Beer, check. Pizza, check. Sandwich, check and then beer again, check. Sounds like the only passport one needs and a great weekend idea in Long Beach. It’s the Downtown Long Beach Craft Passport which also has a sake coupon too.
Passport to Craft
1st Visit – Altar Society Brewing
Pine Street is both a prime and not so much prime location in Long Beach. A city that has a few micro cool neighborhoods outside the downtown core which has some not so nice spots.
Which makes Altar Society so needed and different. It is not just a brewery but a coffee shop and an event space. An all day one stop shop. And it was hopping. I grabbed a two top near the front after getting my first beer which was the All Seeing IPA. It was not bad. Mid pack which is not a bad start. You can tell a lot by an IPA from a new-ish brewery.
The space is large. And there are some great seats that overlook the fermenters on the floor below. They have a nice selection of styles including seltzers so it makes a good spot for a wide group range.
My second beer was the one that I had my eye on. A stout made with the coffee from their sister coffee shop. I did like that and appreciated that it was a low ABV version as well.
A New Altar
Built in 1903, the Masonic Temple on Pine Avenue in Long Beach will (fingers crossed) become Altar Society Brewing later this year. Brewery in the basement. Coffee shop and restaurant at street level and then more space in the floors above. More news when opening is closer. This project has been in the works since 2020 and was obviously slowed down even more than the usual for a brewery.
