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Best Breweries By Neighborhood In Los Angeles

610 beer angel-city-brewery-howard-wise-small
(credit: Angel City Brewery)

(credit: Angel City Brewery)

All around Los Angeles, microbreweries are crafting some stellar beers that are shaking things up. What is the best spot in each of LA's neighborhood's for beer? We've rounded them up just for you.

Torrance
Smog City - verified
(credit: Smog City Brewery)

Smog City
1901 Del Amo Blvd.
Torrance, CA 90501
(310) 320-7664
www.smogcitybrewing.com

Smog City Brewing Co. offers beers ranging from pilsners to porters flowing from twenty taps. A lively South Bay spot with comfortable picnic style tables and bar, this craft brewery's Groundwork Coffee Porter took gold at the 2012 Great American Beerfest. Aged on local, fair trade ground coffee, it matches chocolate and roasted malt flavors for a superior taste. Other top brews include golden ale L.A. Saison, and Saber Tooth Squirrel, a hoppy brew with a sweet caramel malt.

Long Beach
Brewing beer beechwood
(Credit: Beachwood Brewing)

Beachwood Brewing
210 E. 3rd St.
Long Beach, CA 90802
(562) 436-4020
www.beachwoodbbq.com

Named brew pub of the year by the Great American Beer Festival, Beachwood Brewing is the spot for convivial atmosphere, lip smacking BBQ-related bar food, and house beers on tap including what are arguably some of the top IPAs in the LA area. For a crisp Berliner Weisse, try the Tart Simpson, while the brewery's Foam Top puts a new and fresh spin on cream ale.

Eagle Rock
CBS Beer Eagle Rock Brewery
(Credit: Eagle Rock Brewery)

Eagle Rock Brewery
3056 Roswell St.
Los Angeles, CA 90065
(323) 257-7866
www.eaglerockbrewery.com

Family owned and operated, Eagle Rock Brewery sports an open, industrial chic tap room that pours everything from chocolate and coffee rich Solidarity Black Mild Ale, to Manifesto Wit Bier with a floral infusion of rose petals added to the citrus notes in this white ale. This is the brewery that also crafts the popular - and well named - Populist IPA. Unique beers, food trucks, and plenty of flavor are the keynotes of one of the earliest microbreweries to open in LA.

Van Nuys
CBS Beer macleod
(credit: MacLeod)

Macleod
14741 Calvert St
Van Nuys, CA 91411
(818) 631-1963
www.macleodale.com

Opened in 2014, MacLeod Ale Brewing is all about English-style ale. Brewmaster Andy Black has used traditional beer crafting elements like ordinary bitters, small stouts, and classic Scottish ales to shape a trend for SoCal beer aficionados. Note that many brews here have a low ABV, meaning imbibers can enjoy more than one pint while playing darts and listening to bagpipe music in this homey taproom.

Glendale
CBS beer Godlen road
(credit: Golden Road)

Golden Road Brewing
5410 W San Fernando Rd
Los Angeles, CA 90039
(213) 542-6039
www.goldenroad.la

A tap room with a juke box? Yes, Golden Road Brewing has the music and the industrial and open setting that most craft breweries sport. Point the Way IPA is a top popular offering here, offering notes of hoppiness, with some citrus, pine, and tropical notes. Long beloved as a stellar local microbrewing institution, fans are a little bit edgy about Anheuser Busch acquiring this brewery. Has craft beer gone mainstream? Enjoy the non-corporate tasting room while you can.

Agoura Hills
ladyface
(credit: Raquel A./yelp)

Ladyface Ale Companie
29281 Agoura Rd.
Agoura Hills, CA 91301
(818) 477-4566
www.ladyfaceale.com

Homebrewers Cyrena Nouzille and brewmaster David Griffiths both loved Belgian beers when they paired up to create this comfortable and relaxing spot, and it shows. Ladyface Ale Companie in Agoura Hills is home to Belgian ales from a sessionable blonde to traditional Dérailleur bière de garde, and best seller Ladyface IPA. They each pay homage to the artisan brewing tradition of Belgium while using locally sourced ingredients. This microbrewery is also home to chef-created seasonal small plates that include a French onion soup whose broth is delicious.

Inglewood
CBS Beer Three Weavers
(credit: Three Weavers)

Three Weavers Brewing Company
1031 W Manchester Blvd
Inglewood, CA 90301
(310) 400-5830
www.threeweavers.la

A brewery in Inglewood? Yes indeed, Three Weavers Brewing Company was embraced by and thrives in this community, promoting local gatherings and a commitment to customers and locally-based employees. Each brew offered highlights a little something about the neighborhood, such as Seafarer Kolsch, a lighter everyday beer directed at busy blue collar workers, and Midnight Flight Imperial Stout inspired by brewery neighbor, LAX.

Downtown LA
Angel City Brewery beer
(Credit: Angel City Brewery)

Angel City Brewery
216 S Alameda St
Los Angeles, California
(213) 622-1261
www.angelcitybrewery.com

Located in the heart of the Arts District, Angel City Brewery is the only brewery located in downtown LA, and the only one in town to offer a Vinyasa Flow Yoga every Sunday morning - along with a run and a beer. This is a destination hang out, the brewery where eventually, everyone will know your name. They also offer a free annual New Year's Eve bash, but don't wait 'til the next holiday to try the brewery's signature IPA. The hoppy IPA is copper-colored, with notes of honey and six different hops. Social IPA is a lighter, sessionable ale with a citrus finish; The Eureka, a California-Style white ale redolent of orange peel, coriander, and citrus.

Pasadena
craftsmanbar and kitchen
(credit: Eriko P./Yelp)

Craftsman Brewing Co.
1270 Lincoln Ave
Pasadena, CA 91103
(626) 296-2537
www.craftsmanbrewing.com

Craftsman Brewing Company and brewer Mark Jilg have been brewing craft beer before many other microbreweries were more than an imaginary whiff of hops. Yet the place remains sans-tasting room. Craftsman fans can quaff a cold one at Highland Park's Maximiliano restaurant, known for pizza and pasta in a casual but trendy setting. This is the spot to taste the brewery's signature 1903 Lager, a beer whose bitter hops are balanced by sweet herbal notes and a grain-rich malt.

Genie Davis is a multi-published journalist, novelist, and screenwriter. She lives near the beach in Los Angeles. See more on: CBSLA | eco-exist.com | geniedavis.com | DiversionsLA | Twitter.
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