The Surly Goat Takes Over Sweeney’s Ale House in Encino Tomorrow

Ryan Sweeney is a beer drinker’s kind of beer drinker. The quiet name behind some of the city’s best craft beer spots, from Verdugo Bar to The Surly Goat in West Hollywood and Der Wolfskopf in Pasadena, routinely makes it a point to bring high-quality beer labels into underserved areas, so that’s exactly what he’s doing with the new Surly Goat Encino.

Except, well, he actually did it already with Sweeney’s Ale House, but apparently that concept didn’t stick. In a bit of a head-scratching switcheroo, it seems Sweeney is shelving his namesake Ale House in favor of a Surly Goat version 2.0 at the same address. Per this Facebook post, the prior iteration of the space was deemed a bit too ‘family friendly’ for management, so the decision was made to get back to their Surly Goat ways.

So what’s new with The Surly Goat Encino? Well there’s a grand (re)opening party going down tomorrow, which will feature a bunch of one-off beers, food, and the like. There’s also some new gaming options on site, including a pool table, but that’s just about it, really. Otherwise, expect the same Ryan Sweeney-crafted taplist and the occasional big craft beer event through out the year.

Still, a win is a win, and for Encino the continuation of having Sweeney around to bring craft beer to that stretch of the Valley has to be a positive. No matter what the name of the place ends up being.