production brewery
Los Angeles Ale Works 1st Anniversary Photos
These photos were taken Saturday afternoon at Los Angeles Ale Works, where Hawthorne’s first craft brewery celebrated their first anniversary with a couple hundred close friends. The tasting room itself was pretty packed, so the overflow congregated on the patio or the parking lot, which they shared with multiple food vendors and other local artisans. LA Ale Works also marked the event with a can and bottle release.
LA Ale Works has grown since my last visit as was evidenced by the 20+ beers available. Judging by the size of the crowd this has not gone unnoticed by the locals.
Los Angeles Ale Works is located at 12918 Cerise Avenue in Hawthorne and are open seven days a week. They are dog friendly and offer beer to go in growlers, crowlers, bottles and cans. Cheers! Continue reading
Boomtown Brewery 3 Year Anniversary Photos
These photos were taken Saturday afternoon at Boomtown Brewery’s three years anniversary celebration. The event featured multiple food vendors, several DJs, and 17 Boomtown Brewery beers, including about three special beer releases. Later in the evening (after the kids and I had left) there were three performances of a burlesque show.
If it seems impossible for Boomtown to be open that long, one must think back to their beginning. The production brewery opened three years ago, but it took two years to satisfy the City of Los Angeles to the point that they could open their tasting room which occurred in February of 2017.
Although I have tried a half-dozen of Boomtown’s brews at various events and craft beer bars, this was my first visit to their facility, located in the Arts District area of Los Angeles; in a word, the place is huge. Continue reading
Pints with Purpose at Smog City Brewing
Towards the end of 2017 I started noticing that Torrance’s Smog City Brewing Company was holding a Pints with Purpose fundraiser every Thursday. After speaking with Smog City co-founder/owner Laurie Porter about it, I discovered that, being the socially conscious brewery that they are, they were donating 10% of their sales every Thursday of each month to a different non-profit. In the past they raised funds for such organizations as Food Forward and the Keep a Breast Foundation.
Since the Porter family was busy in January, they took the month off and restarted it again last night; for the month of February, every Thursday 10% of their sales goes to Marine Mammal Care Center Los Angeles. These photos were taken at Smog City, where Marine Mammal Care Center had brought their Mobile Visitors Center. Continue reading
A Visit to Kern River Brewing Company
These photos were taken Wednesday afternoon at Kern River Brewing Company in Kernville, and Lucky Luke Brewing Company in Palmdale. I needed to do someone a favor in Gorman, and since that was 75 miles of a 175 mile drive, I decided it was time for me to make my long overdue visit to Kern River Brewing Company (KRBC).
As I drove along the Kern River I thought back to the days that I used to ride up to Kernville with my buddy Gary; it was then that I realized that it had to be close to 40 years since the last time I was up in that area. I wondered if I would even recognize the few landmarks that I remembered from our exploits of the late 70’s and early 80’s. Continue reading
3rd Annual Christmas Marketplace at Smog City
These photos were taken Sunday afternoon at Smog City Brewing Company’s 3rd Annual Christmas Marketplace.
The annual event featured crafts from local artisans and small business owners, including Chuddywinks, Eat More Art Out, The Soap Dr. and Wicked Skatewear. Food from the Takuma’s Burger food truck was also available.
Smog City Brewing Company is located at 2907 182nd Street in Redondo Beach; they are open Tuesday through Sunday, are dog friendly, and sell bottles and growlers to go. Cheers! Continue reading
King Harbor Brewing Holiday Market
These photos were taken Saturday afternoon at King Harbor Brewing Company’s Holiday Market and Toy Drive.
The inaugural event featured crafts from local businesses, including South Bay LA Makeup Artistry Institute, Deep Seeded LA, Ink & Pine, Pacha Hot Sauce, Brandy’s Sweet Temptations, Social Butterfly Designs, Coastal Vibes Designs, Malin’s Art, Good Morning, Cactus, Castaneda Designs, Gus Vintage Goods, and Mrs. Hovee’s Toffee. Food from Jus’ Poke was also available.
King Harbor Brewing Company is located at 2907 182nd Street in Redondo Beach; they are open seven days a week, are dog friendly, and sell bottles, cans, crowlers and growlers to go. Cheers! Continue reading
Sonoma Pride Tour
Sonoma Pride was originally conceived by Natalie and Vinnie Cilurzo of Russian River Brewing in July 2015 to celebrate living and working in Sonoma County. Since then they have released two beers annually under the Sonoma Pride brand. After the wildfires of early October, Russian River began brewing Sonoma Pride, a blonde ale, with all the proceeds from that beer going to help victims of the wildfires. To ensure the monies they raised went to the people that need it, they teamed with the King Ridge Foundation to begin a fundraiser for the victims of the Sonoma County wildfires. In a show of unity, more than 60 craft breweries and craft beer related businesses joined in to donate a brew that proceeds would be donated from; to date they have raised over $400,000.
When I left Sparks I had friends to visit and breweries to see, so I headed west on I-80. As there had been snow overnight, it made for a very scenic drive. Continue reading
Craft Breweries of Sparks Nevada
As I mentioned in my last article, I went to Sparks to bury my good friend, George. I did not bother using Google to check out the craft beer scene in Sparks because I did not know how much free time I would have; besides my friend Jon Urch had gifted me a bottle of Leafy Greens from Revision Brewing a couple months ago, so I had a good idea where I was going to head after the reception.
The reception after the funeral was held at Paddy & Irene’s Irish Pub, which meant nothing to me at the time but when I pulled into the Victorian Square parking lot I immediately got the feeling that George was looking out for me as right across the walkway from Paddy & Irene’s was Great Basin Brewing Company. Continue reading
Breweries of Highway 395
At the beginning of November I had to go to Sparks, Nevada to bury a friend; since I would be driving up CA-395 I knew there would be several breweries along the way that I had yet to try or visit. I decided to leave a day early and visit as many as possible; George would have wanted it that way.
From the Los Angeles area, the easiest way to get to CA-395 is via CA-14. CA-14 begins in the Antelope Valley and ends at CA-395. As I was in the Antelope Valley far too early to stop by and visit any of their breweries, my first visit was to Indian Wells Brewing Company in Inyokern.
The Indian Wells Brewing tasting room is a pretty interesting place; in fact, I will go so far as to say it may be the most unusual brewery I have ever visited. I walked around a few minutes in what seemed to be a cross between a gift store at a ghost town and a Cracker Barrel with a small museum thrown in just because. With all the soda pop for sale, I had to confirm that yes; they do brew all their beer in-house. Continue reading
Strand Brewing Celebrates 8th Anniversary
These photos were taken Saturday afternoon at Strand Brewing Company’s 8th Anniversary Party. The event featured live music, food by Chefs in Shorts Catering, and 12 Strand Brewing beers on tap. As fate would have it, it was also Strand Brewing Company co-founder Rich Marcello’s 50th birthday, so everyone had even more reason to celebrate.
Congratulations to Joel Elliott, Rich Marcello and the entire Strand Brewing Company team on your success; and happy birthday to Rich.
Strand Brewing Company is located at 2201 Dominguez Street in Torrance; they are open Tuesday through Sunday, sell cans, bottles and growlers to go and are dog friendly. Cheers!