American Craft Beer Week: Hermosa Beach

Saturday was day six of American Craft Beer Week (ACBW), and we actually found a gastropub and a brewpub we were unfamiliar with; and in the process were able to come up with 19 American craft brews that we had not tried yet. That in of itself is a pretty noteworthy accomplishment. For day six we visited The Rockefeller and Abigaile, both located in Hermosa Beach, within a couple blocks of each other.

The Rockefeller is a gastropub; meaning they serve food and upscale beers brewed by others. I had called ahead of time to see if they offered beer flights and the manager, Colleen, assured me they did. When I arrived I discovered that they offer a wide array of draught beers, both domestic and foreign. They do not have flights made up; you create your own. Since they do not offer four different dark American craft beers, I had my work cut out for me trying to create a flight Tanya would like. Since Tanya’s palate has evolved over the past week, I just avoided the hoppy brews and came up with Jamaican Red Ale, Bayhawk Chocolate, Mission Blonde and Boont Amber. She liked them all, with the Jamaican Red being her favorite. I started off with a flight of Sofie, Allagash White, Green Flash IPA and Palate Wrecker. Since the brews were all delicious we decided to stay for some food and I created a second flight, with Colleen’s assistance. The flight consisted of Victory Prima, Helles, Bootleggers and Islander IPA. I honestly could not tell you which was best; I would not have a problem ordering any of them.

When I told Colleen how we were photo-documenting ACBW she suggested we walk a couple blocks to Abigaile since the location was very photogenic and they brewed their own beers. A brewpub in Hermosa Beach that I had never heard of; this was good news. I have to thank Colleen because Abigaile’s had extremely nice beers and it really was a nice place to end the evening. I decided to try a flight of each of their brews which included Orange Blossom, West Coast Pale Ale, Rye IPA, Brown Sugar Porter, Bourbon Barrel Strong Ale and their special release, a Double Dry Hopped Rye IPA. They were some of the best brews we have had. They also let me try their Brewer’s Mix which is a combination of their Brown Sugar Porter and Bourbon Barrel Strong Ale; it was very good. We will definitely return.

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