Southern California’s craft beer scene may be drowning in closures, but one experimental newcomer is betting there’s still plenty of life left in the tap.
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newcomer → drown → tap
Enter Niteglow, an unusual brewery from the caffeine fiends behind boutique coffee empire Dayglow — which also operates in that same location — that has flung open its doors in Chinatown, bringing guava sours, Czech-style “milkpours” and a distinctly European drinking experience to a neighborhood better known for its old-school restaurants and storefronts.
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that → enter → restaurants
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Sign → sign → California
Occupying a prime corner unit in a gleaming new glass building directly across from the Chinatown Metro station, the ultra-modern watering hole looks more like a chic Euro coffee bar rather than a traditional American brewery.
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hole → occupy → brewery
Here, massive glass-walled doors pull back to open the space directly onto the street, blurring the line between the sidewalk and the minimalist interior.
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doors → wall → sidewalk
Inside, soft mint-green walls, gleaming white countertops, stainless-steel coffee equipment and understated white cafe furniture create a sleek atmosphere with small round cafe tables.
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walls → gleam → tables
Discreet white lettering on the wall lays out a focused drinks menu, hinting at the cafe’s dual identity where top-tier espressos share counter space with brewing taps.
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espressos → lay → taps
Unlike the cavernous warehouse-like spaces that often house breweries, stylish Niteglow cafe feels more like was plucked from Copenhagen or Prague.
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cafe → house → Copenhagen
Brothers Jonathan and Tohm Ifergan, the founders behind Dayglow and Niteglow, told The Post that the idea was to create an all-day gathering place where coffee, beer, wine, and cocktails coexist.
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coffee → tell → place
“You can have a beer at seven in the morning, or you can have an espresso at midnight,” Ifergan said when describing the unusual concept.
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Ifergan → have → concept
Among the house specialties are Czech-style “milkpours,” which arrive in small glasses resembling oversized show glasses filled almost entirely with thick, creamy beer foam.
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which → arrive → foam
While the sight might leave an unsuspecting American drinker wondering where the rest of their beer went, the serving style is a nod to Czech drinking traditions.
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style → leave → traditions
Known as mlíko, the pour uses specialized taps to create a dense, velvety foam that’s meant to be enjoyed quickly, offering a different kind of drinking experience.
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that → know → experience
The brewery uses Czech-made LUKR pull taps to produce the dense microfoam that the brothers compared to the steamed milk in a perfectly crafted latte.
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brothers → use → latte
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“People see a full beer of foam, and they definitely are polarized,” Ifergan ackowledged.
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Ifergan → download → foam
“But once they try it, they definitely understand a lot better what we’re doing.”
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we → try → what
For those who prefer their booze with a little more liquid, Niteglow also offers full-size pints and experiments with unconventional flavors like guava and prickly pear, among others.
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Niteglow → prefer → others
The owners borrow heavily from the specialty coffee world they also inhabit, emphasizing regional ingredients, sourcing relationships and the distinctive characteristics of where their raw materials come from.
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materials → borrow → where
“Less focus on ABV, more focus on flavor,” Ifergen said.
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Ifergen → say → flavor
Unlike a traditional brewery that doesn’t get going until later in the day, the Chinatown location doubles as an all-day cafe, serving specialty coffee alongside its unconventional beer offerings.
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location → get → offerings
The hybrid model means visitors can stop in for a morning caffeine fix and return for a frothy nightcap.
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visitors → mean → nightcap
The roughly 2,000-square-foot interior includes an on-site microbrewery that occupies about a third of the space, and a 500-square-foot outdoor patio.
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that → include → space
The brothers believe the hybrid cafe-brewery model also offers something particularly valuable at a time when younger customers are increasingly cutting back on alcohol.
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customers → believe → alcohol
Niteglow’s Chinatown outpost is the company’s second brewery, following its Brooklyn location, which has already earned high praise.
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which → follow → praise
It’s a striking new addition to Chinatown, where flashy new hospitality openings have been relatively unusual lately amid a challenging climate for businesses.
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openings → ’ → businesses
But the Spring Street location was especially appealing due to its proximity to the Metro, with the brothers hoping to capture everyone from commuters grabbing their morning caffeine fix to locals spilling out of nearby Los Angeles State Historic Park at night.
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brothers → hop → night
Of course, the venture comes at a challenging time for the craft beer sector.
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venture → come → sector
Last month, beloved Van Nuys institution MacLeod Ale Brewing Co. announced it was closing after 12 years, ending a run that helped introduce traditional British cask ales to the San Fernando Valley.
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that → announce → Valley
The Aporia
