Refuge Brewery

3rd Annual Pub at the Club Photos

These photos were taken Sunday afternoon at the 3rd Annual Pub at the Club, which was held at the Manhattan Beach Badminton Club in Manhattan Beach. The event featured at least 22 breweries and cideries, as well as numerous wineries and local restaurants.

100% of the proceeds, which included ticket sales, raffles and the silent auction went to the Manhattan Beach Badminton Club Junior Foundation, a charity dedicated to developing champions on and off the court by supporting all athletes, including special needs and Para-athletes.

Attendees received unlimited pours from such local breweries as Boomtown, Three Weavers, Absolution Brewing, Zymurgy Brew Works, Scholb, Strand Brewing, King Harbor Brewing, El Segundo Brewing, Smog City, Hermosa Brewing, and The Dudes’. Also in attendance were Stone Brewing, Pizza Port, Refuge Brewery, Cigar City, High Water Brewing, Oskar Blues, and new to California, Roadhouse Brewing Company. Continue reading

Inaugural Long Beach Craft Beer Festival Photos

These photos were taken at the inaugural Long Beach Craft Beer Festival which was held Saturday afternoon and put on by the Forty-Niner Shops at California State University Long Beach (CSULB). Proceeds from the event went to help support student education through the growth and development of the Hospitality Management program at CSULB.

When I first started thinking about what I would write about this event, I was going to say that for an inaugural event it was very well run; but the fact of the matter is that would not really be a fair assessment. This may have been their inaugural event but you would not know it if you had not been told beforehand. Someone had done their homework; it was run like they had been putting on craft beer festivals for years.

I could nitpick and complain about the plastic tasting “glassware”, or maybe suggest that the food options be spread out a little more equally; but other than that I am not sure what anyone could complain about. One thing is for sure, the beer options were outstanding. Continue reading

Laughs By Volume 4 – Bringing comedy & craft beer to Buena Park

Four Sons Brewing

Four Sons Brewing – at Laughs By Volume

In what I have heard is the first craft beer event ever held in Buena Park, Laughs By Volume 4 will be held Saturday, June 25, 2016 at the Buena Park Community Center from 7:00-10:00 PM. Presented by PINT Magazine, Laughs By Volume is essentially a three hour long comedy show featuring four comedians, a foosball tournament and unlimited tastings of more than 40 craft beers; all for the very low price of $20.00 each, if you use the coupon code I have for you.

A few of the breweries that are scheduled to be poured include The Dudes’, Stone Brewing, Absolution Brewing, Four Sons, Mission Brewery, Great Beer Co, Smog City, Refuge Brewery, Timeless Pints, Anaheim Brewery, Telegraph Brewing, Pizza Port Brewing, Julian Hard Cider, Tahoe Mountain Brewing, 21st Amendment, The Lost Abbey, Bear Republic, Victory Brewing, Oskar Blues, Ska Brewing, Alesmith, Brewery Ommegang, Boulevard Brewing, Maui Brewing, Double Mountain, Brouwerij Wolf, and Sixpoint Brewery. If history is any indicator, this list will fluctuate between now and June 25. Continue reading

Photos from Laughs By Volume III

These photos are from Laughs By Volume III, which was held Saturday afternoon at Honeypot LA (HNYPT) in downtown Los Angeles. There were probably 50 or 60 people in attendance that were treated to various beers from such breweries as Stone Brewing, Absolution Brewing, Four Sons, Mission Brewery, Smog City, Refuge Brewery, Anaheim Brewery, Telegraph Brewing, Pizza Port, Julian Hard Cider, 21st Amendment, The Lost Abbey, Victory Brewing, Oskar Blues, Ska Brewing, Brewery Ommegang, Boulevard Brewing, Maui Brewing, Double Mountain, Gentse Gruut and a host of others.

As Laughs By Volume is about the comedy as much as it is the beer, we were treated to about an hour of standup provided by Martin Montana, Daniel Storrow, Jeff Capri, Lance Paullin, Melissa Shoshahi, and Chad Shapiro. It was pretty obvious that the audience enjoyed the show as much as they did the craft beer. Continue reading

Laughs By Volume III Updated Brewery Info

On April 23, PINT Magazine will hold their third in a continuing series of comedy shows that feature six comedians and unlimited pours of craft beer; all for less than you would pay to get in the door of any comedy club in Los Angeles, and no drink minimums! Laughs By Volume is returning April 23 to Honeypot LA for Laughs By Volume III.

Laughs By Volume II

Craft beer & comedy at one low price – Laughs By Volume

Since my last article, they have modified the breweries being featured; the beers being poured will come from The Dudes’, Stone Brewing, Absolution Brewing, Four Sons, Mission Brewery, El Segundo Brewing, Great Beer Co, Smog City, Refuge Brewery, Timeless Pints, Anaheim Brewery, Telegraph Brewing, Pizza Port Brewing, Julian Hard Cider, Tahoe Mountain Brewing, 21st Amendment, The Lost Abbey, Bear Republic, Victory Brewing, Oskar Blues, Ska Brewing, Alesmith, Brewery Ommegang, Boulevard Brewing, Maui Brewing, Double Mountain, Brouwerij Wolf, and Sixpoint Brewery. With a maximum of 150 tickets being available, you can see that there will be plenty for everyone and they never have lines. Continue reading

Laughs By Volume III – April 23: Laughter & Beer

jonesy laughs by volume

6 Comedians and Craft Beer at Laughs By Volume III

PINT Magazine’s Laughs By Volume, the beer festival with comedy, is returning April 23 to Honeypot LA for Laughs By Volume III. As one of the few that has been able to watch the evolution of the Laughs By Volume concept, I cannot wait to see the improvements that will be in store for this event. While Laughs By Volume II was a significant improvement over their inaugural event, there were still very minor issues (it started a few minutes late). What I have observed is that when they notice room for improvement they do what they can to make it happen.

As I have explained before, Laughs By Volume is essentially a comedy show featuring six comedians and unlimited pours of craft beer from about 25 breweries. The breweries on tap for Laughs By Volume III include The Dudes’ Brewing, Stone Brewing, Absolution Brewing, Four Sons Brewing, Mission Brewery, El Segundo Brewing, Great Beer Co., Smog City, Refuge Brewery, Timeless Pints, Anaheim Brewery, Three Weavers, Eagle Rock Brewing, Telegraph Brewing, Tahoe Mountain Brewing, 21st Amendment Brewery, The Lost Abbey, AleSmith Brewing, Brewery Ommegang, Boulevard Brewing, Anthem Cider, Maui Brewing, Avery Brewing, Double Mountain Brewery, Brouwerij Wolf, and Sixpoint Brewery. If history has taught me anything, this list will be modified in the next month so you might want to follow the Laughs By Volume Facebook page for updates. Continue reading

Photos from Laughs By Volume II

On Sunday afternoon, PINT Magazine held their second in a series of comedy shows featuring craft beer, Laughs By Volume; this time held at Honeypot LA. One thing that was readily apparent to anyone that may have attended the inaugural Laughs By Volume is that practice makes perfect. While there may have been a couple issues that resulted in Laughs By Volume II getting a late start, it was like a well oiled machine when compared to the first one.

We had a pretty nice turnout considering only about 100 tickets were to be sold; I would venture to say that we had pretty close to that many in attendance, if not a few more. I took some time to chat with a few of the attendees, all of which were first time attendees, and everyone seemed to really enjoy everything about the event. There was plenty of beer, really funny comedians and virtually no lines; except maybe for the bathrooms.

The breweries featured included Sixpoint Brewery, The Lost Abbey, Anthem Cider, Brouwerij Wolf, Double Mountain Brewery, Tahoe Mountain Brewing Co., Anaheim Brewery, The Great Beer Co., Mission Brewery, Four Sons Brewing Co., Stone Brewing, Eagle Rock Brewery, Maui Brewing Co., Alesmith Brewing Co., 21st Amendment Brewery, Telegraph Brewing Co., Smog City Brewing, Absolution Brewing, Avery Brewing, The Dudes’ Brewing, Refuge Brewery, Timeless Pints, Boulevard Brewing, Brewery Ommegang, Three Weavers and El Segundo Brewing. Continue reading

Laughs By Volume: Do you enoy comedy & craft beer?

Laughs By Volume 1

Laughs By Volume – Comedy and Craft Beer

Since the beginning of the year you have heard me talk about PINT Magazine’s Laughs By Volume, but after speaking with several Craft Beer Guy followers, I don’t think I have really explained the concept of the Laughs By Volume experience properly; at least when it comes to what should be expected, and whether or not this event is really for you. Let’s begin with the latter first.

If your idea of a beer festival is something like BAM Fest, Taste of Brews or the Firestone Invitational, Laughs By Volume may not be the event for you. Yes, it will be cheaper; and there will only be 100 people there so there won’t be any lines. It is inside so weather is not an issue and there is plenty of seating; but there may not be as many beer varieties available. The upcoming Laughs By Volume II will feature about 36 or 37 beers from 25 breweries. Here is the list as of the moment. Continue reading

Photos from the 4th Annual Taste of Brews – Long Beach

On Saturday afternoon, about 3,000 people gathered at Lighthouse Park in Long Beach to sample beers brewed by more than 50 different breweries while enjoying the great weather, live music and foods provided by local restaurants Stonefire Grill, Slater’s 50/50 and Bubba Gump Shrimp Company and several food trucks. A portion of the proceeds from this year’s Taste of Brews went to the Long Beach Marine Institute and the 1st Marine Division out of Camp Pendleton.

This was my second time attending Taste of Brews and it was definitely larger than last year’s event with probably 25% more breweries and 50% more attendees. While there more people, there were more breweries with several last minute additions. The lines for some breweries were noticeably longer for some than others, but no one seemed to mind and the beer poured quickly. In fact, a few breweries tapped out within a couple hours; presumably because more tickets were sold than anticipated. Some of the breweries, like Firestone Walker, were well prepared with plenty of brews but as the event drew to a close, even they had poured the last of their brews before the event officially ended. Continue reading

4th Annual Taste of Brews Long Beach Promo Code

Taste of Brews 2013

Taste of Brews Long Beach

Over the past few years I have had the privilege of attending quite a few craft beer festivals; they may range in size from less than 100 to close to 1,000. Some were held in parking lots, others on movie sound stages. I have attended events that specialized in American craft beers or European craft beers or even more specifically barrel-aged and sours. The point being that I have been to many beer fests at a wide variety of venues with many styles of beer featured. While most of these festivals have had one thing or another going for them, be it venue or featured beers, there is one beer festival that stands out for me and that would be last year’s Taste of Brews Long Beach.

There is a good reason why that event stands out and that is because it had everything going for it. They had over 40 craft breweries, some wine vendors, live music, good food, fun people and it was at the beach! Held at Lighthouse Park in Long Beach, across the channel from the Queen Mary it really was the most perfect location for any festival of any type that I can recall attending. Beautiful weather with cooling ocean breezes and a wide selection of American craft beer; what more could one ask for? How about more beer and a discount?

On August 23, 2014, Taste of Brews returns to Lighthouse Park for the 4th Annual Taste of Brews Long Beach. If you thought 40 craft breweries was good, you are going to love it this year with about 50 craft breweries participating. When I looked through the list of participating breweries compared to last year I noticed that many perennial favorites such as Stone Brewing Company, Beachwood BBQ & Brewing Lagunitas, Strand Brewing and Sierra Nevada Brewing will be returning; but we will also be joined by such powerhouses as Ballast Point, Pizza Port, Clownshoes and Coronado Brewing along with some of Southern California’s newest craft breweries like Absolution Brewing Company and Venice Duck Brewery.

taste of brews 2013

Good beer with good friends

In addition to all the great beer and what promises to be another beautiful day for the beach there will be live music and food trucks including Urban Pie, Viking Truck, Porko Rico, Dogzilla, Slammin’ Sliders and Bacon Mania. Local restaurants Stonefire Grill, Slater’s 50/50 and Bubba Gump Shrimp Company will be providing food samples for attendees to enjoy. Pricing currently starts at $32.50 for the 3-hour session (1pm to 4pm) and $42.50 for the 4-hour session (noon to 4pm) which includes unlimited beer tasters, drinking water, food samples (while available), access to food trucks and live entertainment. A limited number of designated driver tickets will be available at the door for $20.00. As should be expected, all attendees must be 21 or older. Now, because you have read this far you get a special deal; how about $7.00 off each ticket Continue reading

Subscribe To Our Newsletter
Archives