Eagle Rock Brewery opening new pub as L.A. craft beer scene grows

In the latest signal of the explosion of local breweries in Southern California, Eagle Rock Brewery has announced plans to open a new restaurant.

The four-year-old brewery’s co-owners, Ting Su and Jeremy Raub, said they expect to open Eagle Rock Brewery Public House next year, according to West Coaster, a trade publication that covers the Southern California craft beer business.

“We always wanted to have a brewpub, even before we opened the brewery,� Ting told the magazine. “But we decided it was best to just start with the taproom and see if we could revisit the food side once we’d gotten the brewery established.�

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The brewery has leased space for the new restaurant in the 1600 block of Colorado Boulevard, a historic building that most recently housed vegetarian restaurant Fatty’s.

Dozens of craft breweries have opened in Southern California in the last decade, part of a nationwide trend. The Brewers Assn., a trade group, said the number of U.S. craft brewers has skyrocketed from eight in 1980 to more than 2,400.

Small brewers now account for about 10% of the U.S. beer business, and provide about 100,000 jobs, the group said.

During the first half of 2013, approximately 7.3 million barrels of beer were sold by small and independent craft brewers, up from 6.4 million barrels over the first half of 2012, the Brewers Assn. said.

The largest Southern California craft brewer is Stone Brewing Co. in Escondido. Others include Golden Road (Glendale), Bootlegger’s (Fullerton), The Bruery (Placentia), Hangar 24 (Redlands) and Angel City (Los Angeles), to name a few.

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