More bottles of beer for you: 2 more L.A. breweries begin bottling
Having a wide variety of local brews on tap at bars and restaurants around town is a sure sign of a thriving craft beer scene, but there’s just something about kicking back at home and cracking open a bottle from your favorite Los Angeles brewery. It really helps you feel like we’re finally living in a legit beer city.
Now, two more favorite local breweries are packaging their ales, and these are some can’t-miss bottles.
Inglewood’s Three Weavers Brewing Co. is having a release at Whole Foods Markets on Monday. Four of the brewery’s five core beers will get the bottle treatment and, in addition to availability at Whole Foods, they should be making their way to bottle shops around town over the next couple of weeks.
Look for the colorfully silkscreened 22-ounce bombers of light and drinkable Seafarer kolsch, hoppy and sessionable Stateside and fan-favorite Expatriate IPA. Rounding out the initial lineup is Deep Roots ESB — the Americanized take on the British “extra special bitter†style is a round and malty treat that demonstrates brewmaster Alexandra Nowell’s breadth.
Two more Three Weavers bottles will hit shelves in October, including its final core brew: the phenomenal Midnight Flight imperial stout. Keep an eye on the brewery’s Facebook page for details about a bottle release party, or stop by the taproom to pick up a few.
A few weeks after the Three Weavers bottle launch, Ladyface Ale Companie will hold an event to release the first bottles from its Ingenuity Series of barrel-aged brews. The Agoura Hills brewpub has built a following since its opening in 2011 — basically the Dark Ages when talking about craft beer in Los Angeles — and brewmaster Dave Griffiths has quietly been developing an impressive barrel program.
Dozens of wine barrels, whiskey barrels and the occasional sherry, port or rum barrel are now housed in an off-site warehouse a few miles down the 101 Freeway from the pub, and recent releases of the slowly aged brews have been well worth the drive up the 101 to Agoura.
On Sept. 20, three of these complex ales will be released at the brewery, and you can preorder bottles by purchasing tickets for the release party. On offer: Flamberge — a tart and oaky Flemish red, Dérailleur — an untraditional take on the old French bière de garde style, and Trébuchet — a golden farmhouse ale aged in sauvignon blanc barrels for over two years.
These brews won’t be sold anywhere but the pub, and with only 40 cases of 500-milliliter bottles for each style available, they should sell out quickly (especially at $14 each). A VIP ticket to the release will set you back about $30, and it comes with two bottles, a glass of beer during the event and a tapas plate.
Adding packaged product is an important milestone for craft breweries — bottles and cans can be both a major revenue stream for small breweries and important marketing tools for expanding brand recognition. The growing rows of beer made in L.A. on local retail shelves is an indicator of the strength of the region’s craft beer industry.
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