Boomtown Brewing and Indie Brewing Co. to open tasting rooms in downtown L.A.

It’s tough to open a craft brewery in Los Angeles. There’s a lot of red tape to detangle and plenty of bureaucratic hoops to jump through. While both Boomtown Brewing and Indie Brewing Co. have been brewing beer and delivering kegs to local bars for a few months now, neither has had an on-site tasting room where fans could visit and sample the brews. This is set to change as both downtown L.A. craft breweries have been approved for tasting rooms, and construction is underway.

Boomtown Brewery

On the outskirts of Little Tokyo, Boomtown Brewery has been making beer for more than a year while working on permits and construction for its ambitious tasting room space. In that time, the brewers have dialed-in the recipes and introduced a few new beers such as the Mic Czech — a crisp and hoppy Bohemian-style pilsner. Now with the final city sign-offs in hand, founding partner John Rankin says that he hopes to have the Boomtown tasting room open by the end of August. Attached to the brewery’s events space but separated from the main production facility by a narrow and deep patio area, the tasting room space will include bar seating, communal tables, a lounge area, some beer-friendly games (think billiards, shuffleboard and the ubiquitous bean-bag toss) and a stage and DJ area.

In advance of the tasting room opening to the public, Boomtown Brewery is holding weekly events on Friday nights to show off the beers and the private event space. Visit the Facebook page for details on the next open house. 700 Jackson St., L.A., www.boomtownbrew.com.

Indie Brewing Co.

Indie Brewing Co. has been brewing in Boyle Heights between the L.A. River and the 101 Freeway for about eight months, but initially the neighborhood was reluctant to grant the startup a conditional-use permit for an on-site tasting room. “It took a lot of outreach and a lot of education,” says Indie founder Connor Forbes, “but we convinced [the neighborhood council] that we’re not opening a bar.”

The permit was approved in late June, and Indie Brewing is set to launch a crowdfunding campaign to help build out the tasting room space.

Indie’s plans are much simpler than the stylish and tightly designed Boomtown tasting room. Only minimal construction will be required to prepare the space, and Forbes says he wants visitors to feel like they’re inside a brewery. “It’s been great to meet the people drinking our beer in bars and at events,” Forbes says, “but we’re really excited to bring people into the brewery.” There’s an open house event planned for Saturday to give the public its first look inside the brewery. 2318 Sunrise St., L.A., (213) 617-8497, www.indiebrewco.com.

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