Beer And Cider Are Fueling Benny Boy Brewing’s Success In Los Angeles

At first glance, nothing about Benny Boy Brewing makes sense. Nestled next to the eternally crowded Interstate 5, just a stone's throw from a large railyard, in the sea of concrete that is Los Angeles, one must wonder why this one-year-old establishment is always crowded with drinkers. But, in a city that often celebrates the surreal, Benny Boy's willingness to go against the grain is the exact reason for its success.

As the first combined brewery and cidery in Los Angeles, the 10,000-square-foot establishment serves as a beverage incubator for the co-owners, husband and wife duo Ben Farber and Chelsey Rosetter. Using Old World methods married to modern-day equipment, the two can draw on the over a decade of research they put in across Europe, perfecting their techniques. Their time spent across the pond is evident when you step foot into their contemporary tasting room lined with gleaming tanks leading to a large outdoor patio.

Pawn Shop Surprise

The former Brothers Collateral Pawn Shop at 5901 Melrose Avenue is getting a ready for a transformation, and preliminary work reveals a stunning historic facade covered over for decades.

You may have notice something interesting being revealed at 5901 Melrose Ave., on the 1934 building at the corner of Cahuenga Blvd. and Melrose Avenue, the longtime former home of the Brothers Collateral Pawn Shop.

“We knew about the era when this building was built that it would have beautiful bones. We could see the bow trusses and the huge ceiling, but did I ever think, this would be this beautiful, never!” explained an excited Diego Torres-Palma, whose company Ventana Ventures recently acquired the property. Torres-Palma told the Buzz he’s so impressed with the structure, they’re considering securing historic designation status for the building, something that panics typical developers. But Torres-Palma isn’t like most developers.

Diego Torres-Palma: Bringing Communities Together Through Real Estate

Diego Torres-Palma has always been on the cusp of greatness. He received a degree in civil engineering and an MBA from Boston University. He has also been an angel investor and founder of multiple companies, each more interesting and creative than the last. Diego was raised in Peru, where he realized there were only two types of people: the haves and the have-nots. Coming from a single-parent home, Torres-Palma saw wealth and success as something almost impossible to reach. He grew curious about how people became successful in the United States, which began a lifelong search for knowledge. “I would say my first mentors were the Warren Buffets of the world that I would get for free via books. I just read a lot when I was a kid around the business — I was fascinated by it,” Torres-Palma states.

WINDOWS OF OPPORTUNITY: How Diego Torres-Palma & Ventana Ventures is Reimagining Los Angeles Development

It’s not a ‘what if,’ a pipe dream, or a fairy tale. Diego Torres-Palma is not a sorcerer with a magic wand. The Peruvian-American, from humble beginnings, is the founder of Ventana Ventures and the host of the podcast Startup To Storefront. He is an entrepreneur whose fresh approach to Los Angeles real estate is finding a way to uplift communities through his projects.

LA Weekly: This Podcast Might Make You Quit Your Job

The podcast Startup to Storefront brings the stories of companies and individuals that have taken the risk of going out on their own to build the future with innovative and forward-thinking ideas. Focusing on leaders and innovators who work harder and smarter, the podcast gives the inside track into what it takes to be an entrepreneur. Diego brings experience and expertise to each show. He is a real estate developer with Ventana Ventures and an angel investor known to invest in some of the guests on the show.

Diego Torres-Palma & Natalya Cappellini are the New Wave Shaking in Los Angeles Real Estate

In the world of U.S. construction and real estate development, this wouldn’t be unusual to hear – both fields are dominated by males 46 and older, at a whopping rate of 91%. The person making this comment is 31-year-old Natalya Cappellini, who hails from Boston, MA. and runs her own construction company, Curato Design & Build. Natalya is known for her expertise in construction with the added leverage of an architecture degree — giving her the ultimate design and build perspective. Just 9% of all general contractors in the U.S. are female, and of that group, the average age is 46.

HOW DIEGO TORRES-PALMA & VENTANA VENTURES IS REIMAGINING LOS ANGELES DEVELOPMENT 

How do you address urban blight without gentrification when the two seem to go hand in hand in most large American cities? Like a horse and carriage, as Frank Sinatra once crooned, “You can’t have one without the other.” Or can you? How do you improve a neighborhood without the gentrification that alters history and changes the character of a community?

From Lima to LA

Peruvian-American entrepreneur, real estate developer, and co-host of the Startup to Storefront podcast, Diego Torres-Palma, has always had a fierce desire to put himself on the map.

Coincidentally, when his family first landed in Massachusetts after fleeing Lima for political asylum, Torres-Palma recalls that few of his elementary school classmates and teachers could actually locate Peru on a map.

As a young person, Torres-Palma had few Peruvian-American role models to emulate, let alone any in the fields of business or real estate. So he took it upon himself to become an example of success for him and his community.

L.A.’S ‘BENNY BOY’ CIDERY IS MAKING CITY’S FIRST BONE-DRY BASQUE-STYLE CIDER IN LINCOLN HEIGHTS

Benny Boy Brewing - Lincoln Heights

Seeing L.A. Dodger hat-and-high sock-wearing residents of Lincoln Heights gingerly sip on hard cider made from heirloom Newtown Pippin apples, while sitting on a two-top table about 75 feet away from cars gridlocked on the 5 Freeway, is a sight to behold. Their eyes open up in surprise as soon as they feel the refreshing, beer-like dryness, taking another, much longer sip. The apples are trucked in from a third-generation family farm in Santa Cruz, the cider extremely apple-y tasting, since there are no sulfites added.

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Benny Boy Brewing - Lincoln Heights

LA is awash in breweries and particularly packed to the gills with breweries that pump out modern, American-style beers like Hazy IPAs and big, sweet Pastry Stouts. There are fewer breweries focused on classic European styles, and fewer still that are also making their own cider. Benny Boy is here to fill that gap with a massive new complex just off the I-5 in Lincoln Heights. At one end is a cidery with an emphasis on dry styles from Santa Cruz-grown apples, and at the other is a brewery featuring pours straight from their beer tanks, with a beautiful beer garden in the center of it all.

Benny Boy Brewing & Cider House Makes Its Debut in Lincoln Heights

There are no taps behind the reclaimed wood bar at Benny Boy Brewing – a new brewery opening this weekend, about 50 feet off the 5 in Lincoln Heights. This is, of course, uncommon for a brewery. Instead, beers are poured directly from the tank, where the beer has been naturally carbonating since being brewed. The tank bar, as it’s called, is the first of its kind in LA, and just one way that the folks behind Benny Boy hope to distinguish themselves in the California beer scene.

As the first combination brewery/cidery in LA, Benny Boy will also be the only brewery in Lincoln Heights. When I visited their soon-to-open taproom in mid-March, husband and wife co-founders Chelsey Rosetter and Ben Farber were hard at work with a small team putting the final touches on the new space; printing tap lists, finishing flight paddles, and hanging lights.

Benny Boy Brewing Will Be the First Brewery and Cidery to Open in LA

Husband and Wife team, Chelsey Rosetter and Ben Farber, decided about 5 years ago it was time to plan a brewery of their own. Benny Boy Brewing will adopt and accentuate the pillars of classic beer making: whole flower hops (aka, whole cone hops, which are dried, not pulverized like commonly used hop pellets), natural carbonation (which contributes to finer bubbles, better head retention and mouthfeel) and unfiltered techniques (duh, filtering sacrifices flavor.)

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The Situation: The past decade-plus of drinking in Los Angeles has been marked by the meteoric rise of craft beer, concentrated mostly in the South Bay at first before expanding to Downtown and the Valley. Now Lincoln Heights is getting in on the action with the upcoming opening of Benny Boy Brewing on Daly Street, complete with bespoke brews and more.

This Yellow Vintage Coffee Van Is Parking Permanently Inside a West Hollywood Cafe

The project came about when Haro and Yuan spoke with developer Diego Torres-Palma of Ventana Ventures on Startup to Storefront podcast. After the discussion, Torres-Palma and the Farm Cup duo decided to partner on a physical storefront for the vintage coffee van, finding a home for it in West Hollywood.

Haro and Yuan plan to take out the driving parts of the Citroën and park the van literally inside a space at 7748 Santa Monica Blvd, a former fashion and gift boutique. The planned opening is May 2021, with Haro and Yuan saying the city of West Hollywood has been helpful with expediting the approval and inspection process.

NEW RESTAURANT: Farm Cup Coffee

The West Hollywood Chamber of Commerce will welcome a new cafe, Farm Cup Coffee, at a ribbon-cutting at 5 p.m. Thursday. Farm Cup Coffee is located at 7748 Santa Monica, just east of Whole Foods.

The name Farm Cup Coffee came from the sustainable idea of farm-to-table food.

Border X Brewing a 2020 James Beard Award Semifinalist!

Border X is a 2020 semifinalist for “Outstanding Wine, Beer or Spirits Producer.” While last year’s awards saw changes to address the gender and racial diversity of nominees and winners, this year, the Beards are focusing on geographic diversity. For the first time, there will be a Best Chef: California and a Best Chef: Texas among the awards….