Select Beer Store helps anchor South Bay brew scene

Redondo Beach’s Select Beer Store will turn 2 years old in January, and the hybrid beer bar and bottle shop just off the Pacific Coast Highway is another highlight of L.A.’s booming South Bay craft beer scene.

Select Beer was opened by the husband-and-wife team of Wes and Heather Jacobs. It has a wall of coolers filled with six-packs, singles and large-format bottles on one side of the small shop, with more shelves of local craft and imported brews on the other side.

In the center of the space is a bar with half a dozen seats and a dozen taps pouring a well-curated selection of brews. Cafe tables, where patrons can enjoy brews from the taps or the bottle-coolers, fill out the shop.

Wes Jacobs is a longtime beer lover and home brewer, and said he sees the shop as an important component of the growing community of craft breweries opening in the South Bay (and especially in nearby Torrance).

Asked about his current favorite beer, Jacobs chuckled and said that he didn’t have time for favorites because he’s always trying new beers to decide what bottles to carry and what kegs to tap.

“‘Select’ is part of the name for a reason,” he quipped, explaining that he maximizes the shelf and tap space that he has by only offering the beers that pass his muster.

The tap list often skews toward local beers, and Jacobs is quick to offer his customers recommendations and share the beer knowledge that he’s accumulated through 20 years of home brewing.

He has also teamed with Monkish Brewing on a house beer for the shop. Select Monk is a Belgian-style ale that aims to capture the complexity of a Belgian tripel in a more sessionable form. The beer, fermented with a saison yeast and dry-hopped with Sorachi Ace hops, is light and quaffable with a distinct citrus finish balanced by the spicy yeast character.

Select Beer Store is a favorite among craft-beer-loving locals in Redondo, and a stop there should be included on any craft beer tour of the South Bay.

Select Beer Store, 1613 S. Pacific Coast Highway, Redondo Beach, (310) 540-1221.

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