The Beer

This beer overflows with the citrusy, fruity, and dank flavors of a west coast IPA (thank you, Centennial, Simcoe, and Mosaic!), with a clean, dry body that takes its cues from a light lager. Each sip is crisp and hoppy and invites another.

This elegant celebration beer showcases the subtle sweetness of toasted malt. Notes of freshly baked bread are balanced by just enough gentle bitterness. The crisp, clean lager finish invites another sip. Cheers to a decade of Discretion!

Rhombi are our favorite quadrilaterals. It’s also the name of our Belgian Quad that spent 9 months aging in Bourbon and Maple Syrup barrels. This decadent garnet-hued beer has notes of maple, toffee, and chocolate with a smooth bourbon-y finish. Belgian yeast lends subtle notes of baking spices along with hints of cherry and plum.

Coconut Telegram doesn’t shout about coconut, but it clearly signals the news. Organic toasted Sri Lankan coconut adds tropical depth to this sunny IPA, while bright citrus and pineapple hop character enhances the message.

DeLa Hazy IPA celebrates Delaveaga Park’s world-renowned disc golf course where many of us spend our days off. The beer, soft and full on the palate, is dry-hopped with Citra and a little Amarillo. Aromas of resinous green pine evoke hilly fairways surrounded by pine forest. Juicy oranges, lemon candy, guava, and ripe mango spin and glide over the tongue with little fade. Cheers to tree love and birdies!

Brett, saison yeast, lactobacillus/-pedicoccus, and time worked their magic on this saison, resulting in a bright, citrusy beer with a dry finish. Notes of lemon, stone fruit, pepper, baking spices, and vanilla captivate the palate.

Our whiskey barrel-aged imperial stout is dark, rich, and authoritative. Aromas of roasted malt, whiskey, and oak capture your attention, while notes of deep caramel, toasted marshmallow, and fig enthrall your tastebuds. A lingering, roasty bitterness brings all of the elements into triumphant balance.

The Lark, our Maibock brewed each spring to celebrate the season, spent a year in a bourbon barrel.  Then, a bit of The Lark from this spring was blended in to add body and sweetness.  Toffee and biscuit on the nose lead into toasted oak, the pleasing glow of bourbon, and a dry lager finish.  Do you get a hint of dried flowers that suggests an early summer stroll through a sun-warmed field?  Us too.

Our version of Flanders Red, the famous Belgian Sour Red Ale, is fruity and reminiscent of red wine. A lemony nose leads into tart cherry character on a good malt backbone, with oak notes from the barrels mingling with a suggestion of almonds.

500ml bottle

Let me be clear. I’m a West Coast IPA emphasizing hop character over bitterness. With classic Cascade hops contributing their unique citrus and floral notes, and Azacca and El Dorado offering tropical and stone fruits, bright aromas and flavors come shining through.

This dazzling attention- grabber glows with the clean character and pleasing bitterness of your favorite German- style Pilsner. Its shimmer is amplified, yielding a golden, noble beer with richness and depth. Let Neon Shine illuminate your situation.

Your splendid tropical fruit and floral aromas lead us eagerly into the opulence of you. Your golden hue promises a wealth of treasures, and you deliver such an abundance of bright and candy-like fruitiness. You whisper of green and resinous secrets, keeping us enthralled.

Parched? Quench your thirst with a glass of Margarita Road. We aged our Mexican-style amber lager in tequila barrels, then added sea salt and organic lime zest. The copper-hued malty lager has a bright and refreshing character that makes for easy drinking.

Our Contemplate beers showcase unique ingredients on a canvas of Belgian blonde ale aged for a year with Brettanomyces in American oak barrels.

Contemplate Grapes stars local, organic Chardonnay grapes. They give a vinous quality to the aroma, with notes of pear, mango, and citrus. Fermentation on the grape skins created moderate tannins which add heft and dryness. The grapes’ acidity lends balance and maintains the refreshing finish. With time, this variation may evolve more complex fermentation characteristics due to native yeasts on the grapes themselves.

Our Contemplate beers showcase unique ingredients on a canvas of Belgian blonde ale aged for a year with Brettanomyces in American oak barrels.

Contemplate Hops displays Jarrylo and Waimea hops. Jarrylo adds its own notes of banana and pear to those same fruit notes contributed by Brettanomyces. Waimea lends bright citrus and pine components that play well with the mild acidity. Together, the hop flavors mingled with Brett’s fruit esters present ripe stone fruit and a tropical touch of pineapple.

The Bay/Porter exit off Hwy. 1  brings you into Soquel Village, our brewery’s neighborhood. It needed to have this beer named after it.

Aromas of deeply roasted chocolate mingle with notes of toasted black bread. Smooth caramel on the tongue transitions to bittersweet chocolate and roasted malt flavors with a pleasingly bitter finish.

This Brett-ed wit with coriander, pink pepercorn, and chardonnay pomace was aged in a Windy Oaks pinot barrel for 18 months. The aroma is oaky, spicy, citrusy, and pear-like, with vanilla and some chardonnay notes. The light refreshing flavor starts with a kiss of tannin and gives way to a silky, oaky fullness.

We support the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County, which works to preserve local lands and critters.

Is there anyone better to sit around a campfire with, telling stories, IPAs in hand? We think not. Cheers, Uncle Dave! This full-bodied, complex, dry-hopped India Pale Ale delivers fruity hop aromas supported by substantial maltiness and a hint of peppery rye.

Available in 12oz and 19.2oz cans.

Put away the flashlights. The darkness is friendly and brings into focus the night’s scents and sounds. In our Night Walk, a dry-hopped black ale, bold hops mingle with chocolaty roast malt. Can an IPA be the color of night?

Aged for over 15 months in French oak barrels, this old ale’s brettanomyces character expresses itself as fruity funk on the nose, with flavors of dried cherry leading to a dry finish.

We all live by the Submarine Canyon, a Grand-Canyon-sized marvel beneath our Monterey Bay. The canyon walls descend into cold darkness, but weird and wonderful life abounds.

In this IPA, fruity hop notes swim with whispers of Meyer lemon and sea salt. Every Submarine Canyon IPA sold supports the work of Save Our Shores.

Three Fawns is a Belgian-style tripel aged in American bourbon barrels. A boozy warmth redolent of vanilla, black pepper, and honey, along with soft berry notes, leads into a dry peppery finish influenced by oak.

Tens of millions of flowers were visited by local bees to make the honey that gives a taste of place and a dry finish to our Kolsch-style ale. Vinous esters mingle with a wisp of honey in the nose. The delicate malt flavor is gently accented with a touch of orange zest in this refreshing, food friendly beer.

This new-school hazy IPA is brimming with aromas of tropical fruits. Hops, hops, and more hops were added to this beer throughout the production process to create a distinctively succulent IPA with notes of pineapple and guava. You wouldn’t be blamed if you thought this was some sort of “new juice” rather than a hazy IPA.

Originally brewed for the Redwood Mountain Faire, this blonde ale is a favorite for sipping beneath our beloved, towering redwoods.  Delightfully bright and refreshing, its low bitterness and subtle malt expression will win you over.

The Winter Circle is a huge, twinkling pattern of stars that dominates the winter sky. Our Winter Circle casts a prevailing glow that decorates any darkness.

This barrel-aged version of our American Barleywine (3 months in Colorado Whiskey barrels) is a big, complex, copper-hued beauty. The whiskey barrels in which it is aged add notes of vanilla and oak to this luscious, heady sipper.

“What are you drinking?”

That first conversation between new-found friends has to start somewhere.

Our Conversation Series, a line of Belgian-inspired beers, begins with this versatile saison. Malted barley, rye, and wheat are fermented with a farmhouse yeast strain that contributes fruity, citrusy, spicy notes.

Amazing panoramas await when you take the scenic route. Scenic Stout is a robust yet smooth stout with a rich aroma of bittersweet chocolate. Oats round out its roasty, deep, dark cocoa flavor. Scenic Stout is the way to go.

“This is divinely delicious. Its effervescence makes me want to celebrate something, but it’s so majestic that I almost want to be all alone with it, thinking big thoughts.”

They assumed she was paying attention only to the beer till she set her tiles down and said, “Triple word score.”

“Nice,” was all they could respond.

Everyone took another sip.

Our Belgian-Style Tripel is unfiltered and golden in color. The aroma is full of fruity esters with a bit of spicy/grassy hops in the background. The flavor begins with a malty sweetness, then finishes with some warming alcohol and a moderately dry hop bitterness.

Cruzer Weisse is our Santa Cruz version of Berliner Weisse, the sour wheat beer from Northern Germany. Pleasantly tart and effervescent, Cruzer Weisse is the perfect thirst quencher, bringing a refreshing zing to your warm weather fun.

We spent a week wandering around Dublin during a heatwave, and all the Dubliners were in the parks with their shirts off enjoying the feel of the sun on their skin. Day by day they walked through St. Stephens Green seeing redder and redder skin as everyone excitedly burned.  It was a sunburn celebration. This is a traditional Irish Red: malty with a wee bit ‘o hops for balance. Sláinte!

While we wait for the rains, foggy forest walks reassure us with green, misty promise. This IPA hints of forest pleasures with its dank, resinous, piney hop aroma.

Our old shepherd Faith would’ve made a great brewery dog, but she didn’t live quite long enough. (Dogs never do.) Here’s to her and to all the good dogs. Good Faith is a Strong Ale, with malt derived toffee and dried fruit notes.

Oh Black Lager, Keep on Rollin’… The sound of the black lager happily burbling in the brew house brought this song to mind. Similar in style to a German Schwarzbier, this lager is dark brown in color with a roasted malt aroma and a lingering finish.  Its flavor is malty and mellow with a slight roasty edge reminiscent of bitter chocolate.

Mickie Malone’s Irish eyes were usually smiling. She had a kind heart and a smile that beamed. I miss you Mom; this one’s for you.
Love, Michael

Irish-Style Dry Stout served on Nitro

She has a shimmery depth, like light on the fathomless sea. Our brewer’s wife, Eileen, inspired the name of this beer.  Shimmer Pils is a crisp and refreshing German-style Pilsner, a true lager with a balanced hoppiness.

Our old shepherd Faith would’ve made a great brewery dog, but she didn’t live quite long enough. (Dogs never do.) Here’s to her and to all the good dogs. Our award-winning Strong Ale balances sweet toffee and dried fruit with oaky bourbon and vanilla notes from bourbon barrels.