New beer gardens and expanded taprooms are headed for Bay Area cities this spring.
Spring weather and optimistic pandemic news make the prospect of beer gardens and alfresco beer-sipping all the more attractive this season. Things are still unpredictable, of course, but hopefully we’ll soon be able to share a beer with friends in public spaces. Meanwhile, there are new brews and brewery openings heading our way. Here’s just a sampling.
NEW TAPROOMS >> Fieldwork Brewing Co. is in expansion mode again, opening additional space at two of its locations. The San Ramon Fieldwork at City Center Bishop Ranch is expanding its indoor taproom, adding a full menu and additional taps and opening a 2,700-square-foot beer garden this spring. The menu, designed by chef Jeffrey Amber, includes a variety of Neapolitan-inspired pizzas, as well as salads and appetizers. And the Fieldwork outpost at Napa’s Oxbow Public Market Annex will add a new outdoor beer garden and additional taps this spring, as well.
Meanwhile, Berkeley and Daly City’s Gilman Brewing Co. is adding a new 2,500-squarefoot taproom at 706 Main St. in downtown Pleasanton. Right now, brewmaster Sean Wells’ new spot is only open for retail with limited hours as they complete renovations and navigate permits, but eventually you can expect to enjoy live music and handmade pretzels, small bites and beer-friendly lunch and dinner options both indoors and on the twinkle-lit patio, thanks to a partnership with Brava Garden Eatery.
NEW SIPS >> In honor of Women’s History Month, the Pink Boots Society, a group created by and for women in brewing, has partnered with San Leandro’s 21st Amendment Brewery to create Moon Boots IPA to offer four scholarships to women for two different brewing programs. The new IPA was brewed by a team of women brewers at 21st Amendment using Pilsner malts, toasted rice and strawberries, with Citra Cryo, Azacca and Mosaic hops. The beer will be available in six-packs this spring.
Just in time for baseball season, San Diego’s Alesmith Brewing Co. is releasing a Hazy .394, named for the career-high batting average of the late San Diego Padres Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn. It’s a hazy smooth IPA with low bitterness and notes of tropical fruit and citrus, available now in four-packs of 16-ounce cans. It’s part of an homage to the ballplayer that dates back to 2014.
San Francisco’s Anchor Brewing has released three new beers as a part of its 125th anniversary, including a Tropical Hazy IPA, Crisp Pilsner and Little Weekend, a low-calorie and low-alcohol beer. Tropical Hazy is the brewery’s first packaged Hazy IPA since tinkering with one for the taproom. The nose boasts fresh aromas of pineapple, guava, papaya, passion fruit and mango, with robust hop flavors balancing a beer that’s smooth throughout. Anchor’s Crisp Pilsner is a floral Pilsner brewed with noble hops for a suitably crisp and clean taste. And Little Weekend, at 3.7% alcohol by volume and 100 calories, is a golden ale with a hint of mango and tropical notes that’s an easy-drinking session beer. All three are available in six-pack cans in stores and via pickup at Anchor’s Public Taps.
NANO BREWS >> Last year, Kevin Mcgee, who owned the hyper-local Healdsburg Beer Co., bought Anderson Valley Brewing Co., one of the first California breweries to be classified as a nanobrewery. Mcgee has announced plans to revive the brand with at least three offerings to be brewed in Boonville. Those beers
will eventually be made available in 12-ounce cans at stores throughout the Bay Area.
BEERVENTURES >> In-person beer events and festivals are finally entering the realm of reality, with a few events tentatively planned for this summer. Beer Fest: The Good One, a benefit for Sonoma County’s fight against HIV, is scheduled to return to the rolling lawns of Santa Rosa’s
Luther Burbank Center for the Arts on June 12. Find details and ticket information at beerfestthegoodone.f2f.org.
The 2021 Lodi Craft Beer Festival (lodicraftbeerfestival.com) is penciled in for June 19, and the Monterey Beer Festival, usually held in July, is now scheduled for Oct. 16.