Eureka Brewing Co. – (2) Reviews

Eureka Brewing Company, The brand new brewery in Los Angeles had four beers on offer. I steered away from the IPAs and went for the pils and the pale instead to see how those styles were handled…

Pils of Creation – Bright yellow in color. Nice interplay of floral and cereal malt notes. Could use a skosh more carbonation too.  The hoppy part of hoppy Pilsner doesn’t really come through to me though. Love the swirling colors on the can.  Very evocative of outer space seen from the desert.

Super Bloom – A deep citrus taste from this one. Straddles the line between XPA and Pale. Nice hop burst and good level of malt here. The bitterness does blossom and then fades away fairly quickly. Simple and effective. 

Future Out – Past In

Ximix Brewing didn’t last too long in Gardena, State Brewing was humming along until the first wave of pandemic stopped their Gardena brewery. Now a name from California’s history is taking a stab at reviving beer in Gardena, Eureka Brewing Co.

They are going to start going uphill as they open after Thanksgiving, after outdoor seating, during stay-at-home orders. But they do have an ace brewer in Phil McDaniel, formerly of King Harbor Brewing and they are taking over the former Ximix space, so they could hit the ground brewing at least.

Look for a 1st Visit report.

The State of State Brewing

Sad news hit yesterday….

This was not the brewery that I thought would call it a day first in 2020. Not that I have a Arya Stark type list but State Brewing had both a quality of beer and a wide range of beer and enough hits in the top style categories that I thought would insulate them from financial trouble and keep them above the Mendoza line as it were. This is a blow for sure and even the most rosy hued (like me) won’t be able to wipe this away with a “this is an opportunity for another brewery” sentiment.

But this is not a triggering event. The competition is tough and capitalization is on a case by case basis so do not worry that a cascade of closures will ensue. Some times, you just have to walk away from the table.

Two 1st Visits


To keep up withe L.A. beer scene, you sometimes have to hit two unvisited breweries in one day. I pointed south and hit a pair in Carson and Gardena recently and here is the 1st Visit report….

On Main Street near Honest Abe’s cider (more on that later) is Hōkūle’a which is the third brewery that Jeff Parker has helped to found in L.A. First was Strand Brewing and then The “Dude’s” Brewery.

#3 is in a nice big surfboard adorned industrial park neighborhood. Big windows look out onto a busy street which negates a bit of the island vibe on the inside. There are two ginormous tanks which you don’t normally see in a start-up brewery. Alas, they are for production of a new line of Honest Abe ciders.

There were three beers on tap on their soft open weekend. Gremmie’s Pilsner had a rough entry into the world with a glycol chiller that iced the beer. Parker had to go back and reverse engineer the now much higher ABV beer back to regular strength. It still tasted strong to me but wasn’t bad. Had an Imperial Pilsner feel to it which was fine.

The Key Lime Pai had both lime and lactose forward. There was a good tartness to cream balance. But the lime sort of loses out to the creamsicle aspect. I can see this being a favorite though. Lastly was the Keiki IPA which was grassy, green and dank. Classic West-Coast style IPA.

Parker is looking to add Hawaiian fruit focused Cerveza Frescas as well as a Kona coffee IPA in the future. Also upcoming is food service and the opening of the second level seating area.


Next stop, Gardena and Ximix Craft Exploration. Bit of a long name but the logo and branding seems retro space cool.

Ximix is near-ish to State Brewing but without the personality. It was dark and everything seemed gray from the tabletops to the stools. On the far end was an open window with bars which gave off a bit of a correctional feel. And there was not much in the way of continuing the theme on the inside. Unless you count multiple TV’s as a space theme.

The menu board had the “Big Batch” side and the “Small Batch” side. I went with the weirdly named Crangis McBasketball hazy IPA. There was some pineapple notes but it was not super juicy and probably too hoppy for the style and too clear.

Maybe this was just a slow Sunday and I will need to re-visit when crowds are there.

Ximix?


This brewery snuck up on me. I would have remembered the name for sure. It is a bit unwieldy but if the beers are good, people will learn how to spell it.

Ximix Craft Exploration Brewery will be open starting today!
Here are the opening weekend hours:
Thursday: 4 pm – 9 pm
Friday: 4 pm – 9 pm
Saturday: Noon – 9 pm
Sunday: 1 pm – 6 pm

As usual, I will report back with a 1st Visit as soon as I can.

State Brewing Grand Opening

In between a belated Valentine’s Day brunch and an early birthday pie celbration, I moseyed down to Gardena for the “official” grand opening of State Brewing.

Here are some photos and beer notes:

One of the tanks inside the brewery.

The brewery is growing their Gardena footprint but are also very cognizant of regulating the growth and also maximizing how they use the R&D – Pilot System they have. Some wild beers are in the plans for the future as well to add to the multiple hop offerings and stout Project lines.
The Opening menu.

I tasted the Can’t Flocc, Won’t Flocc which was solid as well as the Family Julius which was very much a creamsicle beer. That silken orange flavor. My favorite was the Raindrop Pils that had Huell Melon hops. Really crisp with a hint of the bitter to it. And I had to try a Project beer, so I had a taster of the S’mores.
Dark Side – Light Side

Cheers to more State beers!

Has Been Open, Now Grand


State Brewing’s Gardena tap room has been open for a bit of time now but that won’t stop them from throwing an “official” Grand Opening party.

18+ beers will be on offer (which includes some specialties) on Saturday, February 17th from Noon to Midnight.

Then, the next week starts with the new hours starting on Tuesday, February 20th.
Tues-Thurs: 4-10
Fri: 3-11
Sat: 12-11
Sun: 12-6

1st Visit – State Brewing


Only a few days into the new year and I have notched another brewery to my tally. I hadn’t expected to visit so early, but a window of time opened and without hesitation I drove down to Gardena to visit State Brewing.

The brewery seems to be in a residential section of town at first but it the area turns industrial as I see the roll-up door that opens up to the space. First thing I see are the rows of empty crowlers behind the bar waiting for to-go orders. There is a nice amount of seating and a TV menu board between two sports tuned TV’s. Said menu board is in a bad place in relation to the bar, forcing the person to swivel to the left and backward to see what is on tap. They probably need to add paper menus at the bar (which they might have, I didn’t see them though)

State is playing both sides and the fence with their beers as they do West Coast, Hazy and hybrid IPA’s as well as pils and many stouts.

Here are my notes on what I sampled:
Baby Merman– Hoppy Pils
Mosaic and Saaz – lemony and malt mix, a bit thin

Super Smoove Move– NE IPA
Fuzzy on the roof of the mouth pineapple. Quite bitter. Unbalanced

New Toy– Project Vanilla with mint and cocoa nibs
Very vanilla, followed by a lot of mint. Like leaves.

Project Nicaragua– RIS with coffee
Very bitter burnt beans. Silky texture. Not super balanced either.

Elbows Off– Table Saison
Very thin. Has the Belgian character though. Little bit of clove

Nice Chucks– NE IPA
Best of the bunch. Very fruity with minimal bitterness.