Strand Brewing Tap Room Opens

Bernie Wire

Strand Black IPA

Breaking beer news. Though it will have an official "grand opening party" in late March, which, of course, we will let you know about, we're letting you know now that you can already visit the newly minted Strand Brewing Tap Room. Drinking hours are Thursday and Friday 4-9 p.m., Saturday 12-8 p.m., and Sunday 12-5 p.m.

Owners Joel Elliott, the brewer behind some of the best local beer you can find in L.A. County, and Rich Marcello, he of the golden tongue and white button-down shirts, will be serving up all the brews that have become so popular, so fast, that Strand has grown from a 400-barrel production to more than 4,000 barrels in just over two years. Talk about validation.

Strand's signature beer is 24th Street Pale, a brew we called the fifth best pale in ale in California last year. This year, we'd move it up to No. 3 as Elliott, like most great brewers, just keeps getting better with each new batch.

Elliott and Marcello met while surfing at 24th Street and the Strand in Hermosa Beach, hence both the brewery and beer names. If there is anything more appropriate for SoCal than surfing brewers or brewing surfers, we can't imagine what it is.

As for the Strand beer lineup, there are 10 taps and, aside from the aforementioned flagship 24th Street Pale, Elliott gives us Atticus IPA, Black IPA, Beach House Amber and 2nd Anniversary Braggot. There will be limited releases throughout the year, such as a Strand Double IPA for the grand opening and, this weekend, a cask of double dry-hopped Atticus with whole-flower Amarillo.

"We decided to open a tap room so we could provide a place for our loyal supporters to be an integral part of the evolution of Strand Brewing," Marcello tells us. They'll offer taster flights, pitchers and growlers to go. There's enough street parking for a small army, a nice benefit anywhere you can find it in L.A. County.

Bernie Wire

Strand Brewing Tap Handles