Altar Society Brewing Company – soft opening
Gary Neshanian | October 18, 2023 (AltarSocietyBrewCo.com • Google-map • Instagram)
I had the pleasure of attending one of the Altar Society Brewing Company’s soft openings back on September 29th and received a walk-through tour of the historic building. I met Jon Sweeney who explained he and his co-owner partners Chris Evans and Courtney Dubar are hoping to open this month at 230 Pine Avenue in downtown Long Beach.
While chatting with John before the tour he gave me the complete history of the historic building. Altar Society is a tribute to its great history as a Masonic Temple built in 1903, and one of few buildings that survived the 1933 earthquake. I remember when it was a Z-Gallery more recently, and was very happy to see they have restored it to its more traditional Masonic roots. They have done a wonderful job restoring the building from its basement into a brewery, the main ground floor into a taproom with food services, and all the floors above that are planned to be available for private events.
I only ate the pizza at the soft opening, which was delicious but was very impressed with the looks of the kitchen and the full menu that will be online by the opening. My IPA samplings were all great, especially after touring the very impressive downstairs brewery. I am also a huge fan of breweries that host a cafe/coffee corner for a pick-me-up and look forward to its opening as well.
After five years of attending Cal State many many years ago, I am very happy to see the neighborhood receiving attention, and the beautiful building restored to its original character. Altar Society is definitely worth a visit when they open, and a great peak back into a neighborhood with mostly forgotten historic stories.