tasting room
Endless Rant Release Party at King Harbor Brewing
These photos were taken at the Endless Rant IPA Release Party that was held Saturday evening at the King Harbor Brewing Company tasting room in Redondo Beach. For those of you that were unaware, King Harbor Brewing created Endless Rant for Adam Carolla’s Carolla Drinks label. Although the beer officially became available a couple weeks ago, last night’s event was the official launch with friends, family and fans descending upon King Harbor Brewing for an evening of tasty beer, good food, music and laughs as attendees enjoyed pints of Endless Rant and other King Harbor brews.
I happened to try Endless Rant a couple weeks ago when it was first released to the public at the tasting room, and was lucky enough to run into King Harbor’s head brewer Phil McDaniel so I asked him how this opportunity came about. I did not take notes, but this is pretty accurate.
The three principles at King Harbor, Tom Dunbabin, Will Daines and McDaniel are all long time fans of Carolla. Apparently a friend of one of the regulars at King Harbor works with Carolla on one of his ventures and happened to mention it to one of them. One of the King Harbor guys casually mentioned that if Carolla wanted to hold some type of beer related event, King Harbor Brewing would be more than happy to host it. Continue reading
Scholb Premium Ales Hosts First Business & Beer
These photos were taken Thursday evening, when the Business & Beer networking group paid their first visit to Torrance’s newest production brewery, Scholb Premium Ales. There was a nice group in attendance, with about half of them visiting Scholb for the first time. With a menu of 10 brews available, there was something for just about any palate.
Established in 2012, Business & Beer is a networking group for the small business owner or anyone whose job description includes networking; and enjoys craft beer. On the second Thursday of each month they meet at a different tasting room or brewpub in the South Bay. There are no dues or mandatory meetings; just show up and enjoy a brew with like-minded individuals and perhaps make a new business connection, so bring business cards.
Scholb Premium Ales is located at 2964 Columbia Street in Torrance. The next Business & Beer will be held June 9, from 6:00-8:00 PM at Monkish Brewing Company. Cheers! Continue reading
Brian White Farewell Party at Monkish Brewing
On Saturday evening, Monkish Brewing Company held a farewell party for their Beer Evangelist, Brian White. A couple dozen friends joined the Monkish staff in congratulating White and wishing him the best in his future.
White assures me we will still see him around at various craft breweries and functions. He is not leaving the beer scene, just changing it up a bit. I am sure this is not the last time his name will be mentioned or photo shown here. Good luck, Brian. Cheers! Continue reading
Dog Adoption Sunday at Brouwerij West
These photos are from the Dog Adoption Sunday event held at Brouwerij West this past Sunday afternoon. The Los Angeles Animal Services and ARF Harbor Shelter brought six dogs to the Brouwerij West tasting room for adoption; I know at least two of them found new homes that day. I have to say, I had an opportunity to meet most (if not all) of them, and they were really very well-behaved dogs. I kept thinking they must have brought the cream of the crop.
In addition to the adoptable dogs, many others brought their pups to the obviously dog friendly tasting room and they all seemed to enjoy the company of the others. ARF Harbor Shelter is looking for homes for their residents and I am sure volunteers are always welcome.
I also had a personal first, and that was my first time having chorizo. Apparently I had it from one of the best, The Chori Man; a fourth generation chorizo artisan from San Pedro. I definitely recommend stopping by if you see his food tent set up anywhere. Cheers! Continue reading
Photos from the Scholb Premium Ales Ribbon Cutting
These photos were taken at the ribbon cutting for Torrance’s latest craft brewery, Scholb Premium Ales; which was held at the production brewery’s tasting room in Torrance on Friday afternoon. The Torrance Area Chamber of Commerce (TACC) ribbon cutting was attended by friends and family of the Schulz’s and Kolb’s as well as the City of Torrance Mayor Pat Furey and city council members Kurt Weideman, Heidi Ashcraft and Mike Griffiths along with many TACC representatives.
For their grand opening, Scholb introduced a couple new beers to their taps, bringing the number of brews currently available to eight. Today they offered their SoCal Blonde, Roll With It Brown, Cherry Wood Smoked Brown, Columbia Street Pale, Havanuther Session IPA, Dad’s IPA, Not Lyin’ Rye IPA and my current favorite, Bat Ray Red IPA. Continue reading
Scholb Premium Ales – From the Beginning
Torrance has a new tasting room to visit; production brewery Scholb Premium Ales has begun their soft open. A week ago they opened for a few hours on Sunday and this past weekend they were open on Saturday and Sunday. Beginning this next weekend they will add Fridays; on April 7 they will begin normal tasting room hours, Thursday and Friday 4:00-9:00 PM, Saturday 1:00-9:00 PM and Sunday 12:00-6:00 PM.
I stopped by Saturday afternoon after finishing the craft beer panel at the Torrance library primarily because it was virtually next door to the Torrance Civic Center library; they are a couple hundred yards west of Absolution Brewing, in the same business park. In the short time we were there I noticed a nice group of people coming and going; it was obvious that people were taking advantage of the fact that the two tasting are so very close to each other.
Scholb had four of their brews available when I was there Saturday; SoCal Blonde, Roll With it Brown, Havanuther Session IPA and my favorite, Bat Ray Red IPA. By next weekend they should have at least five beers on tap at which time they will begin serving flights. Continue reading
Monkish Brewing Celebrates Four Years
This weekend Monkish Brewing Company celebrated four years of brewing excellence by providing access to a half dozen of their rare fruited saisons as well as several barrel-aged and brett saisons. They also released their most recent collaboration with Select Beer Store, Select Monk 4.
I headed over to Monkish after Phantom Carriage’s One Year Anniversary party ended and found the tasting room packed and everyone in a great mood. Congratulations to Henry, Adriana and the entire Monkish team on a very successful four years. I feel fortunate to have you close enough to have witnessed the evolution. Cheers! Continue reading
Phantom Carriage Celebrates One Year
When I left off, we had left the Froth Awards at Saint Rocke and headed to Carson to catch the tail end of Phantom Carriage’s One Year Anniversary party which was held Saturday afternoon. Phantom Carriage pulled out all the stops which required them to take over the parking lot as well as the blendery’s tasting room.
I got there pretty late, but even as it may have been clearing out you could tell that this sold out event was rocking as everyone was in full party mode. With the beer selections that had been available earlier, it is no wonder why everyone was in a great mood. They had cellar blends Volume 1 through 5 to accompany Oude Muis, Muis, Citra Muis, barrel-aged Centennial Muis, Broadacres, Strawberry Broadacres, Triple Berry Melange Broadacres, Dragonfruit Broadacres, barrel-aged Peach/Nectarine Broadacres, Bergman, Blackberry Bergman, Baskerville (clean and on Brett), Wit Zombie, Pineapple Wit Zombie, Amarantha, Lugosi, Dolores, Tagalong Dolores, Toasted Coconut Dolores, Fleet Street IPA, Tripel Curse and Fog Island. As soon as I walked in, brewer Brendan Lake approached me with the last of the Vermiste Kat which was their collaboration with Cascade, so even though a lot of the super-rare varieties were already gone by the time I got there, the Vermiste Kat was a great way to start off. Continue reading
Nick Shattuck Live at King Harbor Brewing Company
On Friday evening, North Redondo was mellowed by the gentle tunes of local musician and general nice guy, Nick Shattuck as he performed at the King Harbor Brewing Company tasting room to a crowd of what seemed thousands. In addition to Shattuck’s tender tunes, attendees had their first opportunity to try King Harbor’s latest release, St. Jameson Stout. To be completely honest, I was there for the St. Jameson, which is a delicious Irish Dry Stout aged on Jameson soaked oak chips, having Shattuck there just ensured that King Harbor would be hopping with lots of photo ops. He did, it was.
I have to think back to two years ago and remember how empty King Harbor’s brewhouse was compared to today; and the tap list has literally tripled in size with a lot more diversity. Speaking of two years ago, King Harbor’s 2nd Anniversary is coming up on April 2. If you were at last year’s event you know what a good time it was; this year it is going to be even bigger. While everyone is welcome to come to the tasting room, if you want to participate in the festivities you will need a ticket. They have two prices, depending on if you want a bottle of their anniversary beer or not. You can get details and order on BrownPaperTickets.com. Cheers! Continue reading
King Harbor Brewing Hosts Business & Beer
These photos were taken Thursday evening at the March gathering of the Business & Beer networking group which was held at the King Harbor Brewing Company tasting room. There was a pretty nice turnout with people coming and going throughout the event.
For those that are self-employed or whose job description includes networking, Business & Beer is a great way to accomplish either of these goals while enjoying some of the best beers the South Bay has to offer. Business & Beer is a local business networking group that has been around since July 2012; they have no rules like mandatory meetings or dues, so if networking is an important part of your job description and you enjoy craft beer, Business & Beer is probably just right for you. They meet at a different brewery or brewpub on the second Thursday of every month from 6:00-8:00 PM. You do not need reservations and you can consider this your personal invitation.
Thanks to Calibrated Solutions for sponsoring the photos. Cheers! Continue reading