At Common Space Brewery, dreams do come true

Phil Gurnee ♦ March 10, 2018 ♦ Leave a comment

All of us have dreams, but how many of us take a risky plunge to make that dream come true? Brent Knapp had a good job but he had been dreaming of his own micro-brewery,  so several years ago he put in place the mechanisms to make his dream come true.  This involved quitting his job a year ago, finding investors, finding the ideal location, and of course finding a brewmaster.

This came to fruition last week when his Common Space Brewery had their grand opening.  A group of old TrueBlueLA friends got together last week to try out his new brews.  I tried his PILSNER 006,  DRY HOPPED HELLES 010B, and the LIME LAGER 009.  With me were David Young, Craig Minami,  Hollywood Joe, Josie (who also works there), Matthew,  and Josh. I’m not a beer connoisseur but I enjoyed each of them, with the Pilsner being my favorite.   Brent told me his opening day blew the door off of expectations and hopefully, this will continue for him and his investors.  I’ll be kicking myself for not being able to be one of those investors. Not for the capital accumulation of such an investment, but just because how cool it would have been to be an investor in a micro-brewery.

I met Brent via True Blue LA, a Dodger based blog that I used to write for. Since that time we have played baseball together, softball together, and gone to Dodger games.  When he first told me his dream was to open a micro-brewery I shrugged it off. I have heard many a dream from many folk, but rarely (Jay Stalling is one) does it turn into reality. I didn’t know Brent that well, or I would have taken his talk more seriously.

He dreamed it, he did it. A big Woo Hoo to him for making his dream come true.

The Common Space Brewery is located in Hawthorne just a few blocks from a Metro stop at Crenshaw via the green line and is ideally located right next to Space X so it can quell the thirst of many a rocket scientist who needs a respite from the mind-numbing work they do.  The beer vats are splendiferous in sparkling silver as you enter from the back with multiple common space tables set up for your drinking enjoyment. Food is provided by food trucks. They are a Spectrum customer so all Dodger games will be on full display, so if you need a Dodger place to hang out, and you live on the Westside or below this should be a go-to place for you.

Unfortunately for me, it is almost thirty miles away so I won’t be frequenting it as often as my good friend Dave Young will be who works just a few blocks away.  I used Uber Pool to make the trip and it took a good two hours to get there. I was lucky enough to have David Young give me a ride home. Maybe I’ll use that tactic a few more times. Just don’t tell David.