I had the chance a week past to talk beer with one of the founders of Venice Duck Beer, Christian Warren
Starting a brewery is not easy business. And it seems like starting a brewery by contract brewing is even harder. Cases in point: Cosmic Ales and L.A. Ale Works. Both of which took long to come to fruition.
Add to that list Venice Duck. After speaking with Warren for an evening it became clear that without constant contact with your beer the business of running a brewery is multiplied.
If you are unaware of Venice Duck it’s because there plan to open a brewery in Venice ran into the harsh reality of cost per foot of space and also the lack therof. They are contract brewed in San Jose and have a large distributor but the beers don’t make it even as far as my ‘hood of Glendale. Their beers: an Agave Blonde, IPA and hemp ale won’t be setting the Whale Traders afire but are solid easy drinkers when you take the contracting into consideration.
But now they may be closing in on a space (not in Venice) and will be able to control their own destiny as it were and be able to tell the stories behind their labels which may seem, at first glance, a bit juvenile actually weave their experiences with some of the history and people of Venice.
And they have pushed through another beer that will extend their line-up and appeal even more to the hop lovin’ crowd, their spin on the SMaSH beer.
I can already hear the people who think that I am being too much of a cheerleader, berating me for being too soft. Here is the unvarnished truth: The beers of Venice Duck are “just enjoy ‘em” in my book with the potential to be better if they can be brewed and fussed over. And for LA to continue to grow, we need more beers that are built for bars that normally would serve the SABInBevMiller taps instead or bottles of Stella Artois.
