Eagle Rock Brewery's New Facility And Tasting Room In Los Angeles

What you can learn from your beer

Opening the first brewery in Los Angeles proper wasn't easy. But after 15 months of red tape and beer tanks full of patience, father-and-son team Steve and Jeremy Raub have finally opened their Eagle Rock Brewery. There's nothing stopping the taps now.

There aren't a lot of breweries this side of Orange County, but the ones we have are great: Craftsman (Pasadena), Skyscraper (El Monte) and Angel City (Torrance), to name a few. What makes Eagle Rock so different is its tasting and tap room.

With a window looking into the brewery, the space has tables and a bar where you can sit and drink pints ($5) of the ERB brews: Revolution XPA, an aromatic, hoppy extra-pale ale; Solidarity Black Ale, a malty, English-style dark beer; and Manifesto Wit Beer, a lighter, Belgian-style wheat beer.

All highlight a different brewing ingredient–hops, malt, yeast–not just for flavor, but for educational purposes. "We want people to figure out what flavors they do or don't like in beer," says Jeremy, the president and head brewer.

Apparently there's a demand for knowledge, too. A class on learning to evaluate beer, the first of ERB's new monthly series, sold out in a day. Watch the blog for details on the next one.

Eagle Rock Brewery, 3056 Roswell St., Eagle Rock; 323-257-7866 or eaglerockbrewery.com. Reservations are required to visit the brewery, which is open every Fri., Sat. and Sun.