Wednesday 23rd May 2012

Bob Thompson

I arrived in Long Beach from downtown Los Angeles on the Blue line of the Metro. I caught a free shuttle bus, route C of Long Beach Transit, to my hotel. This was a bit special as it was the Queen Mary.

When I first planned this trip I hadn't considered it, although I wanted to visit the brew pubs of Long Beach. Whilst scrolling through the hotel list on a web booking site, I suddenly saw that there was a deal on, $138 + tax for two nights, which was cheaper than a single night booking direct; no contest!

I quickly checked in and headed back on the bus to downtown Long Beach to visit Rock Bottom. As I've probably said before, I like their pubs as they normally have cask beer. This was the seventh I have visited and the first that didn't have any! Apart from that setback, they did have a reasonable selection.

On offer were Kölsch Ale (4.8%); White Ale (5.3%), a Belgian-style Wheat Beer; IPA (6.5%) with Pacific North West hops; Red Ale (5.5%) with Crystal hops and Brown Ale (6.0%) in the English style. There were also three specials: Great White Wheat (5.3%), in the American style; The Hammer (8.1%), a hoppy Red Ale and Night Light (5.8%), a Black Lager with Mexican yeast and German hops.

I had four of these and this is what I thought of them. Red Ale was pretty good with medium bitterness; IPA was very good, yet not over the top, a nice refreshing beer.

Brown Ale was all right with some malty notes with a bitter finish. The Hammer had a very strong hop taste and was dark in colour; very interesting.

The pub and restaurant is quite large with several separate areas. There was even a part for playing pool with two tables.

Note the extended opening hours, especially at week ends. It is well worth a detour to if you are in the Long Beach or LA areas.

Important Information:

The Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery, 1 Pine Avenue, Long Beach. 90802
Tel: (562) 308 2255

Open: Sunday to Wednesday 11.30-00.30; Thursday 11.30-01.30;
Friday and Saturday 11.00-03.00
Happy Hours: Monday to Friday 15.00-19.00; Sunday to Thursday 22.00 to close

The pub is within one block of all the local bus routes that serve the Long Beach area and is about the same distance from the Los Angeles Metro Blue Line station.