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Taste of Brews in Long Beach

My girlfriend and I recently attended the Taste of Brews Long Beach which was held at beautiful Lighthouse Park in Long Beach on Sat., August 25th, 2012.  The Taste of Brews is a summer festival that literally featured 50 different breweries who were each sampling multiple choices of their seasonal, craft and micro-brews. It was our first time attending this annual event so we weren't sure what to expect, but I am a huge lover of beer so insisted it was a must do for us this year!  And I am so glad we did because it was an insanely good time!

The admission was a bit pricey at $35-50/person, however included your 5 oz complimentary Taste of Brews sample mug, unlimited craft beer tastes which everyone there obviously took advantage of, snacks (until they ran out), water and live music.  There were a couple vendors sampling their food for free however it honestly looked like standard pub food, nothing to write home about so my girl and I decided to eat at the Lobster Truck which always rocks!  They had 4-5 food trucks at the event to choose from, so if you were hungry you had the option to buy a lunch that was a bit more appetizing than the free samples.  Honestly though it seemed like most of the attendees were avoiding the food all together and focusing on the brews! 

We probably tried about 25-30 brews total which at 5 oz each was about 5-6 beers each over the course of about 4 hours.  Out of the approximately 50 breweries that were sampling their beer, about 10 were main stream ones like Shocktop, NewCastle and Blue Moon, and about 10-15 were some of the more local brands that we are familiar with but are not ones you will find in any store like Belmont, Stone and Rock Bottom Brewing Company.  The rest I was pleasantly surprised to say were new breweries for me thatI had never tasted like Beachwood, Lagunitas, Left Coast, Shipyard, Noble and Goose Island (which if I remember correctly had my favorite taste of the day).  

There were lines at times but never did we have to wait more than 5 minutes for a drink and at no time were our glasses empty.  The location is ideal as the Lighthouse Park is huge so if you didn't want to be in the center of everything you didn't need to.  At times we laid out on the grass under the beautiful blue sky and enjoyed the warm sun, or sat on the tables and listened to the live music.  The event is essentially surrounded by the harbor so we decided to eat our lunch on the breakwater rocks just outside the vendor tents.  It was the perfect day. 

Now typically we do not write articles about events that are not lesbian or LGBT specific so you are probably wondering why we chose to add this article to our site.  We did so as we were pleasantly surprised to see the large number of "family" that attended this event.  At one point we were surrounded by about 4 different groups of lesbians all waiting in a handful of lines at neighboring brew tents.  It was awesome.  The best part is that most of the family I saw were new faces so it was a great place to hang out, enjoy beer and meet new women.  Unfortunately none of our single lesbian friends could make it this year, but we have told everyone that next year it's a must and we think you should come too!  Mark it on your calendars ladies, Taste of Brews Long Beach 2013!  Hopefully it will be in August again as the temperature was perfect for an event like this!

One final note is that there is another Taste of Brews event this year taking place in Dana Point, CA on September 29th.  I have not been to this event so not sure if this will also be as "family" friendly since LB tends to be a bit more open than the OC, but if you just can't wait for next year this may be the next best thing for you!

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rubY  - Gotta Go!   |Registered |2012-09-08 04:08:30 If you love brew, you gotta put this on your bucket list!

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