Tag: Torrance

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Yorkshire Squares in Torrance

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Thankfully the latest brewery that I have heard about on the way won’t be in Torrance. It will be in “old” Torrance. Yorkshire Square Brewery will be focusing exclusively on the English-style cask-conditioned beer. Plus they will have food too!

The venture is headed by Gary Croft, a former Leeds, England native. They have also recently nabbed Andy Black as the head brewer. Black, you will recall, started the casks rolling at MacLeod’s before a brief stint at El Segundo.

More news as it comes in. Look for a later this year opening.

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1st Visit – Scholb Premium Ales

I e-mail corresponded with Scholb Premium Ales which you can read over on Food GPS. Now I actually visited. (After a side trip to Smog City and before a short jaunt to King Harbor)
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Scholb is in the same complex as Absolution Brewing but at the latter I was unimpressed whereas Scholb is off to a good, strong start. The Columbia Street Pale Ale was bright and fruity and better than most in this crowded category. My second favorite was the Cherry Wood Smoked Brown which at first seemed thin but filled in nicely with a different smoke note that I found pleasing. Dad’s IPA was a strong third. My only clinker was the Bat Ray Red IPA. It seemed a little dimmer compared to the other hoppy offerings.
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It’s s nice big space. Big logo on the wall and super cool taster trays made out of plastic piping. There are Wisconsin ties to the four part ownership group and maybe they can bring a Midwestern beer or three into the line-up for the out-of-state expats. As it stands, it is worth a visit to try the new kid in Torrance.
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Another Cellar of Craft Beer

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L.A. is now the proud home to two locations of the growing chain of craft beer shoppes, Craft Beer Cellar. I am a frequent visitor to the Eagle Rock location with its lovely patio to enjoy one of the 8 beers they have on tap before I head off with to-go bottles and cans in hand.

Now the Crossroads Shopping Center in Torrance (‘natch) will house franchisee # 2 and they will be throwing a grand opening on April 23rd. The only downside being that they won’t be pouring beer as of yet. Just to-go to start which will put them at a disadvantage compared to Select Beer. But if they can stock up on Torrance beer, they could become a hub for that huge brewing community.

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Scholb adds to Torrance count

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The speed of craft beer growth leaves me behind the curve many a time. At first, I thought I was not paying enough attention but now I know that is not the case. I could spend hours combing the interwebs instead of watching Flash and Arrow and still miss events, beer releases or even the opening of a new brewery.

Which is where we come to the point of this post, catching up with a new brewery in the mecca that is Torrance. Scholb’s Premium Ales. I have sent interview questions out to the wife-husband x two group that will appear in Food GPS later this month.

So this is more of an announcement that their taproom is open with beers such as….
Columbia Street Pale – Honey Rye Pale Ale
Not Lyin’ Rye – Rye IPA
Bat Ray Red – Red IPA (RIPA)
Dark Void – Imperial Stout
Endless Kisses – Rye Saison
…on tap.
If you have visited their brewery and/or tasted their beers, let me know what you think. I have put them on the “visit” list and will report back what I find.

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First Visit – Hopsaint

I had my first visit to HopSaint over the weekend and I came away impressed by the beer and by the price of the food.

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There were three beers on tap as they ramp up from soft opening to full and regular hours.  I loathe the Bubble Butt blonde name but the beer itself is really good.  Crisp and clean with a lovely grain taste to it.  Most blonde ales are boring but this one is not.  The Eleven-Eight is a lovely not quite a barleywine ale that again has a great crisp quality and loads of malt character.  At this point, I thought that I was due a clinker.  Any new brewery and many established ones have growing recipe pains.

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But the Cacophony IPA was the best of the bunch.  A light hued brew that packed a clear bitter punch with loads of fruit tinged hop character.  I really liked it and would have gotten more but I was off to test a nearby oceanside tasting room…

The food was all on the high-side price wise but looked quality.  I am not wowed by salads but the ingredients for each looked great and I will try the tri-tip sandwich on the next visit.

I would plan a visit to Torrance (or is this Redondo Beach?) to check out the beers before the secret is out.

 

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Cosmic Lands in Torrance

Cosmic Ales drifted off the craft beer radar. Without a hone base and relying on contract brewing left customers without a reliable path to their beer. That has now changed….

Here is the website announcement:
“1 block west of Western and just south of Del Amo blvd. It’s the perfect location for us nestled in between Smog City, Monkish and the Dudes. What better company to be in!

We’ve already begun the renovations so stay tuned for a lively tasting room with many more great beers from our new Cosmic brew house”

Cosmic will need to up their game to attract people used to visiting the fabulous duo of Monkish and Smog City.
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Torrance is Blessed

I did not know that Torrance was so beer religious. First Monkish and now a tidbit of more news on the the summer expected HopSaint.

At the kettles will be Brian Brewer who recently helmed The Brewery at Abigaile’s operation. Now he will be creating beers to pair with the smokehouse BBQ restaurant that will be the other half of HopSaint.

The Torrance brew crawl will soon need to be a full weekend.
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Strand Cans

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Facebook can be one long and continuous scroll of the finger through posts that you have already read and movies that Zuckerberg and Co. think you really must see.  But on occasion (15% of the time is my guesstimate), you run across a photo that makes you start to scroll back.

That is what I did when I saw this photo of empty cans of Strand Brewing beers.  Now Strand only bottles as of now, so this is news.  But since I am not the “extra, extra!” type of blogger, I want to talk a little about the can design.

What I Like!

The different colors to signify each beer.

The font size of the beer style name and the beer name

The Strand logo really pops on the can

What I Don’t Like

The silver is way to reflective and glare causing

The middle logo is nice but maybe bigger to show some detail

A few too many font changes

But I certainly hope to see these cans in stores.  Not enough Strand on shelves right now.

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Smog-iversary

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VIP Tickets to the Smog City Anniversary Party on May 9th slyly went on sale last week and may be gone by now. (check HERE to see)

But you will want to get any remaining ones that you can because it is a steal of a deal with “early and exclusive access, rare beers (including one very special collaboration we did), limited edition bottle tote, bottles of Steam Funk Brett IPA (2015 Anniversary Beer), and more!”

And if you miss the VIP, don’t fret, your beer choices are sure to be mind bottling.

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Monk-More not ish

One of my favorite breweries is hitting the tripel mark, Happy 3rd to Monkish!
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And today, they will be celebrating from 1pm to 8pm with a killer beer list from taps and bottles including my favorite beer of 2014.

Below are my ideal beer flights:

Light & Hoppy Flight
ST. CITRA – Citra single-hop belgian pale
SELECT MONK 1 – multi-grain single dry hopped w/ Sorachi Ace
SELECT MONK 3 – multi-grain tripel dry hopped w/ Sterling and Sorachi Ace
SELAH – saison w/ brett
CRUCIS – single conditioned w/ brettanomyces (Brux)

Dark Night Flight
HEM & HAW – dark saison w/ brett
ARRIVANT – rye saison w/ brett
FUNKY HABIT – brown saison w/ brett
DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL – Belgian-ized imperial stout
BOURBON-BARREL-AGED MAGNIFICAT – bourbon-barrel-aged spiced winter ale

Special Addition Flight
SHAOLIN KICK [ON CASK] – dubbel w/ sichuan peppercorns + Thai Basi + Sriracha
SEME DELLA VITA – tripel w/ pistachios and vanilla bean
CAFFE DELLA VITA – tripel w/ pistachios and vanilla bean and coffee
APOPHATIC – dark specialty ale w/ orange peel, cinnamon, coriander, fennel seed