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Eagle Rock Brewery (the only brewery based in the city of Los Angeles) opened their taproom only six months ago. Their beers are already available in over 30 bars and restaurants in Los Angeles. Even before the doors opened, there was a waiting list for their Mug Club. Now the small but mighty brewery has their very first employee, an eastcoast transplant, who will be working with them on their next big project — bottling. We talked to owners/brewers Steve and Jeremy Raub about the Los Angeles craft beer movement, their upcoming new brews and why there are rose petals in the malt room.

A Conversation With The Eagle Rock Brewery Staff

Like Father, Like Son

Eagle Rock Brewery is owned and operated by father and son duo Steve and Jeremy Raub. They have been brewing together since Jeremy was a teenager. Steve thought it was interesting that people could brew at home and in the early 90s he gave it a shot. When young Jeremy saw what his dad was doing, he wanted to help his pop and things started to fall into place.

“I think any home brewer out there that really gets into the hobby, at some point there’s that little thought of, Hey, I’m making good beer, I’m sharing it with my friends and they like it and they think it’s good. I could probably do this for a living,” Jeremy tells us. When Jeremy and Steve’s co-workers and friends started requesting their homemade beers, they realized this could be a full-time gig.

“There has to be a pretty strong pull to do it,” Steve added. The paperwork involved in making the brewery a reality was daunting. “You have those thoughts and that glimmer of an idea, the spark and then to actually do it takes a little bit of insanity and stubbornness,” Jeremy explained. Jeremy was working in the film industry and found time between projects to go complete the endless documents to establish a brewery.

I Really Wanna Be in L.A.

Eagle Rock Brewery is nestled between Atwater Village and Glassell Park off Route 2 in an industrial building, reminiscent of The Bruery’s location in Placentia. “We wanted to be in the Northeast L.A. area because we knew this was where the craft beer movement was really starting to blossom. Craft bars were popping up around here. Verdugo Bar, for instance, is a mile from our location, and [Verdugo] seemed like a place where a lot of home-brewers would gather and the Beer Advocate people would gather and do their bottle shares and just get excited about craft beer … We needed to be in L.A.”

Once the paperwork was completed, things moved quickly for the Raubs. In September 2009, they finished construction and all the equipment was set-up by October. In November, they had brewed their first batch and in December they sold their first keg of beer, “And that was actually to Verdugo Bar, they were the first to support us,” Jeremy added. By February, the taproom’s doors officially opened. Now you can take their beer home in a snazzy Eagle Rock Brewery growler.

Everything’s Coming Up Roses

Keep an eye out for these upcoming brews from Eagle Rock Brewery:

  • Sours — Round one of sour beers from Eagle Rock Brewery is currently sitting their wine barrels.
  • Bottles – These should be available by the end of August thanks to help and experience from their brand new and first ever employee, Patrick Morse, formerly of Harpoon Brewery in Vermont.
  • An IPA –Their first ever IPA is currently fermenting and should be coming out in the next couple of weeks. From what Steve has smelled and sampled so far, this IPA will be a delight for the big beer lovers.

Grab a four-pint growler for $20, then fill it with one of their year-round beers for $12. Year-round brews includes Solidarity Black Mild, Revolution XPA, and (our favorite) the Manifesto Wit. If you stop in soon you can try Solidarity, Revolution and Limbo, the summer seasonal. The super-summery Citra hopped Saison finishes clean and tastes a bit like grapefruit. Manifesto will be back on tap in a couple weeks. We’ll see you at the taproom!

What Special Ingredient Goes In The Manifesto Eagle Rock Wit?

Jeremy Talks About Experimenting With Sour Beer












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When?
Weds – Sat 4 – 10 PM
Sun 12 – 6 PM, brewhouse tours at 1, 2:30 and 4 PM

Where?
Eagle Rock Brewery
3056 Roswell Street
Los Angeles, CA 90065

Related Information
http://eaglerockbrewery.ning.com/
http://eaglerockbrewery.wordpress.com/
http://twitter.com/eaglerockbrew