Today we’d like to introduce you to Brian Hand. Them and their team share their story with us below:
Hand-Brewed Beer brewed its first commercial batch of beer on October 16/17, 2014. In these past eight years, we’ve opened a tasting room, opened a pizza kitchen, upgraded brewhouses and are still open on this side of the pandemic.
Longtime friends Brian Hand, Anthony Castaneda, and William Caplenor began brewing beer in college as a libation-fueled hobby with no ambitions of creating a business. Fast forward many years later, a new approach to their brewing practices started to produce a much higher quality of homebrew. Friends and strangers alike would encourage pursuit of a business plan and eventually the “groundbreaking” of a commercial brewery.
Eight years ago, the local building and government agencies were not as easily navigable as they might be today. LADBS could only see breweries as all being on the same level as the looming AB in Van Nuys. With our shoestring budget, we pressed forward to the quickest path of beginning production: by foregoing a tasting room we were able to skip the lengthy and very costly CUP (CUB in alcohol) process that would have allowed a tasting room at the get-go, but would have delayed production by nearly a year plus.
A few years later we tackled the process and officially opened our tasting room to the public!
In 2021, partially through pandemic-related grants, we were able to open a small pizza kitchen on-site. The kitchen, known in govt parlance: “a bona fide eatery,” unlocked certain features of our Type-23 Small Beer Manufacturer license and now we are allowed to serve guest beers, wines and ciders. With expanded food menu items like sandwiches, salad, nachos, etc… we have been able to make a space for all to enjoy friends, family, good eats, and great local beer.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The aforementioned navigation of a burgeoning breweries back in 2013/2014 were a large challenge. From various entities contradicting each other to misunderstanding what it was we were trying to create, and a fear from potential landlords that we were going to be doing some illegal distilling and risk blowing up the building!
Obviously, the pandemic was rough, we were shuttered for 4 months before the first restricted allowance of “dine-in” guests. Then shuttered again, and reopened, and dealt with the ever-changing rules of managing a safe space during a pandemic.
As you know, we’re big fans of Hand-Brewed Beer, LLC. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Small craft brewery that recently upgraded to a 10-barrel brewhouse.
Our flagship beers include:
Honey Hand Blonde Ale: crowd-pleasing blonde ale that is refreshing with a hint of honey-like sweetness. (no actual honey!)
War Eagle Lager: Crisp and crushable lager.
Isotope IPA: Classic west coast IPA that is a bit piney and citrusy.
Deez Nuts Brown Ale: A nutty roasted and aggressive American brown ale.
Our kitchen makes delicious pizza that can rival many restaurants and pizza joints alike.
Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
People can help spread the word about this 8-year “hidden gem.” We’ve never had the luck of getting press coverage, and our advertising budget is pretty low, so we have always relied on word-of-mouth support from our customer base to bring in new faces. Being a family-friendly place means that we can include everyone in having a great time at a local business.
We love to work with different charitable organizations that we believe are doing great work.
We also have collaborated with various artists and local craft makers for workshops, artist bazars and other fun events.
We also have annual club memberships like our Stoney Pints Mug Club and our Devil’s Slide Growler Club that offer tremendous benefits to our members and provide Hand-Brewed Beer with much-needed revenue boosts.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.handbrewedbeer.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/handbrewedbeer/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/handbrewedbeer
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/hand-brewed-beer-los-angeles
Image Credits
· KAT HANEGRAAF PHOTOGRAPHY · Hand-Brewed Beer, LLC
