Well, it is December 27 which means I am running out of time, and this recap of 2023 is not going to write itself. I frequently go into this task with the attitude of “what did I do this year”?, and while that remains true today, I cannot help but look back at this year and think of all the things I did not do this year. I think the combination of old age and a definite change in the craft beer world are both contributing equally. I guess we will see what 2024 brings us; in the meantime, here is my recap of 2023, beginning with the last hours of 2022.

December 2022

King Harbor Brewing Company closed all three of their locations at the end of 2022, but they definitely signed off with a bang. Project Barley took over the waterfront location, a sandwich shop took over the Riviera Village location, and TrustedGut Brewing took over the brewery on 182nd Street.

January

While 2022 ended with the closure of King Harbor’s three brewery locations, 2023 started off with the announcement that Strand Brewing Company was officially closing their doors. Little did we know how much of a trend this would become.

However, the month wasn’t all bad, with Hermosa Brewing Company opening a new brewery and tasting room in Torrance.

The month ended with the Burnin’ Daylight 4th Anniversary and Meltdown 2023 at El Segundo Brewing.

February

February started off pretty well, first with the announcement the Cellador Ales had relocated to Smog City Brewing’s Wood Cellar.

A week or so later, Two Coast Brewing came back onto my radar; they would open a couple months later.

February ended with the Scholb 7th Anniversary celebration, and at Three Weavers Brewing where they hosted their Inaugural Lite Fest; a craft beer festival billed as the Champagne of Beer Festivals. The event showcased beers that were no higher than 5.0 ABV from more than 30 breweries. The ticketed event featured unlimited pours, a very nice souvenir glass, live music and food popups. Proceeds from the event went towards supporting the California Craft Brewers Association.

March

March was a pretty busy month, but it started off with the announcement that Surfridge Brewing was closing their doors; they attributed their closure to the COVID lockdown.

The month wasn’t all bad though. Brouwerij West celebrated their seventh anniversary, LA Ale Works celebrated their sixth anniversary, and Hermosa Brewing Company celebrated their fifth anniversary.

But that’s not all! I also managed to visit Eureka Brewing Company in Gardena, where they participated in the Pink Boots Collaboration Brew Day; the Pink Boots Society’s largest fundraiser. The “Pink Boots Blend” is made up of hops from Yakima Chief Hops and a grain bill from Country Malt Group. Breweries around the globe purchase the proprietary blend, with the proceeds going to the Pink Boots Society.

I also managed to attend the Second Annual Craft Beer LB Homebrew Invitational, the Project Barley Square Grand Opening, and the 2023 California Craft Beer Summit in Sacramento. Since I was in the neighborhood, I paid a return visit to Urban Roots Brewing and made my first visit to Oak Park Brewing.

April

April was one of those months that seemed to have something happening every weekend. The month started off with the Common Space fifth anniversary, followed by The Dudes’ 10th, and final anniversary.

Additional anniversary celebrations held in April included Smog City’s 12 Anniversary and HopSaint Brewing held their first ever anniversary party, the HopSaint 7th Anniversary celebration.

April also saw the soft-open of Two Coast Brewing and the 2nd Annual Halfway to Halloween Hootenanny, which is always a great time.

May

I started off the month by heading over to Syncopated Brewing Company in Lakewood, where they were celebrating day two of their three day celebration of their second year anniversary and the birthday of Jason Van Fleet, one of the co-founders of Syncopated Brewing.

May was also the 10th anniversary of CraftBeerGuy.com so I marked the event with another of my Craft Beer Can Exchanges.

May also saw the El Segundo Brewing 12th Anniversary, the 10th Annual South Bay Beer and Wine Festival, and ended with the opening of Boardroom Brewery in El Segundo.

June

June was what might be considered a slow month for me, but the events I attended were quite fun. The Los Angeles County Brewers Guild held their LA Independent Beer Festival at Shoreline Aquatic Park in Long Beach to kickoff LA Beer Week (LABW14) for the first time since 2019.

A couple weeks later I visited Common Space Brewery and Los Angeles Ale Works, where the two Hawthorne based production breweries teamed up to hold a block party as a part of the Los Angeles Beer Week 2023 festivities.

August

If it looks like I didn’t do anything in July, you are quite perceptive; things picked up a lot in August though.

El Segundo regained another brewery, Five Point Five Brewing, which took over the old Surfridge Brewing location.

The month also included the Far Field Beer Company 2nd anniversary and the last of my four can exchanges for the year, with a going away party for Sofee Chad who moved to Boston to take a job with Boston Beer Company.

September

Beginning in September of 2015, I started putting on the South Bay Tap Takeover, and except for 2020 when I had to delay the event until November, the first Thursday of September has always been the date. Sadly, Rick, the owner of Tortilla Cantina (where the event has been held the last five years) moved to Oregon and Tortilla Cantina decided it did not make sense for them to host the event. I did not give up, but was unable to find a venue for the 2023 South Bay Tap Takeover. I will try to find a different venue for 2024, but I am not holding my breath on being successful.

While I was not able to put on my event, Craft Beer LB was able to put on their highly successful 7th Annual Craft Beer LB Fest, and I ended the month by heading over to Creature Comforts soft open at their new location in DTLA.

I also headed to Rancho Los Cerritos Historical Site in Long Beach, where Craft Beer LB and Sake Secret collaborated to celebrate World Sake Day by hosting the First Annual LB Sake Day.

September is also when The Dudes’ Brewing officially closed their doors.

October

October saw the official soft-open of TrustedGut, who is doing business as (DBA) King Harbor Brewing at their Redondo Beach location.

I was also able to spend a couple days at the Naja’s Place 13th Annual IPA Festival as well as attending the 3rd Annual Halloween Hootenanny in Long Beach.

The month ended with my attempting an abbreviated 2023 craft beer tour while helping some friends in Oregon. While it was nice seeing my friends and trying to be helpful, as far as craft beer tours go, it was a little weak. I visited only one new brewery, and they stopped brewing a few weeks prior to my arrival.

November

November was a very slow month for me; not necessarily because nothing was going on, but primarily because I am having some work done on my house and it seems that weekends are usually taken up waiting for my handyman.

One thing I was able to do was visit ISM Brewing for their soft-open. ISM Brewing is the newest brewpub in Long Beach, having taken over the former location of Beachwood Brewing’s brewpub on 3rd Street that closed in October; they are definitely a welcome addition to Long Beach’s craft beer scene. Their grand opening will be held early in 2024.

December

The waiting game I played in November continued into the middle of December, when I finally decided work could resume after the beginning of the year; so while I was not able to attend all the festivities being put on by various breweries, I was able to attend Cellador Ales 7th Anniversary.

December ended for me with a King Harbor OGs Reunion at TrustedGut that I was asked to help organize. We had a pretty nice turnout and it was good to see some old friends.

What to Expect in 2024

Since 2014 I have been suggesting that Port Town Brewing would be coming soon to San Pedro, but I am not going to even hint that might be happening. I am sure it will happen but I am done trying to make predictions as far as they are concerned.

Last year I probably misled you a little when I tried to confirm a rumor that HopSaint Brewing Company was moving. I suggested that they were opening a second brewing location in Torrance. Now, to be honest I don’t recall if I made an assumption or if plans changed, but HopSaint in definitely opening a second location on Del Amo Brewlevard, across the street and a little west of Smog City Brewing, but they will not be brewing at that location. It is primarily a cold box for storage and it will be a tasting room.

Like I mentioned earlier, I am not giving up on the South Bay Tap Takeover, but if I cannot find a venue for 2024 I may have to call it a wrap. If you know a venue in the South Bay with 40 (or more) taps that might be interested, please feel free to reach out with your suggestion.

As far as my Craft Beer Tour 2024 is concerned, I spoke with my Michigan sister on Christmas Day and if she can avoid getting in another train wreck, we are going to try and do the tour of New England breweries that we missed out on in 2022; will keep my fingers crossed.

I guess in retrospect, 2023 wasn’t too bad. Yeah, we lost King Harbor, Beachwood, The Dude’s, Surfridge, and Strand Brewing, but we gained Boardroom, Five Point Five, TrustedGut, Two Coast, Cellador Ales, and ISM Brewing, so we cannot complain too loudly.

I hope you have a great 2024 and I hope to see you around. Remember to support your local brewery. Cheers!