Beer Guide 2015: Alameda Brewing

By KAT MERCK

Alameda Brewing

4765 NE Fremont St., 460-9025, alamedabrewing.com. 11 am-10 pm Sunday-Thursday, 11 am-11 pm Friday-Saturday.

[BEAU BEERLOVE] On a stretch of Northeast Fremont Street increasingly known for precious boutiques and artisanal doughnuts, Alameda remains a beloved neighborhood landmark, its protuberant hop cone logo standing sentinel over clusters of fleece-clad Beaumont residents bobbing their heads to Led Zeppelin tunes as they wait in line for $5 Saturday growler fills. Opened in 1996 with an onsite five-barrel setup, Alameda has since expanded to an offsite 20-barrel brewery with towering grain silo. It offers a satisfyingly comprehensive selection of house brews—from a sweet golden ale to a zingy imperial IPA to an award-winning stout—with an increased focus on creative seasonal selections available in bottles or on nitro. The brewpub space itself is notably spacious, well-staffed, and perfect for groups, with soaring ceilings, plenty of exposed brick, and a full menu of upmarket pub grub, sandwiches and kids' selections, securing the love of its neighborhood for years to come.

DRINK THIS: Papa Noel's Olde Ale, Alameda's seasonal winter warmer, is a malty, mellow standout that goes down easy in spite of its 7.2 percent ABV.

WWeek 2015

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