San Pedro
Port Town Brewing – From the Beginning
This article has taken me over five years to put together. The first photos were taken in September 2018, with the most recent ones being taken Friday afternoon.
Ever since 2017, I have been suggesting that Port Town Brewing should open within the next year. Well, I am happy to announce that they are finally open! Continue reading
Brouwerij West 8th Anniversary Photos
These photos were taken Saturday afternoon at Brouwerij West in San Pedro, where they celebrated their eighth anniversary. The all day long event began with a pancake breakfast and concluded with a concert by Metalachi, the world’s first and only heavy metal mariachi band. There were also a couple food trucks, and the release of their anniversary beer, 8 Times 8 Times.
While I did not arrive for breakfast or stick around for the concert, I did bring my buddy Phil for his first visit to Brouwerij West and we had a couple beers. Considering the early hour and the weather, they had a pretty nice crowd. Knowing Brouwerij West the way I do, I am confident that they had an even larger group by the end of the evening. Continue reading
Brouwerij West 7th Anniversary Photos
These photos were taken Saturday afternoon at Brouwerij West, in San Pedro, where they celebrated their seventh anniversary. The event featured a morning brunch, food trucks, live music, a DJ, a beer release and games. I probably missed something, but I was only there for a couple of hours, and while the event started at 10:00 AM, it lasted late into the night.
I got there around 2:00 which means I arrived well after the brunch was completed, but I was able to chat with a couple attendees that were still hanging out. Pancakes and stouts made up the primary part of the menu, which sounds like a pretty good way to start the day. Continue reading
Brouwerij West 6th Anniversary Photos
These photos were taken Sunday afternoon at Brouwerij West in San Pedro, where they celebrated day two of their six year anniversary. The day featured live music, a couple anniversary beers, and a few food trucks.
During my time there, live music was provided by Sentry Dogs, Mor Flowrs, and Moldy Roses. There were three other bands that were scheduled to play after I left.
For their anniversary, Brouwerij West released their Six Times Six Times Hazy IPA, and their Dead Water Imperial Pastry Stout as well as a barrel-aged version of Dead Water. Continue reading
South Bay Breweries Begin Reopening – Phase 2 Day 1
These photos were taken Saturday, May 30 at San Pedro Brewing Company, Scholb Premium Ales, and Absolution Brewing Company as breweries in the South Bay began reopening under Phase 2 of the COVID-19 lockdown.
On Friday it was announced that LA County was entering Phase 2 of the reopening of businesses from this lockdown; apparently two breweries, San Pedro Brewing Company and Scholb Brewing had been chomping at the bit waiting for permission to reopen as they were the first two craft beer establishments to begin in-house consumption of beer and food. I decided to visit the two of them to see how close my expectations were to our new reality. Continue reading
Brouwerij West 4th Anniversary Photos
These photos were taken Saturday afternoon at Brouwerij West in San Pedro, where the production brewery celebrated their fourth anniversary. The event included new beer releases, food trucks and live music.
Saturday was a very busy day in the South Bay with can releases, a soft open, and the Brouwerij West 4th Anniversary celebration. Unfortunately, I have yet to figure out how to be in multiple places at the same time, so I have to settle for being at one event at a time. To accomplish this I begin at the event furthest from my home and work my way back. That means I had to start at Brouwerij West first, which meant I got there long before the live music began. Continue reading
Photos from the Juicy Brews Beach Party at Brouwerij West
These photos were taken Saturday afternoon at Brouwerij West in San Pedro, where they hosted the Hop Culture Juicy Brews Beach Party Craft Beer Festival. The festival, which was also a fundraiser for the Palos Verdes Land Conservancy, featured craft beer from more than 25 of the top breweries in the country. In addition to copious quantities of really good beer, there were food trucks, including The Highroller Lobster Company and Love Hour, as well as music provided by DJ Thom Lessner.
While I am not sure it was actually “beach party” weather, it was a very pleasant day without being too cold or too hot. As Hop Culture is out of Pittsburgh, I am sure our weather was more beach-worthy than a January afternoon in Pittsburgh.
The sold out event featured a who’s who of craft breweries, such as Arizona Wilderness, Bottle Logic, Creature Comforts, Great Notion Brewing, J Wakefield, The Rare Barrel, Russian River, and Homage Brewing. There were fewer than 1,000 tickets sold, so the Brouwerij West beer garden area was more than large enough. I only noticed two lines the entire day; one was for Homage Brewing and another for the J Wakefield booth which featured several collaboration brews they have done. As one participant noted, it was one of the few craft beer festivals where Russian River did not have the longest line. Continue reading
Brouwerij West 2nd Anniversary Photos
These photos were taken Saturday evening in San Pedro at the Brouwerij West 2nd Anniversary and Concert which was held at the production brewery’s massive tasting room and outside beer garden. The concert was headlined by legendary Los Angeles punk rock band X and featured Mike Watt & The Missingmen, L.A. Witch, and Bombon; with DJ Paul E Wog spinning his vinyl prior to the concert starting, and between sets.
Anyone that has visited Brouwerij West has probably figured out that they do things big, beginning with their 25,000 square-foot facility with the 30 BBL brewhouse with fermentation space for 8,000 barrels; this party was going to be big. If you attended their grand opening you know that they can draw a crowd. This anniversary party was huge and the staff at Brouwerij West handled it like the pros they are. Continue reading
Zymurgy Brew Works Guest Brewer Night with Graham Strong
These photos were taken Tuesday evening at Zymurgy Brew Works & Tasting Room in Torrance as they continued their series of guest brewer nights; this time featuring Graham Strong, an assistant brewer at Brouwerij West in San Pedro.
While the previous guest brewer nights I have attended brewed different versions of IPAs, last night we brewed Brouwerij West’s Saison. While IPAs may be “all about the hops”, Brouwerij West’s Saison is more about the grain bill and the yeast. A definite example of brewers make the wort, yeast makes the beer.
While there may have been a few people that were at Zymurgy for the first time, it seemed that almost everyone was a homebrewer with some experience; but that did not stop anyone from wanting to participate in the process, from adding the grain to stirring or adding the hops. In the dead time we were able to sample a finished example of the Brouwerij West Saison as well as their new IPA, Picnic Lightning. Continue reading
An Accurate List of All the South Bay Breweries
Recently there have been a couple articles circulating around social media claiming to list all of the South Bay breweries; one that went around yesterday missed four or five of them, depending on whether or not a tasting room was required. As the Craft Beer Guy I have been fortunate to have this craft beer boom explode all around my home; I also feel obligated to provide an accurate list of all the breweries currently brewing in the South Bay as well as the next two scheduled to open.
In order to not show favoritism, and to give credit where credit is due, I will list all the South Bay breweries by the date they opened. As I have visited each brewery, I will provide a link to each so you can look at my articles to determine if you want to visit them. The photos are in order as well. Continue reading