If you’ve followed Alvarado Street Brewery for any amount of time, you’ve probably heard them talk about a new brewery. You’ve also probably heard them say “maybe in the next few years” more than once. Well, the time has come. They’re building a new brewery in Castroville. And honestly, it’s going to be amazing.
What started as a brewpub on Alvarado Street with a 10-barrel brewing kit has grown into multiple brewpubs, restaurants, tasting rooms, a production brewery, and a team of incredibly talented people. The new Castroville brewery is the biggest project they haveever taken on, and it’s going to help shape the future of Alvarado Street Brewery for decades to come.
So… Why Are They Expanding?
The short answer? They’ve run out of room. Their Salinas production brewery has been an incredible home for them and has allowed them to grow far beyond what we ever imagined when they first moved in. But over the years they’ve continued adding tanks, finding creative ways to squeeze equipment into every available corner to make more liquid, and generally doing everything they can to make the space work. At a certain point, though, you stop asking “How can they fit one more tank in there?” and start asking “What’s the next step?” Castroville is that next step.
Why Castroville?
Alvarado stated; “For us, it just felt right. We wanted to stay in Monterey County. This community has supported us from day one, and building the next chapter of Alvarado Street Brewery here was always important to us.”
Castroville, sitting right off Highway 1, is a perfect place for travelers and locals to access. The new site gives them the room to build a brewery specifically designed for brewing great beer instead of constantly adapting around the limitations of an existing building. It also gives them the opportunity to create something more than just a production facility.
Their plan includes a tasting room and beer garden with rotating food trucks, giving people a place to hang out, enjoy the coldest beer around.
What Does This Mean for the Beer?
The new brewery will help them increase capacity, improve efficiency, and continue investing in quality across everything they brew. From their lagers and West Coast IPAs to barrel-aged beers, this expansion gives them the space to keep pushing their selves while staying focused on what got them there in the first place.
One of the things they’re most excited about is the new 50-barrel BrauKon brewhouse that will serve as the heart of the Castroville brewery. BrauKon is known throughout the brewing industry for building highly engineered brewing systems that emphasize precision, consistency, and efficiency. For them, that means tighter control over every stage of the brewing process, from mash temperatures and lautering to wort production and boil performance.
The result is a brewhouse that gives their brewing team more consistency from batch to batch, improved efficiency in both water and energy usage, and the ability to produce larger volumes of beer without sacrificing quality. While great beer will always come down to the people making it, having world-class equipment gives their team the tools to brew at an even higher level.
Most importantly, it allows them to continue growing while maintaining the standards our customers have come to expect from every pint and can with the Alvarado Street Brewery name on it.
What Happens to Salinas?
Don’t worry, Salinas isn’t going anywhere. That facility has played a huge role in their story and remains an important part of our operation. As Castroville comes online, more production and packaging will move there, but Salinas will continue to be a part of what we do moving forward.
Looking Ahead
The truth is, opening a brewery like this isn’t something that happens overnight. There are still plenty of details to work through and lots of work left to do before we can welcome everyone through the doors. But for the first time, it feels close enough that they can start sharing it with all of you. The Castroville brewery isn’t about becoming something different. It’s about creating the space to continue being Alvarado Street Brewery. Just with a little more breathing room.