Laurie Porter talks about the history and mission of Smog City Brewing
We had about 25 people show up and more than half of them were first time attendees. It is nice to see the attendance numbers going back up to those we had when we first started; changing from weekly to monthly meetings was a good idea. Smog City Brewing Company co-owner Laurie Porter gave a short talk to our group discussing everything from how they chose their name and logo design to how her husband, head brewer [Jon] Porter, comes up with some of his beer ideas and what should be expected in the future. She then turned the group over to assistant brewer Chris Walowski who took us on a tour of their brewing operation. All in all, it was a very nice evening with lots of networking going on as well as an opportunity to get up close and personal with a brewing operation.
Winning a free beer is icing on the cake.
If you live or work in the South Bay area, or are willing to drive here the second Thursday of every month, you are invited to join the Business & Beer networking group as we meet at the various microbreweries and brewpubs in the South Bay area. Our boundaries are El Segundo to the north and Torrance to the south and there are a lot of places to explore with more coming within the next few months. Our October meeting, October 10, will be held at Monkish Brewing Company in Torrance; literally right around the corner from Smog City. Monkish Brewing specializes in Belgian style ales, and they have a lot to choose from with usually 10-12 available at any one time. Business & Beer is a networking group with no rules and no dues; just come on down when you can make it and bring a friend or business associate. You will have a good time. You can find our schedule and sign up to our mailing list on the front page of BusinessNBeer.com. You can find all the photos from our Business & Beer gathering at Smog City Brewing on CraftBeerGuy.com Continue reading
The 4th Annual LA Beer Week is almost upon us, and Business N Beer has some great meet-ups happening to coincide with the event. LA Beer Week is actually an 11 day event which begins on September 20 and runs through September 30. So far we have three Business & Beer events scheduled.
Thursday September 20, Business N Beer will be meeting at The Brewery at Abigaile in Hermosa Beach. This will be our second visit to Abigaile and since it is the first day of LA Beer Week, the timing could not be better. I happened to drop by there over the weekend and had the opportunity to talk with Jed Sanford (owner) and Brian Brewer (head brewer). Jed informed me that they have several specials planned for that evening with $3.00 pints, deals on growlers fills and specials on their clothing line. Brian told me that he is working on a few new brews, so if he does not join our group this time, it is because he was up early working on his new creations. Their beer menu has changed since our last visit, so I am sure I will be getting a flight so I can try them all.
On Friday September 21, Business N Beer members, friends and family have been invited by Otto Radtke (General Manager) at Alpine Village to attend their 45th Annual Oktoberfest free of charge! We are meeting at 7:00 PM in the patio area of the Alpine Market, which is directly across from the Alpine Inn and across the parking lot from the beer tent. To take advantage of this you must sign up. Please visit our Facebook page to get your name and the names of any guests on the list. If you have never been, you will have a great time.
Thursday September 27 Business & Beer will make our first visit to Tortilla Cantina in downtown Torrance. Tortilla Cantina now offers about 30 beers on tap, with most of them coming from local brewers. You can find more details on our Facebook page and on the front page of BusinessNBeer.com. We look forward to seeing you there.
