When Hawthorne’s first craft brewery quietly opened its doors within walking distance of rapidly growing rocket maker SpaceX, it was quickly adopted by thirsty employees as their after-work watering hole.

With a SpaceX banner hanging from the brewery’s 24-foot-high rafters, Los Angeles Aleworks already serves not one, but two brews named after SpaceX: a low-alcohol session India Pale Ale and a Full Thrust double IPA with an alcohol content that matches the name.

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The brewery, which opened a couple of weeks ago, even boasts a custom-built spacious conference room complete with a shuffleboard table that will eventually feature a half-dozen tap handles geared for private functions, and even team building.

“There’s a huge void of breweries in Hawthorne and you have this huge high-tech business sector — including SpaceX, Tesla, some of the ancillary companies — so we knew there was a built-in consumer base with those industries,” said Andrew Fowler, one of three managing partners involved in the endeavor.

Not surprisingly, the SpaceX workforce — an affluent and educated group that also reflects the craft brewery demographic — is equally as enthusiastic about its new neighbor.

“It’s perfect,” said Hermosa Beach resident Ruben Sanchez, as he quaffed a cold one with a colleague. “It’s nice to have somewhere super close to work where you can come with your co-workers after.”

A grand opening weekend is scheduled to begin Thursday at the brewery, 12918 Cerise Ave., Hawthorne.

Hawthorne evolving

SpaceX is rapidly changing the face of Hawthorne north of El Segundo Boulevard, snatching up industrial land and buildings.

To the south of the major east-west thoroughfare, formerly dilapidated industrial buildings are being reborn, much like the handsome 9,600-square-foot brick structure built in 1952 by Northrop Grumman that now houses LA Aleworks.

A complex of studios that will eventually provide room for 100 different artists of various stripes is also under construction nearby, bringing a new sense of community and creativity to the enclave.

“A lot of people are moving into the neighborhood,” Fowler said.

The brewery also includes an enclosed private parking lot with a large outdoor patio that a food truck — or three — could pull up to.

LA Aleworks may appear to have come together effortlessly with perfect timing, but it actually took years of behind-the-scenes work before partners Fowler, Jeff Szafarski and head brewer Kip Barnes — who were acquainted with each other as members of Culver City homebrew club Pacific Gravity — opened their doors.

Barnes has brewed commercially since 2009, borrowing the equipment of a downtown Los Angeles brewery — hence the name LA Aleworks, despite the Hawthorne location.

New brews

Much in the style of Torrance’s Smog City, LA Aleworks sees itself as an experimental brewery offering small batches of beer from a modest 10-barrel system in a wide variety of styles it will sell from its two-dozen taps.

“I like the fact we’re able to talk to people who have fruit growing in their backyard and we can go harvest it,” Barnes said, adding that he’d spent two hours earlier that day peeling 120 pounds of lemons that will become an ingredient in a brew.

Brews include a California Cowboy lager, designed to appeal to Joe Sixpack-types, and a coffee porter dubbed Buttress of Windsor.

Moreover, the brewery is small — and community-minded enough — to solicit beer style ideas from customers and then produce them.

In that vein, an oatmeal stout will soon be available.

“Customer feedback is very important to us,” Szafarski said. “We have a lot of beers on tap that give people a reason to come back tomorrow and not six months from now.”