

Alosta, Sanctum and Timeless. No, they are not bands that are playing at Coachella this year. They are three of the newest arrivals on the brewing scene in the Los Angeles Metroplex, and not the last by any measure.

Starting alphabetically with Alosta Brewing in Covina. Tucked in the bend of an industrial park (naturally), sits the tasting room for Kickstarter success Alosta. The room has plenty of seating and a view of their cold box and the brewing equipment. The beers were pretty uniform with the IPA being the laggard of the group, taste wise. The stand-outs here were the darker and maltier. With their Oatmeal Stout edging out the Brown Porter in my personal best of the taster tray. With some refinement and recipe tweaking, I think they could have a solid roster of beers and I look forward to trying more of their stouts and porters.

Moving on to nearby Pomona finds us in the Packinghouse. A home to artists and neon and now Sanctum Brewing. I loved the location and the vibe in their tasting room even though the picnic benches were a little on the wobbly side. In contrast to Alosta, where all the beers were of a piece, the beers here varied in quality. Their Belgian Dubbel was really well crafted. Had the phenolic notes and the strength that I expect from this rarely seen style. Their chocolate stout was also very nice if you are more a fan of the milk chocolate (which I am). On the downside the IPA and the British Mild both came off as wort-ish and a bit on the undercooked side. But again, that may just be due to inexperience with the larger scale of brewing and fine-tuning first batches.

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