The garden atop Angel City Brewery
Photo: Ray Narkevicius
Source: www.laweekly.com
by SEAN J. MILLER, LA Weekly, January 7, 2014
Angel City Brewery is taking the farm-to-table concept to new heights with a rooftop hops garden whose harvest has yielded a unique brew only available in downtown L.A.
The craft brewery’s urban garden is a work in progress, but Dieter Foerstner, Angel City’s brewmaster, expects that by next fall patrons at the Angel City’s public house will be able to enjoy its (copyrighted) “rooftop” brew.
“We’ve played around with some cask beers — beers we’ve already had brewed — and we’ll pitch fresh hops into a cask, let it condition for a week or so and then turn around and sell them traditional-style,” Foerstner says. “By using those fresh hops, you get this really beautiful, almost resinous aroma and really great hops flavor.”
Some breweries use fresh hops in “harvest style” or “wet hop” beers, but those operations are generally located in rural areas, close to the source. For an urban brewery — particularly one located in the country’s second biggest city — growing your own is unique.