A 12-year Van Nuys staple is shutting down
MacLeod Ale Brewing Co., a cult-favorite Van Nuys brewery known for its old-school British cask ales and house-made pizzas, will close on Sunday, September 27. The announcement marks the latest casualty in a statewide wave of small brewery and bar closures.
Founded in 2014 by husband-and-wife team Alastair and Jennifer Boase, MacLeod's was one of the Valley's first craft breweries. The business distinguished itself by going all in on "real ale" with imported English grains, naturally carbonated, cask-conditioned beer.
"We were not afraid to pick a city that was a little bit shabby. We weren't snobbish about where we should be," co-founder Alastair Boase said. "We thought, 'Hey, Van Nuys needs something like this.'"
A community hub on Calvert Street
For more than a decade, MacLeod's brought a steady stream of young Angelenos to a stretch of Calvert Street known best for a string of auto body shops.
"We provided a wonderful little community center of sorts. We did darts. We did cornhole. We did giant Jenga. We did wonderful board game nights," Boase said. "We hosted birthday parties, going away parties, retirement parties, every kind of celebration you can imagine. And then we opened a pizza kitchen four years in, and then became a world-class pizzeria."
One longtime Van Nuys resident told the California Post that MacLeod's stood out for its down-to-earth environment. "We don't always want to go to Ventura Boulevard, Studio City. This feels more authentic or legitimate. Those other places feel a little bit pretentious in my opinion."