (MOLAA) in Long Beach, where they hosted the 1/2 Way to Halloween Hootenanny craft beer festival, which was presented by LB Obscura, an event production company created by LB Craft Beer and Festival Obscura. The event is a fundraiser, with a portion of the proceeds going to support the Museum of Latin American Art. Perhaps unknown to most, this was also kind of a going away party for Martin Svab and Ryan Hughes; more on that later.

Regular readers will hopefully recall that last October I attended the inaugural Halloween Hootenanny at MOLAA; apparently it was such a success that it was decided that there was no reason to wait until next October to do it again (they will), and the 1/2 Way to Halloween Hootenanny was conceived. Continue reading

Winter Beer Dinner at Ballast Point Photos

These photos were taken Friday evening at Ballast Point Long Beach; where I participated in something I have not been able to do in over two years, attend a beer dinner. A four course meal curated by Ballast Point R&D Brewer Chris Takeuchi, combined with the fact that I had yet to visit Ballast Point’s Long Beach location, made it a pretty easy decision to accept their invitation. Together with my friend Alexis, sales rep for Eureka Brewing Company, we braved the Friday night traffic for what would be a fun and tasty evening.

So, getting first impressions out of the way first, their parking lot is massive which should probably give you an indication of what to expect inside. With a little patience we ended up with one of the best parking spots short of having a handicapped placard.

When we entered I was pretty surprised at just how massive the place is. The fact of the matter is that I never even made it upstairs so it is literally twice as big as what I observed. On top of that they have an outdoor patio which I am sure is nice most of the time; last night would not have been a good time for outdoor dining (too cold). Continue reading

Photos of the Halloween Hootenanny at MOLAA

These photos were taken Saturday at the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach, where they hosted the inaugural Halloween Hootenanny, which was presented by LB Obscura, an event production company created by LB Craft Beer and Festival Obscura. The Halloween-theme event featured an advertised 45 breweries, wineries, cideries and various vendors with everything from books to burgers and beyond. A portion of the proceeds went to the Museum of Latin American Art.

Since this whole pandemic thing started easing up, I have had the opportunity to attend a few public events, but I would venture to say this was the biggest event I have attended since 2019. The venue was spread out in such a way that I never really noticed any out of control lines. Continue reading

Long Beach Beer Lab 4th Anniversary Photos

These photos were taken Sunday afternoon at Long Beach Beer Lab, where they celebrated their fourth anniversary and Oktoberfest. The festivities included live music by The Bodleys, face painting by Liza May, one liter steins of their Oktoberfest beer, and soft pretzels from Long Beach Bread Lab.

I ran into Long Beach Beer Lab founder/Chief Investigating Scientist Levi Fried shortly after I arrived and had to comment on how much growth there had been since my last visit; Levi responded that they had been busy the last two years. I knew it had not been two years since my last visit, but admittedly my last couple of visits had been for to-go purchases so I had not seen just how much they have grown. Continue reading

Craft Beer LB Fest 2021 Photos

These photos were taken Saturday afternoon at the 5th Annual Craft Beer LB Fest, which was held at the Rancho Los Cerritos Historic Site in Long Beach. The family friendly event featured craft beer from about a dozen Long Beach breweries, a couple homebrew clubs, and one cidery.

While I have attended each of the prior events, it seems that I typically had several events to photograph the same day, so I always attended the VIP session; I was late for the VIP session this time and it really showed me just how crowded this festival gets. Continue reading

Beachwood Brewing 10th Anniversary Photos

These photos were taken Saturday afternoon at the Beachwood BBQ & Brewing brewpub in Long Beach, where Beachwood fans gathered to celebrate 10 years of great barbecue and even better beer.

If you have attended previous anniversary celebrations at Beachwood, the first thing you would notice is that there was no line to get in. In fact, there were very few lines at all during the two hours I was there. The one thing that today had in common with prior years was the amazing beer selection. By my count there were 23 house brews on tap, including one hard seltzer, and Hoppa Emeritus on cask, as well as six guest taps, and eight Blendery options. Continue reading

A Visit to Trademark Brewing

These photos were taken Sunday afternoon at Trademark Brewing, a production brewery with a tasting room in Long Beach.

I had first become aware of Trademark Brewing probably in the summer of 2019; in fact, I am relatively confident that I had made plans to visit them in July, but there had been some delay in the planned opening date; a rarity, I know. I was able to sample their brews for the first time at the third annual Craft Beer LB Fest. A few months later COVID hit and pretty much put a halt to my ability to go out and visit new breweries. Continue reading

Christmas Eve at The 4th Horseman

These photos were taken Tuesday, Christmas Eve 2019, at The 4th Horseman in Long Beach. The 4th Horseman is a pizza and beer bar that opened in November of 2018; they specialize in craft beer, fine wine, and apocalyptic pizza. The primary reason it is even on my radar is that two of the four founders are Martin Svab and Ryan Hughes, previously of Carson’s Phantom Carriage Brewery. The other two founders are Jeremy Schott of The Dark Art Emporium, and Chef Adam Schmalz who helped open Gabi James in Redondo Beach and used to run the kitchen at Phantom Carriage.

While The 4th Horseman has been open for a little more than a year, this was my first visit. While I am not really a pizza guy, I could not help but notice the accolades they have been receiving in the press over the last several months, as well as some amazing photos I have seen friends post on Facebook and Instagram. When The 4th Horseman first opened, they did not open until 4:00 PM and driving to Long Beach from the South Bay at that hour just didn’t make sense. Well, they now open at 11:00 AM, and since they were having a Christmas Eve special going on I headed out, confident traffic would not be an issue. Continue reading

Summit Beer Festival 2019 Photos

These photos were taken Saturday afternoon at Marina Green Park in Long Beach, where the California Craft Brewers Association (CCBA) culminated their three day celebration of California craft beer and the CCBA’s 30 years of protecting and supporting the more than 1000 breweries in the state of California with California’s largest craft beer festival which featured 170 craft breweries from around the state.

To be honest, I almost did not make it due to the fact that I seemed to have picked up some type of convention crud on Thursday. I didn’t feel too bad on Friday, so I toughed it out and substituted handshakes with fist bumps; unfortunately, while that may have prevented me from spreading the bug to others, it did nothing to make me feel better Saturday. I felt worse than I have in years and it was very hot which did not make it any easier on me. But, as I am having another craft beer festival in a few months there was research to be done; so I struggled through it. Continue reading

CA Craft Beer Summit Day One Photos

These photos were taken Thursday afternoon at the Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center, where the California Craft Brewers Association (CCBA) kicked off the beginning of a three day celebration of California craft beer and the CCBA’s 30 years of protecting and supporting 1000 breweries in the state of California.

Thursday was a day of education, networking and an expo for brewers, retailers, distributors, craft beer lovers, and homebrewers. Whether you were seeking hops or hardware, cans or labels, a canning line or a new brewhouse, there was a vendor there for you. And there was beer; lots of California craft beer with each brewers guild in the state having their own booth scattered among the vendors.

The guilds included the Los Angeles County Brewers Guild, the Orange County Brewers Guild, the Central Coast Brewers Guild, the San Diego Brewers Build, the Sacramento Area Brewers Guild, the Bay Area Brewers Guild, and the Inland Empire Brewers Guild. Each booth broke up their beer offerings into two sessions to provide maximum exposure to their member breweries. Continue reading

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