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Three Weavers Tap Takeover at Astro Pub
These photos were taken at the Three Weavers tap takeover that was held Saturday evening at the new Whole Foods Market in Playa Vista. This event featured six brews by Three Weavers Brewing; Seafarer Kolsch, Expatriate IPA, Ripple Saison, Deep Roots ESB, Knotty DIPA and Blood Junkie Imperial Red. There were several cheeses, dried meats and crackers provided along with some pairing suggestions. Three Weavers head brewer, Alexandra Nowell was also on hand to answer questions about the brews for the attendees.
When I was asked if I would cover this event, I did not hesitate in responding in the affirmative. While I may not spend a lot of time in Whole Foods markets, I have attended a few tap takeovers at other Whole Foods locations like El Segundo with their 760 Flight Plan tapas and craft beer bar; as well as Bar 225 at Whole Foods Venice and was aware that the new Playa Vista Whole Foods was going to have a larger area set aside for enjoying craft beer on-site. One thing is for sure; the Playa Vista location provides a lot more space for having a brew and their beer buyer, Raul Moran plans on making good use of it. Continue reading
Business & Beer at Smog City Brewing
These photos were taken at the September 2015 Business & Beer which was held at Smog City Brewing Company on Thursday evening. There was a pretty decent turnout considering how hot it has been around here lately; plus Back-to-School Nights have been going on, so that might have influenced the overall turnout. Those that attended had a great time and were able to enjoy a couple new Smog City Brewing brews, including Cuddlebug and California Love.
The next meeting of Business & Beer will be held October 8, 2015 at El Segundo Brewing Company from 6:00-8:00 PM. This is Business & Beer’s first return to El Segundo Brewing Company since they expanded their tasting room, so if you have not been there lately prepare to be surprised. It is probably three or four times bigger than the last time we were there. Please check the Business & Beer website or their Facebook page for more information. Cheers! Continue reading
Smog City Beer Dinner at Jimmy’s Bar & Grill
These photos were taken at the Smog City Beer Dinner which was held Wednesday evening at Jimmy’s Bar & Grill in Redondo Beach. I want to begin this by stating that over the past few years I have attended quite a few beer dinners but I am not sure that I have ever attended one that had such obvious thought put into the pairing of the food and beer as what we experienced last night at Jimmy’s. Marc Dix is the chef/partner at Jimmy’s and he is one of the owners of Barley Hops Grill, a popular food truck frequently seen at various tasting rooms. Regular readers have probably picked up on the fact that I don’t usually pay much attention to the food trucks I run across at various events, preferring to leave the food choices to Tanya. After experiencing our meal last night and speaking with attendees that assured me that Barley Hops Grill is one of the best food trucks in the area, I am sure I will give more input when Tanya asks what I want to eat.
I live around the corner from Jimmy’s and have been here for 30 years, so I have seen lots of businesses come and go from that location. A few years ago a sports bar, 20/20, opened there, but did not last long. We had checked them out as a possible location to have a Business & Beer gathering but were left unimpressed. It was not long before I noticed 20/20 was closed and a lot of remodeling was being done. A short time later, Jimmy’s Bar & Grill was opened. I suppose I was misled by the “bar & grill” portion of Jimmy’s name as I had a preconceived idea that burgers and fries would be the main fare but last night’s menu definitely cleared up any misconceptions I may have had. Continue reading
Photos of the So Cal Brew Fest After Hours
These photos were taken at the So Cal Brew Fest After Hours, which was held Saturday afternoon at the Farmers Park Market located at the historic Anaheim Packing District. This particular beer festival was a fundraiser with the beneficiaries of this event being the Anaheim Homeless Collaborative and Project Hope Alliance.
I have to say, this was a pretty nice event with a nice variety of beers from local favorites such as Phantom Carriage, Bootlegger’s, Absolution Brewing, Backstreet and Wicks Brewing as well as the larger breweries such as Ballast Point, Lagunitas and Sierra Nevada. Ciders were represented by County Cider, Troy Cider and California 101 Cider House. I had read that Mike Hess Brewing was going to be there, but I never spotted them if they showed up.
In addition to the nice selection of beer, the price of admission included food from Umami Burger, Bronx Sandwich Company, Brandy’s Sweets and street tacos from a company whose name escapes me. There was music provided by a DJ and lots of games including cornhole, hula hoop, Jenga and even Bocce Ball. There were a couple drawings, including one for a $75 gift card from Total Wine and More. Continue reading
San Fernando Brewing Ribbon Cutting: The Valley is Now a Destination
On Friday afternoon the San Fernando Valley officially became a craft beer destination when San Fernando Brewing Company held their grand opening, making them the third craft brewery in the San Fernando Valley (SFV) with a tasting room. The accompanying photos are from their ribbon cutting which was attended by friends, family, various representatives of the City of San Fernando including the mayor and chief of police as well as lots of craft beer fans.
San Fernando Brewing Company is definitely a family operation with brothers Vic (the brewer) and Joe Chouchanian heading up things but you could tell that there were lots of family members involved, including mom. The tasting room was quite welcoming, not only in its clean appearance and setup, but they are one of the only brewery tasting rooms I can remember visiting that actually has air conditioning. Considering it was well over 100 yesterday, and even hotter the day before when one of the A/C units failed and had to be replaced.
San Fernando Brewing has had a soft open for the past six weeks, but used their grand opening to release the latest of their five brews, Sonora Wheat, which was definitely a crowd favorite while I was there and was probably my favorite as well. Sonora wheat was used in this beer because it used to be one of the natural crops in the San Fernando Valley. The other four included their Wolfskill IPA, O’Melveny Red Ale, Royal Road Pale Ale and Stoney Point Stout. One advantage San Fernando Brewing has that is rather unusual is that the city of San Fernando gets their water from a well; this water really brings out the flavor in the Stoney Point Stout. Continue reading
A Visit to the L.A. Arts District: Mumford Brewing & Angel City
If you have been following along you know that on Saturday I was at the BEERS Summer Fest in downtown Los Angeles. As the day approached I could see by the weather reports that it was going to be a hot day in DTLA, and unless The Chair parking lot, where the event was being held, had a lot of trees it was going to have to be a pretty entertaining event for me to stay long. Luckily, I knew that Mumford Brewing was just a couple miles away and I knew Angel City was walking distance from there, so I had a backup plan. If not for the BEERS festival, I was going to save my visit to the L.A. Arts District breweries for when everyone was up and running. I had heard good things about Mumford and I think Angel City’s location is one of the more interesting breweries to photograph so it did not take much convincing to head over to the Arts District for some exploring.
When we arrived at Mumford Brewing I was not really sure what I thought. The exterior of the building was brightly colored, but as soon as you see the door you are greeted by the face of a stern Mr. Mumford and the first seating looked like something found in a hip or hep coffee shop. As I turned my gaze to the left I noticed the familiar chalkboards listing the available brews and a room that looked more like the tasting rooms I am familiar with; lots of concrete and basic tables with stools. There were not very many people at the time when compared to what I see in the South Bay breweries, but they had a fair number of customers. By the time we finished our flight it seemed like most tables had suddenly become occupied. Continue reading
BEERS Summer Fest: Festivals only look easy to put on
These photos were taken at the inaugural BEERS Summer Fest, which was held Saturday at The REEF, Chair Parking Lot in downtown Los Angeles. As one might guess, I am approached on a regular basis to promote craft beer festivals; some are large, well established events and others are smaller inaugural events. Some inaugural events are bigger and more successful than expected and others are probably not going to have a second annual event. Since there are a lot of newer beer festivals that seem to get the beer donated and donate a very small portion of the proceeds to a charity so they can get the permit, I have decided to start asking questions about how much actually will be donated before I consider promoting the event. Of even more importance is whether or not I think I will go to it; because I am not in the habit of promoting events that I am not attending.
When I was first approached about promoting the BEERS Magazine BEERS Summer Fest I was taken aback when I saw the pricing structure. $10 to get in, all of which would go to the charity; then $25 for the pint glass that you would get your beer poured in. No glass, no beer. I could not recall any event that I have attended that used this method. There was a $5.00 discount if you pre-paid for your glass, but when I inquired about getting an additional discount for my readers I was told they could not do that. So I started to wonder how much they were paying for the glassware. Continue reading
Business & Beer joins the crowd at Monkish Brewing Company
These photos were taken at the last Business and Beer which was held Thursday, August 13 at the Monkish Brewing Company tasting room in Torrance. Do not let the lack of photos lead you to believe that there wasn’t much of a turnout, because that would not be accurate. The reality is that Monkish was so crowded it was a little difficult to move around to set up shots!
As one of the co-founders of the Business & Beer networking group, our goal was two-fold; the first was to provide a networking opportunity for small business owners beyond what a typical Chamber of Commerce might provide and to give greater exposure to our local breweries, brewpubs and gastropubs. I remember a time that when we brought a group of 5, 10 or 15 people to one of our local tasting rooms it actually made an impact on the number of patrons the brewery was having that night. Last night, someone happened to share a photo on Facebook from September 2012; it is fun to remember when we could all fit into the front alcove of the tasting room and there would still be room for the other patrons. On Thursday there was a line out the front door most of the evening; I guess we can declare mission accomplished as far as garnering exposure to our craft breweries. Cheers! Continue reading
In memory of Jeff Sanders
On Monday morning, members of the South Bay’s craft beer community were shocked to hear of the loss of one of their own, Jeff Sanders. Jeff was a long time (if not lifetime) resident of the South Bay that loved animals, friends and craft beer. Jeff was a member of the Strand Brewers Club and as such, many members of the club joined his other friends for a memorial at Phantom Carriage on Tuesday evening.
I must admit that I was not really sure what I was going to write to accompany these photos and over the past 24 hours many ideas have wandered through my head; death, friendship and depression being the original topics that came to mind. Soon after arriving at Phantom Carriage last night, I was pretty sure that I was going to have to let the photos do most of the talking.
I cannot speak for where you live, but the South Bay’s craft beer community is just that, a tight-knit community. Last night, the community seemed a lot more like family. I knew Jeff, but it is not like we hung out together. I probably first met him at a Strand Brewers Club meeting, but I saw him at many events and when I look at the photos that I captured him in, he always seemed to be smiling and having a good time. It was very obvious that many of those attending last night’s gathering knew him a lot better than I and that they all felt they had lost a very good friend. Continue reading
Additional Photos of the Craft Beer Guy Birthday Party
A little over a week ago Absolution Brewing Company, along with El Segundo Brewing, Strand Brewing Company, Smog City Brewing, Phantom Carriage and King Harbor Brewing Company threw a birthday party for me at Absolution’s tasting room. Since I was the guest of honor, Tanya and I had decided that it would not be very polite for me to spend time taking photos instead of interacting with the guests that showed up. Tanya brought her camera, but we both knew that the photos would be rather minimal in comparison to what I would normally shoot if I was behind the camera, but hey, it was a party.
When we arrived at the Absolution Brewing Company tasting room, Absolution’s CTO (Chief Tasting Officer), Nigel Heath approached me and said, “You cannot take photos of your own party,” at which time he introduced me to one of the Absolution patrons, Luis Paredes, who just happened to be there with his big Nikon. Luis had offered to take photos in exchange for some free beer and food. I was more than happy to include Luis in the shindig.
Luis owns LP Photography and he can be reached via his Instagram page, https://instagram.com/luisparedesphotography/. These are some of the photos he took.
Thanks again to Luis, Absolution Brewing, Strand Brewing, Phantom Carriage, King Harbor Brewing, Smog City, El Segundo Brewing and everyone that came out. I hope you had as good a time as I did. Cheers! Continue reading