Brewbound 2023 Rising Stars: Alvarado Street

Speaker 1 [00:12] We are here with one of this year's rising stars coming to us is J.C. Hill, one of the co-founders of Alvarado Street Brewing. Welcome, J.C.

Speaker 2 [00:24] Thanks for having me, Zoe. Appreciate it. Glad to be here.

Speaker 1 [00:27] So, obviously, you guys are doing great things to be able to be a rising star this year, but for anyone who might not be familiar with what you're up to, give us a brief g what is Alvarado Street? What are you guys doing? Where are you guys at?

Speaker 2 [00:41] Sure, yeah. So Alvarado Street opened in 2014 in uh downtown Monterey. Uh, we are a brewery that, uh, to me epitomizes uh the Central Coast of California, at least in uh Monterey County. We have three locations, uh, 33 brew pubs, uh, and a production brewery, and we even have a little, uh, uh, concessions area at a, uh, USL soccer team, which is pretty cool.

Speaker 1 [01:08] And you founded Alvarado Street with your dad, right?

Speaker 2 [01:12] I did, yeah. My father and I um started Alvarado Street, in 2014. I started my brewing career in San Diego in 2011, 2012 and was involved with a small brewery down there, Amplified Ale Works, uh, that's still going to this day. I think they were like the thirty-second brewery to open in San Diego County at the time. There's quite a few more now. Um, but yeah, you know, I came to Monterey in 2014, really inspired by, you know, the San Diego craft beer scene that was rising down there, uh, at the time, you know, making really dry, uh, super aromatic, hot forward beers. Uh, and then, uh, it just sort of turned into a pretty amazing thing for us. I think our, our timing was really good and We've uh continued to have success, I think, mainly because we're just, we're still big beer nerds, uh, after all these years. We're just super fired up about uh different styles and just putting out the best product that we can.

Speaker 1 [02:07] So how would you describe what, like your, your core beers, what are the themes running through that? What do you want people to think about when they're drinking an Alvarado Street beer?

Speaker 2 [02:18] Sure. So, I mean, our mantra is uh drink fresh burp hops. So we're a very hop focused brewery. Um, there's obviously a lot of breweries that are focused on hops. Um, I think for us, like sort of the guiding philosophy in our approach to those beers is, you know, if you order a pint at the bar. Uh, you know, we want you to almost be able to smell that beer as the bartender's pouring it and handing it to you. Uh, I think that's, uh, that's what we strive to do. We strive to, you know, coax the best out of all our hops. Um, you know, we're, we're just really, uh, driven by that sort of sensory experience that drew many of us into the scene, you know, a long time ago, and that's what we try and Uh, focus on for those beers. Uh, and, and, you know, it's, it's covers, you know, hazy IPA as well as, you know, West Coast. I think we're rooted in West Coast IPA, but we've definitely, uh, been early, uh, proponents of hazy IPA and I've really worked on that a lot over the years. Uh, in addition to hoppy beers, we're really focused on lagers. We make two year-round, uh, lagers. We have a German style pills. That's technically the hoppiest beer we make in terms of, uh, you know, hot side hops. We add, uh, quite a bit to that. Uh, and then we have, uh, you know, an American Light Lager that we make year-round that was a heritage brand from the 1930s that we revived, um, called Monterey beer, and that's a big seller for us as well. And then I think the third sort of, um, component of our, of our brewing process is we are really focused on brewing. Um, sour ales, uh, quick soured ales, mainly, um, and we sort of, uh, have had this guiding philosophy of, of, uh, just a simple sort of nice, uh, expression of, you know, lactic acidity, uh, big fruit component, and really clean fermentation, carbonation, just keep it simple. And so we have a lot of fans that really love our sour beers as well.

Speaker 1 [04:09] We're big fans of sours over here, so we appreciate people who are still making, decking up those sours for us. Totally. You guys also do some non-alcoholic beers too, right?

Speaker 2 [04:21] Yeah, so we, uh, last year we launched, uh, a couple of different versions of, uh, a sour beer brand that we have. Um, the, the, the beer is called, uh, Biggie's Blueberry Brunch Bonanza. It's a fun alliterative series of, uh, kind of, uh, heavily fruited sour beers. And so we did a non-alcoholic version of one of those called Barely Biggie, uh, Blueberry brunch Bonanza. So just try to confuse everyone, I guess. Um, but that, that went over really well for us and we're, uh, coming out with our third sort of, um, sub-brand of that and then we're working on a hot water as well right now.

Speaker 1 [05:00] What made you guys want to get into non-Elk and hot waters in that space?

Speaker 2 [05:05] Uh, honestly, it's just selfishly. I think we wanted, uh, you know, something that we could drink, uh, you know, during the week or, uh, you know, pace in between beers if we're at, you know, these events, they beer industry events, they go for a long time and, you know, it's nice not to. To, to consume as much, I guess. And uh I think, you know, definitely inspired by some of the, the really good non-alcoholic beers out there. And, and I think just the challenge of it really um drew us to it. And we have yet to make a successful kind of traditional beer flavored non-alcoholic beer. It's pretty difficult. We're still trying though, definitely.

Speaker 1 [05:42] I mean, they're pretty popular. I know. I remember when you guys were first coming out with them, there was a couple of stories out there about them selling out pretty fast when they released, which is awesome.

Speaker 2 [05:52] Yeah, I think the timing, you know, doing it in Dry January definitely helps, and um I think, you know, there weren't, there's not a ton of other sort of like sour fruited non-alcoholic beers out there. There's certainly some, some really good ones that are leaders, but we just thought that's something we do well and that was easier for us to, to pull off as an entry into the market for us. Mhm.

Speaker 1 [06:13] Do you guys also have multiple locations, including, you mentioned that soccer setup, which is really cool. Um, what, when you are looking and looking for these locations, what is like the The ideal image or feel of like an Alvarado Street

Speaker 2 [06:30] spot. All of our locations are in sort of uh downtown locations, starting with our original brewery on Alvarado Street, which is a historic um thoroughfare in our town in Monterey. So I'd say, you know, being, you know, in an area where there's a lot of other, um, a lot of foot traffic, a lot of hotels, restaurants, like kind of a buzzy area is something that we like. Uh, and we're, you know, mostly a restaurant, uh, in terms of our, our brew pubs. So we have, uh, a really great, uh, culinary program. We also serve cocktails, wine. We really try and, uh, have our food sort of reflect the region that we're in. Um, so, you know, we have a lot of seafood, we have a lot of, uh, we feature a lot of fresh produce, you know, from the Salinas Valley, which is what we're known for. Um, so, you know, reflective of kind of the area we're in, but also, you know, the location wise, you know, we like to be in a sort of a busy area. I think that's, uh, sort of the definitive sort of Alvarado Street location.

Speaker 1 [07:31] Why do you have kind of this focus on that, like one specific area instead of like going into maybe various other places or other states and things?

Speaker 2 [07:42] Um, I just think we really want to focus on our backyard first. Um, we do sell quite a bit of beer in the Bay Area. We have a great, um, distribution partner, uh, that we signed with during the pandemic that, that, uh, moves some of our beer, uh, up in the Bay Area. That's a big part of our, of our identity as well. Um, but I'd say. You know, it's being in a in a relatively small town, a tourist town. It's taken many years to kind of take um. Uh, to occupy some real estate in, in the mindset down here, uh, and, and, you know, battling, you know, big beer is, is something that we continue to do and we still, um, are are finding success just with like all the small mom and pop uh retail businesses and even just like playing the, you know, grocery stores and convenience stores. That's as a self-distributing brewery mainly in our area, that's a challenge and we're still able to find growth in those channels.

Speaker 1 [08:39] The Brewers Association for your production numbers last year had you at, I think it was a little over 14,000 barrels. Uh, what are you guys looking at this year?

Speaker 2 [08:51] We're actually looking, uh, we're pretty flat, so that's more of a, of a function of, um, just sort of hitting capacity with our production brewery, um, and it's kind of good time right now for us to sort of focus on the internals of our business and, you know, working on our employment experience, uh, kind of building our company culture. We've been in this sort of, uh, decade-long, almost, uh, period of growth, um, you know, new locations. Uh, new, uh, expansions in the brewery. It was just kind of nonstop for the last, uh, you know, 99 years plus. And so it, it, it seemed like a good time to sort of hit the brakes and focus on, on some sort of internal things, um, before looking at, you know, what the future looks like in terms of growth.

Speaker 1 [09:36] It's smart, we've heard so many times this year, like one of the themes or main uh words for this year has been focus, and a lot of breweries, I think, are doing similar, like, looking internally on, OK, how do we set ourselves up for this next chapter of our business, but also of craft because it's a bit of a transition point for a lot of people right now.

Speaker 2 [09:58] Yeah, absolutely, and I think it's, it's, you know, the industry is maturing, and I think it's, it's healthy for us to To, to, uh, you know, look at the internals and, and even focus more even on our, on our product and we have a bunch of flagship beers that we started making. We used to just be a one-off brew. We'd make continuous one-off beers, you know, every single week, and we've kind of found that um some comfortability and some flagship beers that we've been making for a long time and to be able to like make tweaks to those every single time is something that is something we, we like to do and and continue to focus on.

Speaker 1 [10:32] So, like you said, next year is gonna be the 10-year mark for you guys. What is something that you have learned in that decade? Is there any like surprises in running a brewery that you've run into?

Speaker 2 [10:45] So much that we've um been fortunate to, you know, opportunities to take advantage of, um, you know, as a business owner. Sometimes, you know, you're not able to focus on what you love and, and why you started the business to begin with because you're just wearing a ton of hats and putting out fires constantly. And I'd say learning how to delegate is, uh, I mean, that's like the most cliche answer ever, but it's so important to be able to hand things off to people, uh, who have the bandwidth and the focus to take on something that you don't, and they're going to just do a much better job at that. And I have such a great team. Uh, we, you know, we wouldn't be here obviously without, you know, a really dialed in team who, who, you know, really buys into what we're trying to do and, um, Yeah, I'd say just that I can't underestimate the value of delegating to people who would do a job much better than you can.

Speaker 1 [11:43] It's just smart business moves, honestly.

Speaker 2 [11:46] It's hard. It's really hard, honestly, yeah, very important.

Speaker 1 [11:50] We talked about it a little bit already, but what is kind of like the core identity that you want to maintain for the next step of Alvarado Street?

Speaker 2 [11:58] You know, we want to be known for our beer quality, uh, absolutely, 100%. Uh, I think we have really great, um, great art and illustration that goes into our packaged products and just the way, um, you know, we, uh, capture sort of our company through social media, through our, our photography, and, um, I think that really ties to the theme of where we're located and gives us this, this local presence, um. Being tied to, you know, our, our area on the Central Coast is maintaining that identity, I think is really important to us. Um, you know, as we look to grow, who knows? I doubt we'll venture very far from home, if I'm being perfectly honest, because it, it feels really good to, um, you know, be a part of the community and that's why we, we set out to do this initially.

Speaker 1 [12:48] As you're doing that, what have you found is the, are the strategies that you found that are best to bring new consumers to the brand by keeping those like, possibly decade-long consumers with you?

Speaker 2 [13:04] Yeah, I mean, I think you've got to keep the beer interesting and unique. You need to have something for the people that want to see new and progressive stuff. Uh, you also need to make beer that casts a wide net, and I think our portfolio products does that really well in terms of, you know, having a very accessible light lager, you know, at a really accessible price point, something that's really neutral. You don't really have to think too much about it. It's just A conversation carrier, and then you have something for people who are hop enthusiasts and then you have something like, you know, even our sours, you know, we approach them like cocktails, honestly, they don't even taste like beer admittedly. It's just this kind of balancing act that we try to do. And, you know, right there, I think we, we cast a wide net and just to draw as many drinkers in, I think is, is big, you know, we're not. In the age where we're in our little bubble anymore, we can't be. We have to think of it as a bigger picture if we're going to keep going.

Speaker 1 [14:05] That's really important right now. Um, and I think that's why you guys have been able to have the success that you've had so far. Um, because you guys are a rising star, you obviously are doing something right, and they're going to be breweries that are looking to you guys to see how they can carve out their own success. One question that we're asking everybody is, is there one piece of advice or one tip that you've learned that you think people in the industry need to know?

Speaker 2 [14:36] I don't know. I just say being being true to yourself, and I think not getting too caught up in all of the um Noise in terms of uh buying trends or beer trends, beverage trends. I think there there's a lot of. There's a lot of different things going on right now, and it can get, it can be really easy to get sucked into that. And I, and, you know, I'll admit, you know, sometimes some of that stuff keeps me up at night, but I think if you just stay true to who you are and you care about the product you make and the people that buy it and really just have that eye on on the community, and I think if you're just putting your best foot forward, then I think things will will fall into place and I certainly hope that will remain the case with us.

Speaker 1 [15:23] Well, good luck with everything in your next chapter with Alvarado Street and congrats again on being a rising star.

Speaker 2 [15:30] Thanks, Zoe. I super appreciate it.