Episode 53 - La Bodega Brewing with Abraham Mercado

Welcome guest Abraham Mercado, the first ever guest to appear in both intro and interview segment of the podcast, they initiate the voyage from La Bodega in Whittier. Dive into intriguing discussion of new beer releases, brewing processes, and tales of inspiration behind them, including tastings of 'Himoto', a Japanese rice lager refined over five years, and a possibility of featuring at Dodger Stadium.

As the episode evolves, Mike and Abraham create vivid descriptions of a myriad of beer varieties, from the classic Pilsner to a double hazy IPA. Abraham unwraps secrets of brewing these delightful brews, gives a sneak peek into the latest news around La Bodega, and shares plans for upcoming events. An exciting collaborative podcast set for March 1st, a lively discussion around beer awaits listeners. Tune in for an episode filled with cheer, laughter, and intriguing conversations.

In a heartfelt conversation, Abraham documents his inspiring journey from starting with a homebrew bucket to running a successful commercial brewery. Despite challenges, his perseverance led him to take a leap of faith into the craft beer world. Catch the highs, lows and all in-betweens of commercial brewing, emphasizing that it's as much about creating a great product as it is about the people and stories behind each brew.

Get inspired as Abraham shares his worst brew day experiences and the camaraderie within the brewing community. Uncover the special collaboration brews between La Bodega and other local breweries. Learn about his favorite brews, preparations and more, in this enchanting episode that gives a deep dive into the world of craft beer.

This comprehensive podcast transcript reveals the intimate stories, inspirations, and struggles that shaped La Bodega Brewing Company. The founding partners discuss their philosophy of learning from failures and how they echo Batman's mantra of learning 'how to pick ourselves up'. Discover tales of community, culture, their love for craft beer and a trip down the memory lane.

Join us for this fascinating behind-the-scenes tour of La Bodega Brewing Company. Enjoy an episode filled with stories of family, craft, love for beer, food pairings, fostering a sense of community, and much more! Don't miss the chance to be inspired by the heartfelt story of creativity and entrepreneurial spirit that defines La Bodega Brewing Company.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Music.

(00:25):
All right, and we're back. This is episode 53 of the Taproom Podcast, and I'm your host, Mike.
I have a guest on today, and this is going to actually be the first time ever
where I've had the guest on the intro is actually the one I did the interview with.
So I have Abraham Mercado from La Bodega over here in Whittier off of Comstock and Bailey.

(00:46):
What's going on, brother? brother? How's it going, everyone? Yeah.
Oh, doing a little, doing pretty good. I had a, might've had a few beers last
night, but I'm good. I'm good. I'm good. I got just the remedy for you. Oh, exactly.
And that's why I wanted to come back to do the intro so we could,
since you, you had some new beers coming out and we kind of talked about that
off air and a little on air when we were, when I was here a couple of weeks ago.
Oh, and my family loved all the food, by the way. Oh, awesome. Yeah. Awesome.

(01:09):
So it was great. But so tell us about this first one. Sure.
Absolutely. So the, what we have in front of us now is a Japanese rice lager.
The name of it is Himoto, which translates to being local. Yeah.
Like just being local in the area.
And yeah, this puppy was brewed, re-brewed actually, because this is about the
fourth or fifth version of it. Okay.

(01:30):
The recipe that I've been tinkering now for, I don't know, five years, five plus years.
Yeah. And the reason why it came about is because we had a meeting with the
Dodgers, you know, sort of telling us about how we did with our beer there.
And, and, and if we're going to come back and things of that nature and sort

(01:50):
of the conversation segued into an open tap that they have and they asked for Japanese lager.
Yeah. And so we brewed this so that hopefully in the hopes of them buying it
and picking it up and having it at Dodger stadium.
So we dropped off some samples and, you know, knock on wood,
hopefully we'll, we'll get in with this beer. That's awesome, man. We'll cheers.

(02:12):
Here we go. I love a, I love a good Japanese lager. So this is.
You know, the inspiration for this one is, uh, key Dean. So I wanted to make it super dry.
Yeah. Um, obviously brewed it with Japanese rice in the mash.
I used, uh, Japanese as well as German hops. Okay. This one pills are malt.

(02:32):
Just wanted to make it nice, crisp, clean.
This one costs in at 5%. Nice crushable, crushable, very crushable. Oh yeah, definitely.
And there's almost like a, like a little hint, like of a sweetness.
I feel like on the back end, that's really good. Yeah. That's all about it. Thank you.
Thank you. So hopefully, you know, your listeners out there would be able to
taste it at Dodger Stadium. And if not, they could come into the tap room. Oh, yeah, for sure.

(02:55):
No, but yeah, this is really good. And what's the, like, what's the turnaround
for something like this when you're starting your brew?
Oh, man. As far as how long it takes to make? Yeah. This one's about two months,
I believe. Wow. Two and change.
Yeah, I just got to, you know, let it sit. And, well, there's two time constraints
here. One is actually letting it lager.

(03:17):
The other one is actually having it dry out.
Yeah. And there's certain things that you can do, right?
You can transfer from one to another, let the yeast do its thing.
It's going to do it. It's just going to take that much longer.
There's enzymes that you can buy that break down sort of the sugars in there,
the starches, so that the yeast can metabolize it and that dries it out as well.

(03:37):
So there's different techniques to get it, quote unquote, dry.
Yeah. But yeah, so that's going to take time, right? Of course. One way or another.
And then, as I already mentioned, just having it sit there in lager is the other
sort of technique or method that brewers employ.
Not only to get it crystal clear, but so that it, you know, smooths out and

(03:58):
has that crispness and that taste that we all love in lagers.
Awesome. Yeah, I know. This is, yeah, it's killer, brother. That's great.
Thank you, man. Really appreciate it.
Of course, still want to do a few things to it, but, you know.
It's never really done, right? Yeah. Seriously. I think it's,

(04:18):
I would say about like 90, 90% there.
Okay. Just wanted to get it a little bit more dry.
But at this point, it's like the margins that I'm messing with in my head,
I suppose, are like the things that I want to tweak. Yeah.
I think we'll be able to get some of that done in the next brew. There you go.
Nice. And I did want to ask you before, because I know you have a,

(04:40):
how many other beers do you have? We have 15 on tap. Actually,
we have more. I just have 15 handled.
Oh, no, but some of the new ones, because I know you brewed a couple of new ones, right?
So I'm actually in the process of brewing new ones. Oh, gotcha.
Same thing with, this is for clients that are asking us, you know,
we want this type of beer, that type of beer.
And so I can't really quite talk about who we're doing it for yet. Oh, good.

(05:01):
But yeah, we're brewing up a Marzen slash Oktoberfest. Okay.
That's going to be coming down the pipeline here pretty soon.
Another seltzer that's going to be actually higher in ABV, probably going to
be north of 10%. Nice. Yeah, the seltzers have been becoming wildly popular again.
I feel like they're very popular and then they kind of stagnated.
You had all the vodka coming out and now they're becoming popular again, which is awesome.

(05:25):
I mean, I'm not a seltzer drinker myself, but to each his own.
And then double hazy IPA that's coming out. So those are the three that we have on the queue.
Actually going to be brewing them. Well, one's already in the fermenter.
The other two are going to be brewed probably next week.
Okay. So they should be done while the seltzer and the hazy will be done probably in about a month.

(05:47):
The marzen will probably be done a month after that.
Awesome. That's why I put that one in first. Oh, yeah.
But yeah, so I'm really excited about these and just actually making different
type of recipes, right? Or different type of beers, excuse me.
Because you and I were kind of having this conversation offline.
It was like, oh, you're super behind. So I just was cranking on,

(06:08):
on, on the flagship beers and now I'm finally caught up.
So now it's like, I can start making these other, other beers that I,
you know, love to brew and, and, you know, get the creative brain going. There you go.
Nice. What was it like for you guys on Super Bowl Sunday last weekend?
It was cool, man. Um, we did, uh, packages as you know, um, we sell the different

(06:30):
meats here and beer obviously.
Sold a lot of those packages. People took them home. We shut down early because it's the Super Bowl.
Everybody wants to watch it with their family. Barbecue, you know,
yell and have a few drinks and enjoy it.
But yeah, so we shut down at 2 p.m. I feel like people came in here,

(06:53):
had their brunch, started their day, had a few drinks, and then went off and
went to a party. Yeah, went to a party. Where they were.
Yeah. They were going to watch it. I ended up watching it at my dad's house
with my brother's friends.
Friends came over, family, and it was a great Super Bowl, man.
Over time, it was very entertaining. Yeah.

(07:14):
Very entertaining. So, yeah, what did you think of the game?
I mean, it was a really good game. You know what? I didn't get to watch as much
of it as I would like to because I was doing all the cooking.
So I did like, I made a whole bunch of like appetizers, but also made like pizza,
like pizzas in like our inner smoker.
So it has like a pizza of an attachment. So I was just slinging pies all day.

(07:36):
Oh, so you were busy. Yeah. But then like once I was finally done around the
fourth quarter. So I mean, when it got really good is when I was able to watch.
Yeah. And I watched a little bit of the halftime show. Got it. Got it. Oh yeah.
What'd you think of the halftime show? I mean, from what I saw,
I mean, I mean, I was like, that's your, that's your school.
So he kind of, he went out there and killed it from what I saw.
Yeah. It sure was our era.
Us so all the ladies at the super bowl were just like quiet yeah they were kind

(08:00):
of glued to the tv oh absolutely especially a certain part that i'm sure everyone
knows and so we're of course we're trying to badger the women now you did hear
the shit the shushes from the front like.
We're trying to do this for us you guys enjoy the game all right you're right,
let them be yeah watch in peace
and dance in peace there you go yeah

(08:23):
but no but it was fun like uh what did you guys have to eat over there we did
dogs and burgers okay so my brother i
don't know why he loves these bacon wrapped burgers
or bacon wrapped hot dogs oh yeah he loves doing those things man so yeah those
are good he gets a bunch of onions puts it on the grill you know grilled onions
and then the vegetables and you know very healthy of course oh yeah of course

(08:45):
you gotta have me put vegetables on there next little bia salad exactly right
so yeah so we had I had burgers,
dogs, and then my sister-in-law made chili cheese.
So you can make chili cheese dog. Oh, there you go. Burgers. And.
You know, obviously my wife brought a salad and we, we, we had some somewhat
healthy options, but yeah, for the most part, it was burgers and dogs and beer,

(09:07):
plenty, plenty of bodega beer. Oh, there you go. I know.
I took, when I bought the four pack last time of the, one of the four packs
that I bought for the, the hazy, my uncle fell in love with it.
Cause he's a big hazy guy. It's all he drinks is hazy.
Oh yeah. So yeah, he won't touch a West coast. He won't touch a Pilsner.
He'll just drink what hazy. So I told him I was going to pick him up another
one. Oh, awesome. We got to take you home with some more for the uncle. Oh yeah.

(09:29):
Definitely yeah because later on today we're gonna well if it
if it doesn't rain the plan is to make some smash burgers so
hopefully hopefully the rain stays away while
i do that i mean yeah it's supposed to start raining tonight right yeah i wasn't
sure because when i came out in the morning i had water on my car so it's like
i was like oh it must have rained last night or maybe when i fell asleep i don't
know oh got it yeah but yeah no man this is i can't wait for everybody to hear

(09:53):
it like i said this is the first time i've ever had somebody on the intro that's
going to be the guest so this is really this is fun for me,
it's new territory but yeah I mean I'm excited to do you guys have anything else coming out,
or have any events coming up soon I mean so the
conversation we're having is now geared toward Cinco de Mayo okay we're talking
about doing some sort of event and nothing's been you know set in stone but

(10:17):
we don't know if it's going to be something that's going to be open to the public
or something that's going to be just specifically or exclusively for our sign members but that's.
Kind of the next big holiday that we're eyeing. I know the next one is, I think, St.
Patrick's. Yeah. You know, and we do, like, the whole green beer stuff and whatnot.
But I feel like most people that go out and drink in St. Patrick's Day want to go to an Irish pub.

(10:39):
Yeah. So, you know, we have our regulars that come in and whatnot,
but it's not as full as what it normally is, like, for Cinco de Mayo or,
you know, that type of holiday. Of course.
And should be, because, I mean, obviously this is coming out later today.
But should we talk about the, what we might be doing in a couple of what we
are going to be doing in a couple of weeks?

(11:00):
Oh man. Yeah. Let's do it. Yeah. So this kind of happened.
I don't even know how it happened. Like one mess. I, I G message was saying,
and then another one, another one, you know, this was, was building.
So on March 1st, we're going to do another podcast. So when I say we,
I'm talking about my, myself, and

(11:21):
then we have another, uh, podcaster from shout out to tall boy Sundays.
Yep. I've done a podcast with him
as well, and hopefully try to get maybe another brewer or two to join us.
And it'll be the four of us, six, you know, the more, the merrier to,
to come on, come on down, whether we'll, we'll have it here or somewhere else

(11:42):
offsite and just talk beer and, and, you know, talk about the podcast world.
I think that'll be a really fun episode for your listeners.
Oh, yeah, for sure. I'm really looking forward to it. And I think that's going
to be like, I was just, when they messaged me and they asked me about if I would
be interested in doing it, I was like, oh, hell yeah, let's do this thing.
And then they mentioned that you're going to be a part of it too.
I was like, oh, yeah, I'm in. Yeah.

(12:03):
Sign me up. Yeah, yeah, no, absolutely. And as I know we were talking off air,
but I'm trying to get a brewer to also to join us.
So from a different brewery, completely different brewery. So I think that would
be really cool. Two podcasters, two brewers.
That'd be, you know, that'd be awesome. I think that'll be fun.
So, oh yeah, for sure. That'll be a blast.
But yeah, I mean, I'm excited for that. That'll be what? March 1st.

(12:24):
Like I think you said earlier, we'll probably have to Uber.
Oh, I highly, highly recommend it. Oh, yeah, no, that's gonna be fun.
And, you know, thanks for being on the intro with me.
I mean, I'm really looking forward to everybody listening to the episode today.
And yeah, man, this has been, you know, I appreciate you.
No, likewise, man. And, you know, looking forward to more collaborations and

(12:45):
just trying to get the word out to people that enjoy craft beer and enjoy,
you know, learning about craft beer and learning about backstories of craft
beer and what you do and, you know, what all you guys do to get the word out.
I mean, we really can appreciate that more. And I speak for,
you know, all the guys that you've done this for.
I mean, that's great for us, man. It's awesome publicity.

(13:09):
It's great to just have a platform to get the word out and so that people really
appreciate, you know, the love and blood, sweat, and tears that we put behind
this so that we can get some good beer to people and good food and good times.
Thank you, man. No, I appreciate it, man. And that's what this is all about for me.
Just, you know, being able to
do something like that and be able to hear somebody's stories, you know.

(13:30):
And I was talking to a friend last night at another brewery I was at,
and we were talking about that and how I like hearing people's success stories
because there's so much bad shit out there in the world.
If you can hear somebody's success story, they actually accomplished something
that they really wanted to accomplish in their life, maybe it motivates one person.

(13:51):
And if it motivates one, then I'm good. I did my job. Yeah, no, absolutely, man.
I guess the way I look at it is you should hire them. I mean,
for me, it was like, if we make one person laugh, you know, maybe we made their
day, you know, their drive to work or whatever it may be. Exactly. So that's awesome.
Well, I appreciate you, Abraham, for being on the intro and stay tuned for Abraham

(14:14):
on the interview. We're going to go back in time.
Thank you, everyone. Thanks. All right, guys, we're back in the tap room and I'm your host, Mike.
I have a very special guest on today. I have Abraham Mercado from La Bodega
Brewing over here in Whittier off of Comstock and Bailey.
Thanks for being on the show, brother. Of course, man. Thank you for having me. Of course.

(14:36):
Thank you for the goodies so far. So I have a little flight card in front of
me and I got a little concha, which is delicious.
I like it because it's like it's soft on the inside, but a little crispy on
the outside. That's like my like ideal for me. Go to, right? Oh, yeah.
So tell us before we jump into the beer. Well, we could jump into the beer first.
So number one is El Rey. You said that would be this one. Yes. All right.

(14:56):
Awesome. So we jump in. What we say here, salud y suerte. There's salud.
Gracias, pal. Well, you're OK.
Oh, that's that's that's good, man. Thank you, man. man. That's some good stuff.
So tell us, like, tell us about your craft beer journey, how you got into like, you know, craft beer.
Was there something like, Oh, how it all started for you? Sure, man.
It all started off with just a regular small, you know, homebrew bucket as most.

(15:21):
Brewers out there got it for a birthday or I don't, I don't even remember what
the occasion was, but came in, was just curious, you know, started brewing in
the garage slash kitchen.
And then little by little it just kept kept growing
from there right you know that that little bucket turned into pots
those pots turned into you know three pots four

(15:43):
pots for many fermenters yeah a fridge because i was always into lagers i was
the the one i guess crazy home brewer that excuse me so sorry no you're fine
went down the wrong throat on that one that's okay wrong pipe i mean Yeah,
I was at that one home brewer that always my attention was to lagers.

(16:04):
So I bought a little kegerator, converted it into a fermenter.
And then that turned into, you know, the three system, the pot, three pot system.
Turned into like the spike Herms system, I believe. But it was just something
that never, never stopped.
You know, it was, I got that itch and just kept going with it and running with

(16:26):
it. And at the time, I was working for a communications, government relations, PR company.
And I had, you know, I was...
Been there for over a decade so i've carved my career you know i think i was pretty set there.
And you know my old college roommate

(16:49):
called me out of the you know one day i'm actually
not really we never lost communication but you know
one day just floated the idea of hey i want
to i know you make beer i want
to learn and you know us being the good
friends that we are and guys that we are yeah i would come over
and i would give him my my my beer he'd of course wanted to make

(17:10):
fun of me yeah this is terrible but to my
surprise he was like hey this is actually pretty good i'm like
yeah who is this guy yeah yeah because your buddy's always
got to give a shit of course man you know it is yeah especially
with with guys i don't know why we're we're that dumb but
it is what it is yeah and you know fast forward
and he's like hey i want to learn how to do this him

(17:31):
and his brother like okay cool like i'd be more than happy to show
you guys let's start doing something and you know
kind of we started we moved production into
one of my partner's garages and
we just started brewing uh and then you know little by little we got the silly
idea of hey maybe we could do this yeah on a commercial scale yeah and the sort

(17:55):
of that idea popped in because my business partners uh they come from the the
food distribution world oh okay Right.
So, so that was sort of an, an advantage that we saw.
And when things got more and more serious and, and actually was going to materialize,
you know, I was at a crossroads because it's, am I going to leave my cush,

(18:15):
you know, nice career that I've spent over a decade.
Making a nice salary or, you know, just take the leap of faith and, and, and do this.
Right. And obviously we're, we're sitting here today, so you know,
the decision that I made.
And so when, sort of when that happened, we got really serious about it and
started writing down the business plan and it, we were off to the races at that point.

(18:40):
We really invested in the equipment, the grains, the, the, the homework,
and we're brewing every single weekend,
man, like every weekend awesome this beer's not up to
par throw it away do it again this beer's not up to par throw
it away do it again yeah and to some extent i still
kind of have that in me and that it's that
perfectionist mentality it's just you know maybe a little tweak here a little

(19:03):
tweak there yeah that much better but once we locked in you know a handful of
recipes you know that that was a year and a half gone yeah and so i started
seeing you know build and build and build that we got to financing,
which is obviously the hardest part to get.
Of course. Once that happened, it was like, whoa. Yeah.
This is happening. Oh, you know, this is actually going to happen.

(19:27):
And so at that point, I got very serious about it. I'm more serious than before.
Went to school and I still had my full-time job.
So in essence, I had two jobs. Yeah. One in downtown LA and another one in Pomona.
I was just driving. I was just on the road for a long, long time that year.

(19:48):
And went to school, worked at a brewery for about a year. And then,
you know, we all know what happened.
That little thing that happened, you know, in 2020 that put everybody in hibernation
for a bit. And that was right at home.
You know, the cusp of us building this place. Wow. So we caught it like literally

(20:08):
right after, you know, we, we didn't, we, we didn't obviously didn't qualify for any of the PPE.
So it was, it was tough, man. It was tough. We had to build this from, from scratch.
And so, you know, when, when you have to do things like that,
you have to lean towards, you know, the people that really want to support you.
So, you know, where you're sitting now and And this place that we're at is all

(20:31):
favors that I've called in, family, friends, hey, guys, you know,
I need, you know, we're trying to build this.
We're trying to stretch a dollar. Like, I know you can do, you know,
drywalling. You can do drywalling. We call the primos.
There you go. We call everyone. We need your help. And so, you know,
we're fortunate enough that they answered the call and they came out here and

(20:55):
helped us build this thing.
I mean, I know the listeners can't really see the tap room, but once you walk
in everything, like literally every detail in here, it has a family member has
their fingerprints on it.
That's awesome. Yeah. And I love like the detail in this place and just everything.
Like I love the decor and they'll see it when I post the real when this episode

(21:18):
comes out, but it's, it's really beautiful in here.
And it almost reminds me of like an old school, like, like maybe like 50s,
60s kind of bar you'd walk into.
And that's, this is what I would, if I were to walk into a bar during that time,
this is what I envisioned it would look like.
And it looks like there's so much like care and detail went into every bit of it.

(21:39):
Oh yeah, absolutely, man. I mean, as I said, every inch of this place has a story.
Yeah. I mean, we could, you know, talk three hours on every single feature that
we have here, but we won't. and we were here for, to talk about the beer, right?
But yeah, it's, it was, it was, it was quite a journey, quite a journey.
But I mean, that's really cool though. And like going back to what you're saying
about, you know, taking that leap of faith.

(22:02):
Like when you find your passion and when you find something that you truly love,
like sometimes, you know, there's a lot of people out there that would just
get scared and stay with, you know, stay with what they're doing.
And one thing I always like to say, because I have another show that I do as
well, but I always mention it at the end of every episode, just because you've
been doing something your whole life doesn't mean you have to do it the rest
of your life. Absolutely. Yeah. Absolutely.

(22:24):
You know, I was, it started off as a hobby, grew into a passion,
and now it's a career, right?
Yeah. And it's, it's, it's, I always say this to people, making beer is a lot
harder than drinking it.
Because the process behind it and you've talked to, you know,

(22:44):
hundreds of brewers and I'm sure you have a much better understanding and appreciation
for what goes behind the scenes. Oh, definitely.
And, and making it at a homebrew scale versus a commercial scale is not a date, right?
Oh, definitely. There's a lot of similarities, but it's much more labor-intensive
on a commercial level, especially with the equipment that we have here.

(23:07):
We have an automated system.
But how cool is that, though? I mean, you get to come to work and be happy every day, right?
Yeah, I mean, not every day. Oh, not every day. We all have our days, of course.
Listen I'm not I'm not knocking my
profession and and I don't hate it but but

(23:27):
yeah it is tough man it's tough you know a small business of course yeah business
is anywhere it's going to be really hard especially the first few years and
yeah we've just hit year two yeah and just the support from the community from
Whittier and adjacent has been awesome and people people are here we have a you You know,
one thing that we really wanted to focus on is not only being hyper local,

(23:51):
but building that camaraderie and that community.
And so one of the things that we brought on was, you know, right behind you.
And again, I know your members can't see it, but we have Stein Locker. Yeah.
You know, and that inspiration came from Germany.
Yeah. And Austria, where, you know, in that country, they take their beer,

(24:12):
you know, pretty serious.
Yeah, of course. And their Stein memberships go back generations, right? So.
Rent a locker and it's passed down generation after generation after generation.
I just thought that was the coolest thing. Oh, of course. Drinking a Stein from
your, you know, dad and your grandpa. Great, great, great, great, great grandpa.
Yeah. However long that generations that traces back.

(24:35):
And so we wanted to emulate that and bring that in and, you know,
pull that, again, that camaraderie, that community in.
And build these Stein lockers, this membership.
We have events and they all come together and they all get to know each other.
They'll be some friends and yeah the the coolest thing
is when they're sitting at the the tap room at the bar and and

(24:56):
you can you notice it because yeah we have our regular glasses for our patrons
and then of course our steins yeah and you can't walk in here without a with
a sign unless you're a member yeah and so one sign recognizes the other sign
and it's like oh hey what number are you yeah this number oh that's awesome
you've been in that that sparking up that conversation conversation,
you know, there are greatest advocates,

(25:19):
there are best, for lack of a better word, cheerleaders.
Yeah. And it's just awesome seeing that community just come together. Oh, it's definitely.
And I feel like word of mouth too, like that, when you get something like that
and you can bring like, you know, you're creating, like you have your family
that came and help you do this, but you're also building that other family to come into it.
And like, to me, that's like, there's nothing, there's nothing better than that.

(25:40):
Yeah. No, absolutely, man.
Absolutely. And then just seeing kind of like the sub groups within that sign membership, right?
Like we have military guys, we got army guys, we got Marines and they get together.
It's like, you know, having that conversation, right? People that are super
into fitness and, you know, more just beer lovers.
They want to be part of a beer club and whatnot.

(26:01):
And so they have those conversations and it was just super cool to see.
That's awesome. Yeah. Cause like I said, you're building a family,
but you're also building trust, you know, within the community.
Cause obviously you're putting out a quality product.
And then I feel like too, like when it comes to the actual, I mean the beer, the beer.
When you find, like, when you come to a place and, you know,
you're enjoying their beer, you build that trust, I mean, it's going to spread.

(26:24):
It'll spread like wildfire, too. I mean, I love that.
And obviously, you have some really good ones. This one is, is this number two
or is this number two? That's number two. This one? Yeah. Okay.
And this one is the, is it the?
It's called the Queen's Delight. Okay. So, it's an, well, we call it an English ale.
It's really an ESB. Um, but because in the word ESB or in the letters ESB,

(26:47):
the, the, the word bitter is in there and we don't want to use that in the U
S you know, I, I think people are going to, they, they hear bitter.
They're going to think it's going to be bitter and it's the opposite of that.
Oh yeah, definitely not. And this is, it's completely crushable too.
And I love like that. It's has that unique kind of hue to it. Yeah, absolutely.

(27:07):
Yeah. That's a beautiful looking beer and it tastes, tastes delicious,
man. Thank you. Yeah. Yeah.
That's why we just decided, let's keep it simple. Let's just call it English ale. Yeah.
Prior to you, Home Ruin was like, was there a beer that kind of like got you
there? Like, oh, like this is what beer can be.
Like what, did you have one of those? Oh, there was tons.
So for, I'm sure your audience knows this, but back in the day,

(27:33):
there was what are called hoarders, right?
And it's basically a lot of people in the entire United States,
sometimes even Canada, where they would trade different beers from their local
regions. They were called hoarders.
They would get their hands on what were called quote-unquote whales, right?
This one beer that only 150 were released, right?

(27:53):
Pliny and all that sort of stuff. One of my friends or my brother got it, right?
And so they would trade, whatever, five cases for this one beer,
money, or whatever it may be, right?
And so I was fortunate enough and lucky enough.
To try a ton of just amazing beers from
all over the the u.s yeah because my
brother was involved with it along with a friend of his okay and

(28:16):
so you know he would bring home these crazy like back and now they're very common
uh the bourbon aged you know oh yeah the barrel aged yeah aged but before they
were very rare right yeah and so not only that but these different just amazing amazing beers.
I can remember, I was, and to this day, I'm not a huge IPA guy.

(28:37):
Okay. But Alpine Brewery, Nelson IPA was one that I was like, oh, this is an IPA.
This actually is delicious, right?
I remember, what was it? Bootlegger's had a beer that was like a jalapeno style.
Okay. It's just like these crazy different beers that I was trying.
I never realized that beer can go there,

(28:59):
there right yeah so that really sparked my interest because
i was just at the like the the beginning of my home brewing
career which has been like over 12 years now yeah probably
more but that's what you know kind
of and those are the just the two beers that come to mind but
there was literally dozens oh i bet you know they're
back in those days there was a lot of those you

(29:20):
know breweries that we can name right off our head that
were just cranking oh for sure just amazing
out of these world beers yeah and also you
know internationally um for my
palate has always been i always had a i have
a love for lagers i love watching right specifically german
and mexican those are i can i'll be happy you know your desert beer yeah like

(29:45):
give me pick i can pick and i'll be happy i'll find it yeah german lager or
mexican lager i'm good well we can double click into the mexican lagers yeah
it's not every mexican yeah i think we all I don't know where I'm going with this,
but that was sort of the type of beers that I would, that I love and I would
try to emulate and recreate.

(30:08):
Cause I enjoy drinking them. Yeah. And making it your own. Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely.
Did you, cause you mentioned you worked at a, at a brewery just before,
was it? Oh, before the big thing happened in 2020.
Yeah. What brewery were you at? At, uh, I was in Cal Poly Pomona.
Okay. Hit that program. Yeah. Oh, nice. Innovation Brewery. Oh,
that's cool. Yeah. And what, like, and how long were you there for?
About a year. Okay. A little bit over a year, I believe.

(30:30):
Then all the craziness took over. Yeah. Well, yeah, it was sort of before that.
So I think I finished like in 19.
Okay. And at that point, we were, as I mentioned. Yeah, putting together the business plan.
Business plan, funding, cranking on the beer literally every weekend. Yeah.
Yeah, it was a, we went into a, we put on the blinders and we went into tunnel

(30:51):
vision because I missed a lot of birthdays.
Yeah. And, you know, very important family events because we knew this was coming
down the pipeline. Yeah.
You know, that's sort of the. You got to make those sacrifices.
You're willing to make if you want to, you know, be where you want to or go
where you be where you want to go.
Of course. And I loved what you said earlier about, you know,

(31:15):
you making a batch and like, you know what, this isn't up to par and then get rid of it.
And that's one of the things I love to talk to brewers because they're perfectionists
and you could have the best West Coaster double IPA or, you know,
single IPA or, you know, Pilsner or lager.
And it's like yeah it's good but i

(31:35):
want to change just one little thing but then he's then
that next time you're like oh well i want to change one more little thing and
it's never it's never enough and i feel like that's how i am with this
like it's like i always want to talk to new
and interesting people and be able to put out something quality that people
love to listen to so that's why i i love talking to brewers oh absolutely i
mean i'm sure one brewer that every aspiring brewer or even Even Brewer looks

(32:02):
up to his Vinnie Tarduzzo from, you mentioned earlier, right?
Pliny, Pliny IPA, Pliny the Elder, Pliny the Younger.
Even he changes the recipe, right? Over the years it's changed.
Yeah. Because of that. Yeah. Yeah.
Flavor profiles or people's palates, excuse me, change. Of course.
So therefore, you kind of have to evolve and tweak towards that.

(32:24):
You know, what's going to keep people in the taproom? What's going to keep people
continuing to buy that specific beer? 1,000%.
I guarantee you, and I know for a fact, that the original recipe of Pliny is not the recipe today.
Yeah. It's just always changing, always evolving. And you sort of have to have
that, you know, it's a sell and also the freedom, right? Because you have like,

(32:47):
all right, I'm going to keep this beer.
I'm always going to be with this beer. But you get the yard time,
so to speak, to give a prison analogy.
Go out and change it up. And then, all right, I'll go back and work on this
beer and try to make it better.
Yeah. And it's funny you use the prison analogy. I always like to say on the
show, it's like, well, not being complacent, but I always say get busy living

(33:08):
or get busy dying from Shawshank. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, absolutely.
It's one of my favorite movies. movies so when
you you were brewing lagers when you were doing the homebrewing is that so i
always like to ask like your favorite styles to brew and favorite styles to
drink but i know you mentioned like you know the lagers are big for you
yeah absolutely yeah as far as favorite styles to brew like i mean it's no shocker

(33:32):
right lagers i love lagers although it's funny and i'm sure you're aware of
this like lagers are the hardest beers to make right people think it's ipas it's like no No,
you just bomb it with a bunch of hops and I'm going to hide behind my flaws as a brewer, right?
Lager, you can't hide behind anything. Yeah. It's going to be good.

(33:52):
It's going to be bad, right?
Yeah. You're going to nail the water profile, the malt, the hops, all that.
Fermentation, obviously, is extremely important when it comes to lagers.
Yeah. Pay trade, whatever. I don't want to talk, get into the nerdiness of it, but. No, you're good.
But yeah, those are the ones that I've always enjoyed just because they've been
very challenging. Yeah. Yeah.

(34:13):
The other beer that I, I don't really enjoy brewing, but I enjoy drinking is
a hazy just because it's, it's, there's just so much that goes into.
Yeah. I know it's a process. Yeah.
Every brewer has their own process. Yeah. Yeah. I think I, mine,
I go a little overboard. Yeah.
But it's always funny to me, like people, when people, I talk to people about
beer, when we're talking about the show, they're like, what do you always go?

(34:34):
What's your first beer you asked for when you go? It's like,
usually it's a Pilsner lager because of what exactly what you said,
because you can't hide behind anything. And I know if that's good,
probably the rest of their stuff is going to be good. Absolutely, man. Absolutely.
And the fact of the matter is that most people are not craft beer nerds.
And so last I checked, and I'm

(34:57):
speaking out of line here, but 90% of the market is owned by the big boys.
Yeah. Right? And so most consumers, most people that come in to my place and
have never been in a craft brewery before or any brewery, what's more times
than not, what's the beer that they drink? The lighter, light lagers.
Exactly. American light lagers.

(35:18):
So, you know, you sort of had to give them the, as we say, the gateway craft
beer. I say that too. I say the gateway drug all the time.
Absolutely, man. Here, try our lager. Yeah.
It's going to be similar, not similar to what you're used to drinking.
Yeah. going to have way more flavor, but you know, this is sort of the,
the, the tip your, you know, dip your toe into the pool before you jump in.

(35:40):
And then before I give you a hazy, before I give you a double IPA before,
you know, and so it's, it's sort of also understanding that like we're,
and when I say we're, I mean, I'm talking the craft,
the real craft breweries, we're only 10% of the entire market.
Yeah. That's nothing. And it might even be less than that. Again,

(36:01):
I'm speaking out of line. I don't remember what the exact number is, but it's tiny.
And so, you know, just really appreciate you doing things like this as well
because it gives us a voice, right?
And getting our name out there and try to, you know, create this bus to support
local business, small business breweries.
Yeah. And that's what it's all about for me is, yeah, supporting small business,

(36:23):
supporting the people that, you know, that's when I go to a place or when I
come to a brewery, I'm like, man, this is like, and you see something like this.
Or like I saw when I saw your stuff online like when I talked to Danny and Nathan
over at Angry Horse or like Augustine over at Brujeria or John over at Whittier like.
I would, this was like, as soon as I talked to them, they were like,

(36:43):
what about you should talk to, uh, talk to the people at La Bodega.
I was like, oh, like, oh, I have to reach out. So that's when,
you know, I reached out to you. They suckered you in, huh? Oh yeah.
And that was the thing though. I was like, man, like, I was like,
cause I, I mean, I'm always like going off and doing, you know,
different places, but I was like, man, you got to look at the places that are
in your own, your own, in your own backyard. Absolutely.
Like I, I grew up in Pico for a lot of my life.

(37:05):
So it was, you know, being there, it was just like, I was, there was nothing
like that at the time. I mean, even as like young adult, when I was like 21,
like there weren't any craft breweries around during that time.
We would have to drive to Escondido to go to Stone. Yeah, absolutely.
And now, yeah, now here. I've gone to San Diego. Yeah. Oh no,
you're good. I was just going to say, yeah, now here, like there's four,

(37:25):
four places and they're all putting out bangers.
Yeah. I mean, you know. Yeah, no, I appreciate that, man. It's a perfect segue.
Yeah. Not only to the next beer, but sort of the comment that I made as far
as us just being the small percentage of the brewing or the beer consumption world.
Because I think that us being that small of a percentage unites us, right? Oh, for sure.

(37:50):
You would think we're competitors and it's completely opposite,
man. We support each other 100%, man.
And that's the sort of route I'm going towards, right? So this beer is called
the Highway 72 Coast Style.
This is a collaboration that we did with the guys that you just mentioned.
Whittier Brewing Company, John, Bahia, Brujeria, and Adrian,

(38:14):
Nathan at Angry Horse. Those are four of us.
Two of us are in Whittier. Two of them are off of Whittier Boulevard,
which is a huge street in east of Los Angeles.
And so we called it Highway 72, which is what Whittier Boulevard is.
Yeah. That's the technical, Highway 72 is what it is.
Yeah. And so we're like, well, let's make it a 7.2% beer, right? I love that. Highway 72.

(38:37):
And so everyone kind of had their own spin on it. And so this is our version of that collaboration.
And we're going to continue to roll with that collaboration.
We're going to try to shoot for probably March, April.
I want to get the band back together.
There you go. And create another recipe or,

(38:58):
you know, just brainstorm and do another the collab between
the four of us that would be awesome well you guys are
three for three so far no you're killing it that's awesome
one thing i always love to ask brewers is like uh well like what was your worst
brew day you ever had oh man okay i got the perfect story right here awesome
so i was making a raspberry wheat beer okay right and primary Primary fermentation

(39:24):
was done, so I transferred into secondary.
Okay. Cracked over and added all the, you know, the fruit.
Yeah. Not knowing that, you know, yeast could...
You know, they can still chomp on sugar. Yeah. Even though I think I'm not getting,
or I'm getting all the yeast out.
I mean, this is home brewing. This is in my room, in the closet, right?

(39:45):
And so, you know, in those home brewing days, you got like a little pump racking,
right? You rack over the beer.
And so I'm setting it into the raspberry.
Of course, pick up some yeast, close it, put it in the closet,
close the door, forget about it.
Wife and I leave. I forget where we went. we were
gone for like a week or two i don't remember get back

(40:07):
and you can imagine the mess that oh no
and of course my wife
is the one that finds it not me oh yeah she walks into the room and i just sit
right here abraham i'm like oh god here we go yeah sure enough i walk in i'm
like and she's like you're cleaning it up all right that's an iron right you

(40:29):
made the mess you're This is early, early on.
But I actually have a picture of it. I was like, I got to record this. I don't know why.
Something told me to take a picture of it. Yeah, well, I'm going to have to
see that for sure. Yeah, man.
And it's just a mess. Yeah. It was bad.
I spent my weekend cleaning up the closet.

(40:49):
And yeah. And, you know, from there, it was trying to figure out why that happened.
Yeah. You know, and learning sort of from the mistakes, right?
You're not going to grow unless you fail, right? Of course. Unless you fail.
So, yeah, that's, you know, that and that's the great thing about craft beer.
Yep. It's always changing and you could always go from it and learn.

(41:12):
Yeah i'm such a like big like movie nerd so i
was like when i hear you say that it just reminds me like in batman begins where
thomas asked bruce like why do we follow bruce and said to learn how to pick
ourselves up exactly yeah exactly that's awesome pick myself up with a mop there
you go oh also yeah have you ever one thing i was like to ask you is have you ever had a stuck mash

(41:34):
all the time yeah you'll so once we're once we're done with the with with the
podcast here i can And if you'd like, I'll give you a quick tour of the brewery. Oh, I'd love to.
Yeah. The way my setup is, it's just, it calls for stuck mashes. Yeah. It's yeah.
So rice holes. Yeah. Obviously rice holes are important. I mean,
I've tried everything and it's just, it consistently happens.

(41:58):
It's more just the way that the makeup of my brew house. Yeah.
That's, I mean, I know I'm not, I'm not trying to just keep harping on it,
but I just keep looking. I don't know if you probably see my eyes.
I just keep looking around and I just, I love this. I love the whole set up
and I love that wooden kind of thing with the La Bodega there.
Don't worry guys, you'll see it when I release the reel. Yeah,

(42:20):
going back to the beginning or when we started this conversation and it being
all the family having their fingerprints on it. Yeah.
You were talking about that, the tap room, that was stained by my cousin.
That's awesome. And that sign was by a friend.
Husband was the architect. Wow. Right? And is a Stein member.
Yeah. And so she helped us get that here. And again, every little detail here

(42:43):
has a friend, a family, fingerprints on there. Yeah.
And even this place, this establishment, you know, the biggest thing,
not the biggest thing, but the reason why I think we go to do what we do and
try to focus on every detail is because it's very, not only is it a family business,

(43:04):
but it's very, it's family ran.
Yeah. It's operated by family. And I'm talking like in the kitchen,
brothers are right next to brothers.
That's awesome. Right? Like father-in-laws and son-in-laws are working next
to each other. Brother and sister are working next to each other.
Husband and wife, you know, kids, like it's very, very family focused.

(43:25):
That's awesome. Lifelong friends are, that work here, you know?
Yeah. Yeah. And I love, I think that's like, even like the Steinlocker,
just going back to that a little, I mean, I love that, you know,
that brings, you know, to, like you said, two random people that see the Stein,
they're like, oh, I've seen that one before.
Like, oh, and then they start chit chatting, talking about the beer,
talking about, well, they know the stuff that they like,

(43:45):
and, you know, all different walks of life, you know, and I've always wanted,
this is what I always wanted this show to be like, it just so happened,
like, you know, you're sitting at, in a brewery and you happen to be across
from somebody and you end up having an hour long long conversation.
Yeah. That happens all the time. Yeah. And that's great, right?
You notice there isn't any TVs here. Of course. That's on purpose.

(44:05):
Yeah. We want people to put their phones down. We want people to have a conversation
and just be in the moment. Yeah. And so we built it.
In hopes of accomplishing that. And to a certain extent, as I said earlier,
like the community has shown a lot of love here and we really,
really appreciate them and having people come in here, having parties here,

(44:26):
having their company events here, like that's just awesome.
Yeah. I mean, that's, I mean, it's a beautiful place and, you know,
you're killing it with the beers.
So obviously since we're talking about the taproom, do you have any funny kind
of, or interesting taproom stories since you guys have been open?
Some some some i'll just

(44:47):
keep to myself that's all good only yeah you
don't know we can talk about whatever you want or whatever i mean you know we
had the the the usual like bartender slips and falls and then yeah they asked
me in in good fun right like they asked me to play back the cameras and they
have a good laugh at it right yeah that that's kind of always it gets the,

(45:08):
staff I want to say pumped up but it's kind of you know yeah of course it's
part of the job sometimes it's funny I have my old my old,
assistant brewer you know flip and yeah it was kind of funny too and all all
in good fun man you think of a story or or something that's yeah,

(45:32):
there's just so many oh I'm sure like you're like you know cycling through here like you know just,
Different, you know, different times, different things that all this,
you know, all that stuff happening.
Oh, but the, why you think of that, did you grow up in Whittier or did you grow
up in the area or where? I grew up in East LA.
Okay. Um, and now I'm in Whittier.
So my wife and I have our home here. We dropped anchor, so to speak.

(45:55):
There you go. We're doing your roots here. We're raising our, our daughter here.
Oh, that's awesome. I'm going to, I'm going to be a Whittier light.
There you go being for me silly did you ever like because
i'm trying to figure out how far away it is from me silly but did you ever go to like alan b's
oh yeah dude that was man that was the shredded beef burrito
there was like you know what's interesting
so my wife actually was when i introduced me to that place oh really yeah so

(46:19):
her and i grew up in the same street oh we didn't know we we met in high school
we weren't high school sweethearts we met there kind of went our own our own
did our own things and then reconnected yeah and she's the one that introduced
me that so So I was an adult when I learned about LNBs. Okay.
Obviously, LNBs is in Boyle Heights. Yeah. For her, when she was growing up,

(46:39):
half of her life was in Boyle Heights and then East L.A. Okay.
Very common, right? People live in East L.A. go to Boyle Heights. Yeah.
But yeah, so we. Love LNBs. Yeah.
I used to like, I used to go there a lot. It's been a long time, but it's so weird.
You know, sometimes like you think of a place and all of a sudden it pops up
on your feed. You're like, all right, are they in my head or what?

(47:00):
Yeah. But then, but I saw, I was like, oh man, I haven't had their shredded
beef burrito in forever.
But I remember going there the first time and I was like, I was maybe 18, 19.
And I was like, you know, and it was at night. I was like, and I'm walking up
to just like a barred window and ordering my food, but it came out.
I was like, and I took my first bite. I was like, holy crap.
Like what wizard made this? Yeah, man, that one. And I love the taquitos there.

(47:24):
Place is a gem of LA. So I encourage everyone to go out there and try it out.
You know, I did Sorry, I thought of a story. Two stories, actually.
Okay, awesome. So I'll show you the video if I still have it.
Literally the day before we were going to open. Yeah. Of course, a pipe burst.
Oh, wow. Oh, no. So we were here all night cleaning up the bar.

(47:48):
Wow. It was bad.
Like, it was leaking. We had to figure it out.
Again, calling the friends, the family. Hey, this is what's going on.
I'm not a plumber, right? I need your help. Then they answered the call,
came by, shut off the water.
We figured out how to clean everything again for a second time and get ready to go.

(48:10):
So I didn't, we didn't end up leaving here until super late.
And then we had to open our first day the next morning.
So that's something that I'm always going to remember. Another one was the Super
Bowl. The lights went out. Power went out.
It was, I believe, last year. Yeah. I think it was last year or two years ago.
I don't remember the actual time, but yeah, Super Bowl, we had bundles.

(48:33):
And so we had people coming in.
Picking up their, you know, bundles or meats to go and beer the crawlers went
on. Yeah, it was, it was, that was fun. Yeah.
Oh man, I bet that was crazy. So what was the, what was the dirtier mess,
the raspberry weed or the pipe?
Oh man, the raspberry weed, absolutely, for sure, for sure.

(48:54):
I mean, the busted pipe was much more stressful than the weed, but yeah. Yeah.
One thing I always love to ask people too is like, Dick, the story behind the
name and then also, we'll talk about the can artwork in a little bit because
I love the can artwork and I'll definitely be posting a bunch of pictures of the cans.
But what was the, behind the name, like, where did you guys come up with the name?

(49:15):
Yeah, so La Bodega Brewing Company is the name. LA, LA, you know,
we can use it either way, right? LA or LA in Spanish.
So it really just stands for Los Angeles. Yeah. Me and my two partners,
Eric and Junior, or we're born and raised in LA, you know, we're, we're going to be here.
Yeah, of course. And bodega really came from, you know, in East coast bodega

(49:41):
means like a little convenience store, right.
But, but in the Mexican culture, it means a warehouse and, you know,
sort of the common thread that the three of us had is as, you.
Being children of immigrant parents, we were always in the warehouse when we were kids, right?
Of course. Working, you know, you gotta put food on the table,
you gotta do what you gotta do, right? There's no child labor.

(50:04):
Oh, yeah, for sure. Dad needed you to work, you're gonna work,
right? Yeah. And so that was sort of the common thread between the three of us.
They grew up in that, in the world I got.
Every weekend, every other weekend, I used to go help my dad in the warehouse.
House and and and so that was where that name came from yeah really sort of a hats off homage,

(50:26):
to our parents and not only our parents but you know
all the hard-working people out there that oh yeah
what they gotta do to you know put food on the table oh for sure
like that my dad was used to like you said there was no child labor laws back
then but my dad would go pick in the fields but you know when he was a kid you
know with my with my grandpa and all that sort of stuff so yeah i mean hard
work pays off yeah dreams come true baby i mean my dad did it when When he first

(50:49):
came to this country and in Los Angeles and worked in a warehouse, right?
I went to school in Fresno, so I know that. Yeah. I went to Fresno State.
Okay. Yeah. Yeah. My dad, well, they lived in Salinas. Oh, okay. Yeah.
Salas. Yeah. Salad Bowl. Yeah. So they were up there and he did that for a while,
then ended up into the military. So he was a Marine.

(51:09):
Got it. Yeah. He lied about his age and enlisted to get out of there.
But yeah, man, it's like, it's that story of like, you know,
really, if you want something bad enough.
If you put in the effort and not just because this life, nobody's going to hand
you shit. Yeah, absolutely.
There's people nowadays that feel like stuff should be handed to them.
But if you work your ass off, you'll get where you want to go. Yeah, absolutely.

(51:30):
Absolutely. It's funny. My dad lied about his age too. And he came over with the Bracero program.
For those of you that aren't aware, it was a program made by the U.S.
To bring in labor from Mexico to pick fish.
Yeah fruit from the fields so he lied
him in that's how he got in he started in
the central valley and then migrated south and landed in la that's pretty
crazy yeah my sister actually lives up near uh she lives in deck to larry we're

(51:55):
too loud to larry and like visalia and all that that area yeah the first time
i ever brewed though was was actually just recently it was in november because
i i always wanted to try brewing right but i went up to clovis with a buddy
of mine and And he has a whole, like, he's like,
it's like, it's a homebrew, like, well, it's homebrew, but it's at like a pro
kind of scale. The way he does it, it's just, that's phenomenal.

(52:16):
But it was, it was so fun. I got to make a brown ale.
I was like, I was super stoked about it. Because as a kid, I remember,
I think, like drinking Newcastle back in the day.
It was like, oh, this is like, you know, I'm fancy because I'm drinking Newcastle.
Whose big brother showed up?
Fancy Newcastle. Exactly. We're used to drinking Keystone Lights back in the
day. Yeah. One of my favorites was Sierra Nevada back in the day. Hams.

(52:37):
Dude, I still have a soft spot for hams.
But it's not easy to find anymore. But every once in a while,
if I see a little, was it like the 16-ounce tall boy?
I'll be like, yeah, Blake, all right, I'll take it. Yeah.
I hope for everyone out there that's eating right now, put your fork down because
for whatever reason, a little soft spot in my heart, I think it's just college, but ice.

(52:57):
Oh, yeah. I know some people think it's disgusting. For whatever reason,
I don't know. It's probably just nostalgic.
I don't know. It's so funny that you mentioned Bud Ice. I'm going to tell you
a story about when I was a kid.
So in Pico off of Slosson and Passons, there's, I don't know if it's still there,
but there used to be like a drugstore called Serve Right.
And my mom would go pick up my great grandmother's pills from there and all

(53:21):
that sort of stuff. So one time we go in there and the Bud Ice Girls are there.
And my mom's like, all right, stay with me or whatever. We're going to go to
the thing. And then all of a sudden she couldn't find me.
She lost me. She's like, where, like, where is Jonathan? Oh, sorry, Mike.
I go by Mike on the show. My real name's Jonathan, but they all know that.
So she's like, where's Jonathan?
What's going on and they couldn't find me and then lo and behold i was in the

(53:44):
front of the line for the bud ice girls with a poster taking a picture and having
them sign it for me i think i was like five or six years old yeah so yeah i
had a you know had a thing for the ladies even back then.
I mean speaking of the uh central valley this gentleman
right here is from hanford oh awesome he's our one of our bartenders again i
know your listeners can't see it but it's all all right what i like to do too

(54:08):
because i always have my little lapel mics i always like to have like the employees
say their name how long they've been here you know their favorite beer on tap
stuff like that too okay yeah tell me about the camera work because i love it i mean i like,
it's and this isn't like what i'm gonna say like it's simple but it's beautiful
right like so i mean that in the you know best way possible i love and i love

(54:29):
that like the the colors too because it's like they're all like like matte kind
of colors right that who does your guys I mean,
I'm sure family again, I'll give you two guesses, but I'm sure all you need is one, right?
Yeah, of course it's family. That's one of my partner's cousins.
She's a graphic designer. Yeah. Shout out to Clarissa also a sign member. She's okay.
She does great work, amazing work. And so she's the one that designs all of

(54:51):
our, not only our can art, but our, you know, the, the, the,
um, artwork that we have here at the, at the tap room.
That's awesome. Like merch, things of that nature. It's, it's awesome.
It's a combination, you know, between obviously like my partner's wife and her
and everyone and my partner, Eric. Yeah.
But yeah, it's, it's all, it's a family thing, man.

(55:13):
Yeah. And that's awesome though, because even like you mentioned earlier about
like the collaborations and stuff like that, that's the one of like,
and I, you know, my listeners are probably like, you're bringing it up again, Mike.
But I, it's true though, because I love like when you, when you have a bro,
when you have like breweries around you and stuff like that, or you guys are close,
like the, I was say like 90 90 of

(55:35):
the community is like open and they're like oh i'm having
this issue with this style of beer when i'm brewing it they're
like oh try this yeah and like what other community is like that yeah exactly
yeah i mean absolutely i i can't tell you how many times you know i've helped
a brewer or and a brewer conversely has helped me yeah and that's just awesome and again Again,

(56:00):
most people would think that's your competition. We don't see it at all. Yeah.
Like that at all. Yeah. It's more of, I want you to succeed.
I want all of you guys to be successful because more people are going to want to gravitate here.
Exactly. And maybe try my beer, right? Maybe somebody might come to this community
because they want to try different beers.

(56:21):
And they're like, oh, there's another one over here. Let's try that.
And bringing that critical mass, that's a win for everyone.
1000%. So, and I feel like we're such a niche market that we understand how,
how hard it is sometimes to make beer and, and, and, and the challenges that go behind, behind that.

(56:46):
It's a lot easier for us to help each other out, you know?
That's yeah. I love that, man. I mean, that's, like I said, that's why I love,
I know that's why I always harp on it because a lot of times when you talk to
people, they don't necessarily know that they think like, Oh,
Oh, you're going to that brewery.
Like, you know, maybe because they're so close to each other or like something
like that, though, maybe they don't like each other, but that's not the case.

(57:06):
Not even close. Yeah. I could walk into any of the breweries around me and yeah.
Hey, what's up, man? How's it going?
And you don't have a beer. And you know, Three hours later, I'm like, I got to get out of here.
Before you know it. Likewise, right? And it happens. They come in, I go there.
We're a really tight community. And I really appreciate all those,

(57:28):
not only the local guys, but also just the craft industry in the surrounding area.
Oh, definitely. And I feel like I've made so many genuine kind of connections
and friendships just through doing this.
And like being able to talk to people. Like every time like I go somewhere,
like I think the other, what was it, a couple of weeks ago, I went and saw,

(57:48):
oh, I went to pick up a four pack from Angry Horse. Right.
And I was, and I saw Nathan just walking around. I was like,
hey, what's up? He's like, oh, coming to pick up beer. I was like,
you know, and he's like, love to hear that.
So, you know, stuff like that. But I do have one more beer here.
This one is the, this is a double IPA.
Nice. I just wanted to give you a little, it's different flavor.
Oh yeah, two files. Yeah.

(58:10):
Yeah. One, uh, one other question that you asked me that I kind of half answered
was what are my favorite beers to make? Yeah.
My favorite beers to make are the ones where I could get very creative. Yeah.
I mean, I love the lagers and we already covered that, but there's some beers
that I have coming down the pipeline where I'm, I'm really going to get out
there with it just to try it out. Right.
And that's sort of the fun, the fun part of it is having this idea,

(58:34):
you know, thinking of this flavor profile and how do I get from point A to point B?
So the ones that are, are always fun, although a lot of work are like the stouts, right?
Cause you can do coconut, you can do, you know, let the imagination go wild with that.
Vanilla, you know, blueberry, whatever it may be. And so-

(58:57):
There's a few of a lineup that I have, right?
Okay. And then I have in the, the, the Rolodex so to speak, and hopefully we
get those out sooner rather than later.
That's awesome. One thing I wanted to, because I definitely want to mention
here, but so you guys also serve brunch.
Do you have like a favorite food that you would pair like with a beer?
Like say if you're, you know, having, having brunch.

(59:18):
Yeah, absolutely. So with, with brunch, it's, it's a little different for me.
My go-to for brunch is the chorizo and beans.
You got to try the beans here, by the way. Oh, I'm down. We always talk about the beans. Yeah.
Mexican caviar, as we call it. I mean, they're not the healthiest.
Yeah. But, you know, it's lard with a little bit of extra lard.

(59:40):
I'm 1,000% in, brother. Yeah.
One thing I always like to say is, like, because if you go to,
like, a Mexican restaurant, if their beans are good, then you know probably
the rest of their stuff. It's like the lager of the food.
Exactly. yeah the the you know the
biggest compliment that that our chefs get and
that we get is when people come in here for brunch or for dinner yeah
and they say hey this reminds me of my mom's cooking or my grandma's

(01:00:03):
cooking or that's that's the biggest compliment we of course but
but yeah you definitely would you'll try the beans
oh definitely different food items but
as far as pairing the the the
dinner menu is more catered for beer brunches yeah so
you get more we get a a lot of people that like pairing it
with our seltzers okay my personal

(01:00:25):
favorite is as i said the the chorizo and
eggs get a nice little side of of sausage there
and a blonde okay that one i
think those goes well yeah it sounds like
that would that'd be like the perfect pair because then you get
that kind of like oh you get the savory from the chorizo
and chorizo and eggs and beans and stuff like that but then you also get

(01:00:46):
it like that hint of the sweetness that blondes kind of you know give up yeah
and then and you know that that crispness yeah that's that's
my personal favorite for dinner we have a lot more
pairings that go okay just because our menu is that
much bigger for dinner yeah but yeah actually for valentine's day our our chef
he grabbed four of our beers and he basically created an entire dish oh out

(01:01:11):
of the four that's cool so we're We're going to have that. It's going to be
obviously a limited menu.
Yeah. But we're looking really forward to that. I've been tasting it and man,
blown away. That's awesome.
I mean, because, you know, not many, like, I mean, a lot of breweries have like
pop-ups, stuff like that.
But I mean, you guys have in your own, you know, obviously your kitchen back there, stuff like that.

(01:01:32):
And being able to, you know, put out some, you know, obviously some great stuff.
And I can't wait to try the beans on the chorizo.
So, yeah, this has been, this has been super fun for me, man.
And I'm really grateful that you've allowed me to come down here and spend some
time with you and talk some beers.
Thank you, man. Thank you for having me. This was really fun.
I appreciate it. Yeah. Yeah.

(01:01:54):
So can I try that coconut stout? Yeah. Just do a little tester.
We'll hit pause real quick.
All right. So I got the coconut stout. And what's the ABV on this one?
8%. Ooh, here we go. That'll get you there.
While I enjoy this one, can you tell, because you also, so you guys obviously
have brunch, obviously you have the beer, and you also sell meat in the front of the house? Correct.

(01:02:16):
So the concept, I know it's going to be off the wall and we did that on purpose,
is not your, you know, what most folks would think of a brewery,
right? Yeah. We're completely off the wall.
We went wild, I guess, with the concept.
It's sort of the vibe that we're going for is, as I said, we wanted it to be
very intimate. We didn't want any TVs.

(01:02:38):
So we did sort of like a speakeasy vibe in that the front looks like a butcher shop.
Yeah. So when you walk in, you see all of the different cuts of meats that,
by the way, we offer here in the taproom.
Yeah. And you can buy them and take them home.
So, you know, obviously a big thing in the Mexican culture is carne asadas or barbecues on Sundays.
Yeah, no doubt. So going back to the concept, you know, we wanted to build something

(01:03:03):
like that where people can come in, buy their meat, buy their chicken.
That's cool. Pasto or pork, grab their beer and go home and grill it up,
right? Or they can, if they choose, they can dine with us.
So you walk in, it's a butcher shop, sell beer there, merch,
et cetera. You'll be greeted by a host.
The, the, the host will call in one of the servers, servers will come up,

(01:03:26):
welcome you in, sit you down and then you can have dinner here.
But, but yeah, and part of, you know, the kind of the off the wall idea is all
of the, the proteins or meats that we offer are not your typical,
you know, food for less choice. Yeah, of course.
Meats, they're all prime and above. So prime is obviously more mobilization,

(01:03:49):
more flavor, more fat, et cetera.
You know, we go all the way, we go from prime tomahawks, New York's ribeyes
to A1 Wagyu, Japanese Wagyu or Wagyu ribeyes and New York's also Kobe,
which is also a Wagyu.
But, you know, so we have sort of A through Z of high quality cuts of meats

(01:04:13):
that we offer here. That's awesome.
And I also saw you guys have a beer making kit out there. Yeah.
Gotta inspire the next generation that's awesome man yeah
because i was just looking through the window before you came and opened up for me
i was like i was like oh how cool is that because i don't think i've ever seen a
brewery have that in the you know out there so that's pretty freaking awesome
the next brewer slash griller yeah you know it oh man well like i said thank

(01:04:37):
you again man like abraham this has been super fun and i am super appreciative
of you being able to you know allowing me to come in here and i know i've said
it a few times already but i am extremely extremely grateful that you,
you know, let me come in here and talk to you today. Oh, thank you,
man. This was, this was awesome.
Oh yeah, for sure. So we try those, try those beans. Let's do it.
All right. Cheers, TAP fam.

(01:05:00):
Hello, my name is Brian. My favorite beer here is the Mama Coco,
for sure. Love a good stout. And I've been working here for a little over a year.
My name is Anthony Medina. I've been at La Bodega for about a year and a half now.
My favorite beer for a dinner with like one of our prime steaks would be a Cultura.
Very clean tasting beer, super smooth.
And then for the morning brunch, definitely recommending the Queen's Delight.

(01:05:23):
There she went and ruined it. Hi, my name is Monique.
I'm the supervisor here at La Bodega Brewing Company. I have been here since before they opened.
I'm considered one of the OGs technically, but that's going to go on about two years and change now.
My favorite beer on tap, surprisingly now, is the Hazy IPA or Hazlet.

(01:05:44):
A lot of history behind it. It's a fun storyteller, especially in the round
table, having the original picture of it.
But I would say the second runner up would to be our guava seltzer.
Yeah. Thank you for having me.
All right, guys. Well, I hope you guys enjoyed the interviews.
Obviously the intro, like I mentioned earlier, like it was, you know,
it was cool to be able to do that.
Cause I've never done that before having, you know, the guests,

(01:06:06):
you know, but I honestly wanted to, to go back and, you know,
and hang out with them because honestly,
Abraham's just such an awesome guy and everybody that works there is really
like really nice and really like, you know, just courteous and stuff like that.
And just really really good people.
So those are the people we want to support. So definitely go down there if you're
in the area or if you're going to be coming down this way, like coming down

(01:06:30):
the way to Whittier. So definitely check out La Bodega.
Remember, again, it's off of Comstock and Bailey, but family run business, just awesome people.
All right. Well, I got to get going.
I just just finished. They got to drive out to Upland. They're going to go feed
my buddy's dog because he's out of town.

(01:06:52):
All right. So shout out to Super Mario, Mr. Chains on Instagram.
All right. Well, hope you guys enjoyed the episode and stay tuned for next week.
Next week is the Native Son episode with John Sanchez.
And the week after that will be Hardy Hood with Steve and Mike.
That was, you know, another fun one. We recorded that one at Noble,

(01:07:13):
but it was a really fun time. time.
All right. Well, yeah. Have a good one, guys. Take care. I didn't have a quote.
I was just kind of in a rush, so I'm going to be back next week.
Music.