Rancho Palos Verdes
O’Flaherty’s Tap House: Rancho Palos Verdes
As this site becomes more popular, I receive more and more recommendations of places I should check out. If it is a craft brewery or brewpub, I am more than happy to make that visit. Probably more often than the brewery suggestions, I am directed to “gastropubs” and craft beer bars that have recently opened or modified their tap list to take advantage of the craft beer craze that has hit the area in the last couple of years. Let there be no mistake, I always appreciate recommendations but, believe it or not, I do not really go to bars very often. I will try to visit every tasting room and brewpub I can get to, but when it comes to craft beer bars the primary consideration is convenience as in it must be close to where I am. In other words, if I am in Alhambra I may hit 38 Degrees but I am not going to drive out to The Valley or downtown LA just to try a bar, no matter what the selection is. As a result, a lot of bar suggestions are not considered due to their locale. I have had times that the place was out of business by the time I got there. On the seemingly rare occasion I am introduced to a true find; O’Flaherty’s Tap Room is one of those, in my opinion.
I was told about O’Flaherty’s by Steve Farguson of Absolution Brewing, back around July. He told me that it was a new place that had an interesting tap list and he felt they deserved some notice. While I was interested, the main downside for me was pretty much the same reason I wanted to visit them in the first place. That reason was location; O’Flaherty’s Tap House is located at the shopping center located at the end of Hawthorne Boulevard at Palos Verdes Drive West. I knew right away that if Flaherty’s was all Farguson said it was, they had a great spot because there is nothing up there with a great tap list. Luckily, I like to go up to Pointe Vicente to try and photograph whales or the waves, so O’Flaherty’s is a nice stop and convenient a few times a year. Continue reading
The Dudes’ Brewing at Nelson’s Beer Garden
A pretty major advantage to living in Southern California is that the weather is pretty awesome at any given time; in fact, you can schedule an outdoor event almost any day of the year and there is a good chance it is going to be nice out. Saturday afternoon, June 22, we headed up to Palos Verdes and Nelson’s new beer garden at the Terranea Resort. They are having their annual summer concert series, this time with a beer garden. When we were there, a solo guitarist Wise Katubadrau was performing. The reason I was aware of this event was that Torrance’s newest microbrewery, The Dudes’ Brewing Company, was the guest tap of the week this past weekend. When they put out the notice of this event I knew I would have to go, because the scenery would be great; and as predicted, it was very nice out.
Nelson’s is a restaurant at the end of the Terranea Resort; looking over the cliffs. It is very scenic and pretty kicked back for being at an upscale resort. Parking is kind of a hassle unless you are lucky enough to find some free parking; otherwise they have paid self parking and valet options starting at $10 and going up to $25. You might find value in the $25 parking though because you can catch a ride on their shuttle down to Nelson’s. The walk down might be pleasant but I suspect the walk back up the hill would become tiresome, especially after a few beers.
The Dudes’ Brewing Company just opened about three months ago, but are already making a name for themselves in the South Bay. They have yet to open a tasting room due to growing pains and some unforeseeable circumstances, but they hope to have one open by the end of summer. The Dudes’ had four taps pouring at Nelson’s with their Day One Pale Ale, Grandma’s Pecan Brown Ale, Grinning Face Porter and the most photogenic of them all, their Double Trunk DIPA. As this was my first time to Nelson’s I cannot tell you how the crowd compared to other events but by the time we left there was a pretty long beer line. I guess Dudes’ did abide at nelson’s Beer Garden.
Nelson’s Beer Garden is located at 100 Terranea Way, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA Continue reading