Brit Pairing on the Way

MacLeod Ale Brewing Company, one of the Valley’s best, centrally located breweries, is opening MacLeod Ale + Pie Emporium near their Van Nuys brewery in spring 2018. MacLeod owners Jennifer Febre Boase and husband Alastair Boase have long hoped to add a kitchen and more room to accommodate customers for their British-style ales, but they’d maxed out the functionality of their Van Nuys tasting room. Enter Bruce Hall, a dedicated patron, skillful pie baker and the man who helped the couple secure former tenant Smoke City Market’s lease.

Ale-and-pie is a match made in British heaven. Alastair hails from Scotland and requested that Bruce bake some of his favorite pies, including a “magnificent” pork pie, Cornish pasty and sausage roll. A recent trip to London only heightened the couple’s desire to deliver the combo to Angelenos.

Head brewer David Chaney will be producing the same beers as the original tasting room for MacLeod Ale + Pie Emporium, including Cutting Bracken brown ale, Cut and Dry Irish dry stout and a selection of cask-conditioned ales. For the first time, they’ll also be able to pour guest beers, wine and cider.

Bruce will make pies in-house, from scratch, including a traditional pork pie, peppery Scotch beef pie and braided Cornish pastries filled with skirt steak, potato and swede (rutabaga). You’ll also find assorted steak pies, including a steak and ale pie featuring beef, onions, garlic carrots and peas slowly braised in MacLeod’s Midnight Walk ale.

Smoke City laid some solid groundwork, so the Boases will only make some cosmetic changes to the space to better match the brewery’s aesthetic. Jennifer says, “True to MacLeod form, we’ll keep it simple and not too lavish!”

5242 Van Nuys Blvd., Sherman Oaks, 818-855-1280