Fieldwork Brewing Company, 560 Munras Avenue, Monterey, California
CoffeeBeer >> Pint Pleasures >> Monterey 2
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Fieldwork Brewing Company, 560 Munras Avenue, Monterey, California |
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Alvarado Street Brewery, 426 Alvarado Street, Monterey, California |
During the final week of my California visit a few months ago, my friend Mistah Rick and I stopped for a night in Monterey to explore the breweries there. Founded in 1770, the coastal city of Monterey functioned as the capital of Alta California from 1804 to 1846, first under Spain and then under Mexico. In 1846, at the end of the Mexican-American War, it became part of the United States. The city has the distinction of having opened California’s first theatre, public library, and public school, and the first newspaper in California started here. Since the late 1800s, many artists and writers have been drawn to Monterey, and the city offers plenty of interesting sites for visitors to explore, including Cannery Row, Fisherman’s Wharf, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium. It’s also famous for the Monterey Jazz Festival, which began in 1958, and of course the Monterey Pop Festival, a one-time event in 1967 which featured the American debuts of Jimi Hendrix and the Who and introduced Janis Joplin and Otis Redding.
Monterey was also the setting of the wedding of my cousin Jennifer to Nick back in the 1990s. This was an event which attracted lots of Mitchells from as far away as Australia. I was living in Seattle at the time, and this was the last time I visited the city. So I was looking forward to seeing it again.
After Rick and I checked into our hotel in downtown Monterey, it was a five-minute walk to our first stop in the city, Fieldwork Brewery, which is located in the industrial Upland Shopping Center. After our long drive up the coast from San Luis Obispo, sitting outside in the beer garden sounded very inviting. We started off at the outside bar having a few quick tasters. The first was Everbong (5.0% AVB), a DDH West Coast Pale brewed with lots of Sultana hops, which could best be described as weird. It had a sparkling, shimmery sheen with a lingering aroma of naugahyde. The brewery’s description of this beer uses lots of surfing analogies, so that’s obviously where the “bong” in the name comes from.
Our next taster was This Was The Way (6.6% ABV), a Red IPA with Amarillo hops that was just nice and drinkable--in fact, I could be happy drinking a few cans of this. It was brewed with the intention of re-introducing American Red IPA, and I personally think that’s a very good idea.
And then there was Ready Set Let’s Go (8.2% ABV), a West Coast DIPA with Citra, El Dorado, and Waimea hops, which introduced, wow, um, a new taste for both of us. And I’m talking about Rick, the Bay Area beer expert, and myself, the US-born Yorkshire beer expert. This is new territory for beer in general. Our taste buds felt like pioneers forging new hops territory. I’ve had Waimea hops before, and I’ve learned to love El Dorado. So is it the marriage of these two, a marriage made in hops heaven? The name of this beer came from the suggestion of rockets of flavours being fired, and yeah, I can go with that. Let me fasten my seatbelt first... I ended up ordering a pint of The Lucky Ones (6.4% ABV), a DDH West Coast IPA brewed with Simcoe, Nelson, and Amarillo, and Rick ordered a pint of Doobie Bounce (8.0% ABV), a West Coast DIPA brewed with Denali, Eureka, and Columbus hops. We found a seat in the middle of the crowded garden and proceeded to explore our pints. The first sip of The Lucky Ones immediately transfixed me, and I was in love. Rick's pint was supposedly brewed in honour of Michael McDonald of the Doobie Brothers (as opposed to what happens when one drops their spliff), and it was also very tasty.
Fieldworks is obviously a popular place for drinks after work, even on this Monday. Over to one side we had a view of four historic flags flying over the neighbouring Transit Plaza: Spain, who established the Mission and Presidio of Monterey in 1602; Argentina, because during the Argentine war in 1818, Argentine Privateer Hipólito Bouch occupied Monterey for a few days in 1818; Mexico, which in 1822 won its freedom from Spain, and therefore California was part of Mexico; and finally the United States, when the flag had only 28 stars representing the 28 states at the time.
There are a total of seven Fieldworks now. Besides this one, and the flagship brewery in Berkeley that opened in 2014 and that Rick and I had visited in 2017 with my Unkletom, there are also Fieldsworks in Corte Madera, Sacramento, San Mateo, San Ramon, and Napa. It would be a fun project to visit them all -- but there are so many fine breweries in California these days that it might take a lifetime.
We then walked over to the Alvarado Brewing Company, where we sat inside at the bar and shared two pints. The first one was Cold Pressed (6.5% AVB). This beer had a really nice flavour which brought ice to mind. The best way to describe it is like drinking an iceberg in an orange juice sea. It was unbelievably unusual and gorgeous, like an amazing bouquet of tropical flowers in a sea breeze wafting over a resiny ground cover. I loved this beer like I love Jack, my cat cousin who lives in Bakersfield. The other pint we shared was Waimea Skaze (7.0% ABV). Drinking this single hopped charm was like meeting someone whom you really like, and they smell good, and they’re also really funny. I wished we could have invited these two pints back to our hotel for just a really enjoyable and amusing evening.
But we stayed here, sitting at the bar, watching as the pub started to get quite busy. Seeing as how the Alvarado is a gastropub, we decided to order some food. I had the seared salmon with risotto and asparagus, and Rick had the sesame seared ahi with sticky rice. They were both quite delicious.
Alvarado Street Brewery was opened in 2014 by John and JC Hill, who are father and son. At this point they also have a brewery and bistro in Carmel, a taproom in Salinas, and a large beer garden with brews and food at the Cardinale Stadium in Marina.
Before we called it a night (which it was by then), we took a stroll through Monterey, drawn by a distant barking sound to the Fisherman’s Wharf. There we found pure magic: an ear-shattering symphony of dozens of sea lions barking loudly. I could have stayed there all night--but the next day we had further beer experiences up the coast to explore.
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