Two days ago, I made the trip down south to Huntington Beach to see the production facility for Beachwood Brewing.
The facility on the musically named Woodwind Drive was formerly Beach City Brewing. You enter the building to a few plants and the Beachwood logo on the wall. The outside and the initial look could almost lead you to believe it was a dental office but then you make a left turn and in one room is a bottling line and as you turn to the right you see the tanks looming up.
Five core beers will be the primary focus here. Amalgamator, Foam Top, Alpha Galatic, Citraholic and Mocha Machine. Which means that you will start seeing a more ready and steady supply of those than you had before. There are plenty of others to choose from. Blendery beers will appear sporadically and other Beachwood brews will circle in and out.
The first location grew as a restaurant, the second was the brewery with a restaurant and this new space is restaurant free, though food trucks will make appearances. If you those five beers on the top of the board are your jam, then this is the place for you. It will be freshest place to get them and the vibe is pure Beachwood plus a little more relaxation since the bustle of food is not there.
City to Wood
Getting bottles of those hoppy IPA’s from Beachwood will become a lot easier once this deal goes through….
“We are getting ready to embark on a pretty large expansion; while the deal isn’t done yet, we recognize that many people have come to learn that we’ll be acquiring Beach City Brewing in Huntington Beach. We are still in the process of securing the proper licenses that will allow us to take over the facility, so we’ve been a bit coy on the topic. Our hope, once the purchase of the assets and the transfer of the licenses takes place, is to increase our production capabilities over the next five years to upwards of 8,000 barrels. This will allow us to introduce more consumers to a steady line of Beachwood Brewing products via retail outlets such as bottle shops and grocery stores as well as restaurants and bars throughout Southern California. Our beers are increasingly growing in demand and this production facility allows us to expand at a rate we believe the market can sustain.” – Gabe Gordon
It is too bad about Beach City. Apart from the poorly executed labels, the minimal amount of beer that I had from them was quite above average and showed promise though it never achieved wider distribution. The failure of one business though will lead to expansion for others. I am flabbergasted each week when I look at the tap list of Beachwood beers then I remember the Blendery beers too and am more amazed at how Julian Shrago does it. He must be a logistics maven. This new space will allow more flexibility for his skills which is great news.