I’ve recently been perusing the blogs about Eagle Rock Brewery and can’t express my gratitude for the amount of great press and positive reviews about our beers that we’ve had since starting this business venture. It’s been a very long road and we are ecstatic that the silver lining in the cloud that’s been hovering over this project is now very real. One thing that has struck me as very amusing though is the negativity that some people seem to express in the name of the business… After all this time of fighting to get Los Angeles on the map as a proper beer city, it seems trivial that there is so much stink about the name. We hadn’t paid it much mind in the past, but as it has since generated some pretty heated debates, here’s the skinny…
The story? When this brewery was but a twinkle in Jer’s eye, I had decided that I wanted to help him realize his dream of brewing on a professional level. I initiated the process by getting a DBA (Doing Business As) license for Eagle Rock Brewery. Some of the original ideas while brainstorming included having a local landmark used in our logo artwork. The actual eagle rock itself is an historic-cultural monument that represents NE Los Angeles, where in my humble opinion, the movement toward putting Los Angeles on the beer map has really taken hold. This rock happens to overlook the Eagle Rock neighborhood that is it’s namesake. That being said, this monument to the region struck me as an appropriate homage to the local community (in it’s entirety) and we dove into the process which has since been painstakingly documented in this blog. Yes, this entire process has been about bringing together a community around a common interest… good beer.
I suppose that you can’t please everyone, but it saddens me to see how much displeasure the name of the brewery can bring to people. After all, aren’t we all in it for the greater good of making Los Angeles a beer destination? With all the talk about being proud about Glassell Park and making it a better community, it seems like such debate over the name just perpetuates the turf-wars that cause the problems that had given GP such a bad reputation in the first place. So don’t hate, can’t we just all get along and have a beer?
Eagle Rock Brewery 
here, here!
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Thanks for finally doing some splainin.
well now that makes sense. and that’s all people wanted to know. i did find it very odd that your name was eagle rock brewery when you don’t reside in eagle rock, but what was more annoying was your previous annoyance that people found it odd! ha! so now that that’s out of the way…let’s have some beer!
Right on! Beer for all and all for beer!
Angel City Brewery is in Torrence, isn’t it?
Don’t sweat the details. Good beer will silence any critics (especially about something this inane). Just thank God you didn’t call it “Eastside Brewery”!
Glad to hear your appreciation for the local and community building, along with crafting excellent ales. Cheers to that! Thanks for all of your hard work to make your brewery a reality in LA!
Don’t sweat it. For some reason people esp on the internet have more time to show their hate than their love. I’ve lived in Glassell Park for 15 years and to anyone living west of Vermont, I’ll say I live in Eagle Rock or the more elaborate “in Glassell Park which is between Eagle Rock and Atwater”.
Now thanks to Verdugo Bar I can just say; “I live two blocks up the hill from Verdugo bar”. Maybe some day you’ll be so famous that I can say; “I live 8 blocks from the Eagle Rock Brewery 🙂
Welcome to the neighborhood and best of luck with your business. I also appreciated the blow by blow account of the bureaucratic battles on your blog.
I agree with Marino – people on the internet are going to find things to whine and be stupid about! I think it’s great that you are a new business in the area! Rock on Eagle Rock Brewery!!!!
Didn’t realize that Glassell Park has such a “bad reputation”. Is that because it has many Hispanic households? It does appear that you are using the Eagle Rock name because Eagle Rock has become in and trendy. How about helping Glassell Park’s “reputation” by naming your brewery after the area that it’s actually in. Not after it’s cool neighbor. Not really that impressed with your beer yet aswell maybe that will improve with practice.
My Dad and I just finished enjoying Solidarity at Oinkster. I was very pleased to find a craft beer that wasn’t a hopfest. I can’t wait to try the other varieties. Cheers!
A rose by any other name …
Alison. Alison. Alison. As a resident of GP, and a person who actually READ ERB’s post (which it seems you did NOT) – I can only roll my eyes at you. Come on, really??
Now for everyone else, please, let the drinking commence!
Yes I read it, just not buying it.
(mostly to Alison)
I’ve been a Beer Advocate (both in nature and in name, see http://www.beeradvocate.com) for quite a few years. The beers at ERB that have come out to date are not only first offerings, but not meant to be over-the-top efforts. They, in fact, are solid examples of what their styles are supposed to be. With time, their variety of style will increase, and the quality will only continue to improve upon what is already quite enjoyable.
I’m also a two-year resident of Glassell Park, and a long-time supporter of NELA, long before moving to the area. And I’ve known Jeremy and Steve for nearly two years now as well. I can assure everyone that is complaining and whining about the name that they are doing so without cause. I was assured of the name of the brewery BEFORE THERE WAS A LOCATION. I think rather than worrying about the name, people should be concentrating on the beer, and acknowledging that there is a great beer movement underway in NELA, and that NELA is in fact the heart of better beer advocacy in Los Angeles.
Cheers all
I agree with Scott here. I too have known Jeremy for quite some time now, I remember trying his “test batches” (homebrews) and thinking “you should bottle this!”
props to the ERB crew.
CarloS (or Krunk as Scott knows me)
i agree with others. i’ve been waiting for this post for months. it never made ANY sense before, and now it does. reppin’ all of the NELA, nice.
maybe you can dedicate a beer to each of the communities therein, including glassell park
I dont live in LA,I live in GA.We have a large micro here named sweetwater after a creek here.The brewery is 20 miles from this creek.They are in an industrial park.We had another brewery named “dogwood “and guess what no dogwood tree was at the brewery.Congrats to you EAGLE ROCK for getting your brewery up and running.I enjoyed following it from start to finish thanks and good luck.
I empathize with Alison, and agree that this explanation is hollow.
I think maybe Glassell got a negative rep during the white flight days, and is kind of invisible compared to the much better known Eagle Rock. Now, I guess that Eagle Rock has come hipster cachet. (I really don’t know.) So, it looks like there’s no “Glassell Park pride” in naming it for another part of the city.
I can totally understand this. People identify with places, especially if they’ve been there a long time, and especially their entire lives. To not identify with the place seems, almost like a kind of treason.
It’s pretty parochial — but it’s totally common. Look at how people are loyal to sports teams. It’s not like these people have any stake in a specific team. They don’t own it. In the case of football, many loyal fans can’t even afford to watch the game in person, because tickets are so expensive. They just like having a collective identity, even if it’s one they’re stuck with due to factors out of their control.
And if people have negative things to say about a team, whether it’s the Cubs or the Raiders or even the Clippers… it makes some fans more loyal and possessive.
In the past, parts of Glassell have been parts basically ignored by the city, or when it’s not ignored, looked at negatively. I’m sure people living there didn’t like that, and developed a stronger sense of defensiveness to deal with the prejudice.
I’m from an area with a lot of immigrants, and is presently getting some hate/condescension from the media in the wealthier parts of the region. It’s adjacent to another city that’s heavily Latino, which is also getting some sh-t talking from people because the city govt’s got some issues. It makes me feel defensive – even though I no longer live there (in fact, I’ve lived where the hate’s originating).