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One of the most challenging things about covering beer these days is keeping up with brewery openings. As of last fall, California was home to more than 1,000 breweries, nearly half less than six years old. New spots open so frequently, it’s easy to miss some.
Nowhere was that more apparent than at the SF Beer Week opening gala earlier this month, where I found myself walking down the rows of brewery booths and finding many unfamiliar names. As I sampled beers I hadn’t tried before, I discovered some fantastic new breweries. Or rather, they were new to me — and perhaps new to you, too. It’s high time we changed that. Here are five fantastic Bay Area breweries to go check out.
Novel Brewing Co.
Oakland’s literary-themed Novel Brewing has some of the most fun (and goofy” beer names around, from Only Dull People are Brilliant at Breakfast Imperial Milk Stout with Coffee to Shelfrighteous IPA and Bookworm Rice Lager. Happily, Brian Koloszyc and his wife Teresa Tamburello’s beers are as tasty as the names are clever.
Details: Open since 2016, the kid- and dog-friendly tasting room at 6510 San Pablo Ave. is open Tuesday-Sunday, offering more than a dozen beers and sampler sets — served atop hard-cover books, yet — as well as books and board games; novelbrewing.com.
Fruition Brewing Co.
Using a 7-barrel system built from former wine and dairy tanks, this new Watsonville brewery from husband-and-wife team David Purgason and Tallula Preston specializes in organic beer using local ingredients. She was the former general manager of Seven Bridges Organic Brewing Supply and he was a brewer and distiller for Venus Spirits. Together, they wanted to open their own place and they started planning several years ago, but Purgason was sidelined by a horrific accident that slowed them down considerably. With support from the local beer community, they opened their dream brewery in Watsonville’s East Lake Village Shipping Center last year.
You’ll find a dozen Fruition beers — a mix of traditional styles and beers made with wildflower honey, blackcurrants and other fruits — plus several guests taps of wine and cider in the taproom. The beer that won me over was a blended sour ale, Olallieberry Double Snack, one of the best olallieberry beers I’ve had.
Details: Open Wednesday-Sunday at 918 E. Lake Ave. in Watsonville; fruitionbrewing.com.
Alpha Acid Brewing Co.
As that hop-centric name implies, Belmont’s six-year-old Alpha Acid focuses on hop-forward beers. The Belmont tap room offers 18 beers, with newcomers rotated in weekly. Outside food, kids and dogs are all welcome, and you’ll often find food trucks parked outside. I was initially led to their booth by a colleague raving about their pale ale, which was solid, but I was more impressed by a hazy IPA called Danker Will Robinson! If you love hops, you’ll love this spot, which is run by Kyle Bozicevic.
Details: Open daily at 121 Industrial Rd #11 in Belmont; www.alphaacidbrewing.com.
Hop Oast Pub & Brewery
This two-year-old brewpub is named for the large English buildings — oasthouses — used to dry and kiln hops. Hop Oast pays homage to those bygone days. Owner Aron Deorsey, who brewed at the Beach Chalet for almost two decades, makes a wide range of beers on his 3-barrel nano-brewery and because of that small system, beers change frequently. Everything Aron brews is solid — and there’s a food menu, too, that includes sausages, sandwiches and snacks.
Details: Open Tuesday-Sunday at 2887 Bryant St., San Francisco; https://hopoast.com.
Parliament Brewing Co.
This two-year-old brewery surprised me the most, because it’s located around the corner from my local Costco in Rohnert Park. (How did I miss that?) A Parliament is a group of owls, so naturally, their brew lineup includes beers like Pygmy Owl Kolsch and Solitary Owl Series: Citra, a single hop IPA. There are also non-avian beers, including a playful Berry Pie kettle sour, a tasty Whatchamacallit IPA and a “Goes Uh?” gose to round things out. The Bosch family — father and sons — tap room is open five days a week, with the occasional food truck on hand offering tasty bites.
Details: Open Wednesday-Sunday at 5865 Labath Ave., Unit 9, Rohnert Park; facebook.com/parliamentbrewing.
Contact Jay R. Brooks at BrooksOnBeer@gmail.com.
