New Arts District Brewer Partners Up for Comfort Food and Hard Kombucha

A prominent hard (read: alcoholic) kombucha and seltzer company has quietly taken up residence right in the heart of the Arts District, it seems. Central Coast company Flying Embers, which brews out of Ventura but was founded in Ojai, is now open for evening service and takeaway drinks at 1581 Industrial Street, a block away from places like Everson Royce Bar and the former Church & State.

Flying Embers was founded three years ago with hopes of growing into the booming hard kombucha market, and has since become a prominent player in that retail space. The new Arts District location is aimed at shifting the company into a real-life experience, complete with on-site drinking, games, and more. To be able to do that under LA County rules, the company has partnered with nearby restaurant Comfort LA to provide a variety of soul food dishes on site.

The company has hired Jeremy Czuleger, formerly the head brewer at Brouwerij West among other positions, to oversee the kombucha, seltzer, and beers (made with adaptogens) made on site. The plan is to offer those drinks as-is for on-site consumption or takeaway, and also to use the drinks as a base for lower-ABV cocktails available from the wooden bar inside. As for the brewery itself, this is the former Iron Triangle space, housed in an industrial building that was massively overhauled back in 2016. The brewery had been on the market for a while before Flying Embers swooped in to pick it up.

Hours for the so-called Flying Embers Brewery & Social Club, which opened under the radar earlier this fall, run Thursday through Monday, 4 p.m. to 10 p.m., with socially distanced on-site drinking and TVs for live events inside.

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