Tag: Boyle Heights

Posted on

Three L.A.A.W.s

Ivy Station, the second location for Los Angeles Ale Works is still in the “works” and now the Hawthorne brewery that is celebrating five years has announced their intention to take over the Boyle Heights location where Indie Brewing recently left.

The former Indie space has a good sized footprint, plus there is a nice courtyard that might be put to use (permits permitting). It could use a bit of sprucing up and a better entrance to the taproom but the bones are there. And with the 6th Street bridge/viaduct opening mid this year and large park nearby, this could be a real smart play.

Hopefully they can brew a beer in homage to the previous brewery to keep a connection to the history of the L.A. beer scene.

Posted on

Indie is Done

You have this month minus a day to visit Indie Brewing as the Boyle Heights brewery announced on social media that it is closing on the 27th for good.

With Dry River already closed practically next door, that means that south of Downtown is bereft of breweries. Sadly, this is probably not the end of closure notices but maybe there is a next generation that can use the equipment or space. Trying to stay positive here.

Thanks for the beers Indie and may your future endeavors in beer or elsewhere be bright.

Posted on

Xelas


I don’t know how the anti-outside of Boyle Heights crowd will react but I think it is great that Corissa Hernandez and Gabriel Paredes are adding another beer-y spot to their resume with the opening of music venue Xelas (pronounced “chelas”) opening this month.

The duo operate Craft Beer Cellar in Eagle Rock and now will install 16 taps filled with Mexican craft beer and local favorites. Because, you shouldn’t have to sacrifice beer to dance and hear good music.

Posted on

Inside Indie

IMG_6438
I headed down by the partially demolished 6th Street Bridge to see the future home of Indie Brewing in Boyle Heights south of the Arts District. Connor Forbes was my tour guide and patiently answered my questions.

Indie Brewing is hidden in a gem of a building that most people would just drive by. Nothing much to look at from the outside but once inside there is a long, cool corridor that in the future may house restaurants and other shops
IMG_6439
Inside the brewery is in pre-tasting room mode. Space that will be tables and chairs houses equipment, boxes and the like. This isn’t one of those 24 hour a day brewing operations. Until the tap room is humming along and until a distribution deal is inked, the amount of beer being made is lower with the focus being on canning the XPA and getting the 7th Street Saison and Port(er) of Los Angeles into 22oz bombers.
IMG_6441
I tasted both the Superfood Saison as well as both a can and off the fermenter Eastside XPA. The Saison had notes of blackberry underneath but a gripping and strong (to me) Saison base. There is a juice bar of ingredients in the beer but the actual style still leads the way. The XPA was more IPA to me but was tasting quite nice, especially fresh.

The coolest take-away from the afternoon was that Forbes (like many brew people) was complimentary about the growing group of brewers in DTLA and was excited about a DTLA event that would include all of the brewers showing off their beers.

Posted on

Indie Brewing

IMG_4200
I did a profile of three on-the-way L.A. breweries for the latest Beer Paper LA that didn’t reference Hand Brewed, Arts District Brewing or Iron Triangle which are also in stages of development. At least, I knew about the existence of them though.

It was in a Brewyard Brewing newsletter that I learned of yet another brewery in progress, Indie Brewing.

So, head to their website and sign-up for their newsletter so you can be reminded automatically when these 4 entrepreneurs have their casual taproom spot ready for us LA craft beer fans.