Less, than a week ago, I had heard about and then posted the news that a new brewery had sprung up in Arcadia, unbeknownst to me. And before, Christmas, I snuck in a visit as a gift to myself. Here is the 1st Visit report of Mt. Lowe Brewing.
I ordered up the usual 1st Visit fare, a taster tray of “everything you got”. In this case it meant six beers which is a pretty good start for a new brewery.
Of the group the Inspiration Porter was the clear winner. Working with coconut is barely done well but there version was restrained with a touch of sweetness and a hearty base of malts. Maybe it was the slightly cold L.A. snap but the beer was a nice warm up. Second place went to the Rubio Red which had a buoyant spice profile and a dash of hop bitterness to make the beer come alive.
Mid-pack was the Incline Ale which I guess was a pale or pale amber. It was fine. Not much of a hop profile to it which leads me to the amber descriptor. The Bungalow Blonde wins points for the name which nods to both the architecture and history of the San Gabriel Valley but the beer itself falls into the fine category as well.
The Hef was lacking in both the clove and banana department. I wanted more punch from it. Too restrained and more tilted to just a wheat beer. But it was much better than the Hills Have IPA. Another great name but the beer was no where near hoppy and was more muddy and closer to a light barleywine.
The location is close by Santa Anita Avenue so if you can catch the 210 at one of the rare slack times, you can be there in a jiff. Inside is sectioned off so you can have friends get together and not have to yell. You can choose booths or the bar. I appreciate that they have filled the space without sacrificing free roaming space.
As far as starts go, they have a good base of beers to evolve from but nothing really made the leap of marking Mt. Lowe as one to watch closely. Keep it in mind and check in a few months to see how the beers have grown since opening.