Business & Tech

South Bay Brews News: Smog City Brewing Wins Gold

A weekly look at the craft beer scene and beer events in the South Bay of Los Angeles.

The Santa Ana winds are kicking in, the temperature is finally beginning to drop, and fall is in the air in the South Bay.

With that comes the autumn seasonal beers that utilize fall ingredients such as pumpkin, nutmeg, and allspice in the brewing process. Multiple establishments in the South Bay are currently featuring these beers along with the well-known Oktoberfest-style brews.

Here is a look at what is happening on the craft beer scene:

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Breweries

Smog City Brewing | Torrance

Smog City Brewing, which currently brews its beer in Orange County, is busy setting up its new official brewery in Torrance. The new facility will add one more award-winning brewery to the South Bay's lineup of craft breweries.

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Once the brewery opens, owners Laurie and Jonathan will already have a shiny new medal to hang on their wall as they recently took home a gold medal from the mother of all beer festivals, the Great American Beer Festival.

Smog City's Groundwork Coffee Porter, which utilizes coffee beans in the brewing process, took home the medal in the "Coffee Beer" category. For those wishing to try the beer, it is available at multiple beer bars around the South Bay and Los Angeles. 

Upcoming events featuring some of Smog City's rare beers include:

Octoberfest & Whole Animal Roast 

  • Sunday, Oct. 28 | Tender Greens | Hollywood
  • Smog City Brewing will joining chef Eric Hulme for an evening of beers and boars. Smog City will be pouring its L.A. Saison and Octoberfest for the event. According to Laurie, this will be the only keg of their Octoberfest beer released in the Los Angeles area this year.

First Anniversary and Costume Party

  • Tuesday, Oct. 30 | Tony's Darts Away | Burbank
  • Smog City's grande finale to their first anniversary will be a costume party at Tony's Darts Away. Their Groundwork Coffee Porter will be pouring alongside their L.A. Saison, Smog City XPA, Hoptonic IPA, and a special release of Quercus Circus (barrel-aged sour belgian blonde) and WEIRD Beer (5-grain Saison with sage). Costumes are required.

Monkish Brewing Co. | Torrance

Crude Brew Crew Belgian Beer Taste-Cast

  • Saturday, October 27, 1-3 p.m.
  • Monkish Brewing, in collaboration with Sophie's Place in Redondo Beach and the homebrewing club "Crude Brew Crew" will host a Belgian beer tasting with Monkish beers. Head brewer Henry Nguyen will be on hand to answer questions and the event will be podcasted. Tickets are $15 and include beer tastings and a commemorative glass.

Strand Brewing Co. | Torrance

Rich from Strand Brewing will be at Spitz in Los Feliz on Thursday for a Strand Brewing tap takeover. The event starts at 6 p.m.

Locally, the Strand Brewing tap room is serving up a fresh batch of their black IPA as well as their Batch 100 imperial stout.

Tap room hours this week for beer tasting and growler fills are:

Thursday: 4-9 p.m.
Friday: 4-9 p.m.
Saturday: Noon-8 p.m.
Sunday: Noon-6 p.m.

El Segundo Brewing | El Segundo 

Thursday, Oct. 25, 5 p.m. - 9 p.m.
Tacos, Beer, and Thursday Night Football

What more does a man need? Join El Segundo Brewing Company at their tasting room on Main Street in El Segundo for beer, the NFL and tacos from Beach Mex. Each Thursday, a special beer will be tapped to celebrate the occasion.  

The Brewery at Abigaile | Hermosa Beach

Head brewer Brian Brewer's said this week that his new IPA is still fermenting but will be served up soon. The brewery still has five of its house-made beers on tap at all times.

Current House Beers on Tap:

Orange Blossom Honey Blonde 5.0%
Misfit Pale Ale (an American ESB) 5.7%
Full Nelson XPA 6.5%
East meets West Double IPA 7.8%
Bourbon Vanilla Porter 6.1%
Porter Fermented with Blackberries 6.1%

Beer Bars & Restaurants

Select Beer Store | Redondo Beach

Select Beer Store is getting in the Halloween spirit next Wednesday with a Halloween costume promotion. Customers in costume will receive $1 off all draft beers all day long.

To keep in the spirit of fall, the store will feature Dogfish Head's Punkin' Ale (Brown ale brewed with pumpkin, nutmeg and brown sugar) and Hanger 24 Brewing's Gourdgeous (porter spiced with pumpkin pie spice and molasses).

Current Tap List (Oct. 25):

Maui Bikini Blonde
Ommegang Wit (Belgian-style Wit)
Deschutes Mirror Pond (Pale Ale)
Uinta Punk'n (Pumpkin Beer)
Paulaner Oktoberfest (Marzen)
Speakeasy Butchertown (Black IPA)
Allagash Hugh Malone (Belgian-style IPA)
El Segundo Two 5 Left (Double IPA)
Wiehenstephaner Oktoberfest (Marzen)
Telegraph Abbey Ale
Kostritzer Schwartzbier (Black Lager)
Knee Deep Tanilla Porter.

Upcoming draft beers include Paulaner Pils, Ommegang Scythe & Sickle (Harvest Grain Ale) and Pizza Port San Clemente Get to the Hopper (Double IPA).

Naja's Place | Redondo Beach

Get your best costumes ready as Naja's Place will host a Halloween costume contest on Saturday starting at 9 p.m. Prizes will be awarded for best costume and a selection of fall seasonal beers will be available on tap.  

Other Beer Events

Farmers Market | Redondo Beach

Brewing Demonstration

  • Friday, 3-7 p.m.
  • Susan Hillyer and homebrewer Rives Borland will brew up a batch of beer during the weekly Riviera Village Farmers Market. Borland will be on hand to answer questions and share his knowledge of homebrewing.

Editor's Note: If you own a beer bar, brewery, beer store or beer-centric restaurant in the South Bay of Los Angeles and would like to include your establishment's updates in this column, please send editor John Schreiber an email at John.Schreiber@Patch.com. This column relies on the updates from local business owners to keept it running—please contribute!


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