Tanya has been feeling a lot better lately; so much better that she actually forgot to take the shots that she is usually counting down the days before she can use again. Trust me when I say, this is a very good thing. We have been tied up at home lately, Tanya especially as she has been doing some website design for a few new clients. Since she had some free time and the weather was in the mid-70\’s, I knew I had to get her out of the house. My friends at BeersInParadise.com told me that Stone Brewing Co was going to be pouring their latest Enjoy By 04.01.13 at the Pasadena store, so I came up with the brilliant idea of heading to Descanso Gardens with a planned stop at the Stone Brewing store to pick up some Enjoy By to bring home and to try the tap version.
After visiting the Stone Brewing store for a while, Tanya decided we should eat, so we stopped by the Congregation Ale House which was a block away. They were having a Stone Week, which made it a challenge to find something for Tanya, but Congregation has a very wide selection of beers, so you can find one for just about anyone.
The watermark on these photos was donated to the Rheumatoid Patient Foundation, because not everyone with RA is able to enjoy days like today. Continue reading
Last night we had another Business & Beer, this time returning to my favorite brewpub, The Brewery at Abigaile in Hermosa Beach. This was our first meetup in two weeks, and the first since Lent started, so I am not sure how much this combination contributed to our smaller than normal turnout. That is okay, those of us that came out had a good time and it gave us time to get to know each other more.
If you live or work in the South Bay area and enjoy networking while enjoying a local craft beer, you should look into Business & Beer the networking group that has no dues, no mandatory meetings and no hurried breakfasts or lunches. We meet every Thursday at a different microbrewery, brewpub or gastropub at 6:00 PM. You can find the schedule on the front page of BusinessNBeer.com and you can Like Us on Facebook to ensure you are kept in the loop. Continue reading
It is that time of year again; the groundhog looks for his shadow, people dodge asteroids and rumors of Pliny the Younger sightings start making their rounds. It was a week ago that I first heard rumors of Pliny the Younger being poured locally, but when I investigated further I discovered it was Pliny the Elder that was making an appearance; a nice IPA, but not quite a Younger. When I was at the Abigaile One Year Anniversary party a gentleman that was sitting next to us informed me that he had just gotten a text that Pliny the Younger would be appearing at a gastropub in Alhambra, 38 Degrees Ale House & Grill, on Saturday morning. Knowing how rumors can be, I decided to call them and confirm; it was true. After a short discussion with co-owner Clay Harding it was decided that I would ride out and photograph their event.
For those not in the know, Pliny the Younger is an annual release from Russian River Brewing Company. It is a triple IPA that is served on tap only and is released every February in very limited amounts. When I did some reading about prior releases there were talks about the beer lasting five days before it was sold out; now it is lucky to last five hours. 38 Degrees had more than 400 people standing out front waiting to get in and get their taste of this latest batch when I arrived around 10:30; the first guy in line arrived at 7:30! He really wanted his Pliny. Continue reading
My regular readers will likely recall that a couple weeks ago I did an article about my friend, Tim, who was adopted at birth and learned this at the age of 7. About 15 years ago he started working in earnest to discover who his birth mother was. He was not having much luck until last December when he learned about 23andme.com, a center that does genetic testing for health, disease and ancestry through a DNA test done with your saliva. On December 19, he sent in saliva samples from him and his daughter. A few weeks later he received his results. Although the test results did not provide any information about his natural birth mother, it did provide him with enough leads that he eventually found a Yahoo DNA group which was designed for people that were adopted or had put children up for adoption to discuss their DNA results. It was there that Tim met his search angel, Diana.
In what must have seemed like a whirlwind of events, Tim\’s search angel, Diana, soon notified him that she had discovered Tim\’s birth mother and a sister, Debby. After reaching out via Facebook, Tim and Debbie started talking and it was not long before Tim and his mother arranged a meeting for the end of January when she flew out to meet her son and granddaughter. Two weeks later, on Friday night, Debby flew to Los Angeles with her husband to meet Tim and his daughter. I was again invited to come out and photograph the meeting which you will find below. As you can see in the photos, everyone was happy to finally meet. Continue reading
When you wake up to the fact that asteroids are hitting the planet and people are being harmed, it kind of puts a weird slant on the day. On the upside, the asteroid did not hit anywhere close to me and it was a magnificent summer day in the middle of February. Tanya suggested I take a bike ride up to Point Vicente and try to shoot some whales, which sounded like a great idea . . ., but things happened, Point Vicente did not. After a couple detours I headed out to the Manhattan Beach because there were sightings of several dolphins off the pier.
When I got to the pier I realized I had not shot from below the pier so I decided to try there for a while. When I went up top I discovered that there were several dolphins in the area, but all too far for my lens. I then stopped by Brewco and tried a Smog City Amarilla Gorilla. I think I found my new favorite beer from them. On the way home I happened across a \”Yes on A\” demonstration and since they put out the effort to be there, I put out the effort to photograph them. I don\’t have a position on it as I don\’t live there, so the photos are just that, photos not a statement. The last photos are from Strand Brewing Company, a great microbrewery in Torrance, who is celebrating their third year of brewing. Continue reading
These photos are from the Abigaile 1st Anniversary & Southbay Magazine Issue Release party which was held last night at Abigaile in Hermosa Beach. I have to admit, it seems like I have been going to Abigaile longer than that, but the fact of the matter is that we did not even discover Abigaile and the Brewery at Abigaile until last May during American Craft Beer Week. We became instant fans of not only the fine brews turned out by Brewmaster Brian Brewer, but we found the food creations of Chef Tin to be equally worth returning for. Of course, I would be remiss in not acknowledging the positive attitude and genuine thankfulness for the support of their customers displayed by owner Jed Sanford that is echoed by all their employees.
This thankfulness was shown once again at the One Year Anniversary party which included free food and beer tastings for everyone that could get in. We have attended a few of these events and they are always packed, for good reason. The food tastings are usually items that are not found on the regular food menu and the featured beers are always amazing. Last night was the official release of Brian\’s first anniversary double IPA, the 001 (Double-Oh One); I know I am not alone in saying it is one of his best double IPAs to date. I can\’t wait to try the 002, next year.
Congratulations to Jed, Brian, Chef Tin and everyone involved with Abigaile and the Brewery at Abigaile. You have done well in your first year and you have created a nice following. Continue reading
Last night, Business & Beer returned to Tortilla Cantina in downtown Torrance and we had a very nice turnout. Since we do not have mandatory meetings, people show up when they can and if they are too busy with other things on a particular night, they are welcomed back with open arms. Last night we had several people we have not seen in a while along with one new attendee. It made for a pretty good sized group and everyone seemed to have a good time.
Remember, if networking with others is part of your business model and you live in the South Bay area, you might want to consider joining us at a future Business & Beer gathering. Meet with other small business owners and enjoy some of the best American craft beers in the area. You can have fun and do business at the same time as we show, week after week. You can find our schedule of upcoming events on the front page of BusinessNBeer.com. We would love to have you join us. Continue reading
Saturday was Groundhog Day and it was the first annual Rheumatoid Awareness Day; for patients with Rheumatoid Disease, previously known as Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) or Rheumatoid Autoimmune Disease (RAD). February 2 was picked as Rheumatoid Awareness Day because just as Punxsutawney Phil pokes his head out of his burrow to see if his shadow is visible or not, Rheumatoid Awareness Day was started in the hopes of getting the truth about this disease to the masses and to help bring it out of the shadows.
Groundhog Day has long been a favorite day of mine, beginning back in the 70\’s when I worked at the telephone company. In addition to the standard holidays that most union employees expect to have off with pay (Christmas, Thanksgiving, 4th of July), we were given \”floating holidays\” that were days off with pay that we could take whenever we want. I always chose February 2 since there were so many holidays between November and January, and the next one would not be until the end of May, so it made for a nice break.
This year, CNN\’s iReport set up a project for people to take photos of their shadows. I already had plans to go one a nice bike ride and thought I would be able to get some cool shots of the shadows cast by me and my bike; but it was far too overcast for there to be anything in the way of shadows. Luckily, I had my point & shoot camera with me when I took the dogs on their morning walk, so I did my best to get some shadow pics with them. Continue reading
These photos are from the El Segundo Brewing Company (ESBC) Bottle Release Party which was held Friday night, February 1. The Bottle Release Party was to celebrate the two brews they are now providing in 22oz bottles, their ever popular White Dog Wheat IPA and their new Stand Crude Imperial Stout. A Facebook status update that went out a couple hours before the event started stated that it would be their \”biggest shindig yet;\” I don\’t think they knew just how big of a shindig this was going to be.
They opened at 5:00 and when we arrived around 5:30 there was already a line going out the door. I figured that the line must have been for those buying growlers and leaving, but it was for people buying pints. The line for growlers and bottles was on the north end of the counter. The tasting room was standing room only and the crowd overflow went to the brewery itself, with guests sharing space with the fermenting and storage tanks. In addition to the ESBC usual offerings there was a rum soaked and oak barrel aged Hyperion Double Stout; and El Segundo Catering Company was there offering two types of pies featuring a New Zealand Meat Pie and a Spiced Vegetable Pie.
The Standard Crude Imperial Stout will be a limited release seasonal offering and the White Dog IPA will be available all year long. The plan is to start offering all their ales in bottles as soon as possible. Judging by the turnout tonight, the only problem I foresee is keeping enough in stock. Congratulations to Rob and Tom, you have taken a huge step forward in the craft beer arena. Continue reading
These photos are from Strand Brewing Company\’s Pint Night at the world famous Naja\’s Place, located on the International Boardwalk at the Redondo Beach Pier. This event was to commemorate Strand Brewing Company\’s three years of brewing craft ales and was held at Naja\’s Place because they were the first location to pour Strand Brewing Company beer. For Thursday\’s celebration, Strand provided these fine brews:
Beach House Amber Ale
24th Street Pale Ale
Atticus IPA
Black Sand Double IPA
Bagheera East IPA
Special Cask of Double Dry Hopped Atticus IPA
The event started at 6:00 PM and advertised that the first 50 attendees got to keep their glassware with the Strand Brewing Company logo. We had Business & Beer starting the same time, so I did not make it until 8:30. Judging by the crowd they had, the glassware was probably gone by 6:30; Naja\’s Place was absolutely packed. I wanted to try the Atticus on cask, but that was gone long before I arrived; I will have to wait. It is obvious that Rich Marcello and Joel Elliot, co-owners of Strand Brewing Company, have built a very strong following; they are to be congratulated for a job well done. Here is to three more years, and then some. Continue reading