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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
Photos from the El Segundo Brewing Co. 12th Anniversary
These photos were taken Saturday afternoon, May 13, at El Segundo Brewing Company in El Segundo, where they held their 12th anniversary. The low-key event featured the release of two high-octane brews and food provided by Gochu Gang Korean BBQ.
So yeah, I initially described the event as low-key, but it might better be described as a reunion of long time ESBC fans. While they may not have had multiple food trucks and live music, they did have 20 high quality El Segundo Brewing beers on tap, including their two high-octane anniversary brews; Greetings From El Segundo TIPA (11% ABV) and Lost in the Mail QIPA (13.2 ABV), which were also released in cans. Continue reading
Syncopated Brewing 2nd Anniversary Photos
These photos were taken Saturday afternoon, May 6, at Syncopated Brewing Company in Lakewood, where they were celebrating day two of their three day celebration of their second year anniversary and the birthday of Jason Van Fleet, one of the co-founders of syncopated brewing. The day featured food, live music, games, and a beer release.
While I was there, food was provided by Big Brian’s Meats. Music was provided by assistant brewer Elic Evans and his wife Mel. As I was preparing to leave The Bodleys were setting up; I was tempted to hang out later, but I try to avoid traffic. Continue reading
HopSaint Brewing Company 7th Anniversary Photos
These photos were taken Saturday, April 29, at HopSaint Brewing Company in Torrance, where, for the first time ever, they celebrated their [seventh] anniversary with a party. The event featured music, tacos, an anniversary beer and free commemorative glassware.
Since I had already committed to the 2nd Annual Halfway to Halloween Hootenanny, and both events were scheduled for pretty much the same time (noon to 5:00 for the Hootenanny; noon to 4:00 for HopSaint) it meant I was going to have to hustle to cover both events. As a result I only got about 90 minutes at HopSaint, but it was obvious that I missed a lot of people. Continue reading
Smog City Brewing 12th Anniversary Photos
These photos were taken Saturday afternoon at the Smog City Brewing Company brewery and tasting room in Torrance where Smog City celebrated 12 years of brewing beer. The event featured multiple food trucks/popups, live music, a charity dunk tank, raffles, games and an anniversary beer to accompany the other 26 brews that were on the menu.
It is no secret that Smog City Brewing knows how to throw an anniversary party, and Saturday was no exception. Food was available from Pasta Selvatica with their handmade pasta created before your eyes, Proudly Serving was back with their delicious smash burgers, and All About the Cinnamon with their hip-hop influenced cinnamon rolls. Buddha Boy Tacos was setting up as I was leaving, so I am not exactly sure what else was available during the evening portion of the event. Continue reading
Photos from the Dudes’ Brewing 10th Anniversary
These photos were taken Saturday afternoon at The Dudes’ Brewing Company Torrance location where they celebrated their 10th anniversary of brewing in Torrance. The event featured live music, games, a food popup, and vendors selling clothing, plants, chocolates and coffee. Naturally, there was plenty of Dudes’ beer available for the attendees.
To be honest, I think this was the first anniversary party put on by The Dudes’, and I am not sure why they did not publicize this more, but the end result of the lack of publicity is that there were not very many people there. Luckily, since I had advertised it, I ran into several friends and Craft Beer Guy followers. 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
Common Space 5th Anniversary Photos
These photos were taken Saturday afternoon at Common Space Brewery in Hawthorne, where they celebrated their fifth anniversary. The event featured food trucks, live music, DJs, tarot card readings, a caricature artist, live mural painting, and an anniversary beer to accompany the 20+ beers and seltzers that were available on tap.
I arrived around 1:00 and things were already popping with at least 100 Common Space fans, a few kids, and lots of dogs (which made my day). Continue reading
Hermosa Brewing Company 5th Anniversary Photos
These photos were taken Sunday afternoon at Hermosa Brewing Company’s new brewery and tasting room in Torrance’s Beermuda Triangle, where they celebrated their five year anniversary. The family and dog friendly event featured 14 beers on tap, including their anniversary brew, Suburban Foam, a collaboration done with The Descendents, a punk rock band from the late 70s and 80s that was based out of Manhattan Beach.
The celebration also included food from Beach City Tacos, and the mellow tunes of guitarist Chris Shaw, followed by the rocking surf music of the Royal Rats. While I didn’t get food since that was already taken care of, the nachos looked amazing; and the Royal Rats caused me to hang out 30 minutes longer than planned. Continue reading
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