As if the South Bay and Long Beach brewery scenes weren't already robust enough, two brand new breweries opened recently in the area—and one of them is a drinking haven for cider fans.
Great Society, located in downtown Long Beach, opened on Thursday as the first cider house in Southern California. The self-titled "social house" offers 20 drafts plus bottles of cider and mead, along with a menu that sports pub food (think: wings, skewers and burgers) with a vegan lean (one of the burgers features a quinoa lentil patty). The ciders come from all over the world, from breweries as close as 101 Cider House to the French Daufresne. A small selection of beer is also available, but you should definitely come for the cider.
In brewery-rife Torrance, another beer spot opened over the weekend: Cosmic Brewery, located right around the corner from Monkish and Smog City Brewing. The 5,000-square-foot space showcases beers that co-owner and brewer Christopher Briles has been working on for the past eight years at other breweries. There are five beers currently on tap in the tasting room, including the Hell Hound Brown (an American chocolate brown ale) and the Cosmonaut (a California blonde), with more rolling out as the brewery gets settled into its new digs.
The openings are just a testament to how quickly LA's beer scene continues to grow. Want to know about more breweries fit for visiting in LA? Check out our complete guide to craft beer in Los Angeles.
Great Society is located at 601 E Broadway in Long Beach; hours are Tue & Wed 4:30-11pm, Thu & Fri 4:30-midnight, Sat 11:30am-midnight, Sun 11:30am-10pm. Cosmic Brewery is located at 20316 Gramercy Place in Torrance; hours are Fri 3-9pm, Sat noon-10pm, Sun noon-6pm.