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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
Photos from the Common Space/LA Ale Works Block Party
These photos were taken Friday afternoon at Common Space Brewery and Los Angeles Ale Works, where the two Hawthorne based production breweries teamed up to hold a block party as a part of the Los Angeles Beer Week 2023 festivities. Both locations had food, music, and games to accompany their plethora of craft beer.
I started off at Common Space where I met up with the guy that keeps more of the South Bay’s beer cold than any other single individual, my friend Phil and his wife Deborah.
While we were there, food was made available by Uncle Al’s BBQ, Long Beach Tacos, and Sad Girl Creamery to go along with the more than 20 craft beers pouring from their taps. I have to say, for being early Friday afternoon they had a pretty healthy number of customers. Continue reading
Photos from LA Independent Beer Festival 2023
These photos were taken Saturday, June 10 at Shoreline Aquatic Park in Long Beach, where the Los Angeles County Brewers Guild held their LA Independent Beer Festival to kickoff LA Beer Week (LABW14) for the first time since 2019, due to that pesky pandemic. The ticketed event featured craft beer from approximately 75 member breweries, food from seven food trucks and one ice cream vendor, live music and games.
The event was advertised to be hosting 75 local breweries, providing 150 beers. Well, I did not go through the trouble of counting every brewery that showed up, but I can assure you that there were well over 150 beers, because there were several breweries that brought more than two beers, in fact there were breweries like LA Ale Works that had what seemed like 20 offerings, and they were not the only ones. I would guesstimate that there were closer to 250 beers available. 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
South Bay Beer and Wine Festival 10th Anniversary Photos
These photos were taken Sunday afternoon, May 21, at Ernie Howlett Park in Rolling Hills Estates, where the Rotary Clubs of San Pedro, Palos Verdes Peninsula, and South Bay Sunrise held the South Bay Beer and Wine Festival 10th Anniversary. The event featured food, beer, wine, and spirits from more than 100 local providers, including Smog City, HopSaint, Firestone Walker, El Segundo Brewing, Rock & Brews, Shore Grille, Truxton’s, Tito’s Vodka, and many more.
With how lousy our weather has been lately, it is kind of amazing how the last few weekends have been perfect for a day of day drinking in the park. The beer gods have definitely smiling upon us lately with the weather they have been providing. I actually got my first sunburn of 2023. 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
2nd Annual Halfway to Halloween Hootenanny Photos
These photos were taken Saturday afternoon, April 29, at Rancho Los Cerritos Historical Site in Long Beach, where Obscura LB put on their second annual Halfway to Halloween Hootenanny. The fundraiser featured craft beer, ciders, kombucha, food, live music, and local vendors peddling everything macabre from books and art to chocolate.
Considering how flaky our weather has been so far this year, it was pretty cool how the weather gods smiled upon us with some amazing beer drinking weather. 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