Elina Shatkin
We're pleased to see beer from Hangar 24 appearing on more menus and store shelves around town. Amid L.A.'s exploding craft beer scene, with all the new breweries and beer pubs and pop-up beer gardens, the humble Hangar 24 in Redlands doesn't always get a lot of attention. That doesn't mean they don't make great beer. They do. Their orange wheat beer is especially perfect for summer (and it's a nice tribute to Southern California history for a region once dominated by citrus groves). Almost as lovely as Hangar 24's beer is their growler, which is the prettiest in town.
There are more growlers to choose from, these days. They make a perfect party accessory. (Any time we bring a stout jug of Eagle Rock Brewery's sour beer to a party, we return home with an empty growler.) But there's something about the Hangar 24 growler that is a true work of art.
Our meager photography skills hardly do it justice. It's tall and amber, with distinct vertical ridges and a gently curved metal handle. If we had any skill at miniature shipbuilding, we'd a schooner inside this thing. Two metal bands bound the top and the bottom, offsetting Hangar 24's logo featuring a double-wing plane flying serenely over a sea of beer. Yes, it's nothing more than a really big bottle of beer. We know. Still, it's nice to find unexpected bits of beauty in everyday things.
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