microbrewery
Introducing Sugar Monkey Brewing
These photos were taken Wednesday afternoon at the new Sugar Monkey Brewing, at the Sugar Monkey Social Club, in El Segundo, where they opened their doors for day one of their soft open. For those wondering, yes, Sugar Monkey Brewing took over the old Upshift Brewing location.
For those paying close attention, yes, I did mention the Sugar Monkey Social Club; which I will do my best to explain. The back of Sugar Monkey Brewing has a nice tented area, with plenty of seating, and that section is the Sugar Monkey Social Club, with the taproom being Sugar Monkey Brewing. Continue reading
Port Town Brewing – From the Beginning
This article has taken me over five years to put together. The first photos were taken in September 2018, with the most recent ones being taken Friday afternoon.
Ever since 2017, I have been suggesting that Port Town Brewing should open within the next year. Well, I am happy to announce that they are finally open! Continue reading
Hermosa Brewing 6th Anniversary Photos
These photos were taken Saturday at Hermosa Brewing Company’s Torrance location where they had a party celebrating six years of brewing beer. I actually made two visits, the first being early in the afternoon with my friend Phil, on the way home from the Brouwerij West party. I returned a few hours later solo; those photos start on page two.
When Phil and I arrived there was still plenty of parking. They had a couple food trucks and almost as many dogs as people, which was definitely fine with me. We each had a beer and Phil got some food for his wife at which point we headed to his place. Continue reading
Craft Beer Tour 2023 Photos
These photos were taken between October 25th and 31st in Folsom, California and the Portland area of Oregon, where I went to celebrate Halloween with some friends and I managed to fit in an abbreviated version of my annual Craft Beer Tour.
The journey started when my friend Matt from Oregon City invited me to his annual Halloween party, after I accepted the invitation I was asked to drive with Matt up to Oregon. Admittedly I kind of figured that we might be able to stop at a brewery or two on the way up, and we tried, but you know how life can be. Continue reading
Far Field Beer Company 2nd Anniversary Photos
These photos were taken Saturday afternoon at Far Field Beer Company, in Lawndale, where they celebrated their second anniversary at their brewery/tasting room. The event featured live music, food popups, vendors peddling their wares, a photo booth, games, raffles, brewery tours, and about 19 tap offerings, including a couple anniversary brews (depending on who you talked to).
It was a lovely afternoon in the South Bay, and at least 100 people showed up (while I was there) to enjoy the mellow weather and join in the festivities with their families and four-legged friends. Continue reading
Five Point Five Brewing Company Grand Opening Photos
These photos were taken Friday afternoon at Five Point Five Brewing Company in El Segundo, when they officially opened their doors to the public, bringing El Segundo’s craft brewery count back up to four, joining El Segundo Brewing, Upshift Brewing, and Boardroom Brewery. Five Point Five is at the location previously occupied by Surfridge Brewing, and is now owned by the brewer for Surfridge, and his family.
Friday was their official Grand Opening, and while I arrived within the first couple of hours of their opening the doors, it was very well attended, not only by friends and family, but they also had attendees from El Segundo Brewing and Upshift, which is always a good sign, in my opinion. Continue reading
Introducing Five Point Five Brewing Company
UPDATE: Five Point Five Brewing Company will officially open Friday, August 11.
These photos were taken Friday, August 4 at Five Point Five Brewing Company, the latest craft brewery to open in El Segundo. You may recall that four months ago Surfridge Brewing in El Segundo closed their doors; Five Point Five Brewing Company, headed by Surfridge’s former head brewer Jeremy Montemagni, will replace Surfridge.
Starting at the beginning, before Surfridge closed, owners Steven and Jennifer Lieberman moved to Connecticut and opened a new Surfridge location, and had their brewer, Jeremy, flying back and forth across the country to brew at both locations. As one can imagine, that was a pretty hectic schedule and really was not sustainable; that brought about the close of the El Segundo location. It was then that Jeremy and his wife Melissa decided to team up with the talented members of Melissa’s family and together they bought the old Surfridge equipment and got their own lease for the location. Continue reading
Boardroom Brewery Now Open in El Segundo
These photos were taken over the course of three years, beginning with my first visit in January 2020, a follow-up visit in January 2023, and ending with my visit on Memorial Day 2023 to Boardroom Brewery, El Segundo’s newest craft brewery.
So yeah, this tale begins back at the end of 2019 when Brouwerij West co-founder Dave Holop asked me if I knew anything about what was to be El Segundo’s fifth craft brewery. I was given an address and started dropping by every time I went to El Segundo. On January 8 I lucked out and showed up on a day that Forchi, the owner, happened to be there, having lunch as I recall. I introduced myself, and got permission to grab some photos. At that point in time Forchi knew he wanted to open a brewery; he was pretty much waiting for approval from the City of El Segundo and did not even have a name picked yet. If he did, he was holding it close to the vest. Continue reading
Two Coast Brewing Soft Open Photos
These photos were taken Thursday afternoon/evening at Two Coast Brewing Company, in Gardena, where the latest addition to the South Bay’s craft scene held their soft open. Their tap list consisted of eight German style brews including their Pilsner, Kolsch, German Pale Ale, a Dunkelweizen, Hefeweizen, Cream Ale, and a couple fest biers.
I arrived about 30 minutes after they opened and they already had a small group assemble, by the time I got ready to leave they were almost at capacity; it was obvious that co-founders Roger and Jan were enjoying watching their tasting room fill up. Continue reading
Two Coast Brewing: A Taste of Germany in Gardena
These photos were taken Wednesday afternoon, when I visited Gardena’s newest craft brewery, Two Coast Brewing Company. I have been cyber-stalking Two Coast since the end of 2016, so when I recently noticed a Facebook post that screamed out, “They must have a tasting room coming soon,” I reached out to them for the first time in more than six years to see if I could swing by. I met with co-founders Roger Kunsemueller and Jan Dreier to get a little history as well as a look into the future.
When I arrived, Jan was busy keeping a cleaning mess under control, while Roger was milling grain. I took advantage of the time to walk around and grab photos of their 15bbl brewhouse and 30bbl fermenters as well as what will soon become the South Bay’s newest craft beer tasting room. Oh yeah, I may have tried a few of their brews Continue reading