ohana-brewing-company-coming-to-los-angeles
It’s no secret that Los Angeles and craft beers are becoming BFF. The good news is bars and pubs aren’t the only places you can enjoy your favorite craft beers — more breweries are opening their doors in L.A.

The first brewery to open in the city of Los Angeles, Eagle Rock Brewery, has served as an example for those working through the red-tape to bring delicious local bubbles to the mouths of Angelenos. The second brewery about to open, Nibble Bit Tabby Brewery, is based in Downtown L.A. Though they had a ribbon cutting ceremony, we learned that they aren’t quite ready to open for business, but hopefully – all our fingers are crossed – they will be soon. We do love Craftsman Brewing Company and acknowledge they are in L.A. County, but they are based in the city of Pasadena.

It took years for Eagle Rock and Nibble Bit Tabby to work through paperwork with the city to get their breweries going. Karsen of Ohana is currently buried in this paperwork, but soon a beautiful beer-butterfly will emerge. Ohana Brewing Co. will be one of three breweries to be based in the city of Los Angeles, that is if Angel City Brewing doesn’t move from Torrance to the L.A. Arts District first.

On a quest for Hawaiian and Hawaiian-inspired beers, I had the pleasure of discussing with Karsen what’s happening for Ohana Brewing Co. in Los Angeles. Here’s what Karsen had to share:

The word “Ohana” means “family” in the Hawaiian language. It was suggested by my wife who has family ties to Hawaii; family members emigrated to Hawaii from Japan.

Our brewery concept is not really centered on Hawaii but on having an island attitude, i.e. slow down, relax, enjoy a craft beer, be happy and live longer. It doesn’t seem many people really do that in L.A. now — considering the stresses of everyday living, traffic congestion and the city’s financial woes.

One of our themes will be something along the line of “brewing an island attitude in the heart of Los Angeles” or “catch an island attitude.” In other words, we want people to start thinking and drinking differently. Respect beer but enjoy beer.

Interestingly, looking northwest from our location on 23rd Street, the skyscrapers of Los Angeles are visible behind a line of palm trees.

Ohana Brewing Co. really doesn’t have a history inasmuch as we are a brand-new company. My personal history includes winning awards as a homebrewer and professional brewer. I’ve worked for BJ’s restaurants as a brewer. Another member of our investment/management team, Leo Martinez, is currently brewing at Bootleggers Brewery in Fullerton. Our brewsystem is the custom-built 7-bbl system previously operated by the highly-regarded Craftsman Brewing Company of Pasadena, CA (they recently installed a new custom-built 17-bbl system); it is modeled after German brewsystems that produce primarily lager beers.

Our brewery will produce artisanal ales and lagers. We will also have a barrel-aging program in which strong ales and Belgian-style beers are aged and conditioned in bourbon barrels.

What sets us apart from other breweries (besides a different attitude we hope to bring) is that we are located in the heart of Los Angeles. The only dedicated microbrewery open in the city is currently Eagle Rock Brewery. Considering the size of the city (both by geography and population) there’s not much brewing happening locally. Since we are local, we can provide the freshest possible beer and be the most responsive to our customers’ needs.

The opening of Ohana in L.A. is highly anticipated, but the date is not set yet. We will be keeping a close watch on them, especially for those Belgian-style, bourbon barrel brews. Follow Ohana’s blog and Facebook page to keep tabs on their progress and other Los Angeles beer news.

Where?
Ohana Brewing Company
1756 East 23rd Street
Los Angeles, CA 90058

Additional Information
http://ohanabrew.wordpress.com/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ohana-Brewing-Company/
http://twitter.com/ohanabrew