These photos were taken Wednesday afternoon, when I visited Gardena’s newest craft brewery, Two Coast Brewing Company. I have been cyber-stalking Two Coast since the end of 2016, so when I recently noticed a Facebook post that screamed out, “They must have a tasting room coming soon,” I reached out to them for the first time in more than six years to see if I could swing by. I met with co-founders Roger Kunsemueller and Jan Dreier to get a little history as well as a look into the future.

When I arrived, Jan was busy keeping a cleaning mess under control, while Roger was milling grain. I took advantage of the time to walk around and grab photos of their 15bbl brewhouse and 30bbl fermenters as well as what will soon become the South Bay’s newest craft beer tasting room. Oh yeah, I may have tried a few of their brews

When I sat down to write this, I came to the realization that not only had the three of us met before, but I had actually tried their beer back in 2016 at one of Rock & Brews local craft beer fests. I honestly don’t recall if I met Roger and Jan there or later at a different brewery, but does it really matter?

Anyway, when I look back to the first time I virtually introduced myself to them in 2016, I had asked if they were planning on having a tasting room in the future, to which they said they did, but it would be “at least a year down the road.” Well, time flies when you are having fun, or a global pandemic, or dealing with the County of Los Angeles; yes, once again, timing is everything.

But let’s start at the beginning. Jan and Roger are German and they are friends. They are so German that they are both from Hamburg, and they are such good friends that they have done so for 35 years. As they are both German, and they both seem to agree that “Germans know beer,” when they decided to open a brewery here in the United States, it was an easy decision that they would brew traditional German styles of beer, and whenever possible, utilize German ingredients. And yes, they do have hops and grains shipped in from Germany. I guess they spend a lot of time finding a German equivalent for most of the major “American” hops, with some success.

Now, I should probably mention that while the owners are German, and they brew German style beers, with primarily German ingredients, they don’t exactly follow the Reinheitsgebot when it comes to brewing, as experimenting has brought about too many good beers, so they experiment and tweak things a little.

The two of them essentially built the brewery and tasting room themselves; it reminded me of watching the construction of most of our local breweries, where the owners build it themselves. Jan, the head brewer, suggested if you see something aesthetically pleasing, Roger probably did it; while Jan concentrates on brewing beer and stuff you might not notice, unless it wasn’t there. Roger is the self-described shift brewer. The fact is, these two do everything as they have no employees as of yet. So if you know a beertender looking for work, Two Coast will be looking for at least one when they open the tasting room.

As we were talking beer, Roger offered a few samples, and since they had eight to choose from, I went with dealer’s choice; which resulted in pours of their pilsner, the GPA (German Pale Ale), and their California Dark Ale that is definitely not an altbier.

The pilsner was very clean, with a slight hoppiness perhaps, and a pleasant finish. The GPA was quite tasty with some subtle fruitiness and a nice nose. The German hops were quite tasty with a subtle orange in the background. My favorite was probably the California Dark Ale, which Jan was quick to point out was the very first beer he had ever brewed back in 1993. He said it was essentially the same recipe with minor tweaks over the years.

Two Coast Brewing Company is located at 14928 S. Figueroa Street in Gardena. They plan on opening their dog friendly tasting room by the end of the month, with eight taps. In the meantime, you are welcome to come by to get cans to-go. They are thinking ahead to a German food truck, so if you know of one, let them know. I will let you know when an official opening day is announced. Prost!

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