Arts District Brewery Co. in Los Angeles.

Arts District Brewery Co. in Los Angeles.
© Shutterstock

The best breweries in Los Angeles

In Los Angeles, you can find fruity brews, whiskey-aged craft beers and light, beach inspired IPAs in breweries across the city.

When travelling to LA, many people expect the city’s must try drink will be wine, given California’s incredible vineyards in Napa and Sonoma County. While this is true, Los Angeles has a thriving craft beer scene and has some of the best breweries in the state, if not the country. One of the most up and coming neighbourhoods for breweries is Torrance, however you can find them almost anywhere from Pasadena to Santa Monica. There are almost 100 breweries to choose from in the city, so it can be hard to narrow down which one to visit, which is why we’ve rounded up some of the best…

Arts District Brewing Co.

Located in the downtown Arts District, the Arts District Brewing Co isn’t just popular with beer drinkers but with locals from across the city. They offer a rotating selection of thirty craft beers, wine and cocktails and their fifteen-barrel brewery can produce over 2,000 barrels per year. Some of the best include the LA IPA made with peach and mango, Memory Lane with jasmine and melon, or the Blueberry Summer Crush for something sweeter.

Drinks are only part of the brewery’s offering, where they also serve a delicious array of food such as Nachos, Double Cheeseburgers and Chicken Quesadillas. If you can’t quite decide which beer to pair with your food, order a sample flight to try a few different flavours.

Monkish Brewing

A Torrance favourite that also has a location in Anaheim, Monkish Brewing is the home of the famous Monkish craft beer. New flavours are often released to sell out orders, so if you want a taste, it might be easier to visit the brewery. Monkish has a huge range of beers, including IPAs, stout and Belgian which come in bottles, cans and on tap and bartenders are always happy to recommend a few to try. Foggy Window, a double IPA, and Going Timeless, a double dry hopped double IPA are popular choices, but a sample tray of four beers is perfect for those who can’t decide.

For dedicated fans, Monkish also sells their own merchandise on the property. Although there’s not quite enough space for a restaurant, there is often a food truck parked outside for the many hungry visitors.

Santa Monica Brew Works

The Santa Monica Brew Works lays claim to being the first and only brewery in the neighbourhood. Inspired by the beach and ocean, they brew a range of tasty beers which you can buy both on tap or in cans from their shop. Inside, they have more than a dozen on tap, including their XPA (Extra Pale Ale), Chile Pepper with habanero and lemon drop, and their PCH Golden Porter made with chocolate nibs and vanilla bean. A beer flight with four samples is only $14, and they even offer a few gluten-free options.

With breweries often comes delicious food, and Santa Monica Brew Works has Emmy Squared Pizza onsite, offering a huge range of pizzas with toppings like banana peppers, Calabrian chilies and burrata, as well as burgers, salads and sides. The Brew Works also has a popular happy hour with lots of specials on draft every Monday – Thursday.

The Brews Hall

With so many breweries, it can be hard to pick just one, which is why The Brews Hall might be the perfect option. A multi-concept experience containing two breweries and four restaurants, visitors can try a whole range of different drinks and dishes in one go. Their drinks range from high quality craft beers, to freshly made cocktails and boozy milkshakes so even for non-beer drinkers, there’s something for every palette. From the brewery, try the Tennessee Barrel Aged Belgian Quadruppel, which was been aged in a whiskey barrel for three years, or Kershaw’s Wicked Curve with a hint of grapefruit.

For cocktails fans, the spiced Horchata and Mudslide Boozy Milkshakes will satisfy a sweet tooth. The diverse food menu fuses Californian classics with Mexican cuisine, with everything from the Baja Shrimp Cocktail to Tahitian Tuna. They also have weekly Taco Tuesdays, happy hours Monday – Fridays and regularly have showings of the biggest American Football games during the season.

India-Jayne Trainor
India-Jayne Trainor
Author
Find out more