New Breweries Headed to Berkeley and Alameda

Ain't no beer boom like an East Bay beer boom, because an East Bay beer boom don't stop. The latest players: a new brewpub/restaurant in Berkeley, and a brewery and tasting room in Alameda. The Berkeley project is Far West Brewing, which is taking over a sizable industrial space on Sixth Street capable of producing 310K gallons of beer annually, according to Berkeleyside Nosh. With that level of capability, the owners are planning on doing a little bit of everything: a stable of six classic styles like a pale ale, IPA, and stout; seasonal limited releases; and barrel-aged and wild-fermented beers. They'll do bottles and growler pours, and plan to source food from nearby Acme and Cheese Board for their menu, which will focus on cheese, charcuterie, pretzels, pizza, and sandwiches. The project is still awaiting approval from planning, so no word on an opening date as of yet.

Meanwhile, only six months after the arrival of Faction, Alameda is set to get a second craft brewery. As Berkeleyside Nosh reports, Alameda Island Brewing Company comes from owner Bill Phua and brewer Matthew Fox, and is planned as a brewery-taproom with a special area for food trucks and mobile vendors to swing through (Baron's Eats, East End Pizza, Sushi King and Greens & Grains are some of the planned participants). No word on what tack they're planning to take with the beer itself, but they should be open sometime this summer; they're hoping to get approval to stay open until midnight, seven days a week.

Other recent brewery arrivals to the East Bay include the aforementioned Faction, The Rare Barrel, Sierra Nevada's Torpedo Room, and an expanded Ale Industries in Oakland; brewpub Hoi Polloi, 21st Amendment's huge San Leandro facility, Drake's beer garden in uptown Oakland, and Diving Dog Brewhouse remain in the pipeline.

· New craft brewery, restaurant slated for Berkeley [Berkeleyside Nosh]
· Alameda Island Brewing Company on its way [Berkeleyside Nosh]
· All East Bay Beer Boom posts [~ ESF ~]