Category: Bar Opening

New Brewery Alert – Brouwerij West

Posted on by LA Beer Hop

It’s pronounced “brewery”. No need to be fancy and pronounce it in it’s native Dutch pronunciation. Just say “brewery” and be happy. But let’s not get hung up on the pronunciation. Brouwerij West is finally here and we’re terribly excited.

You may have had their beer before. In the “early” days of LA beer, they had a few staples that were in heavy rotation on tap and in bottles – Mor, Mor a Belgian Quad and Dog Ate My Homework a blackberry saison to name two. But those beers were made in the gypsy (or contract) fashion and their brewery lacked a real home. But all that changes at the end of February when the official Brouwerij brewery is set to open in the Ports of Call in San Pedro.

Owner Brian Mercer has tapped head brewer Jeremy Czuleger to make their Belgian-inspired beers in a 72 year old warehouse in the Port of Los Angeles. Czuleger has a background in brewering for Trumer in Berkeley and Barley Forge in Costa Mesa. They’ll be focusing on using local ingredients to make their various saisons and blondes in a Belgian fashion like putting Central Coast citrus in a traditional Belgian Wit. Sounds great.

You’ll find them on our South Bay and Long Beach beer tours coming up in the next few weeks, but if you want to see them sooner than that, you can attend their grand opening on 2/27 at 12pm. Details below or can be found through their website: brouwerijwest.com

San Pedro Brewery & Tasting Room: Grand Opening Saturday February 27th

Brouwerij West
110 E. 22nd St., Warehouse No. 9
San Pedro, CA 90731
(310) 833-9330

New Brewery Alert – Brewyard Brewing

Posted on by LA Beer Hop

We’ve had two breweries in Glendale for a while now: Golden Road and Eagle Rock Brewery… or so we thought. In reality, Golden Road is in Los Angeles and Eagle Rock Brewery is in Glassel Park, they’ve only been in the Glendale of our minds. However, the barley gods have given us a new brewery that is in both the Glendale of our minds and our maps. Brewyard Beer Company – 906 Western Ave, Glendale, CA 91201.

The homebrew duo Sherwin Antonio and Kirk Nishikawa just opened a 4,500 square foot facility in Glendale and will start seving beer to the public this month. They’re slated to start serving up four flagship beers: California Common Lager (Steam Beer), Passion Fruit Saison, Schwarzbier & an IPL (India Pale Lager). Which all sound like great additions to the growing roster of flagship beers available in Los Angeles.

With hours similar to that of the Eagle Rock Brewery taproom, they’ll be open Wednesday to Sunday with opening and closing varying each day.

And within a short time they’ll be a welcome addition to our East & Central tour, along with other (soon-to-be) newcomers like Arts District Brewing, Iron Triangle Brewing and Boomtown Brewery. We’ll keep you posted on the development of that.

New Brewery Alert – Boomtown

Posted on by LA Beer Hop

The Arts District is booming. And the next brewery to open up knows it. They’re called Boomtown Brewery and they’re fantastic.

Located in convenient walking distance to (soon to open) Arts District Brewing and Angel City, Boomtown Brewery is in good company. They’re currently in a “soft-open” phase serving about seven of their own styles in their 3,000 sq ft taproom. They’re set to be open more regular hours within the next month (or so).

Head Brewer Samuel “Chewy” Chawinga is making the beer and he has a small team of other managing members that are running operations, taproom and sales. Check their website to find current taproom hours and other spots around town that you can taste their beer.

Boomtown Brewery

700 Jackson St, Los Angeles, CA 90012

New Brewery Alert – Mumford

Posted on by LA Beer Hop

And so it begins, the great transformation of Downtown LA into a walkable wonderland of craft beer destinations, with the advent of Mumford Brewing in the Arts District. The best part? They’re making good beer.

Located in “Skid Rowkyo” – the part of Downtown that’s smack in the middle between Skid Row and Little Tokyo – Mumford Brewing had their grand opening last weekend. Opened by brothers Todd and Peter Mumford along with Todd’s wife Tien, this small team has built everything great about a craft beer haven. Good beer. Family friendly. Local art. And food delivered from the Escondite next door.

Right now, they’re open Saturdays and Sundays, but are rolling out more and more hours as the Summer burns on.

Our favorite: Black Mamba – their flagship black ale that has all the right roasted and cocoa moves of a dark beer with the drinkability of something significantly lighter. Although, their Experimental IPA #1 has some depth and complexity that’s miles ahead of average for a young brewery. 

Coming soon to DTLA will be Boomtown Brewing, Iron Triangle, Indie Brew Co, Arts District Brewing and Dry River Brewing. It’s gonna be a big year. And once they’re all open, you better believe we’ll be organizing walking tours of Downtown. Look forward to it. 

New Tour Alert – Greenbar Distillery

Posted on by LA Beer Hop

We’re adding to our East & Central Tour! Which isn’t crazy considering how much brewery growth there has been already in 2015. What is crazy is that it’s not beer. It’s liquor.

Greenbar Organic Distillery has been crafting an insane array of liquor in Downtown Los Angeles for over 10 years, but they were only recently able to operate a tasting room. They have every imaginable spirit is in their arsenal: vodka, whiskey, tequila (real tequila made with agave), rum, and as much brandy as you would ever want (which is a lot). And it’s all organic. And it’s all delicious. And it’s all yours. Well, not yet. But if you come on one of our East & Central tours it can be yours.

At each visit to Greenbar, you will taste a flight of five of their spirits, tour their distillery and learn as much about distilling liquor as you like. That’s right. Try five different liquors, but don’t worry… the liquor is before beer.

For the time being, we will be adding them to just one East & Central tour at the end of every month, with plans to expand that over time. We’ll be adding their distillery to our private tour selection as well.

If you have any questions about how you can visit Greenbar with us or even on your own, feel free to shoot us an email at contact@labeerhop.com.

What we’re drinking right now: Greenbar Organic Distillery Poppy Brandy (not kidding and it’s amazing).

New Brewery Alert – Phantom Carriage

Posted on by LA Beer Hop

Carson. It’s a city in Los Angeles. You know it, even though you may not think you do. Cal State Dominguez Hills is here. They’ve got the Stubhub Center. The Goodyear Blimp sleeps here. And now, they have the first sour beer brewery in Los Angeles – Phantom Carriage.

Phantom Carriage Brewery is focused on crafting small-batch sour beers, which is basically done by a process that makes beer taste better by letting it go bad for an extended amount of time (sometimes up to three years). Other breweries like Smog City, Eagle Rock Brewery and Highland Park Brewing have dabbled in the Tart Arts, but Phantom Carriage is the first one in LA to dedicate themselves to it. Beachwood Blendery will be opening up soon and joining the sour conversation, but until then, Phantom is what we’ve got and we’re incredibly happy about it.

The taproom has only been open since Mid-December and in that time they’ve already become the talk of the beer community. But, even though their taproom is still in its infancy, their beers are anything but. They’ve been quietly souring their beers for quite some time now, so their offerings are fully mature and ready to drink. And it’s worth mentioning that half their beers are currently well over 10% in alcohol, so plan on ubering and explaining to your driver why you’re headed down some dark, desolate industrial road in Carson.

It’s located on Main Street in Carson, about spitting distance from the Goodyear Blimp, and while the exterior is nothing to write home about, the interior of the brewery & taproom is on a level that matches the complexity and deliciousness of the beer. It’s really good looking. And big. So feel free to bring some friends and you’ll have ample to room to stretch out and even possibly catch a screening of a classic horror movie (they have a small screening room that showcases owner Martin Svab’s love of all things spooky).

But fear not if you are someone who hasn’t found their fancy in the funky side of beer yet. They have a handful of guests taps as well that will feature a well curated list of other beers from other wonderful breweries. And coffee and cider. And food. They have a full menu there that slings farm-to-table items like pulled pork sandwiches, meat and cheese plates and (gasp) salads.

Phantom Carriage

18525 Main St. Carson, CA

www.phantomcarriage.com

Highland Park Gets it’s Own Bar Covell

Posted on by LA Beer Hop

For those of you that know Bar Covell in Los Feliz, conveniently located next door to the always entertaining Cheetah’s, you’ll know that they are as dedicated to craft beer and good times as Cheetah’s is dedicated to the “style over substance” approach to their dancing girls.

After Dustin Lancaster’s success of Covell and his follow up L& E Oyster Bar in Silverlake, he has launched another bar in Highland Park.

Hermasillo, so named based on the bar that occupied the space up until a few months ago, soft-opened last night to raucous approval from fans across the East Side. Hermasillo is currently serving a craft beer list comparable to that of Bar Covell, and while they don’t serve food yet, hopefully they will soon cause the Croque Monsieur that they serve at Covell is a real treat.

Hermasillo - Highland Park
Hermasillo – Highland Park