Cheers to Laguna Beach Beer Co., the coolest
new hot spot in town
By SUZIE HARRISON
Prepare for takeoff, Laguna. The best flight ever experienced without having to leave home, Laguna Beach Beer Co., has just arrived. This place is for real, with over 20 original beers on tap and two guest beers. So leave the baggage behind and get ready for this smooth restaurant-brewery ride!
Everyone is welcome, whether on two feet or four. This flight is different, even dogs that aren’t designated as “emotional support” are invited, no doctor’s note is needed to walk through the door.
Click on photo for a larger image
Photo by Mary Hurlbut
The new Laguna Beach Beer Co. is a real hot spot that’s so cool
There’s nothing plain about this plane ride...belly up to the bar, choose from a selection of high tops, standard and open style seating, outdoor tables, or park it at a chill lounge-like couch setting.
Preparing our flight was Captain Russell Swarts, Sales and Marketing Manager. I explained to Swarts the type I beer I like and he prepared my flight schedule.
“We’ve been doing a ton of flights. It’s been pretty busy so far. We have 22 of our own beers on tap and two guests beers,” Swarts said.
The first leg of my flight was Ruby Street, a grapefruit IPA / ABV: 7 / IBU: 70, one of their most popular, a West Coast style IPA with a healthy dose of the tasty, great fruit.
As a beer aficionado, I had elevated expectations and to have them exceeded was exceedingly exciting. My immediate reaction was this is the best beer I have ever tasted. Anyone who knows me, understands that’s a big deal, hugely big.
I diligently delved into my pursuit of the other beers on my itinerary, doing my due diligence as a reporter, of course. Main Tower, Big Bend, and Telonics Trail were mine for the tasting.
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Photo by Mike Tauber
Me absolutely loving the beer flight I was on at Laguna Beach Beer Co.
Big Bend is a Hazy IPA / ABV: 8.2 / IBU: 64, named after the hairpin turn in Laguna Canyon, described as a hazy double IPA with flavors of passion fruit and ripe melon, double dry hopped with Ekuanot, Mosaic, and Dr. Rudi for that bitterness and aroma,” according to the beer menu. “This has definitely been a crowd pleaser,” Swarts said.
I was indeed pleased. Suddenly, beer by beer, my new favorite choice of brews became clear. My fave was Ruby Street, Big Bend, Telonics Trail, and a Guava beer that Mike Tauber, my partner in crime to check out the Beer Co., had on his flight. I was ready for landing.
“Big Bend is my favorite beer right now,” Swarts said.
As for what’s most requested, Swarts said, Big Bend or our Drunken Cellarmen, 2.0, which is a hazy IPA.
“We’re about to release our third different version of it. So basically, what we do is change the hops; we use the same yeast in every version of it,” Swarts said. “So our last and third version is coming out this week or at the very latest next week.”
So what is a hazy IPA as opposed to sans haze?
“It’s a very juicy tropical beer, each variant is different based on the hops that we use so the version was very light, the second version was actually very bitter, and the third version is going to be like the first version a little bit lighter, very juicy and tropical,” Swarts said.
It resonates for summer, a sweet summertime swill.
The Beer Company likes to go local when possible, as the two owners are Laguna Beach natives Brent Reynard and Mike Lombardo.
However, the most is important ingredient is using the best ingredients.
“Our malt comes from Germany. We do use some local Southern California companies, including a hop company from San Diego,” Swarts explained. “We try to tie it in with the local area, the names of the beers. Saddleback Mountain is where our brewery is, so we send some love to them,” Swarts said of Mike’s first beer.
It was time to come back down to earth and order some of their tasty eats. I ordered what they call artisan flatbreads. I call it pizza. It tastes a lot like pizza you can find in North Beach, San Francisco, delicious. I got a Margherita.
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Photo by Mike Tauber
It doesn’t get much better than this, beer and pizza, best ever, my new favorite hangout in Laguna Beach
Tauber asked to be surprised with something that has meat in it, something that says wow, you can’t get this anywhere else. He got the Cali-Chick, a chicken breast with cilantro pesto, smoked mozzarella, arugula, avocado, and tomato on a talera roll.
He was in love, especially with the fact that all their sandwiches come with fresh greens. Everything tasted so fresh. We also had a side of baked cauliflower with corn and brie with fruit.
And we loved the presentation of the flights, the wooden racks made with a chalkboard intersection to write the name of each beer on it, its initials, giving it a unique touch.
Each flight was put in the order to drink from, left to right. But not me, I moved them all around, except Ruby Street, which didn’t really come out of my hand.
Tauber was going for his Guava beer while I was trying Big Bend.
“I love Guava, so of course, it has my name written all over it,” Tauber said. And I of course had to make a quip, “Well really MT, Main Tower does.” We had a good laugh over that.
“The Guava is light and has an absolutely fresh guava taste to it. I picked guavas in Hawaii and this is delicious,” Tauber said.
Guava beer was new to me and to my delight it was unbelievable, practically neck and neck with the grapefruit freshness of Ruby Street.
I elicited a meow in response to my first guava sip and found myself holding onto his beer for a couple more swills.
“What we did for that beer, we made a Hefeweizen and we split the batch, so we got two beers out of one. We added guava puree to about 10 barrels of it,” Swarts said.
Rob McClaire who was once with the Montage and other high-end restaurants oversees operations. He was warm and welcoming.
“I got joined up with Mike and Brent the founders in February. They brought me on to run the operations and really bring Laguna’s beer to Laguna Beach,” McClaire said. “I’m so stoked to be here back in my hometown in Laguna Beach, where I was born and raised. It’s also good to be joining forces with them.”
Tauber enjoyed the open vision of the kitchen, where you can watch the chefs at work.
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Photo by Scott Brashier
Enjoy the buzz of the Hive and the liveliness of the revamped Civic Art District, especially the tasty eats and beer treats at Laguna Beach Beer Co.
“It’s easygoing, everyone is very laid back. I love it,” Tauber said. “I mean look at the helpful staff, helping you with your beer choices. Look at that, line it up.”
“We really want people to come for the beer and stay for the food. It’s really a neighborhood spot,” McClaire said. “You can bring your kids and family, you can go on date night if you want to, bring your dog. We have great beer and some delicious wine too.”
The place was packed all night but with plenty of room, nonetheless.
We ran into David Evans, who we really like, a close friend of one of our best friend’s, Sian Poeschl. He had already been to the bar twice by Saturday.
“The selection of the beer is amazing here. It’s cool,” Evans said.
Tauber and I reiterated to each other how exemplary the staff is, and we couldn’t get over the cool atmosphere, so Laguna Beach.
“We’re trying to keep it laid back and local here,” McClaire said.
It definitely delivers on that promise. There was not an empty bar stool the whole time we were there. Mike and I concurred that it’s better than 5-stars.
Now it’s your turn to check it out.
“We have our grand opening Thursday, June 7, starting at 5 p.m. with live music, light appetizers, and a live muralist next door,” McClaire said.
“We plan to highlight different artists on our walls for Art Walk nights,” Swarts added.
The event is being held in conjunction with the rebranding and opening celebration of the Hive. Swill on!
Laguna Beach Beer Company, located at 859 Laguna Canyon Road, is open every day from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
