Los Angeles residents may not know when fire season begins or ends anymore, but one thing they do know is that the LAFD can’t be praised enough for all they do keeping citizens homes and lives safe all year round. Now everyone can enjoy a unique salute to this bravery and dedication in the form of a specially crafted IPA brewed right here inside Downtown L.A.’s Iron Triangle Brewing Company.
Iron Triangle celebrated the re-release of their specially brewed “Land of Fire Red IPA” with an event to benefit the Widows Orphans & Disabled Firemen’s Fund on a Saturday in August. The new brew is a collaboration between the brewery and our own LAFD Fire Hogs, and the Hogs made sure a portion of the red ale’s profits go to the WODFF.
Owner and concept creator Nathan Cole combined a spark of ingenuity with an insatiable need to give back to his community into his dream of what the LA Times calls the “Arts District’s next big brewery” in a 10,000-square-foot building fed by the L.A. Aqueduct.
“I wanted to create a building that would reflect the history of Los Angeles where I could create a beer that reflected the spirit of L.A.,” explains Nathan. Nothing speaks to that remarkable spirit better than the men and women of the LAFD, so Cole reached out to a friend who put him in touch with John O’Connor, a firefighter and co-founder of the Fire Hogs. The Hogs have raised more than $400,000 for the charity and have never backed down from an opportunity to do more for their fire family.
“Nate mentioned that he’d like to do something to help the firefighters in L.A. He explained his concept to me and his excitement blew me away,” said O’Connor. “I loved his passion. I loved his vision. I loved how he tried to maintain the history of the city every step of the way.”
So how does this sophisticated ale truly reflect the spirit of L.A.? Nathan couldn’t be happier to tell you: “I have an historic building dating back to 1904. The time frame in which it was finished fits our concept perfectly because of the Fathers of the L.A. Aqueduct, Joseph Lippincott, Fred Eaton and William Mulholland.”
Cole is referring to the three developers – who called themselves the Iron Triangle – responsible for bringing water into the growing city. When the aqueduct was completed in 1913, it changed the landscape of the Southland financially and culturally.
“Beer is 95% water. And we get our water from the aqueduct which connects us to L.A. in more ways than one,” Nathan says enthusiastically.
Available exclusively in the Iron Triangle tap room, the Land of Fire Red IPA appears on the beer menu with a small paragraph about what makes this brew so special and how it benefits the WODFF. O’Connor credits Nathan with formulating the IPA, but he was happy to see that Nate, and brew master Darren Moser, listened to the Fire Hogs’ comments and took notes. “We actually got to help. Jack Wise and I loaded the hops and barley into the splitter. It was really eye-opening,” John recalls.