2nd Annual Waves of Grain at Shade Hotel, June 30

It is that time of year again, beer festivals are upon us and the fine crafted brews are flowing. June 30, Shade Hotel in Manhattan Beach, CA is hosting their 2nd Annual Waves of Grain Beer Fest; this time benefiting the Richstone Family Center in Hawthorne, CA. The Richstone Family Center is an organization dedicated to preventing and treating child abuse. Child abuse is a rampant epidemic in this country and the children need all the help they can get. As my daughter works for DCFS this is something that means a lot to me, so I had to get …

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American Craft Beer Week with Stone Brewing

Day three of the 8th Annual American Craft Beer Week (ACBW) found us out in Pasadena at the Stone Brewing, Company Store. When it comes to venerable Southern California, award winning breweries, it would be pretty tough to beat Stone Brewing. Stone Brewing had the first California beer tasting room that I visited on a regular basis, but it is out in Escondido which is a 100 mile ride. Fortunately, it is a pretty nice ride and Stone makes some quality beer. Recently, Stone Brewing opened a company store at the Del Mar Metro station. It is not nearly as …

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Schooner at Sunset, Sunset Beach

These photos were taken Saturday at a new gastropub, Schooner at Sunset, which is located at 16821 Pacific Coast Highway, Sunset Beach, CA. For those not sure where Sunset Beach is, it is the very north end of Huntington Beach, just south of Seal Beach. Your car’s GPS is most likely going to call it Huntington Beach, so don’t worry, it is all the same place. To be honest, I am not really in the habit of going down there unless I am taking a weekend motorcycle ride down the coast. The fact of the matter is, when I initially …

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Beer tasting in the Inland Empire

These photos were taken at I and I Brewing Co, Craft Brewing Company, Lazy Dog Cafe, Black Market Brewing, South Coast Winery, Lake Skinner and Brew-Ligion Brewhouse in the Inland Empire area of Southern California. Tanya and I have not really had a chance to venture away for an over-nighter in what seems like forever, so we decided we would head down to Temecula to see if there was a chance that I could visit with my son and his family and maybe do a little beer tasting. Since I knew a visit with the family was not going to …

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3rd Annual BAM Fest Santa Monica

Saturday, October 6, was the 3rd Annual BAM Fest (Beer, Art and Music Festival), which is a fundraiser benefiting the 18th Street Arts Center. I have been talking to many of the local brewmasters about this event and I heard nothing but good things about it; now I know why. This was a very fun event with beautiful weather, beautiful people, good food, good music and some really great beers. All of the local micro breweries were represented with Strand Brewing, Monkish Brewing, The Brewery at Abigaile, El Segundo Brewing and Smog City all showing up. There were over 30 …

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Business & Beer at Monkish Brewing, Torrance

Two months ago, Tanya and I came up with the idea of Business & Beer; a networking group for small business owners in the South Bay that would meet after normal working hours and we would support the local craft brewers in the area. Since we became familiar with many of the brewpubs and gastropubs in the South Bay area, we decided to include them in the rotation. Last night we had our ninth get-together and our first return to one of our original hosts, Monkish Brewing Company in Torrance, CA. Monkish Brewing is a relatively new micro brewery in …

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2012 Alpine Bier Fest at Alpine Village Photos

Saturday, the Alpine Village tried something new by holding a one day beer festival, the 2012 Alpine Bier Fest; featuring American craft beers. While Alpine Village has had their Oktoberfest running for 45 years and they offer some very nice bier, it is German. Bier Fest featured 106 different brews from 34 small and medium sized craft breweries. Talk about feeling like a kid in a candy store; there were some truly amazing brews available. It was good to see local brewers Monkish, El Segundo Brewing Co, The Brewery at Abigaile and Strand Brewing represented. In addition to the wide …

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Alpine Village Bier fest coming September 1

Alpine Village in Torrance, CA, home of Southern California’s largest and oldest Oktoberfest (45 years), is spreading their wings so to speak by holding their first ever Bier fest. While Oktoberfest is unmistakably German, Bier fest is German in name only. Otto Radtke, the General Manager of Alpine Village is a big beer fan and he is proving it with the selection of American craft micro breweries that will be represented at his inaugural event. Local brewers and hosts to several of our Business N Beer events, The Brewery at Abigaile, Strand Brewing, El Segundo Brewing and Monkish Brewing will …

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BAM Fest returns to Santa Monica, October 6, 2012

The 18th Street Arts Center is holding its 3rd Annual Beer, Art and Music Festival, on October 6, 2012. Affectionately known as BAM Fest, this is a fundraiser for the 21 year old Santa Monica based non-profit. The 18th Street Arts Center has become a well-known and internationally respected alternative art space which has sponsored over 1,000 artists through their residency program, and BAM Fest is a great way to help them continue while enjoying some great beers, music and food. BAM Fest will feature more than 25 craft breweries from around the country as well as local brewers such …

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Business N Beer at Strand Brewing Co, Torrance

These photos were taken at our latest Business N Beer get-together that we had last night at Strand Brewing Company in Torrance. As yesterday was International IPA Day, it was fitting that we met at a micro brewery that provides such nice ales, and in particular, a couple very nice IPA’s. The group was a little smaller than last week, but several people that were at Strand Brewing anyway worked their way over to our group to find out more about Business N Beer. Our host even mentioned how he had noticed people coming over to check us out; and …

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