USA, CA: Angel City Brewery relaunches under new ownership

Downtown L.A.'s Angel City Brewery is under new ownership, and their very first test beer, a Belgian-style white ale dubbed Test Beer B, debuted last weekend, Blogdowntown.com reported on June, 11.

Angel City is keeping its name, but nearly everything else will change under new owner Alan Newman - a veteran beer businessman whose company Alchemy and Science took over the DTLA spot in January.

"I was looking to get back in the beer business and at the top of my list was Los Angeles," said Newman.

The craft beer scene in L.A. is still highly underdeveloped in terms of the lack of local breweries, Newman said, and the breweries that do exist aren't competition, but "highly complementary". He explained that the more people get used to drinking craft beer, the more they will seek out that quality and that will improve the industry as a whole.

Newman, together with new Bremaster Dieter Foerstner, has just released the new Angel City's first beer, which is being called Test Beer B until they receive feedback on the recipe and give it an official name. For now, it's served on draft at a few DTLA spots including Spitz and Weiland Brewery.

Brewmaster Foerstner came to L.A. from Arizona where he worked as the Head Brewmaster for Gordon Biersch.

“I’m thrilled to join the brewing community in this city,” he said in a statement. “There is a great collection of people who are passionate about making and drinking excellent beer in LA, and there is so much more we can do."

Newman said these plans include experimenting with India Pale Ales (IPAs) and sour beers, and eventually selling their brews in bottles.

"I hate to say this but, I don't think there's anything new left in brewing," Newman said, clarifying that while many flavor combinations may have been exhausted, there are a lot of different ways to brew beer - and he plans on experimenting with them.

"We'll do our own thing," Newman said, which includes using some old whiskey barrels they have at the brewery for beer production.

He is also applying for the necessary permits so that the brewery can host tours, have a tasting room, serve up growlers and be officially open to the public.

Angel City Brewery was founded by Michael Bowe in 1997 and moved to Downtown L.A. in 2010. It was acquired in 2011 by Newman and his company.

15 June, 2012