Red Car Brewery

Last night after work, I had to meet a friend that I’m consulting on some website work with.  While looking for a nearby place for lunch earlier in the day, I stumbled across the Red Car Brewery, so I suggested we meet up there.  I hadn’t even heard of this brewery…despite looking for local breweries a few times in the course of living in LA.

I arrived a few minutes before my friend and went ahead and ordered their sampler of the 5 beers currently on tap.  I’ll go over my brief notes on each of them below.

Electra Lite: 4.42%.  Very light, very lightly hopped.  Very clean tasting.  Good for a warm summer day.

Winsome Wheat: 5.74%.  Nice light bodied wheat beer.  Lightly hopped.

South Bay IPA:  9.04%.  Nicely hopped.  High alcohol level is largely hidden.  Probably the best LA-area IPA I’ve had.

Big Red Ale: 5.74%.  Nice malt forward beer.  Very clean tasting (only slight aftertaste…which is largely pleasant).

Pumpkinhead Ale:  4.42%.  Sweet, malt forward ale.  Pumpkin flavor hidden by the maltiness.  Doesn’t taste artificial, like many of the Pumpkin ales on the market.  They didn’t have a description of the ingredients, but my guess is it includes real pumpkin and very little “pumpkin pie” spices if any.

All in all, I was pleasantly surprised by the beers.  It would be a trek from LA proper…but since I work nearby, it could end up being a nice happy hour location.