These photos were taken Saturday afternoon at Absolution Brewing Company, in Torrance, where they held a party to celebrate their 8th anniversary. The celebration included an anniversary beer release, food, live music, and games.
In addition to their standard tap list, their anniversary beer, 1/8th Anniversary IPA was available on tap as well as cans. Food was available from SouthBay Comfortz (formerly known as Smokin’ Sandos) and Chiky Pancakes. Live music was provided by Nasty Bad Habit, and Taylor Killam Music. For the athletically inclined, cornhole and table shuffleboard were also available. Continue reading
These photos were taken Saturday afternoon, June 4, at Yorkshire Square Brewery in Torrance, where they held their Platinum Jubilee Street Party celebrating Queen Elizabeth II’s 70 years as the monarch of England.
The free event featured live music, beer and food specials, a special wine list, and fun activities happening throughout the day. The special food menu included Platinum Pudding, the dessert created by Fortnum and Mason especially for the Queen’s Jubilee. The festivities included beer specials, including eight cask ales and a Jubilee Ale in cans to go.
I have to admit, I was a little surprised how busy it was, but the beertenders made short work of the lines. Continue reading
These photos were taken Saturday afternoon at Smog City Brewing Company’s brewery and tasting room in Torrance, where several hundred fans gathered to celebrate Smog City’s 11th anniversary. The event featured food trucks, live music, a dunk tank for charity, a mini market, games, and beer; lots of delicious Smog City beer.
While I was there, seafood was available from Anarchy Seafood, with burgers from Heavy Handed LA; after I left Baserriko Peppers came onboard with their sandwiches and churrasco.
There was live music provided by Fuzzy Logic, and a beer garden market village was set up featuring Macetas Plants LA, Gogoma Bakes Dog Treats, D’s Cookies, and local illustrator Evan Clark. Continue reading
These photos were taken at HopSaint Brewing Company in Torrance over the course of four visits, beginning January 20 and ending today, January 27. The artwork was done by Nicolas Thollot-Arsac, also known as bottl3man on Instagram.
Anyone that has gone to HopSaint in the afternoon and sat at one of the community tables, facing away from the bar, is well acquainted with Sports Harbour’s white wall and the blinding glare it can throw out when the sun is heading towards the Pacific. It is no secret, it has been an issue from the beginning; the question was what to do about it. On January 19 I was looking at HopSaint’s Instagram page and saw that they had commissioned an artist from France to paint said wall using only beer bottles. Of course, I had to go check it out. Continue reading
These photos were taken Saturday afternoon at the Absolution Brewing Company brewery and tasting room in Torrance, where Absolution and a few hundred of their fans gathered to celebrate their seventh anniversary.
The event included the release of their anniversary beer, Our Magnificent Seven, a quadruple IPA available on tap or in cans. While I was there, live music was provided by Nasty Bad Habit and there was food available from the Deli Belly food truck. Continue reading
These photos were taken Saturday afternoon at the Smog City Brewing Company’s 10th Anniversary celebration held at the production brewery in Torrance. It was a nicely attended event that probably had about 100 people attending during the couple of hours I was there.
Yes, Los Angeles County is still abiding by COVID protocol, but we are in the least restrictive yellow tier which allowed Smog City to throw an actual in-person event for their 10 anniversary. Yes, things were toned down a little from previous anniversary celebrations, but Smog City’s fan base was not going to let that stop them.
To commemorate the occasion, Smog City had 26 brews on draft, including their 10th Anniversary IPA, eight special bottle pours, and an anniversary flight consisting of This Sour Future (2015), Benny and the Bretts volume 1, The Nothing (2017), Buzzworthy (2016), and BBA Coffee Porter (2017). Continue reading
These photos were taken Wednesday at Tortilla Cantina, where they hosted the 6th Annual South Bay Tap Takeover. This annual event took a little more to accomplish this year, but Tortilla Cantina, our local breweries, and hundreds of their fans made this possible “last hurrah” of 2020 a great success.
My first tap takeover was held on the first Thursday of September in 2015, and as the craft beer scene around here grew, there started to be overlaps when it came to craft beer festival dates and brewery anniversaries, and everyone started changing dates of their events to avoid conflicts. The fact of the matter is that there was just too much going on out there, so I set it in stone that all subsequent South Bay Tap Takeovers would be held on the first Thursday of September; that worked out okay until COVID-19 struck and the State of California and the County of Los Angeles decided restaurants, breweries, and bars had to discontinue in-person dining. Continue reading
These photos were taken Thursday, March 12, at The Brews Hall at Del Amo in Torrance. While it has actually been 115 days since The Brews Hall Grand Opening and these photos, I thought 100 Days Later sounded better than 115 Days Later.
As frequently happens when a new brewery opens in the area, lots of people ask me, “how is the beer?” There are not a lot of breweries that open up trouble free, so that is usually a legitimate question. Unfortunately, I had only visited The Brews Hall once since their grand opening for a beer with a friend, and they were still new enough that they still relied on guest breweries to keep their taps flowing; so when the Vice President of Operations for the Zislis Group (owners of The Brews Hall) extended an offer for me to return and check things out, I put on my foul weather gear, grabbed a plastic bag for my camera, and headed over for a return visit. Continue reading
These photos were taken Sunday afternoon at Tortilla Cantina in Torrance, where they hosted a family event for one of their regulars, Paul Quintana. You may recall that back in July I covered a baby shower at Tortilla Cantina; Sunday’s family gathering was the formal introduction of the Guest of Honor of that shower, River, to his extended family.
There had to be at least 50 friends and family in attendance and River seemed to be enjoying all the attention he was getting as much as the aunts and cousins giving it to him.
Tortilla Cantina is a great place to hold events like this, especially if you have friends and family that enjoy craft beer. You could never provide Tortilla Cantina’s beer variety at home, and they provide really good food; I will personally vouch for the taquitos. Continue reading
These photos were taken Monday evening at The Brews Hall at Del Amo, in Torrance where they held their official grand opening. The ticketed event was very well attended, and included The Brews Hall primary owners, Mike Zislis, George Lopez, and Colin Cowherd, along with Head Brewer Justinian Caire, Assistant Brewer Alex Rodriguez, several Brews Hall investors, and craft beer fans that just wanted to be among the first to try the first brews from Buzzrock Brewing and Ta Loco Brewing Company.
Attendees were treated to a limited menu that included a chicken sandwich from Chicken TWILI, burritos from George Lopez’s Chingon Kitchen, a wedge salad from Rock’n Fish, a cheeseburger from Colin Cowherd’s The Herd, and various sides and desserts. More importantly, the first three beers were released from the new brewhouse. Continue reading