Brews News: Beer Shuttle Begins Tonight

A reminder that today (Thursday) is the first day of the free South Bay Craft Beer Shuttle hosted by L.A. Craft Beer Tours.

The shuttle begins at El Segundo Brewing on Main Street in El Segundo at 7 p.m. and will ride through the beach cities before turning around at Select Beer Store in Redondo Beach.

Stops along the way include El Segundo Brewing, Rock and Brews, Brewco, The Brewery at Abigaile, Hot's Kitchen and Select Beer Store.

Rides are free but space is limited. Reserved seats can be booked for $10 per person through L.A. Craft Beer Tours.

To celebrate the occasion, El Segundo Brewing will host a free brewery tour at 6:30 p.m. (see below).

Beer Bars, Restaurants and Stores

Select Beer Store | Redondo Beach

Select beer is back to normal hours after the holidays and will continue its happy our specials on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Tuesdays feature one dollar off all draft beers and on Wednesdays, the corkage fee to open bottles of beer in the store is waived. Happy hour runs 5-7 p.m.

Current beers on tap (as of Jan. 2):

• Gosser (Austrian Lager)
• Triple Voodoo Witopia (Spiced Belgian-style Wit)
• Ballast Point Yellowtail Pale Ale
• Dupont Avec les Bons Voeux de la Brasserie (Saison)
• Ballast Point Sculpin IPA
• Beachwood Brewing and BBQ Alpha Supreme (Pale Ale)
• Silly Saison
• Lost Abbey Gift of the Magi (Imperial Biere de Garde)
• Avery Mephistopheles (Strong Stout)
• Victory Golden Monkey (Belgian-style Tripel)
• Drake's Jolly Rodger (Barleywine)

Upcoming beers include: North Coast Red Seal (on Nitro) and Allagash White (Wit Beer)

Adam's Fine Wine & Liquor | Redondo Beach

New bottles of beer this week at Adam's include:

• Kern River's Blond Ale
• Black Diamond Grand Cru aged in Bourbon Barrels
• Black Diamond Rampage IPA
• 2012-13 Gueuze Tilquin (In stock on Friday)
• Evil Twin Blackout Porter

The store still has a solid stock of Fifty-Fifty Brewing Eclipse aged in various whiskey barrels. There is also one bottle of Sam Adams Utopia for $199.

The Rockefeller | Hermosa Beach

The Rockefeller will be hosting beer School and beer tasting with Stone Brewing on Jan 21 starting at 6 p.m. Guests will have an opportunity to meet the brewer as well. Tasters of Stone's beer will go for $3; $12 for a whole flight. Keep the glass!

Current tap list (as of Jan. 2):

• Fruli Strawberry
• Murphy's Irish Stout
• Stella Artois
• Botleggers Heff (Hefeweizen)
• Allagash White (Wit Beer)
• Deschutes Black Butte Porter
• Mad River Steelhead (Double IPA)
• Rogue Brown Ale
• Lagunitas IPA
• Goose Island Sofie (Saison/Farmhouse)
• XXX Weizenbock
• Leffe Blonde
• El Segundo White Dog (IPA)
• Ballast Point Sculpin (Double IPA)
• Victory Hop Devil (IPA)
• Black Market
• Chimay Tripel
• Maudite (Belgian Strong Dark Ale)
• Schlagl
• Oskar Blues G'Night (Imperial Red Ale)
• Unita Dubhe (Black IPA)
• Widmer SXSNW
• La Trappe Tripel
• Delirium Noel

Sophie's Place | Redondo Beach

Firestone 16th Anniversary Release Party | Friday, Jan. 4 | 6 p.m.

Sophie's will tap a keg of the very sought after Firestone 16th Anniversary Ale. Also on tap will be Firestone's Pivo Pils, Double Jack IPA and the classic DBA (Double Barrel Ale). Firestone flights will also be featured.

Sophie's will also be selling raffle tix to benefit the fight against breast cancer. Prizes will include limited Firestone swag.

Current tap list (as of Jan. 2):

• Lightning Elemental Pilsner
• Firestone DBA (Double Barrel Ale)
• Allagash Interlude (Farmhouse aged in red wine barrels with brett)
• Ayinger Bräu-Weisse (Hefeweizen)
• Fig Mountain 2nd Anniversary (Belgian Dark Strong Ale)
• Flying Dog Wildeman Farmhouse IPA
• Shmaltz Sweet 16 Jubilation Anniversary Ale (Almost gone)
• Smog City The Nothing (Imperial Stout; limited release) 

Naja's Place | Redondo Beach

Ballast Point Tap Takeover | Thursday, Jan. 10 | 8 p.m.

Naja's will host San Diego County's Ballast Point Brewing next Thursday with a Tap Takeover and Pint Night.

As of Jan. 3, Naja's said there will be at least 19 Ballast Point beers on tap for the event.

Breweries

El Segundo Brewing | El Segundo 

To celebrate the kickoff of the new South Bay Craft Beer Shuttle, brewers Rob and Tom will be leading a tour of the brewery at 6:30 p.m. tonight (Thursday).  Come by, and leave the car at home!

Current beers on tap at the tap room (as of Jan. 2):

• Blue House Pale Ale
• Blue House Citra Pale
• White Dog IPA
• Hyperion's Double Stout
• Vanilla Hyperion's Double Stout (no growler fills)
• Standard Crude American Imperial Stout

Tap room hours for beer tasting and growler fills are:

Wednesday: 5-9 p.m.
Thursday: 5-9 p.m.
Friday: 5-9 p.m.
Saturday: 2-9 p.m.
Sunday: 2-7 p.m.

Strand Brewing Co. | Torrance

Strand Pint Night | Monday Jan. 7th | Sherman Oaks

Strand will be at the Blue Dog Beer Tavern in Sherman Oaks for a pint night. Five Strand beers will be featured including the 3rd Anniversary Ale.

Current beers on tap at the tasting room include:

• Beach House Amber (Amber Ale)
• 24th Street Pale Ale
• Atticus (IPA)
• Bagheera-East India Pale Ale (3rd Anniversary Ale featuring a blend of curry, cumin, cinnamon, cloves, toasted coconut and tamarind).
• Black Sand (Double IPA)

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.

Smog City Brewing | Torrance

While Smog City continues construction on its new brewery in Torrance, they have also released their newest beer known as "The Nothing."

Coming in at 9.6% ABV, this double chocolate imperial stout utilizes chocolate malts and cacao nibs to give rich flavors of dark chocolate with a light roastiness.

This limited release beer can be found a few local bars including Sophie's Place in Redondo Beach. However, this beer should go quickly.

Monkish Brewing Co. | Torrance

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

Thursday: 4-9 p.m.
Friday: 4-9 p.m.
Saturday: 3-8 p.m.
Sunday: 1-6 p.m.

Editor's Note: Only establishments that have submitted updates are included in this column. 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 keep it running—please contribute!