These photos were taken Wednesday evening at Sage Regenerative Kitchen, home of Sage Brewing, in the Echo Park area of Los Angeles. It was my first visit to Sage Brewing, and coincidentally they were holding a 4th of July pre-party for people in the craft beer industry. To be honest, I was pretty much the outsider there as evidenced by fact that the first person that recognized me, John Garcia of Creature Comforts, asking me what the heck I was doing out there.

To be honest, it was a pretty legitimate question as finding me in Los Angeles on a Wednesday evening is probably as rare as finding a unicorn; but I am glad I made the drive.

Sage Brewing never hit my radar until the end of April when I received an email informing me that Sage Vegan Bistro had changed their name/format from Sage Vegan Bistro to Sage Regenerative Kitchen, which long story short, meant that they were not going to be Vegan anymore. I really had no idea why I was getting this email, but when I asked I discovered that they were not just a restaurant, but they brewed beer there too. I had no choice; I had to dig deeper.

Apparently, when Sage Vegan decided that it did not make financial sense to continue the Vegan menu, a bunch of Vegans, that never visited the location, decided that they had to protest the change to the menu that now included what looked like some very tasty meat.

Yeah, I am not easily “triggered” but non-customers trying to force their beliefs on others is a great way to do that. Those of you that follow me on social media might have wondered why I started posting stuff that was pro-meat/anti-vegan, now you know.

Anyway, I caught the attention (and appreciation) of Sage and they made it clear that I was welcome to visit them at any time. When they had their industry party on Wednesday, I made it a point to head out.
So, I did not go out there looking to interrupt some protesters, but I would not have hated it if that opportunity crossed my path.

When I arrived I had the opportunity to meet Kim, the brewer for Sage Brewing, and she gladly took me on a tour of their brewhouse.

The brewhouse is a bi-level brewhouse, meaning that the first floor is where the magic happens, but the fermenters are below in the “basement.” They have a four bbl brewing system, with (as I recall) six 8 bbl fermenters down below. These are divided between the beers they brew as well as their kombucha and seltzers. I found my happy spot with their Fresh Coast IPA, but they also offered a lager, pilsner, farmhouse ale, hazy IPA and stout to accompany their kombucha and seltzer.

While they do offer food, I had already eaten earlier, so did not partake. I will say that a plate passed by me and it smelled amazing. Maybe I will try food the next time.

Sage Brewing and Sage Regenerative Kitchen is located at 1700 W. Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles. They are open seven days a week, and apparently offer food to go as well as 4-paks of their beer. For those wondering about the vegan version of the restaurant, they still offer plenty of vegan options; in fact, I think every dessert I saw was vegan. Cheers!

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