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Eagle Rock Brewery: Awesome beers, brewed right here in LA
12February 7th, 2010Uncategorized
As Sister Margaret said to Maria in The Sound of Music: “When one door closes, another opens”. The door above has, thankfully opened and what lays behind it is very special indeed. Exactly a year ago today, I first heard about a new brewery opening in Eagle Rock yet couldn’t find out anything at all to corroborate the rumor. To be honest, on that day I was more focused on heading over to Doomie’s “all you can eat” swan-song event at Southgate, where one of our favorite chefs took over an art studio and cooked his entire stock of food following the closure of his space at Roberto’s Club in Chinatown.
Now, though I’m very pleased that I can drown my sorrows of Doomie’s demise at the brand, spanking new Eagle Rock Brewery. Often rumored, sometimes previewed and certainly heavily anticipated, Eagle Rock Brewery has been teasing me since November as I’ve enjoyed their brews in most of the bars I frequent. I’ve had the XPA or Mild in Verdugo Bar, Blue Palms, The York, BoHo and (of course) Pure Luck and every time I’ve very much appreciated the taste and quality of the brew.
The brewery is located in an Eagle Rock industrial park, at the intersection of Delay Drive and Roswell Street (sounds like a cold-war era space alien conspiracy thing, right?) and has no exterior signage, so be very careful to note down the exact street number of the building, or you’ll be lost forever.
Finally, after two years of construction and LA County Dept. of Building Safety bullshit, Eagle Rock Brewery opened the doors of their tap room this past Friday. Now, a tap room is a special place. It’s not a typical bar per-se, and there’s rarely food (although Eagle Rock Brewery thoughtfully puts out pretzel bowls for the customers), but you do get to enjoy the brewery’s beers served by, and often in the presence, of the brewers themselves in the shadow of the brewery.
I’m used to gritty tap-rooms with oafish brewers (the large, white guy type with a long beard) who begrudgingly serve a dribble of lukewarm beer in the bottom of a tasting glass, yet I’m pleased to say that Eagle Rock Brewery was quite the opposite. The tap room has a proper bar with stools, shiny stainless steel taps and comfortable tables for you to sit at with your friends.
When we were there, a very nice lady served our beers and was overjoyed to be telling us about the brewery’s new products, as well as give tasting notes.
Talking of tasting, we were lucky enough to sample all three of the brewery’s current taps:
Revolution XPA: (a TLA for eXtra Pale Ale) This refreshing beer has a good balance of tangy palate with a delightfully hoppy finish. Although it’s absolutely tasty, I can’t help thinking there’s an IPA (India Pale Ale) in there waiting to get out, and I think this brew – above all their others – has the most promise for some very interesting variations (double hopped, anybody?!).
Solidarity Black Mild: The archetypal English mild: A session beer (meaning one can drink a lot of it without falling over) – low in alcohol and very malty. My late grandfather used to drink pints of this ad-infinitum back in the 60s and 70s. Malty ain’t my thing particularly, but this is actually quite drinkable. I could see several of these disappearing rather quickly in a typical afternoon session!
Manifesto Eagle Rock Wit: Now you’re talking. This beer tastes like something you’d find in a Bavarian Beerkellar (and I mean Bavaria, Germany not Bavaria, Kansas). It’s a white beer, very wheaty at the base and somewhat cloudy. There’s a citrus edge throughout followed by a smooth, flowery ending – probably because of the coriander and rose petals (yeah, they add rose petals – what a great idea!).
In case you’re missing the vibe here (it took me a while), Eagle Rock Brewery has a neo-Soviet cold war angle: Revolution, Solidarity, Manifesto and “Beer for the People”, along with the eagle and wheat logo. This written and visual imagery takes me right back to Vladivostok in the early 60s, and drinking on a street named Roswell is the icing on the cake.
You can take a tour of the brewery during opening hours and there’s a Beer Education Series, where they explore and teach the fine art of brewing. In the next workshop, the brewers will explain about malts and how they affect the taste of one’s beer. You don’t have to be a brewer to appreciate these classes, but you have to be a beer lover for sure.
Wherever you run into Eagle Rock Brewery – be it in your local bar or a visit to the tap room, you’ll enjoy what you find. The beers are up there with the best, and there’s a dedicated and friendly team to bring it all together. Eagle Rock Brewery: We have HIGH expectations of your future, and I’m sure there will be many supporters of your business. Keep the beer flowing.
Fiiiiinally, the beers are not clarified with animal-based finings (so are completely vegan). The fact that Ben Ling’s Pure Luck serves it is good enough for me.
Eagle Rock Brewery
Tags: alcohol, beer, beer, eagle rock
3056 Roswell Street
Los Angeles, Ca 90065
Tap Room Hours Open To Public:
Friday + Saturday 4-10pm
Sunday 12-6pm
12 responses to “Eagle Rock Brewery: Awesome beers, brewed right here in LA” 
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Well, I’m that fat white guy with a long beard and I’ll be headed to eagle rock next weekend.
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jeffro February 8th, 2010 at 00:10
ahem… you mean “a new brewery opening in Glassell Park”.
I’m not quibbling over the name of the brewery; that’s no issue regardless of some sour comments made in the distant past by others. But if you’re talking *location*, you should be saying Glassell Park.
Lest we fall into that generic BS where everything in NELA is Silver Lake or Silverlake Adjacent :=(
also, Yay ERB!
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miss anthrope February 8th, 2010 at 08:09
oh man i am so ignorant to all NELA geography! i just figured since their name was ERB…oops.
:/
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EagleRock411 February 8th, 2010 at 08:22
I wish this place was actually in Eagle Rock. Why does Glassell and Highland Park have all the good beer?
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spotted_one February 8th, 2010 at 10:55
I will check this out on Friday – might go there after work. Talking of food trucks, I wonder if I could take some food there to eat? I could grab a sandwich or a salad at the Meet Market and head over for a pint. Hmmm…
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This tap room looks great. I wonder what their situation is… do they want to encourage people to go there and drink? A lot of tap rooms just exist for buyers to visit so they can order beer.
I wonder if they allow food to be brought in, because if so this could be a great option for a weekend drinking session.
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^ I think the ERB’s Tap Room is there not only for the promotion of their own beer but for the love and enjoyment of craft beer in general. Coming with that is the promotion of beer culture and bringing new experiences to the palates of beer drinkers. Right now ERB only has their beer available in kegs but I am sure Growlers will be coming soon.
It use to be that the Tap Room was open by appointment only, I’m guessing as they were still getting situated. Now they have opened the Tap Room to the public on weekends. Fri & Sat 4pm-10pm and Sun 12pm-6pm.
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msmerymac February 8th, 2010 at 17:24
I had the Solidarity at Blue Palms and found it to be awful and flavorless. A hint of sweetness, and maybe caramelly malts would do wonders for it. Unfortunately, on lists throughout town (including Pure Luck) that’s the only one I’ve seen. Though I’m always willing to give local craftbeer a chance and would sample their other offerings.
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^ Really? I think Solidarity is their best beer. Has excellent aroma and flavor especially for such a low gravity (low alcohol potential) beer. Try it again, look for the chocolate flavors and aromas, it really is quite good. Their XPA uses caramel malts if you are looking for something along that flavor profile.
Also, with a new brewery it takes time for the brewers to get use to the system and for the yeast to adapt to their environment and to adapt the recipes to this scale. Remember, these guys began brewing beer at home in batches of likely 5-10 gallons. Their beers will get better and i look forward to seeing how they progress over time.
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mr meaner February 8th, 2010 at 21:11
SCVegan: I’m with you. Although I really enjoyed what I drank yesterday, I’m very excited for what the future has in hold. I think in 2-3 years, we’re looking at another Craftsman here.
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Cool. I like your last comment here. I want Eagle Rock Brewery to succeed. I’ve had 3 of their beers on totally separate occasions. I won’t even say what I thought of them. But I had to keep trying their beers to see what was going on. I asked a few trusted friends their opinions to see what they thought. Luckily I heard Eagle rock brewery was still working things out a few weeks back. I definitely want to give them some time. I’m excited it sounds like they already have everything headed in the correct direction.
beer_lover February 7th, 2010 at 22:29