by Ed Solt
Five years ago, Wes Jacobs opened up Select Beer Store, South Bay’s first taproom/bottle shop, at the former location of a shuttered surf shop in Redondo Beach’s Riviera Village. It all started in 2010, when Jacobs, a recently unemployed quality control chemist, had a stabbing mishap — involving a chisel — leaving him with time to ponder. A homebrewer for 20 years, Jacobs enjoyed every sip of NorCal’s burgeoning microbrew movement in the early 1990s. It left a lasting impression. How could he bring good beer to the South Bay?
“I was chained to a computer,” Jacobs said. “It was all I could do. So I wrote a couple of business plans.”
Jacobs contemplated opening a brewery. In the proto phrase of our local craft beer movement, Strand Brewing Company was the only game in town. His next idea was following the path of the brewpubs, San Pedro Brew Company, Redondo Beach Brew Company, and Manhattan Beach Brewing. These original bastions of independent beer introduced many South Bay residents to craft beer, enticing them to put down the mass produced lager.
“I never worked in the world of hospitality or retail. We needed something more manageable,” he said. “I was a huge fan of City Beer in San Francisco. By the way, if you’re in the Bay Area you have to pay a visit. I felt the South Bay was right for something similar.”
Jacobs’ application of the City Beer’s bottle shop/tasting room concept fermented perfectly with the burgeoning local craft beer community. In 2012, SBS poured the first keg from Torrance’s Monkish Brewing Company; in 2014, SBS poured the first keg from Redondo Beach’s King Harbor Brewing Company.
“Select Beer was lucky to start during right time at the right place,” Jacobs said.
Over the years, SBS brewery events, special releases, and tap takeovers helped introduce many local breweries, as well as gave the South Bay its first taste of worldwide notable beers like Sweden’s Alama Polo. Overall, SBS keeps a good selection of Belgians and imports all together.
“We don’t build-up or carry a beer we don’t enjoy or can’t stand behind,” Jacobs said.
From light lagers to heavy stouts, SBS makes sure to pull old bottles and take care of its existing inventory (hence, the storefront’s UV filtering windows).
“Although we don’t have the biggest selection, we have the best quality,” he said. “We have very few mainstays and are always in flux. We work with vendors to carry speciality stuff. Honestly, if you can buy it from a grocery store, we have no need to carry it.”
The surf shop aura is still felt at SBS. Much like the quest for the perfect wave introduced to our imaginations by Bruce Brown’s masterpiece, “The Endless Summer,” Jacobs, a lifelong surfer, is continually seeking good beer.
“There are tons of breweries I’m watching,” he said. “It has never been a better time to drink beer in America. Tomorrow is going to be better.”
Besides SBS’s Annual Brewer’s Chili Cookoff that pits local brewers and brewery owners in a best chili faceoff (with the audience voting) to benefit various charities, SBS’s anniversary parties are also a part of the building blocks of local craft beer culture.
“We are all supportive of one and another,” he said. “For our fifth anniversary we are inviting all of your favorite local breweries with a lot of specialty beers going down. Come hang out, enjoy yourself, and have something you never had before.”
Select Beer Store’s 5th Anniversary takes place Saturday, March 11 from noon to 10 pm. Barley Hops grill will be serving their delicious Asian fusion BBQ. Weather permitting, there will be an outdoor beer garden. For more info: SelectBeerStore.com. ER
