Brewport Taphouse & Kitchen
Best for: drinks and small bites
Price: $$
Just across the way, literally like 20 feet, from Japonica lives El Segundo’s first self pour brewery, Brewport Taphouse.
Brewport is not like every other brewery, its different. Alternative to typical breweries, they let you get hands on with your drinks. Upon entry you'll help yourself to any open table with seating available indoors and outdoors. Since I was serving myself, I opted to sit closest to the taps and sat at a wine barrel table. The less steps I need to take to get my drink the better. I think everyone had the same idea because later on in the night, people were lining up in this particular section waiting for a table to open up.
Our server promptly welcomed us by explaining how their process of self pour works and left a food menu to look over. I have been to another brewery that also had Brewports “self-pour” feature and was not new to this. I will say I did not do any research on Brewport before showing up so I was surprised when I saw this concept elsewhere. Back to our waiter, he took our ID to be scanned, returned with two wristbands in hand and we had received our ticket to let the tasting begin. These wristbands give you access to the self pour, so before anything comes out of the tap you'll have to scan your band.
For those who have never been to a “self-pour” bar before, here are some things to keep in mind…
You get charged for each ounce you pour (duh). Each beer or whatever they have on tap is priced differently and make sure you read the price! I may have spent $12 on a 4 ounce wine, oops.
Some bars offer different cups for your use. Brewport had a drop in flight carrier that held 4 small pint glasses and even came with a chalkboard so you could mark which beer you opted to taste. They also provided wine glasses and regular pints.
Slow and steady wins the race. Brewport has a cap of 40 ounces per session but our waiter did mention if we reached the limit and wanted more we could always check in with him again to have our wristbands reset.
I am a “let me see all the options before I make my decision” person, so I took my time browsing what was on tap. I eventually decided on: the Cactus Rose Cider from 101 Cider House, Watermelon Mint Hard Kombucha from Nova Kombucha, and the Sonoma Coast chardonnay from MacRostie Winery.
As a girl who loves beer but hates the bloat, I appreciated the selection of wine and hard kombucha that was also available. My hard kombucha was $1.21 per ounce, my cider was $0.68 per ounce, and my wine came in at a whopping $3.05 per ounce. So yes I did pay $12 for 4 ounces of wine and it’ll never happen again. Let me state, this is completely my fault! I didn’t even bother to look at the price per ounce and was more interested in the fact that this wine was from my friends hometown, Healdsburg.
After settling down with our assortment of brews to try, I needed a snack. You can’t go to a brewery and not try the food, right? Wrong, there's just one thing I wouldn't order again.
Since I wasn’t starving and don’t always bet on bar food being the best, I opted for some safe options. I selected the $6 half pretzel that is accompanied by a house made beer cheese and German mustard. Then decided to try their $10 “top seller” loaded tater tots, this is in fact the item I would not order again. The menu says the tots are topped with: cheddar cheese blend, sour cream, caramelized onions, and bacon. Now that I think of it, the sour cream tasted like ranch and resembled it as well.
Another thing, I do not appreciate when my tater tots are congealed together. I like grabbing one and adding each topping to it, that way I get the best bite and the perfect ratio of flavors. These in fact were not something I would consider a “top seller” but who am I to judge.
On the other hand, I am disappointed in myself for not getting the full pretzel. For me, the true test of a good pretzel is the amount of salt on it and this lived up to that test. Each bite was perfectly coated in salt and even better when I dipped it in the provided sauces. Another thing, I am a sauce girl at heart. I think this series of my restaurant visits will really showcase that because a sauce can really change up a mediocre meal. The beer cheese was so light and not heavy in the way regular cheese is, so it made it that much easier to consume. And the German mustard? I don’t know why I haven't tried a mustard like this sooner and now will judge any establishment that serves that yellow excuse for mustard. Just kidding Heinz, still love you.
Brewport is fun and best spent with people you love or people who love to drink. If your friends love watching sports, they'll be happy too because there are tvs just about everywhere. I will definitely be coming back for that full pretzel on a hot summer day but not that $12 wine.
