Sunday 5th of October 2008 09:52:20 PM

link
Belmont is located in, and named for, a beautiful, upscale section of Long Beach along the coast. It sits adjacent to the Belmont Pier and has patio seating facing the water.
The interior reminded me of an old seafood restaurant, but smaller with an awkward entryway, where the bar was best reached by going through the kitchen, but you are instead directed around tables to get there. Behind the bar sits the brewing facility with several fermentation tanks.
There were six beers on tap when I went, as well as six other guest taps, mostly Californian. The samples were served in large shot glasses on top of a sheet of paper identifying them. They were: Top Sail, an amber, Marathon, a lager, Long Beach Crude, a stout, a strawberry blonde and a pale.
The tray looked excessively light.
The amber was lighter, and a little disappointing in flavor and body considering its darker color. The lager was tasty and not ridiculously light. The stout was too carbonated and too light for me, but would have worked well as a porter (I thought it was initially). Very chocolaty. The strawberry blonde was very tasty, really more like soda than beer. The strawberry flavor wasn't dominating and was more "in" the beer as opposed to a syrupy taste. The pale was the real treat. I didn't think it was a pale at first because it was actually lighter in color than the lager. But this thing had a kick to it. The hops were balanced but very present, and the body and flavor, although lighter than other American pales, at least kept up to them somewhat.
The food looked good, with quite a bit of seafood on the menu in keeping with the seaside location. I didn't order food, but the menu was more on the upscale side with prices a little higher than I'd be willing to pay for dinner at a brewpub. They have some great happy hour specials though, with $3 pints and, during the reverse happy hour after 8:30, $7 pizzas.
The location has parking issues. There are a few spaces on the street (39th Place) outside, but the lot nearby is for the Von's market, which likely tows.

Tuesday 26th of February 2008 01:24:01 AM

link
This brew pub is located right on the Belmont pier in Long Beach. It's a stunningly beautiful location to drink beer. I sat outside and had a view of the Queen Mary II in dock while sipping my Hop Head Red. I was thirsty so I decided to go for the hoppy beer first. The Top Sail amber ale, smooth and malty, was more to my taste, but the Hop Head Red was citrusy and crisp without being too overbearing. The only problem was that even though I was in the shade, by the time I got to the end of the glass, I could sense that the UV was skunking the beer.

I finished with the Long Beach Crude, a stout that the server described as "like a Guinness." Why is every dark beer compared to Guinness? This stout was flavorful and most un-Guinness-like. It made a nice roasty dessert.

The food at this brew pub was pretty good. I had the vegetarian piazza which is a solid standby that hard for any place to screw up. The appetizer sourdough bread they brought to the table was warm and moist. The service was a bit slow, but the wait staff was extremely friendly.

Parking is a bit of an issue. We had to parallel on the main street. I didn't see any public lots around. Could be an issue if you are going on a weekend night.