USA, CA: Ten Mile Brewing Co launched by father and son in Signal Hill

The father-and-son founders of Ten Mile Brewing Co. built their business from their several years’ of experience in homebrewing and literal steel, the Long Beach Press Telegram reported on October 27.

Dan and Jesse Sundstrom’s Signal Hill brewery has been open for about six weeks. The Sundstroms got the keys to the place in February of last year and, thanks to a change to Signal Hill’s zoning rules, have since transformed a formey empty space into a working brewery.

And the Sundstroms did much of the physical labor themselves, they said. They fashioned the taproom’s bar and tables from steel beams and other materials. The furnishings, combined with the place’s sandblasted gray walls and visible brewing apparatus behind the bar, give the interior of Ten Mile Brewing a worked-in, industrial feel.

“It’s been the perfect melding of science and art,” Dan Sundstrom, the elder member of the father-son ownership team said. “It’s great having someone appreciate your product.”

Dan Sundstrom previously worked as a facilities manager Bethany Church Long Beach for 15 years, and was a professional photographer for 22 years.

He’s now the brewmaster for Ten Mile, which is a family business. Other members of the Sundstrom family work for the brewery; there are no employees at Ten Mile from outside the family.

On Ten Mile’s current tap list, the Segway to Munich Helles lager is billed as being both the winner of a blue ribbon at the 2015 Los Angeles County Fair and a “lean, malt-forward German lager with a smooth, dry finish.”

Hidden Hollow, a Kentucky common that Dan Sundstrom said is brewed in the style of what a drinker may have tasted inside an Old West saloon during the latter half of the 19th century is also on the list. His current favorites are the Prepare to Rye, a rye India pale ale, and Das Unkommoner. That latter one is a dunkles bock, which is a dark-colored German style.

Ten Mile Brewing’s opening night happened on Sept. 16, and the elder Sundstrom said that was their busiest night to date, with customers standing in the parking lot to place their drink orders. The new brewery has thus far relied upon word of mouth and social media for promotions.

“Beyond that, right now, we don’t need to do anything else,” Jesse Sundstrom said.

Beyond the walls of Ten Mile’s taproom, its beer can be found on draft at Dutch’s Brewhouse in Bixby Knolls, Dan Sundstrom said. He and Jesse would like to grow the business to the point where where other establishments could sell their product on draft, or inside bottles and cans, but they said meeting current demand is a tall order.

“We’re not struggling to keep up, but …,” Dan Sundstrom said.

“It’s a challenge to keep up,” his son finished.

Tuesdays and Thursdays are brewing days at Ten Mile. Although the Sundstroms agreed to give themselves at least one day off, the elder Sundstrom often finds himself tinkering with the works on Mondays.

Ten Mile Brewing is also among multiple breweries scheduled to be featured in a forthcoming documentary, titled Brewmance, associate producer Laura Aguirre said in an email.

“The documentary is going well,” she wrote. “We’re hunkering down in the edit room while we await Liberation’s opening next year.”

Liberation refers to Liberation Brewing Co., a planned Bixby Knolls brewery that former Reel Big Fish trombonist Dan Regan announced in July 2016.

Although the number of breweries in the local area is growing — Long Beach Beer Lab in the Wrigley neighborhood is another recent entry — Signal Hill has yet to see any additional entrepreneurs follow the Sundstrom’s example despite past indications of interest from other would-be brewers.

“We just got a slew of them for a while, and only Ten Mile was able to open the door and get the ordinance changed,” senior city planner Colleen Doan said. “We’re open to it. They’re allowed.”

Signal Hill’s City Council adopted a new zoning law allowing breweries like 10 Mile in July of last year. Council members approved the brewery’s conditional use permit on the same night.

Ten Mile Brewing is open Wednesday through Sunday at 1136 E. Willow St. in Signal Hill.

30 October, 2017