San Pedro, CA — September 2016 marks a half-year for Brouwerij West at its new production craft brewery and Tasting Room in the San Pedro neighborhood of Los Angeles. After launching in February with an opening party attended by nearly 5,000, the last six months have seen a number of exciting events, several bottle releases, the start of distribution, and the development of a number of new beers, including Popfuji, an unfiltered pilsner that has become a fan favorite.
Open five days a week (Wednesday – Sunday), the former Navy warehouse space is filled each day with craft beer fanatics and casual fans alike, enjoying the 8,000 square foot Tasting Room and event space. Large rolling warehouse doors slide open to let natural light shine in, bringing the coastal area’s Mediterranean-like atmosphere inside. During the day, the refinished original warehouse floors reflect the vibrant sun that rakes across the space, and in the evening, strings of patio lights crisscrossing the room provide a warming glow for visitors to enjoy the beers in.
With an additional 17,000 square feet of dedicated outdoor space, the brewery is a perfect venue for events of up to 5,000 people (250 seated). This summer Brouwerij West put on a monthly series of Popfuji concerts, to celebrate the launch of their new unfiltered pilsner and promote the local music scene. These events, which featured five to seven bands and food trucks each month, brought an average of 2,000 attendees to the brewery, showcasing the San Pedro area to Angelinos and visitors alike.
As an environmentally-conscious brewery, Brouwerij West is also doing its part to protect the planet. The property is completely solar-powered; the panels covering the roofs generate 1.2 MW of electricity, far more than is used on-site. Brouwerij West’s co-managers Brian Mercer and Dave Holop also installed a Meura mash filter system (part of a Wisconsin-built AEGIR brewhouse), a century-old Belgian technology that uses far less water than typical brewing systems. With these technologies in place, Brouwerij West is one of the greenest small breweries currently operating.
“During our first six months of operation, we’ve received so much love and support from my hometown of San Pedro and beyond with what we are doing here at Brouwerij West,” says Founder and Brewmaster, Brian Mercer. “It’s awesome to see people come into the space we’ve developed with their families and pets and have a good time and enjoy the beers brewed right here.”
Dave Holop, President and Chief Financial Officer, echoes Mercer’s sentiments. “San Pedro is a small, family-oriented microcosm of LA with its own rich history. We have the marina across the street, a beautiful beach around the corner and a historical downtown core with great storefronts. And we’re excited for what is to come with our neighbors AltaSea and the new San Pedro Public Market.”
Founded in 2010 by brewmaster Brian Mercer, Brouwerij West’s beers have been sold throughout the United States and in six additional countries. Since the company’s new brewery opened at the beginning of the year, all production has moved in-house and recipes have been honed on the new systems. The brewery has really focused on quality. As we head into the latter part of 2016, Brouwerij West is ramping up distribution of its new and improved offerings, both on draft and in bottles. California distribution will be handled by Lime Ventures out of Northern California. Shelton Brothers, known for their outstanding portfolio of imported and small batch beers and their annual world-renowned craft beer festival, will be handling distribution throughout much of the U.S. .
Brouwerij West’s first offerings include kegs and 750ml green-glass, bottle-conditioned bottles of the following: Dog Ate My Homework (7% ABV), the popular blackberry saison; Tripel (9 % ABV), the classic strong golden Belgian style; Saison (6% ABV), an evolving house saison; and Brilliant But Lazy (4% ABV), a petit saison brewed with raw barley and raw wheat from Skagit Valley, Washington.
The brewery tasting room and courtyard are open: Wednesday – Thursday, 4:00pm – 9:00pm; Friday, 3:00pm – 10:00pm; Saturday, noon – 10:00pm and Sunday, noon – 8:00pm, with food trucks providing dining options each day. Follow Brouwerij West on social media for updates on beer releases, events and more: Facebook.com/BrouwerijWest. Instagram & Twitter: @brouwerijwest.
About Brouwerij West
Brouwerij West is a unique craft brewery and venue located in the San Pedro neighborhood of Los Angeles. The company was founded in 2010 by talented brewer Brian Mercer and is now led by Mercer and his partner Dave Holop. Brouwerij West’s new home opened in February 2016 in a former Port Warehouse originally built by the U.S. Navy during World War II. Brouwerij West’s operation encompasses 26,000 sq. ft. of the Crafted at the Port of Los Angeles facility, including 8,000 sq. ft. devoted to visitor use for its Tasting Room and events, as well as a 17,000 sq. ft. outdoor courtyard / beer garden. Brouwerij West brews its beers using traditional ingredients and methods mixed with creative inspiration to produce its own take on classic Belgian-style ales. Brouwerij West’s new facility is covered with solar panels and generates more electricity than it uses, and its mash filter-based brewery uses 30% less water than traditional breweries.
About San Pedro and the Los Angeles Waterfront
The Los Angeles Waterfront district and the LA neighborhood of San Pedro are currently going through a major revitalization effort lead by the Port of Los Angeles and public and private developers. Part of this plan includes the complex which Brouwerij West is a part of, CRAFTED at the Port of Los Angeles, whose first phase is a large-scale permanent craft marketplace home to hundreds of individual craft-artists, designers, and artisanal food makers that is currently open Friday-Sunday (learn more at craftedportla.com). The classic Ports O’ Call Village will also be transforming in the coming years to become the San Pedro Public Market (more info at yourlawaterfront.com), and the development of AltaSea, a 35-acre campus devoted to ocean-based education and businesses (altasea.org) is underway. For more information, visit http://www.lawaterfront.org/.
An ethnically diverse neighborhood on the water, San Pedro is home to over 80,000 residents, including the largest community of Italian-American residents in Southern California, as well as rich and storied Croatian and Norwegian communities.