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Brouwerij West 6th Anniversary Photos
These photos were taken Sunday afternoon at Brouwerij West in San Pedro, where they celebrated day two of their six year anniversary. The day featured live music, a couple anniversary beers, and a few food trucks.
During my time there, live music was provided by Sentry Dogs, Mor Flowrs, and Moldy Roses. There were three other bands that were scheduled to play after I left.
For their anniversary, Brouwerij West released their Six Times Six Times Hazy IPA, and their Dead Water Imperial Pastry Stout as well as a barrel-aged version of Dead Water. Continue reading
Ribbon Cutting at Eureka Brewing Company
These photos were taken Wednesday evening at Eureka Brewing Company, where the City of Gardena officially welcomed Eureka to the city with a ribbon cutting that was combined with Gardena’s employee’s Christmas party.
Okay, you are right, Eureka Brewing has been open a year now, ribbon cuttings typically coincide with grand openings, but as we all know by now, not much about 2020 was what one might consider “typical.” 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
Portland Craft Beer Tour 2021
These photos were taken Tuesday and Wednesday, November 16 and 17, in Portland, Oregon, where I joined some friends for a 36 hour whirlwind craft beer tour. The breweries we visited included Von Ebert Brewing, Deschutes Portland Public House, Backwoods Brewing, 10 Barrel Brewing, Upright Brewing, Rogue Eastside Pub & Pilot Brewery, Cascade Brewing, and Deschutes Brewery PDX. As half of our crew had never been to Portland before, there were also some tourist stops, such as Pine State Biscuits, Voodoo Donuts, The Big Legrowlski, Kelly’s Olympian, and Poet’s Beach.
So yeah, this trip was a little (okay, a lot) different than 99.99% of the articles I have written about my travels, because this time I had zero say in what we did or where we went. My only decisions for two days were what beer I wanted, and what did I want to eat. I have not had so little responsibility since I was 17. Continue reading
Craft Beer Guy Visits Huntington Beach
These photos were taken Friday in Huntington Beach, where I did a small craft beer tour with my friends, Jeff and Yurany. We visited Riip Beer Company, Flashpoint Brewing, and Beachwood Brewing.
Those of you that were following my Craft Beer Tour 2021 may have noticed that it had a pretty abrupt ending; as a result, I decided that instead of driving thousands of miles to visit new breweries, I would try to fit in a few day trips to breweries that were a little closer. As Jeff and Yurany had the day off, we decided to venture out together to Huntington Beach. 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 Tour 2021: Eugene, OR
These photos were taken Thursday afternoon, September 30, day 16 of my Craft Beer Tour 2021, when I revisited Eugene, Oregon. This time I spent my time at Hop Valley Brewing Company and Manifest Beer Company. I had planned on leaving Oregon City on Wednesday, but my presence was an asset for my friends, so I hung out another day.
I set my sights for Eugene as I wanted to visit a friend I had not seen since my visit in 2018; our plans were to meet for lunch and a beer at Hop Valley Brewing. When I pulled into their parking lot I noticed a text message suggesting I would be doing this visit solo due to illness. Continue reading
Aven Turns Four
These photos were taken Saturday, October 2 at King Harbor Brewing Company where they held a birthday party for AJ’s son, who turned four.
For those that are unaware, AJ is the manager at King Harbor Brewing Company and he is my nephew which makes his son my grand-nephew, and for that he gets his birthday party photos on my website.
Happy birthday Aven, I hope you have the best year yet. Cheers! Continue reading
Craft Beer Tour 2021: Vancouver, WA
These photos were taken Tuesday, September 28, day 14 of my Craft Beer Tour 2021, when I visited Trap Door Brewing in Vancouver, Washington. Yes, you read that right, I am in Washington.
Hopefully you have been following along and recall that when we left off, I was planning to drive to Boise in the morning. Continue reading