King Harbor Brewing Company: Best of the Beach 2018 Brewery
King Harbor Brewing Company’s Tom Dunbabin, Phil McDaniel and Will Daines at their Redondo Brewery. Photo (CivicCouch.com)
The South Bay is awash in really good beer. Beginning with the OG legends Strand Brewing and El Segundo Brewing nearly a decade ago, the area became an epicenter for the craft beer revolution that subsequently swept the country. King Harbor Brewing Company arrived on the scene exactly four years ago. From the get-go, it was about more than the beer. Their taprooms at the brewery in North Redondo and on the International Boardwalk in King Harbor developed a vibrant social scene to go along with their extraordinarily companionable beers, such as The Quest, Swirly, and Abel Brown. “It’s more about the experience than just the beer,” said Tom Dunbabin, who co-founded KHBC with Will Daines and master brewer Phil McDaniel. “We are all about the quality of the beer. But we never wanted it to be about getting a beer and sitting by yourself. Drinking that beer should be part of hanging out after surfing the Cove all day, or hitting the golf course, and sitting down and talking about it with your friends…. Ultimately the most important things are: is the beer delicious, and are you having a good time? If those two boxes are checked off that’s all that really matters.”
KHBC found the right brewer to carry out this vision. McDaniel has an all-star resume. He attended the Siebel Institute of Technology in Chicago and Munich, then worked as a shift brewer at industry-leading Stone Brewing and then became the lead brewer at Bruery. McDaniel has pushed the boundaries on just how fun a beer can be. Their Tiki Hut IPA has become popular as a tap handle throughout the South Bay, and their take on a Mexican lager, Cerveza Hermosa, is a historical revelation. “Growing up in Southern California, Mexican beer was a staple — crack open a Negra Modelo and instantly it’s like going on a trip to Baja. That’s what we wanted to do. Our take on it was really to investigate the style — those Mexican beers were German, Austrian, and Czech lagers brought over more than 200 years ago. Mexican beers later became big corporate beers, and they cut some corners for profit. We took it back to its roots and made a dark Mexican lager and named it after our favorite beach town, Cerveza Hermosa.”
KHBC just keeps becoming more companionable, last year launching a canning operation, which means you can now take their beer to the beach, to the golf course, or out for a sail out of King Harbor. It’s also about to be distributed in chains, including Whole Foods and Vons, and in beloved local liquor stores such as Oceanview.
“Every business starts off with an idea, then see what works and change what doesn’t,” Dunbabin said. “When we started, the main thing was doing something awesome in the South Bay. That is the one thing we’ve really stuck to, and we’ve constantly been trying to find ways to do it better. We are excited to be voted best local brewery again; it sort of reinforces that we are doing the right things.”
King Harbor Brewery Company
2907 182nd St., Redondo Beach
(310) 542-8657
kingharborbrewing.com
Runner-up: El Segundo Brewery Company
140 Main St., El Segundo
(310) 529-3882
elsegundobrewing.com