An Alameda brewery day trip takes in sea haggis, plum beer
My Bay Area brewery day trip rounds recently took me back to Alameda, where I discovered a new taproom and an older brewery with some really interesting Filipino-inspired beer. (You can read about my previous trip, which included stops at Faction Brewing, Almanac and The Rake at Admiral Maltings, here.)
Humble Sea Brewing, Alameda
When I visited Alameda last June, the team at Humble Sea Brewing had just announced plans to expand to the island. Three childhood friends — Frank Scott Krueger, Nick Pavlina and Taylor West — opened the original brewery in Santa Cruz in 2015, and since then have added taprooms on the Santa Cruz Wharf and in Pacifica.
The Alameda outpost opened its doors in late August offering an airy and modern ambiance with plenty of seating indoors and a large beer garden outside — plus trivia nights on Wednesdays and food trucks several days a week.
Humble Sea Brewing’s beer is still brewed in Santa Cruz, but you’ll find 20 beers on tap here from lagers to West Coast, foggy or hazy and other varieties. I tried So Far So Gud, their Munich Dunkel, a deliciously malty German style rarely seen outside Bavaria. I also tried — and loved — Layers of Plum, a farmhouse sour brewed with plums. The lineup changes frequently, so there’s always something new to try.
Details: Opens at 3 p.m. Monday-Wednesday, noon Thursday-Friday and 11 a.m. on weekends at 2350 Saratoga St. #164 in Alameda; https://humblesea.com/.
Alameda Island Brewing
Founders Matt Fox and Bill Phoa opened Alameda Island Brewing in 2015 — the Phoa family owns it now — on the eastern side of Alameda, which often gets short shrift, since most of the island’s breweries, distilleries and wineries are clustered on the western side in an area known as Spirits Alley. Brewmaster Richard Angeles remarked that they often refer to themselves as “the other brewery on the island” since they’re so cut off from Spirits Alley.
Angeles keeps 15 or so beers on tap, helpfully divided into light, dark, hoppy and eclectic categories. Their flagship beer is Island Haze IPA, a hazy that’s juicy and tart with a touch of bitterness. Other standouts include Big Paddle Pils, a solid pilsner; Alameda Genuine Draft, a refreshing light lager; and Sea Haggis, a malty Scotch ale and a rarity in modern craft breweries. Everything I tried was well made.
As you might guess, some of the most exciting and distinctive offerings are the beers in the eclectic category. Angeles, taking inspiration from his half-Filipino heritage, has created a portfolio inspired by ingredients from the Philippines — with delightful results. Sarap! is a pilsner brewed with calamansi, a citrus fruit native to Southeast Asia. The beer is sweet and refreshing, with strong fruit flavors. Ube Area is brewed with ube, a purple yam commonly used in desserts. The deep purple beer is smooth and sweet, with vanilla and nutty flavors. And Sop ‘N’ Go is a sour beer brewed with mangoes.
The brewery hosts special events, from Head Games Trivia on Tuesdays to occasional live music, speed dating or cookie decorating sessions. There’s no kitchen, but you can pick up takeout or have food delivered from nearby restaurants. The Asian fusion takeaway spot, Monkey King at the Brewery, shares outdoor seating space with the brewery and will deliver food directly to your table. Fikscue Craft BBQ, a new weekends-only Texas barbecue spot with an Indonesian twist, has a similar arrangement.
Details: The brewery opens at noon Tuesday through Sunday at 1716 Park St. in Alameda; alamedaislandbrewing.com.
A tribute to a Bay Area beer legend: Jeff Botz
As the year comes to a close, I wanted to mention that the tight-knit Bay Area beer community recently lost one of its own, Jeff Botz.
An Orange County native, Botz moved to Northern California to help open numerous BJ’s Restaurants and Brewhouse as a general manager. In 2016, he opened The Cooler, an amazing craft beer bar in San Leandro, with Eric Keyes and longtime brewmaster Arne Johnson (Marin Brewing, Moylan’s). Botz became a fixture in the Bay Area beer community at local festivals and events. He was a gentle soul, quick with a joke and a smile and an amazing ambassador for good beer.
He kept his cancer diagnosis quiet until almost the end, passing away peacefully in early November with his wife, Debbie, and their daughter Shelby by his side. Raise a toast of craft beer to his memory. He would have wanted it that way.
Know a local brewery or brewpub that’s knocking it out of the park? Drop me a line at BrooksOnBeer@gmail.com and tell me why you love them.