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Photos from the Great Society Cider & Mead Grand Opening
These photos were taken Tuesday afternoon when Great Society Cider & Mead officially opened with a ribbon cutting and the presentation of a Certificate of Recognition by the City of Long Beach. With that, the cider and mead began flowing and some very good food started coming from the kitchen.
The event was attended by family, friends, and representatives from the City of Long Beach and the Downtown Long Beach Associates along with what is bound to be the first group of Great Society regulars. Everyone seemed really enjoy experimenting with the various ciders and mead that were available. Continue reading
Pub at the Club Beer and Food Festival Photos
The photos were taken Sunday at the Manhattan Beach Badminton Club where they held their inaugural Pub at the Club Craft Beer and Food Festival to benefit the Manhattan Beach Badminton Club’s Junior Foundation programs for special needs, Para and junior athletes. 100% of the ticket sales were donated to their Junior Foundation Programs; a charity dedicated to developing champions on and off the court by supporting all athletes, including special need and Para-athletes.
The intimate event had a couple hundred attendees who enjoyed the day in the sun with more than 30 craft breweries, a few crafty breweries and several local restaurants that provided unlimited craft beer pours and tasty food stuffs. Continue reading
Cold War Brewing at Zymurgy Brew Works & Tasting Room
On Wednesday evening, Tanya and I headed over to Zymurgy Brew Works & Tasting Room where we met up with co-founder Bill Baker to try out their new Do-It-Yourself craft brewery which is slated to begin their soft-open on September 10, 2016. My brew would not only add some beer to my collection, but it would give Zymurgy an opportunity to dial in their system and it would provide samples for future brewers to enjoy during subsequent brews. I opted to brew a recipe my son has for his Sochi to Stanley Stout; a delicious Russian Imperial Stout. The reason for this was primarily because I did not want to power drink five gallons of an IPA; I would much rather open one bomber every few months and this beer would be just perfect for that.
I had sent the recipe to Baker ahead of time in order to ensure that all the ingredients or applicable substitutes were available. One substitute was replacing the pound of Special B malt with a pound a Crystal 120 which was presented to me as C-120; I thought that sounded like an explosive so I changed the name of the beer to Cold War Russian Imperial Stout. Homebrewers will acknowledge that a Russian Imperial Stout is a pretty ambitious beer for the average homebrewer; Zymurgy was excited to do it as it was a pretty safe bet that this would be one of the biggest beers they will brew there. Continue reading
Business & Beer Visits Rob Rubens Distilling & Brewing
These photos are from the August gathering of Business & Beer which was held Thursday evening at El Segundo’s newest production brewery, and Los Angeles’ only combination distillery and brewery, Rob Rubens Distilling & Brewing. As a co-founder of the Business & Beer networking group I have come to expect smaller than normal turnouts when we bring the group to the outback of El Segundo, so I was pleasantly surprised at the large turnout we had last night.
Founder and Master Distiller, Rob Rubens gave the group a tour of their operation, discussing the distilling as well as the brewing sides, their similarities and the differences. The group seemed to really enjoy the tour as there were plenty of questions being asked. One of the main differences is that it is a lot faster to distill spirits than brew beer; so while the spirits are not quite ready, they should be soon. Continue reading
Great Society Cider & Mead Now Open In Long Beach
Cider and mead lovers of Long Beach can rejoice as the long awaited opening of Great Society Cider & Mead is officially beginning their soft open Thursday, August 4 at 4:30 PM. Last night I had the opportunity to attend their private soft opening and if the turnout was any indicator of the future of Great Society Cider & Mead, it is bright indeed.
Great Society Cider & Mead provided 20 taps of ciders and mead as well as numerous bottles that pours could be purchased from. If you are someone that thinks ciders are all apples, pears and pineapple, you really owe it to yourself to check out their wide range of delicious beverages. The first we tried was the Grand Opening Gose prepared for Great Society by 101 Cider House; it really set the tempo for the interesting flavors we would experience. The Gose saltiness with a cider was unexpectedly tasty. The Space Bloody Orange by Ace Cider was my first attempt at a food pairing with a cider; it was great with the salmon cakes we got from the kitchen. The Black Fang and Savage Bois were both delicious examples of the mead available; to be honest, I cannot wait to get back to try even more. Continue reading
Cosmic Brewery Enters Soft Open Phase
The long awaited opening of Torrance’s newest production brewery, Cosmic Brewery, home of Cosmic Ales, is now a reality as they opened their tasting room to the public this past weekend. I only had a short window of opportunity to visit on Saturday evening but for making a last minute announcement on Friday that they would be open Saturday, the place was packed.
As you can see by my photos, as I watched the build-out of the brewery I never got any photos of the future tasting room. Owner Christopher Briles always kept that close to the vest and he did not want anyone to see it until it was ready. When it was revealed Saturday one had to admit, the cosmic theme is pretty cool.
The tap system is different than any tasting room I have visited in that you pour your own beer and are charged according to how much you pour. If you recall my article about zpizza a couple months ago, it is the same concept. You purchase a card that you insert on the tap, and you pour your beer. I did not play with it Saturday, but I will probably check it out this weekend. Continue reading
LMU Beer Festival 2016 Photos
These photos were taken Saturday at the LMU Beer Fest 2016, which was held on Hannon Field on the Loyola Marymount University campus. The event featured beer from 24 craft breweries, live music by Phoenix Rising, access to six food trucks and a few games of skill. As one person mentioned to me, it was one of the best inaugural events in recent memory.
The beer festival was hosted by the LMU Alumni Association and was a fundraiser to support student athletes through the Lions Athletic Fund. As it turns out there are a lot of brewery owners in the LA area that are LMU alumni, like Allison Kolb of Scholb Premium Ales and Tom Dunbabin of King Harbor Brewing; Steve Farguson of Absolution Brewing has a son that currently attends LMU.
Being the inaugural event, ticket sales were limited; I am going to guess that there were a lot of alumni that purchased tickets to the event with no real intention of attending. This is just a guess, but the VIP session had sold out and there were not very many people for that session. By the end of the day, I would guess that they had a few hundred attendees. Continue reading
Business & Beer Celebrates Four Years
These photos are from the Business & Beer gathering that was held Thursday evening at the Smog City Brewing Company tasting room in Torrance. This marked the 4th anniversary of the networking group’s existence, which probably accounted for the better than average turnout. There was a mix of old and new in attendance with at least a couple first time attendees, and at least seven people that had attended the first Business & Beer at Select Beer Store back in 2012.
To help mark the occasion, Business & Beer co-founder Tanya Martin baked up a bunch of calzones which were readily consumed. Instead of having their monthly beer drawing, all attendees received a coupon for a free beer at an upcoming Business & Beer gathering.
The next Business & Beer will be held at El Segundo’s newest production brewery, Rob Rubens Distilling & Brewing on August 11. You can find more details about the event on the Business & Beer website. Cheers! Continue reading
Jimmy’s Bar & Grill Beer Dinner Featuring Scholb Premium Ales
I guess the word has gotten out to the craft beer fans and foodies in the South Bay area; Jimmy’s Bar & Grill in Redondo Beach is the place to be on the second Wednesday of the month for their outstanding beer dinners. These photos were taken at Jimmy’s July beer dinner last night featuring the latest production brewery to open in Torrance, Scholb Premium Ales.
When we first started attending Jimmy’s Beer Dinner Series back in September the attendance was probably about 30 people. In the months following the numbers fluctuated a little, but I don’t recall there being more than maybe 50 people at any of them. Yesterday afternoon, Jimmy’s announced on their Facebook page that they had sold out at 60 attendees. I guess not everyone got the message because by the time all was said and done they had over 75 attendees at the dinner. It really was a sight to see. Continue reading
Photos from the Beachwood BBQ & Brewing 5 Year Celebration
All day Saturday, Beachwood BBQ & Brewing, the world’s best large brewpub, celebrated five years with hundreds of their fans by providing at least 30 of their beers on tap, four casks, and hourly releases of such favorites as 8 Buffalo, Sadie and Jean-Quad Van Damme along with a special food menu, wandering magicians, balloon artists, and other side show acts turning their Long Beach location into a carnival fit for any adult that enjoys craft beer.
We arrived around 1:00 PM and while there was no line to get in, there was a two hour wait to get a table. We did like many and just opted to stand in the bar until a community table opened up. Getting a beer or ordering food at the bar was quick and easy; and it appeared to me that people were getting seated quicker than two hours. Continue reading