Usually breweries in Los Angeles have a built in happy to visit vibe. I may have higher expectations and knowledge of some more than others but generally as I walk in the door it is easy for me to set that bias aside and just taste the beers.
That was harder for my first trip to Iron Triangle on Industrial Street. The owner had been a little too “forward” with his advances and has caused some negative attention to flow before the taps were even opened.
As I entered the unmarked space just down the street from the famed Little Bear, I saw a hulking dark brown wood bar to the right and a set of gleaming brewing equipment in front of me. Others from the beer media crowd were already there so I quickly perused the list…
…I sampled the first five on the list and across the board they were all well done. Not a lot of bells and whistles, just straight up solid ales. My particular favorites were the barleywine which had a more toffee forward flavor and would pair well with dessert, the pale ale which I found to have a pleasing grapefruit character and the plainly named Iron Triangle Ale which is the lightest of the bunch but had a nice sparkle to it. The dark lager got a share of kudos from those in attendance too.
Nathan Pacetti the guiding force of the brewery was in appreciative form and took time to talk to most everyone in attendance and I got to speak with former Maui Brewing brewer, Darren Moser who seemed glad to be working with brewing boots on the ground.
Right now, they are only occupying part of the eventual full footprint. But they have built in room to grow next door. They open in mid-January.
