Ogopogo Brewing

The inspiration

Ogopogo Brewing opened in 2018 as San Gabriel's first craft brewery, the project of two brewers with a shared fondness for folklore, mythology, and palindromes¹ .

Who's behind it

De La Torre came to beer after a life as a touring musician, working his way from bartending into the lab at Golden Road, while Edell homebrewed during his professional baseball career, earned a brewing certificate from UC San Diego, and ran the lab at Saint Archer, where the two met^2,3 .

What to order

Popular dish

Boeman Belgian White^1,3

the witbier named for the Dutch boogeyman, brewed with coriander and orange peel, and the brewery's two-time Great American Beer Festival silver medalist in its category .

• Sharlie Hazy IPA: the double dry-hopped hazy IPA, dosed with Idaho 7, Citra, and Mosaic .
• Bheki West Coast IPA: a hop-forward West Coast IPA the brewers keep tweaking with modern hop techniques .²

What people are saying

Thrillist points to the folklore theme running through the tap list, from Boeman to the mango-and-pineapple sour IPA called Lusca³ . Critics also note the setting: Hopped describes an industrial-corner taproom with umbrellas lining the ceiling and pale oak and pastel tones throughout² . The San Gabriel Valley Tribune reports that the brewery has built a strong community following, with the city even closing the street for its anniversary block party⁴ .

Why you should try it

If you're staying in the San Gabriel area, this is the city's pioneering craft brewery, tucked at the dead end of Commercial Avenue^1,4 .