Viva la Castroville: Building Our Future in Monterey County

If you've followed Alvarado Street Brewery for any amount of time, you've probably heard us talk about the new brewery.

You've also probably heard us say "maybe in the next few years" more than once.

Well, the time has come.

We'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. None of that happens without all of you who have supported us along the way.

The new Castroville brewery is the biggest project we've ever taken on, and it's going to help shape the future of Alvarado Street Brewery for decades to come.

So... Why Are We Expanding?

The short answer?

We've run out of room.

Our Salinas production brewery has been an incredible home for us and has allowed us to grow far beyond what we ever imagined when we first moved in. But over the years we've continued adding tanks, finding creative ways to squeeze equipment into every available corner to make more liquid, and generally doing everything we can to make the space work.

At a certain point, though, you stop asking "How can we fit one more tank in here?" and start asking "What's the next step?"

Castroville is that next step.

Why Castroville?

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 us 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 us the opportunity to create something more than just a production facility.

The plan includes a tasting room and beer garden with rotating food trucks, giving people a place to hang out, enjoy the coldest beer around (we will dive into this later..), and see where a lot of the magic happens. Tours anyone?!

What Does This Mean for the Beer?

The new brewery will help us increase capacity, improve efficiency, and continue investing in quality across everything we brew.

From our lagers and West Coast IPAs to barrel-aged beers, this expansion gives us the space to keep pushing ourselves while staying focused on what got us here in the first place.

One of the things we'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 us, 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 our 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 our team the tools to brew at an even higher level.

Most importantly, it allows us 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 our 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 we can start sharing it with all of you.

We're incredibly proud of what our team has built over the years, and we're even more excited about where we're headed next.

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.

We can't wait to share more as construction progresses and look forward to raising a beer with you when the doors finally open.

Thanks for being part of the journey!