Riverside holds a special place in our expanding event
portfolio since this was our first location in the Inland Empire and Taste of
Brews was well-received by the community.
We hope to grow the event and turn it into one of the best annual craft
beer festivals in Southern California, but not without the support and
participation of all the great IE craft breweries like:
Packinghouse Brewery since without them we may never have staged
an event in the Inland Empire. We met
PB’s Scot Koury at our first event in Long Beach and he’s attended each one
since. Scot suggested we expand to the
IE, chauffeured us to several potential locations and aggressively promoted the
concept of Taste of Brews IE every chance he had. So now it’s essential that we stop by on
every trip and refill the office growler.
The tasting room has expanded and now includes a flat screen and more
seating, which makes sampling their quiver all the more delightful. We tried several brews including the famous
Riley's Irish red, the cream stout and the Sunburst Blonde Ale; leaving with a
growler of the latter. PB’s distribution
is growing in leaps and bounds, thanks largely to Scot. So whether you drop by after work or attend
one of their many outstanding events like the Riverside Air Show, Packinghouse
is a must stop on your IE itinerary! Our
team can’t wait to sample their latest IPA at White Park.
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The most recent brewery to commit to Taste of Brews is also
one of the Inland Empire’s latest additions.
Some of you may know Area 51 an Air Force installation in Southern
Nevada that is the subject of myriad UFO conspiracy theories regarding alien
life forms. The all new Area51 Craft Brewery in Riverside has embraced the alien theme and taken it
to a whole new level with its Alien Head beer.
They opened earlier this year in February and are experiencing a lot of
buzz. Founder Mike Hawkins gave us this
insight, “Earthly beers are brewed in somewhat similar ways and have a common
process. Alien Head Beer is actually brewed in a special process that is
unlike other breweries and delivers a taste that is out of this world!” We stopped by the brewery recently to hang
our poster and drop off collateral materials.
We met Mike and his marketing team then had a quick tour or the brewery
(really quick since it’s only 1200 square feet). Among the beers on tap are the Blonde Alien (American Ale), Planet Red (Red Hefeweizen) and
their Alien Head (Imperial IPA); two of which they are pouring at our
event. The Taste of Brews’ crew is
looking forward to hosting their out-of-this-world beer at our upcoming event
and we wish them good luck.
