by Will Watson
After nearly a decade as an underground brewer known by their black ball logo, Black Ball Brewing Co. will host a launch party for its first commercially available release this Saturday, February 3 at Coastal in Hermosa Beach.
Lumpy and Brewzer (Steve Compas and Bruce Losson) call their new release Towhead. Its a blond ale.
“The hops and malt are combined to give the Towhead a smooth, balanced taste. If you like 805 or Kona Longboard, you’re going to love our Towhead,” Brewzer said.
Lumpy and Brewzer are like malt and hops. Lumpy is the malt guy with the palate and nose for the nuances of beer. He handles the books.
Brewzer is on the hop side. He’s responsible for the branding and social media.
Lumpy started brewing beer 30 years ago in 5-gallon buckets with his wife, Susan. One day in 2015, over beers at Barney’s Beanery on the Redondo Pier, he said to Brewzy, “Brewzer, we need to brew some beer.” Brewzer replied, “Done! Let’s do it.”
They named their beer after the black ball flag lifeguards fly on their towers when surfers have to get out of the water. During their high school summers on the beach at 8th Street in Manhattan Beach, their group was known as the 8-ballers. When the blackball was raised it was time to start drinking beer, leading to their hashtag is #Can’tSurfDrinkBeer.
They named their first brew 8-Ball Stout.
Over the years, they’ve experimented with different lagers, ales, pilsners and even cider with names that reflected their years at the beach, such as RedTide, ShorePounder, BodyWhomper, Dawn Patrol, TAR, and Undertow.
They began by entering their garage brews in beer festivals, and donating beer to local events, like Hey Turkey 90254.
One early fan was South Bay Boardriders Club president Tom Horton. “I saw Steve and Bruce at a Saint Rocke event for local brewers a few years ago,” Horton said. “When they mentioned they won a gold medal at an LA Beer Festival competition I asked if they could make a batch for our Big Wave Challenge Awards at the Hermosa Beach Community Auditorium.”
Black Ball got another boost from Dave Davis, of Hermosa Brewing.
“We couldn’t have made the next step without Dave and Hermosa Brewing, where we brewed our Towhead ale. Dave reached out to us when we were still home brewing, and he was still called Beach Cities Brewing. He and his partner, Jorge Delgado, would come to our garage, and we would go to theirs. They went ‘pro’ years before us, but we kept in touch, and ultimately contracted with them to brew our beer.”
“Even though we’ve taken different paths, there’s a lot of similarities between us and we’re honored they chose us as a brewing partner,” Davis said.
Blackball Beer’s Towhead blond ale is available locally at Dawn to Dusk Liquor, Granny’s, Bocatto’s, Aviation Liquor, Ocean View Liquor, Manhattan Grocery, Chateau Liquor, Coastal, Ercoles, The Slip (Lomita), The Slip, and The Dinghy Deli.
Saturday’s launch party is from noon to sunset. Coastal is located at 844 Hermosa Avenue, Hermosa Beach. ER
