Pac City Brewery, Pacoima’s first and one of the San Fernando Valley’s only craft breweries will be closing their doors at the end of November. I spoke with Pac City Brewery owner, Robert Cortez, last night and he explained that it is with a heavy heart that he closes the doors at his current location but it just is not safe for their customers to come to the tasting room.

Ever since Pac City opened in April of 2014 they have been dealing with gang activity due in part to the fact that a housing project was virtually across the street and they considered Pac City to be on their turf. Attempts to get help from the City of Pacoima or LAPD were futile. When I visited them a month ago someone had attempted to break into their location the previous evening. Every time I spoke with Cortez he expressed his frustration and disgust at how his neighbors were treating his customers and his business. There were extortion attempts and even death threats. As there have been at least six homicides within a mile of the brewery this past summer, Cortez made the decision last night to close the doors at this location. Continue reading →