Business & Beer made its first visit to 1321 Downtown Taproom Bistro, a gastropub in Downtown Torrance last Thursday and we had a great turnout. There was a little concern since the event was held two days after Christmas and it was at a new location; but it seemed that people that had not attended in a while missed the camaraderie and good beer as we had one of the better turnouts in the last few weeks. We have been familiar with for quite a while and have always appreciated their 16 taps of craft beers and have been trying to include them in the Business & Beer rotation. Eventually, we were able to get everyone on the same page and make it happen. Although their kitchen is in the process of changing staff and the menu, Chef Jacob came up with a few appetizers that were made available to our group.
12 Varieties of Craft Beer
Tomorrow night, January 3, 2013 we will be returning to the Alpine Inn at Alpine Village in Torrance. This will be our third visit to Alpine Inn, and have always had a good time. Alpine Inn is known more for their German and Czech beers, but their General Manager is a home brewer and has made sure that the Alpine Inn has a wide selection of American craft beers available as well. To top it off, their food is really good too. Be sure to come on down, you will not regret it.
Business & Beer at 1321 Downtown Taproom Bistro
It is a new year and if you have made a resolution to do more business and more networking; Business & Beer is for you. There are no dues, no mandatory meetings and no rules. We meet every Thursday at 6:00 PM at a local microbrewery, brewpub or gastropub in the South Bay. You will meet others that share your interest in craft beer and that would like to do business with you. Business & Beer is a resolution that is easy to keep. You can sign up to our mailing list or Like Us on Facebook to ensure you are kept in the loop. You can see all the photos from our event at 1321 Downtown Taproom Bistro on GotBaddog.com.
Last Thursday, Business & Beer returned to microbrewery, Strand Brewing Company in Torrance. As it was a few days before Christmas, we were not too surprised at the lower then average turnout. We knew that several of our regular attendees were already committed to other events, with both family and other business events taking precedence over our gathering. While we did have fewer people, we did get an opportunity to welcome a new attendee (Jason) and hopefully he will find time to join us again. Jason was referred to us by Dan Thomas and we always appreciate it when our members find enough value in our networking events to tell others; that is what helps us grow.
Business & Beer, every Thursday at 6:00 PM
Tomorrow night, December 27, will be our last Business & Beer for 2012 and our first visit to 1321 Downtown Taproom Bistro, located in downtown Torrance. This will be our first visit to 1321 Taproom as a group, although I know many of you have been there before. 1321 Taproom has a nice selection of beers on tap with several local breweries included on their rotating taps. 1321 Downtown Taproom Bistro is a gastropub, so they usually have a full menu available. As it happens, they are re-doing their kitchen and have closed their kitchen for a couple weeks. Since Business & Beer is coming in, I have been informed that their Chef Jacob will put together a small menu for our event. We hope to see you there.
Jason wins a free beer on his first visit to Business & Beer
We are expecting big things for Business & Beer in 2013, including several special events, so if you live or work in the South Bay and networking is an important part of your business’ success, we encourage you to join us at one of our upcoming networking events. You can keep aware of events by signing up to our mailing list and Liking Us on Facebook. We hope you can join us; it would be one of the more fun resolutions you can make for 2013. Happy New Year.
Last Thursday, Business & Beer returned to Sophie’s Place, a gastropub in Redondo Beach, CA. Ever since the end of Daylight Savings Time, the attendance level at our gatherings had been less than stellar. There were times that Tanya and I would discuss whether or not we were being too ambitious in attempting to have weekly gatherings; after the nice turnout we had Thursday we decided that weekly meetups was a format we would continue with. We know that there are other events our members are involved with that occur on Thursdays, so some weeks are just naturally going to have better turnouts than others. We will just have to take into account things like weather, Christmas shopping and competing events. After all, if we decided to meet bi-weekly we would only risk picking the rotation that would always be a conflict with Business & Beer, so for the time being, we will continue to meet weekly.
8 Rotating Taps at Sophie’s Place
Tomorrow night, Thursday December 20, we will be returning to Strand Brewing Company, one of our favorite microbreweries in Torrance. Strand Brewing specializes in creating various ales; including their popular 24th Street Pale Ale and Atticus IPA. If you have not visited Strand Brewing lately, they have two new releases; Bagheera-East India Pale Ale and Black Sand Double IPA. Bagheera-East is their 3rd Anniversary Ale, featuring an exotic spice blend of curry, cumin, cinnamon and cloves accented with toasted coconut and tamarind. I would venture to say that this is Tanya’s favorite from Strand because it is not as hoppy as their typical brews. The Black Sand Double IPA is hoppy but balanced by a malty backbone. It reminds me a little of a half and half using an Atticus and Batch 100. Suffice it to say, Strand Brewing Co will have something you like; especially if you are a hophead.
Another good group at Sophie’s Place, Redondo Beach
Naturally, this will be our last gathering before Christmas and I know there are some that will be unavailable, but we always seem to get nice groups when we come to Strand Brewing, so come on down and have a beer and maybe do some business. Remember to sign up for our mailing list and Like us on Facebook to make sure you stay in the loop. I expect 2013 to have several special events for Business & Beer attendees. You can see all the photos from our visit to Sophie’s Place on GotBaddog.com
Last week, Business & Beer held their second gathering at Alpine Inn at the Alpine Village in Torrance. While Alpine Inn is known primarily for their German influence, they have recently added several rotating taps specifically for American craft beers. Our visits to Alpine Inn allow attendees to compare American craft beers with their European counterparts. The one thing that is consistent is that German food tastes just as good with American beers as it does with German and Czech biers.
Wide selection of craft beers at Alpine Inn
We first met at Alpine Inn back in August, and it was our seventh meet-up; we had about eight people show up. Since that equaled our smallest attendance numbers (we had the same number the prior week at El Segundo Brewing Co) we decided that our boundaries should be Alpine Inn at the south and El Segundo Brewing Company to the north. Last week we had 15 people show up; and only two or three were first timers. These increasing numbers make us rather excited for what the upcoming months have in store for us. In fact, as I see our mailing list numbers increase along with the RSVP’s I am sure 2013 will show a lot of growth to our group.
Business being done over a beer
Next week we will be returning to El Segundo Brewing Company (ESBC) in El Segundo. The last time we were there the streets around them were being torn up by the city. That seems to be a non-issue now, even if some construction equipment is parked in the street. The parking in El Segundo is free and there is a public lot essentially across the street from ESBC (kitty corner), so parking should be a non-issue. While El Segundo Brewing Company is a micro brewery, it is football season so there will be tacos available along with the game being on for those that it matters. I have been told that they will try to have something new to tap for us. As our group is growing we will likely be meeting in the brewhouse itself.
Remember to sign up for our mailing list and to Like Us on Facebook so you always know what is coming up as well as special events we have planned. We have been invited to join a couple local brewing clubs so we will likely have some “field trips” coming up in the next few months. As always, all the photos from Business & Beer at Alpine Inn can be found on GotBaddog.com.
Please join us for Business & Beer a small business networking event which will be held at Tortilla Cantina. on November 29, 2012 at 6 PM. Tortilla Cantina is located at 1225 El Prado Ave, Old Torrance, California. Please RSVP by commenting below that you will be there.
Join us at Tortilla Cantina at 6PM on November 29, 2012
