The Mid-Peninsula has a hidden yet interesting brewery scene, so for this month’s Bay Area brewery tour, I returned to take a closer look. (I’ve previously visited the Alpha Acid, Blue Oak and Devil’s Canyon breweries in San Carlos. This time, I headed for Redwood City and Belmont.
Freewheel Brewing
Founded in 2012, this Redwood City brewery stands out for its British-style cask ales. The brewery was founded by four friends, including a Brit and a home brewer with a Ph.D. in biochemistry, who partnered with two small United Kingdom breweries to brew cask ales here.
It’s a traditional way of making beer without adding carbon dioxide. Often derided as resulting in beers that are flat and warm, that’s not actually the case. These ales are served at cellar temperature — usually 50 to 55 degrees. And they are naturally carbonated. The beer only appears flat when you compare it to highly carbonated modern keg beer. With cask ales, the flavors aren’t masked by gassy carbon dioxide, and can more easily shine through in the glass. These ales are typically delicate and don’t travel well, so having it at the source is a plus.
After the original brewer, Malcolm McGinnis, died several years ago, the brewery began offering both modern keg beer and cask ale. The day I stopped by, they had three solid beers on cask: the English IPA, which had a delicate herbal nose with clean, balanced hop flavors; the Wenlock Stout, which was dry and roasty; and the Hugo Stout, a sweeter Jamaican-style dark ale. Other beers available included the K9 Kolsch, Wheat Dreams Hefeweizen, a hazy Big Paws IPA, Big Bad Barley Wine and the Big Ben, an imperial stout.
The brewpub offers a full menu of small plates, entrees and salads, and there’s live music and trivia contests on Wednesdays.
Details: Open daily at 11:30 a.m. at 3736 Florence St. in Redwood City; freewheelbrewing.com.
Freewheel Brewing in Redwood City specializes in British-style cask ales. (Courtesy Jay R. Brooks)
Ghostwood Beer Company
This brewery was founded by brewer Tommy Domingo six years ago. He later sold it to Amanda and Dan Williams, who were looking to open a restaurant in downtown Redwood City. Ghostwood Kitchen opened last summer. Domingo continues to be the brewmaster there and brews around a dozen beers at a time.
Ghostwood’s beer are all clean and offer some unique twists on traditional styles. My favorite was the Asian Pear Pilsner, a crisp, tasty pils brewed with pear juice in collaboration with Mission-Trail Ranches. I’d never had a fruit pilsner before, but the pear flavors are sublime, and I could easily imagine drinking this on a hot day.
The Extra Crispy American Lager was also clean and refreshingly light, as was their Fantasma Madera Mexican Lager. Both the Main Street West Coast IPA and the Farm Hill Double West Coast IPA were hop-forward beers, and the Hotel Sequoia Porter is an old-school porter with rich chocolate notes.
The full menu, which includes appetizers, entree salads and sandwiches, outdoes the usual brewpub fare. They also have a brunch menu available weekends from 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Details: Open 4 to 9 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Thursday; noon to 11 p.m. Friday; and starting at 11:30 a.m. — for brunch — on weekends at 911 Main St. in Redwood City; ghostwoodbeer.com.
ECR Brewing is a microbrewery based in Belmont’s industrial area. (Courtesy Jay R. Brooks)
ECR Brewing
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The last time I visited Belmont breweries, ECR Brewing was not yet open, and founder Chris Beaudett was still a home brewer. When he decided to turn pro, he initially planned to add a brewery to the ECR Pub on El Camino Real, the brewery’s namesake. The city wasn’t too keen on the idea, though, so he found a location in a more industrial area and started brewing.
His beers are only available at the brewery or at the ECR pub. When I visited, he had two beers on tap: a Kolsch and a pale ale, but usually there are around four. The Kolsch is a sweet and refreshing low-alcohol lager with nice effervescence. The pale is also very drinkable, with nicely-balanced hops and a good hop character that doesn’t overwhelm the flavor.
Details: The brewery is open from 3 to 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday and 1 to 8 p.m. on Saturday at 111 Industrial Rd. #8 in Belmont; ecrbrewingcompany.com. The ECR Pub is open from 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. Monday-Saturday and 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 a.m. Sunday at 864 El Camino Real in Belmont; ecr.pub.
Contact Jay R. Brooks at BrooksOnBeer@gmail.com.
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