English Ales Brewery (Marina, CA)

So Thanksgiving brought me and the family down to the Monterey Peninsula to visit my dad and the extended family (16 people around the Thanksgiving table was just the tip of the iceberg). After stuffing ourselves silly on Thursday, how about some traditional pub fare before hitting the road Friday? Don’t worry, the wife was driving afterwards. So how was it?

First, the brewery is located a the retail space in a strip mall on a side street in a city on the outskirts of the Monterey Peninsula, not exactly on the beaten path. The brewery takes up the corner spot, with kegs littering the area out front. Next door is the pub. The pub is fantastic. Personalized mugs hang from hooks on the ceilings with names and membership dates written on the bottom, covering the entire ceiling, some of the walls and above the bar. A soccer match was playing on the TV behind the bar. Everything was clean and inviting, very comfortable.

Now, one note before getting into the beer. The setting was great, but the service was what I might describe as cold. Initially I was interested in interviewing the brewer, but the “what do you want?” I received when asking for him lead me to think otherwise. The service at the table, while prompt, was again, a little icy. But you don’t care about that, do you. What about the beer?

I ordered their sampler which was a reasonable $8. I received everything they list on their website with the exception of the IPA, Stout and Winter Reserve. The Brew 66 was the featured beer on cask. The Big Sur Golden Ale was fantastic. A golden ale brewed with “real lemons,” it’s light, flavorful and extremely refreshing. The porter was another excellent ale. Dark, roasty, chocolaty, everything you want from a porter. The ESB was the other selection that stood out a bit, a classic example of the style and done well. The Fat Lip Amber was interesting. I didn’t dislike it, but I wasn’t sure if I liked it. I couldn’t identify what it was about the flavor profile, but it was just different. The Pale Ale, Brown and Wheat were decent beers but didn’t strike me as particularly special. I was disappointed with Brew 66 and after finishing the cask sample left the majority of the tap sample.

Overall, the brewery lives up to the name. If you like British Ales, this is the place for you. Don’t come in expecting blisteringly bitter double IPAs, high gravity oak aged imperial stouts, or modern genetic mutations of ale. The focus here is on the classic styles and the craftsmanship it takes in creating them. The malt profile of the lighter ales seemed a little redundant, but this is a brewery worth visiting.