Opening July 26th is Watch Me on East PCH in Long Beach. Great news to see another women’s sports bar open in the L.A. area, now I just need one to move into Glendale.
Watch Me and Hopefully More
Photos from the 2024 L.A. Independent Beer Festival
L.A. Beer Week is underway and here are the photographic receipts to prove it…
LABW 2024
This month is going to be all about L.A. Beer Week posts, so buckle up. Of course the signature event is the festival in Long Beach but lets get some other events talked about like to start, this fun event in, checking notes, Long Beach…
June 14 – ISM Brewing will be tapping beers from all our neighboring Long Beach breweries. Additionally, we will have cans and draft pours of the LB Super Collaboration from Trademark Brewing. Craft Beer LB will be in popping up and will have rad LB merch for sale. Hang out with us, jam out with our DJ and taste the best of what LB has to offer. Breweries include: Ambitious Ales, Ten Mile, Syncopated, Beachwood Brewing and Blendery, Altar Society, Trademark, Steady and Belmont Brewing.
June 16 – Highland Park Brewery is hosting a Lager CanJam on Sunday June 16th, 2024! Inspired by our friends, Threes Brewing, we asked some breweries from around the country to send us a case of their tastiest lager!
June 18 – Calling all Cicerones, beer nerds, home brewers, pro-brewers, and just general trivia fans! Brush up on your beer knowledge and head to the Angle City taproom on Tuesday, June 18th. We’re celebrating LA Beer Week with beer-themed trivia.
More events on scheduled, these are just my first set of picks. More to come.
A Few Rodeos In
2024 seems to be the country year, Cowboy Carter and now Trademark Brewing in Long Beach is breaking out the mechanical bull and line dancing for their fifth anniversary in Long Beach.
I will take my chances with the bull as my dancing could cause way more harm.
Review – Two from ISM Brewing
One of the breweries that I am hyped about is ISM Brewing in Long Beach. I grabbed a couple in cans recently and it is review time.
Coastal Curves is the hopped up West Coast Pilsner and it pours a bright and bubbly yellow. Aroma is definitely hoppy. Getting a bit of Simcoe, I think. There is a bit of berry here. also a peppery note as well. Not super crisp but there is a minerality there that keeps this from veering into pale ale territory.
Sonic Substance a collaboration with Creature Comforts and it too pours a bubbly, vibrant yellow color. Getting a bit of a soft pine near a citrus grove feeling from this one. Not dank but not a fruit bomb either. Tastes heavier than the 6.66% listed ABV.
If forced to choose, I would go toward the pilsner. But it is a close race.
Sports Bar, Not the Old Kind
Considering the popularity of Angel City FC in the NWSL and how much better Juju is than Bronny at USC, it is way past time for a women’s sports bar somewhere, anywhere in Los Angeles.
Enter Long Beach with THIS.
Hopefully, more will follow.
1st Visit – Long Beach Beer Lab Zaferia
It was an eventful first visit to the second Long Beach Beer Lab location in the Zaferia District of Long Beach. I had taken a couple sips of Brut IPA (you remember that sub-style right?) when that too familiar crunch sound made me swivel on mybar stool.
There was one car flipped over and one car with all air bags deployed. The fire and police departments were soon on the scene and attention could be turned back to the space and the beer and the pizza.
I have to say that the Wrigley location is more my speed but the more I thought, if this was in my neighborhood, I would be glad it was there. Yes, too many TVs but thankfully, most were about the brewery and bakery. And the cooler with mix and match and 4-packs is great.
And I did love the Brut (Brewte IPA) which was super dry but sweet with a pear note. So, thumbs up even for someone not from the neighborhood.
L.A. at the Shoreline
Tickets went on sale last week for the signature event of Los Angeles Beer Week.
Get your tickets HERE and then patiently count the days until June.
Last 1st Visits of 2023
So, I traveled over to El Segundo to check out two new breweries that I have posted about before. One The Boardroom was shut for a private party.
But I did get to taste the beers of nearby Five Point Five Brewing which has taken over the former Surfridge Brewing space.
The space remains the same. No drastic changes inside. The change is outside with a bright big paint job with the brewery name in big letters.
The beers were surprisingly good but in styles that I was a bit surprised by. In my sampler tray were two IPA’s, a hoppy blonde, a Nitro Red Ale and a big stout. The Hoppy Blonde, I Love That for You was my top choice. Light yellow in color. Nice flavor with a little hoppy burst that came through well.
The Proud Mary Irish Red on Nitro highlighted the creamy dispense very well and when that flavor dissipated, the malt flavors took over for a second round.
A promising start for sure that I might re-check.
To make this last 1st Visits post of 2023 factually plural, I tacked on a visit to Long Beach and the former promenade home of Beachwood Brewing that is now ISM Brewing. Ian McCall who brewed at this very location is back with his eponymous initials brewery and the word is good.
I had five tasters covering a bit of their beer menu and came away very impressed. Especially with their New Zealand hopped beers. A pilsner, Lag Rope and an IPA, Kiwi Fingers. Both really let that Nelson hop shine. Also quite impressive was a simple ale called Peaches for Days that harmed no peaches but the aroma and taste was 100% stonefruit. A hop magic trick for sure.
ISM is only a month old but they are already firing out hits so mark it as your first to visit next year.
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.