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Churchkey Beer: A Gimmick with a Gadget
Regular visitors to this site have probably noticed that I do not usually review individual beers here; if you really want to know what I feel about a beer, you can look at my Untappd page. My opinion is that there are many sites out there that will tell you what you should think about a particular beer; I do not expect others to feel the same way about a specific beer as I do, so I will just show you where to experience the brew and you can develop your own thoughts about it. That being said, this article is a little different because there is no tasting room to visit and at the time of my writing this, I am not convinced there is anywhere you can find it on tap. I am talking about Churchkey Pilsner by Churchkey Can Company out of Seattle, Washington.
Churchkey Pilsner will be coming to the Los Angeles and Orange County markets soon, so I was asked if I wanted to give it a try. Naturally, I wanted to see what the deal was; when I was a kid, a churchkey was a pretty standard household gadget as it was the days before flip tops and aluminum cans. Since there are many breweries opting for canning over bottling, I understood why someone might can their beer; I just wasn’t sure why you would want to need a special opener to get to it. Continue reading
Craft Beer Guy Birthday at Absolution Brewing
On July 9, the Business & Beer networking group had their July gathering at Torrance production brewery, Absolution Brewing Company. As we were saying our goodbyes, Absolution Brewing co-owner and main sales guru Steve Farguson happened to overhear a conversation I was having with an old friend when the topic of my upcoming birthday came up. When Steve heard “birthday” his ears perked up and he suggested that perhaps they would have a birthday party for me if he could generate enough interest with the other local breweries. I was flattered, but I explained that my birthday was in 10 days and that really did not seem like enough time to pull something like that off. It was decided that Steve would ask around and we would play it by ear.
To my surprise, a couple days later Steve informed me that El Segundo Brewing and Phantom Carriage were on board; then it just started to grow with eventually Strand Brewing, Smog City and King Harbor Brewing Company also joining in. By the time all was said and done we had representatives from local breweries and various craft beer industry types joining a few of my family members and personal friends.
My darling Tanya spent the two days prior slaving over a hot stove creating treats for the guests including pulled pork with homemade rolls made from spent grain and carrot cake. Others brought in treats like cheeses, meatballs and shrimp; and of course, there were lots of growlers and crowlers so everyone had an opportunity to try a wide variety of locally crafted beer. Continue reading
Flights Beer Bar: Craft Beer for Hawthorne
As I have mentioned before, friends and followers of this site frequently direct me to the latest beer bar that they visited, or that they had heard was opening in the area. I have learned to not bother rushing off because as often as not the selection isn’t really that special or the business is not going to survive the winter. I first heard about Flights Beer Bar in late March or very early April. When I asked my informant what was special about the place they could not tell me as they had yet to visit.
Over the next two months a few more people approached me; some inquiring because they had not been there yet either, and a couple that had made their way over to Hawthorne to check it out. I ended up getting a personal invitation from the owner and another recommendation or two from people that have similar tastes as me, so I decided that I would begin my birthday weekend by going to Flights for a beer and maybe take some photos if it was warranted.
Flights is located at 5119 W. El Segundo Boulevard in Hawthorne, which means it is right off the 405 on the east side of the freeway; it is also on the north side of the street so you need to know it is there or you will do some u-turns to get back there. To make it easy, it is between the Subway and Burger King. The sign is big, but the color scheme isn’t ideal at 12:30 PM. I was told it does light up at night and they have several runway lights above it on the roof. I will have to return at night time to see how visible it is. Continue reading
Beachwood BBQ & Brewing 4th Anniversary Photos
These photos were taken at the Beachwood BBQ & Brewing 4th Anniversary celebration which was held Saturday, July 11 at the Long Beach brewpub.
One of the best things about writing about my travels is that I am easily able to refer back to the first time I visited the Long Beach location or any of the three prior anniversary parties and easily see how much they have grown in just a few short years. I had to chuckle when I looked back and saw that they had nine beers available the first time I went there; yesterday they had over 40 on tap and even more on cask. And it is not even just about the number of beers they brew, but how well done and true to style they are. I feel really fortunate to have them so relatively close to home.
I initially went to Long Beach in the morning, but due to circumstances beyond my control, I got there later than I planned on and the line was just too long so I decided I would come back later. I watched conversations on Facebook and around 3:30 the lines were done. When we arrived it was still busy with their fans ordering up from the dozens of brews available. Since Beachwood staggered the tap times of their barrel-aged brews, just about everything was still available except for the big barrel-aged brews that were available early on. Continue reading
4th of July at the Bravery Brewing 3rd Anniversary
As you know, Saturday was the 4th of July and as I tried to figure out what we would do for the day I remembered that Bravery Brewing was having their 3rd Year Anniversary party, and if you have ever visited the Bravery Brewing tasting room you know that they are about as patriotic as they come with the memorials and memorabilia displayed prominently. Heck, one of the co-owners is R. Lee Ermey, who is a retired United States Marine Corps Staff Sergeant and an honorary Gunnery Sergeant. You might remember him from his role as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in the movie Full Metal Jacket. Anyway, long story short, I could not think of a more patriotic craft brewery to visit on the 4th of July.
Since Lancaster is a bit of a drive for me, I contacted my friends at Transplant Brewing Company and told them I was going to be in the neighborhood so I would stop by their future production brewery to take a photo of the new sign they had put up. Watching their Facebook page I could see that they were very proud of it so I thought I grab a few shots for them. As it was the 4th of July and they are still putting things together, I knew they were not open and I certainly did not expect anyone to be there. Instead all three owners, Corey Cordovano, Matt and Sarah Luker, came out to open the doors for me to check out the progress thus far.
Transplant Brewing Company plans on being the first production/craft brewery in the city of Palmdale. I say “plans on being” because another brewery, Lucky Luke Brewing Company, is literally right around the corner from Transplants and they both plan to be making beer before this year is over. Transplants actually hopes to be able to have a soft open on Labor Day weekend. Right now they are waiting for the brewhouse which is on a slow boat somewhere. In the meantime, Transplants Brewing has been doing collaborations with the other Antelope Valley breweries, Kinetic Brewing Company and Bravery Brewing Company. It appears that the Antelope Valley is experiencing their own craft beer boom; and all the breweries are friends with each other and it shows with their collaborations. That is one thing that I am surprised I have not seen yet, or I missed it; a collaboration between Torrance or South Bay breweries. Continue reading
A Review of LA Beer Week 2015
Unity release at Smog City Brewing
The LA Beer Week Kickoff Party was held Saturday, June 20 at Exposition Park. I have to be honest, even though I have been documenting LA Beer Week since LABW4 in 2012 I have never attended any of their kickoff events. This was due primarily to preconceived misconceptions of what a madhouse it would be; plus I really do not like driving to DTLA. On the Wednesday before the kickoff party I happened to notice an email that came in from Absolution Brewing to members of their Mug Club in which they were offering VIP tickets to the first five “Muggers” that asked for them. I asked Tanya if she wanted to go and she responded immediately with, “No!.” This was because I had been saying we were not going for the past week, so I think she was just making sure I knew she was okay with it.
As I was going to the Torrance City Hall that night anyway for a Planning Commission hearing and Absolution was basically on the way home, it was decided that we would stop by after the Planning Commission hearing and see if any passes were still available. In other words, I was going to let others have an opportunity to score the passes before me. We showed up to Absolution shortly before they closed and no one had claimed any of the passes, so we decided to attend the kickoff.
Thank you to Absolution Brewing for the VIP passes
Belmont Brewing Company: Location, location, location
Belmont Brewing Company – All about the location
BBC Brewhouse
When we entered, we were offered our choice of sitting inside or out on the extensive outdoor patio they have. I got the impression that the hostess was a little surprised when I said we wanted to sit at the bar. It was a little hazy that afternoon, so the view wasn’t that spectacular; and I wanted to get a little history of the place. Continue reading
4th Annual Firestone Trilogy at Congregation Ale House
After the Euro Bierfest and Smog City’s Rarest of the Rare event, we went home, fed the dogs and relaxed a little before heading out to Long Beach for the 4th Annual Firestone Walker Trilogy Event at Congregation Ale House, Long Beach. Since Congregation is essentially next door to Beachwood BBQ & Brewing, the first few photos are from there; where we stopped for dinner. If you have not been to Beachwood Long Beach lately, prepare to be surprised. In the past they would have maybe 10 of their own beers and 25 guest taps. Now, because of their expansion, they are able to provide close to 25 of their in-house brews so the guest taps are closer to 10, but you know they will be good.
After enjoying some Macaroni and Cheese and a lamb burger we walked over to Congregation Ale House to join up with Firestone Walker’s own David Walker on the final stop of the 4th Annual Trilogy event. “The Trilogy” included stops at the three Congregation Ale House locations; Azusa, Pasadena and Long Beach. Each location featured core Firestone Walker beers and each had at least one special brew that was not readily available, if at all, outside the taproom. Those included Tequila Merkin at the Azusa location, Bravo in Pasadena and the Maltose Falcons collaboration in Long Beach.
The fact that this was going on during LA Beer Week was purely coincidental; this was the 4th Annual Firestone Trilogy and it always happens during June or July. The fact that it coincided with David Walker’s birthday may have been coincidental, I did not ask. The fact that it was a Firestone Walker event was enough to convince me to be there. It was a nice end to a great beer day. Cheers! Continue reading
LA Beer Week 2015: Rarest of the Rare at Smog City
These photos were taken Saturday afternoon at Smog City Brewing Company’s Rarest of the Rare LA Beer Week (LABW7) event. Smog City did this once before, during the 2013 LA Beer Week (LABW5) and if you attended the last one, I am sure you came away with a similar thought, oh what a difference 18 months can make. While the first time was pretty amazing, yesterday’s event was just that much more.
I guess if there is a disadvantage to living in the middle of the current craft beer central it is that sometimes there are just too many events and not enough time to cover them all. As I was involved with the Euro Bierfest at Alpine Village I did not arrive until a few hours into the event which meant that the highly sought, limited availability Spittin’ n Cussin’ was tapped out but that could not prevent one from having a great time with options like their Bourbon O.E. from 2011 through 2015, their collaboration with Beachwood Brewing, Bourbon Collaborative Evil, Infinite Wishes, 2015 Unity with variations and beer cocktails. It was one of those kids in a candy store experiences and it seemed like I was not the only one to think so.
With all the beer options that were available, I would be willing to bet that there is still a very nice selection available. I think I will wrap this up and head over to see what I can try. Cheers! Continue reading
Alpine Village 2nd Annual Euro Bierfest Photos
These photos were taken Saturday at Alpine Village’s 2nd Annual Euro Bierfest; a craft beer festival featuring beers from across Europe. There were 62 beers from at least 30 breweries with Austria, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany and England being the countries I visited.
The event started at 11:00 AM but staff started checking people in about 15 minutes early so that when the drinking bell rang, people were ready to receive their pours. I suspect the early starting hour was the reason that the beginning of the event seemed to have as many attendees as beers to choose from, but by 1:30 PM the place was jumping. There was never any line that I saw so the pours came as fast as you desired.
Last year the Euro Bierfest was held in July; similarly, last year LA Beer Week was held in September. Alpine had changed their date before the LA Brewers Guild announced the change to June so the timing was not exactly ideal but they had a nice turnout and it was obvious that the event organizers are listening to the input of the attendees as evidenced by the new check-in procedure. Continue reading
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