Craft beer, Inglewood, Los Angeles

It wouldn’t be too surprising, it hasn’t made much noise – until now. One of the driving forces behind the changes being made out here, are some women who love to brew beer and create a meeting place where everyone is welcome. We ventured off to the city which is on a lot of beer nerds’ lips.

Words and photo by Jonas Larsson

For a few years it has been fermenting away out in an old industrial warehouse which has taken on a new life. It’s not just a brewery—it’s grown to be a meeting place for the locals, where the place itself has taken on a special, intimate feeling. Where Inglewood and the people are at the center. This is how you want it to be, welcome to Three Weavers. Because a brewery should really be a lot more than just a place to brew beer.

Lynne Weaver, our founder, choose Inglewood for the site for the brewery because it is a part of Los Angeles that is undergoing change, the kind of change that one wants to be a part of and to contribute to, says Jesse Kercheval who shows me around Three Weavers. Jesse lives in LA and his daytime job is with CANarchy, which Three Weavers is a part of. Through CANarchy, craft breweries who want to expand and challenge the big guys are able to join forces and help each other out. But, and this is an important note here, they do not have to compromise their independence or methods when it comes to brewing beer.

Vegan Sandwich and Craft Beer

Things are happening in Inglewood in the coming years. The city is underway with the construction of SoFi Stadium which will become the new home turf for the NFL teams, the Los Angeles Rams and the Los Angeles Chargers. The city will see in increase in more visitors and tourists, more than ever before, and naturally Three Weavers will be a part of it. At the same time, with this influx of newness, one would like to do something for those who already live here.

Have you eaten lunch? Jesse’s question interrupts my day dream and comes off more as an order. I am so hungry I can barely concentrate on what he is saying.

There is an insanely good vegan/Cuban sandwich shop right next to the brewery, they make a crazy yummy vegan Cuban sandwich, and you won’t even notice that it isn’t meat. It’s run by a mom and daughter and they are so down to earth and charming, he says.

”You had me at lunch” I think to myself. Out of the mouth comes, “Sounds absolutely fantastic”. We get our sandwiches from the lovely mother and daughter duo, and head back on over to Three Weavers to sit ourselves down in the tasting room bar. Jesse pours up a couple Seafarer Kölsch brews and he was so right, this sandwich is to die for. I have always been skeptical with vegan/vegetarian imitations of meat, but if it can be pulled off like this, then call me a believer! It hits the spot, paired excellently with a cold Kölsch, a classic beer style that always pairs well with food.

The Brewery

Three Weavers tasting room is the hearth of the brewery, the walls are lined with art created by local artists. Locals meander on in to hang in the bar, or enjoy themselves under the glow of lanterns in the beer garden. It’s like a big playground where everyone is welcome. We continue to taste our way through the beers. I go for one of the most popular in their standard selection, Expatriate, a West Coast IPA. It is a beautiful, well-balanced IPA with nice floral notes and a fresh citrus touch. The right IPA taste without a hop bomb in the mouth. I could drink a lot of these. Jesse suggests that we should go take a look inside the brewery, back to work for this guy, the beers can wait.

Kyler Sturtz, one of the brewers looks at a cask aged beer. I take the opportunity to ask him some brewing tips.

– Whats the most important aspect of making beer?

– There are a lot of important things, cleanliness is paramount, but when it comes to ingredients it is impossible to understate the importance of fresh hops. That is why it can be hard to find good American IPAs in Europe, it takes a while to import the hops and by the time they wind up in the process, they aren’t always the most fresh.

The most important thing for me is the floor, chimes in Jesse. It sounds a bit strange in my ears, but he explains that there is such wear and tear in this industry, that if one hasn’t built a proper floor, then problems will certainly arise. I take away that there is a lot of knowledge and experience that must be had to run a brewery. This explains the 30 people who work at and run Three Weavers.

Jesse shows me the beer kegs made of plastic, used for beers heading for export. We are in California and it shows. Not just in this case of recyclable beer kegs, or the vegan food, but in the whole sustainable approach of this brewery.

Experienced Brew Master

Three Weavers is a relatively young brewery. It started in 2013 by Lynne Weaver who named it after her three daughters, Three Weavers! Lynne who was always a dedicated home brewer, wanted to take the step and break out in the craft brewing industry. To do this she needed a capable and talented brew master that understood her ideas and concept, and who could also brew beer. When she found Alexandra Nowell, all the pieces came together.

Brew master Alexandra Nowell was no greenhorn when she hopped on the Weavers train in 2014. From the beginning she learned from the legendary craft beer pioneers at Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, which started in Chico way back in 1979. She’s been navigating the waters of the craft beer world for many years. When Lynne called her up and invited her out to Inglewood to be a part of creating a new brewery, where she herself could decide the developments and production of her own beers, the answer was a resounding yes.

There was a gap in the Southern Californian market when Golden Road Brewing got bought up by one of the big breweries, pulled a Robert Johnson and sold its soul to the devil as some say. Given up to reality and realized that it just wasn’t going to work anymore, say others. It was judgement day for those who still dreamed that there was room for a bigger, but independent, brewer in these parts.

In the same moment that Nowell jumped on board the train, Three Weavers began their journey. The ambition to be bigger has always been there, but self-reliance is crucial for Three Weavers. The opportunity to do so, to join forces with other breweries without selling out their souls in order to grow, came in the form of CANarchy. CANarchy is a cooperation comprised of independent breweries spread out across the whole country. Amongst its ranks you can count the Colorado grown Oskar Blues and the Tampa based Cigar City. The breweries hold on to their philosophy, their methods, and their freedom, all the while helping each other with distribution and other -battles that are needed to stand up to the big guys. Cockiness, individuality, and forever uncompromising, all canned up. 

Not to mention they organize the beer, music, and outdoors festival, “Burning Can”. It takes place in May, in Lyons, Colorado and in August in North Carolina (burningcancolorado.com). The lanterns out in the garden light up, the buzz and commotion swells. All the locals head on in to Three Weavers to cap off the day. Every self-respecting city needs meeting places like this. I round off my visit with a dessert beer, Midnight Flight, a beasty Imperial Stout, big in flavor and dark in the glass, much like the Californian sky that has transformed since I stepped through the doors here. The flavor packed beer goes down smooth, I drink slowly. Got to enjoy every sip, and be mindful of the 9.5% ABV we are dealing with here.  

Visit Three Weavers website.