It's an offshoot of five-year old Honest Abe's cidery next door. SoCal Vibes sells Honest Abe's small-batch, farmhouse ciders — and mead, the drink whose popularity was rekindled by Game of Thrones.
Southern California’s only restaurant and bar that specializes in small batch hard ciders — and mead, too, Game of Thrones fans will be happy to know — is already being called a “hidden gem” by ardent fans who travel long distances for a taste of honey wine and other hand-crafted products in blue-collar Carson.
The bright, airy SoCal Vibes Brewery, Kitchen and Tasting Room is an incongruous sight amid a desolate and lightly travelled stretch of barren sidewalks, car repair shops and other industrial properties on Main Street.
(Photo by Chuck Bennett, Contributing Photographer)
It’s an offshoot of five-year old Honest Abe's cidery next door, which had an intimate, quirky tasting room that amounted to a couple of couches with space for about 20 people.
The hole-in-the-wall tasting room closed last year to make way for the restaurant and bar and is now solely a production facility for the rapidly expanding business.
“People come all the way from Ventura, Oxnard, San Diego, Riverside,” said owner Spencer Chambers. “People come that far just to try cider.
“Cider is made for pairing with food,” he added. “It adds a whole extra element.”
The idea all along was to open a bar and restaurant to showcase the winery’s products, which also includes sangria and brandy. But it took years to become reality.
The hole-in-the-wall tasting room closed last year to make way for the restaurant and bar and is now solely a production facility for the rapidly expanding business.
“People come all the way from Ventura, Oxnard, San Diego, Riverside,” said owner Spencer Chambers. “People come that far just to try cider.
“Cider is made for pairing with food,” he added. “It adds a whole extra element.”
The idea all along was to open a bar and restaurant to showcase the winery’s products, which also includes sangria and brandy. But it took years to become reality.
Then there was an ill-fated and short-lived partnership with a local craft brewer that resulted in Chambers taking over the entire operation himself. (A SoCal Vibes-branded India Pale Ale will be on tap — made by a local brewery — in a few weeks, in addition to the dozen or so local craft beers already on offer).
So while SoCal Vibes opened some months ago, it remains very much a work in progress with a deliberately under-the-radar approach.
A soft opening was held Feb. 28 when a smoker that allows Chambers to cook brisket and ribs was fired up for the first time. A couple of hundred people showed up over the course of the weekend and the barbecue — sold at half price — was gone by Saturday evening.
“I haven’t really promoted it,” Chambers said. “I wanted to wait until we were all dialled in. We still don’t even have a real sign outside, but people keep showing up.”
SoCal Vibes sells Honest Abe’s small-batch, farmhouse ciders — some are barrel-aged — but they are not always to the taste of those accustomed to mainstream products like Angry Orchard.
So Chambers created a SoCal Vibes-branded cider, too, which are generally lower in alcohol than their more rustic cousins Honest Abe’s and are also sold in cans. Hard seltzers, which have exploded in popularity in recent years, should be on sale by summer.
Business has grown rapidly in recent years and doubled in one fell swoop when Disneyland put Honest Abe’s on tap.
Chambers was encouraged a few years ago when he began making 275-gallon batches of cider rather than tiny 15-gallons batches. Today, he brews 5,500-gallon batches of cider at one time.
(Photo by Chuck Bennett, Contributing Photographer)
Mead has also grown in popularity in part due to the curious who have watched it being swilled in copious quantities on HBO’s fantasy saga Game of Thrones, which includes some Norse underpinnings.
Made from wildflower honey from Temecula, Chambers makes a half-dozen types with a new one coming on tap this month every few days in what’s being dubbed March Meadness (and, yes, you will be able to watch that annual basketball tournament with a similar name at the bar and restaurant).
Unlike many breweries, SoCal Vibes is open for lunch seven days a week and is open until 2 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays.
Chambers is already eyeing more growth, even if SoCal Vibes is still ramping up and refining its menu with the goal of becoming a destination for foodies.
“I’ve got a license for seven more tasting rooms,” he said. “So, I’m going to take the So Cal Vibes brand and open tasting rooms all around.”
“Most people who come in probably won’t even realize that it will all be stuff that I make,” Chambers added.
https://www.dailybreeze.com/2020/03/09/socal-vibes-how-to-drink-like-a-viking-in-carson/
Made from wildflower honey from Temecula, Chambers makes a half-dozen types with a new one coming on tap this month every few days in what’s being dubbed March Meadness (and, yes, you will be able to watch that annual basketball tournament with a similar name at the bar and restaurant).
Unlike many breweries, SoCal Vibes is open for lunch seven days a week and is open until 2 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays.
Chambers is already eyeing more growth, even if SoCal Vibes is still ramping up and refining its menu with the goal of becoming a destination for foodies.
“I’ve got a license for seven more tasting rooms,” he said. “So, I’m going to take the So Cal Vibes brand and open tasting rooms all around.”
“Most people who come in probably won’t even realize that it will all be stuff that I make,” Chambers added.
https://www.dailybreeze.com/2020/03/09/socal-vibes-how-to-drink-like-a-viking-in-carson/
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