As craft beer in Los Angeles keeps growing, the cities and neighborhoods that were empty of breweries suddenly seem to have gleaming fermenters everywhere. Burbank went from BJ’s and Gordon Biersch clustered on the east side of the 5 Freeway to now, where one new brewery has been open (Verdugo West Brewing), a second is close to putting their beers on tap (Simmzy’s) and a third (Lincoln Beer Co.) is building out their tap room.
Now Echo Park is close to having their own beer as Sage Organic Vegan Bistro, a corner restaurant that has been serving coffee and vegan pastries, has added a brewery and bar area in a new interconnected space.
A cursory search did not find the name or background of the brewer, but the location now has a full bar with 36 taps and down the road, fairly soon now, we should be seeing Sage beers like a habanero pilsner and rosemary-beet amber. Of those 36 taps on the wall will be all sorts of beverages from wine, to mixed drinks and kombucha.
With the solid anchors of Sunset Beer Co. on one side and Mohawk Bend on the other, this is a fun stroll for fans of local craft beer.
(To add to the Echo Park activity, I’ve heard rumblings of a planned bike shop, microbrewery, and restaurant just down Sunset Boulevard, down the hill from Dodger Stadium.)
The BEER OF THE WEEK is the latest anniversary beer from Smog City Brewing. Pinkies Out is a tangerine version of their Tart Saison. It has just the right blend of fruit and tart without going too far out into the orchard and not the other way into sour path territory. While at their Torrance tap room, also check out their other saisons. They had a Merlot version, blueberry and even a grapefruit, ginger and tarragon one.
Your HOMEWORK is to get your tickets for this year’s L.A. Beer Week Kick-Off Festival. We’re less than one month away and you don’t want to wake up in the middle of the night on June 17 and run to your computer, only to find the tickets all snapped up. So do it in the middle of the night, tonight. Because you do not want to miss out on seeing all our locals together in one spot.
Find more of Sean Inman’s writing on his blog, Beer Search Party.
Blog Comments
Take My Shift Team
May 30, 2017 at 7:42 PM
Loving the different options presented here. Definitely going to have to try out some of those saisons. The rosemary-beet amber has definitely also caught our eye. Thanks for sharing!
Joshua Lurie
May 31, 2017 at 3:26 PM
Take My Shift Team, Rosemary-beet amber does sound awesome. Enjoy!