This month’s brewery day trip pulled me south to Santa Cruz and its neighbors, Soquel and Scotts Valley, where I sampled super-strong dark beers at a brand-new taproom, Scottish-inspired beers like Steel Bonnet Brewing’s Brave Hearts Kolsch, and beautifully-balanced brews from Soquel’s Discretion Brewing. Here’s what you need to know to recreate your own version of this day trip, perhaps best enjoyed on a sunny June afternoon.
Private Press Brewing
Private Press Brewing, which started out as a membership-only brewery in 2019, opened its doors to the public with a new taproom May 10. Founder Brad Clark previously spent 14 years as the Director of Brewery Operations for the award-winning Jackie O’s Pub & Brewery in Athens, Ohio. The taproom serves up Private Press beer on draft and in bottles, while he spins records from his large, curated collection behind the bar.
Private Press is essentially a blendery. Clark brews his base beers at Faction Brewing in Alameda and at Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing, which he also co-owns. It’s located across the alleyway from Private Press). He then ages his beer in various types of wooden barrels, blending as he goes. He doesn’t release a beer until it’s ready and is expressing itself the way he envisions.
The unique taproom reminds me of a Greenwich Village jazz café, with equal parts music posters, plants and comfy chairs, along with wooden barrels and a shelf of books and bottles. Behind the bar is a massive collection of records, which Clark carefully curated from his larger home collection.
There were four beers available when I visited, and of those, the lowest-ABV option was 14.2%. As such, this is a place to sip your beer and enjoy the ambiance. That beer, Solar Plexus, is a wheatwine (a variation of a barleywine brewed with a percentage of wheat). Then there’s Inner Landscape, a 15.8% stout brewed with whole peanuts and vanilla, Open Drums, a 17.7% Double Barrel Munichwine (a variation on barleywine that Clark invented, made with Munich Malt barley), and Plato’s Shadow, an 18.3% Double Barrel Stout. These beers are big and bold, but they’re also complex and smooth, without the alcoholic burn so common in many strong beers.
Details: Open 12-6 p.m. weekends at 334-C Ingalls St. in Santa Cruz; privatepressbrewing.com.
Discretion Brewing
Founders Rob and Kathleen Genco stand with brewer Michael Demers (right) at Discretion Brewing, a Soquel-based brewery. Its slogan is “Wisdom, Wit, Kindness, Beer.” (Courtesy Jay R. Brooks)
Founders Kathleen and Rob Genco opened Discretion Brewing in 2013, looking to build a business as a family after Rob’s 30 years in the tech industry. Their son had recently started homebrewing and suggested a brewery. Twelve years later, all four members of the Genco family now work for the brewery. They hired brewmaster Michael Demers, who keeps around 16 house-made beers on tap at any given time, along with a selection of barrel-aged specialty beers. Their flagship beers are Uncle Dave’s IPA, which includes a hint of rye, and Shimmer Pils, a German-style pilsner. The beers are well-balanced, and there are usually a few Hazy IPAs and other hoppy beers in the mix alongside other lagers, a kettle sour and dark beers.
The brewery includes a large covered outdoor beer garden plus indoor seating where you can watch the brewing in action. Food is available via Sugo Italian Restaurant, which operates at the brewery and serves appetizers, salads, sandwiches, flatbread pizzas and desserts. Live music is offered on the weekends, with regular Movie Monday and Trivia Tuesday events.
Details: Open 12-9 p.m. daily at 2703 41st Ave., Ste. A, Soquel; discretionbrewing.com.
Steel Bonnet Brewing
Peter Catizone, brewer at Steel Bonnet Brewing in Scotts Valley, brewed for several decades at Faultline in Sunnyvale and still brews part-time at Discretion. (Courtesy Jay R. Brooks)
Steel Bonnet Brewing was founded in 2015 by Scottish expats Donald and Susan Cramb, who named the brewery, and many of their beers, for aspects of their Scottish heritage. The brewery is tucked in the back of the Victor Square Shopping Center, with a long bar and tables indoors and two large beer gardens outside. Bands perform on the weekends, and there are regular trivia nights. Plus, they host monthly Bricks & Beers sessions, during which kids play with Legos and parents enjoy beer.
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For the past year, old-school brewer Peter Catizone has led brewing. His skills are on display with Hop the Heck, a nicely balanced West Coast IPA that’s their best-selling, alongside the newer Big Trees Red Ale, which is giving it a run for its money. He’s also introduced Brave Hearts Kolsch, but otherwise kept most of the longtime favorites. I especially enjoyed the English Rose Pale Ale, the Sassenach English IPA, and the Black Mayle Stout. In 2024, Steel Bonnet also opened a production brewery in Salinas, where they can most of their year-round beers.
Details: Open 3-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 2-9 p.m. Friday and 12-9 p.m. weekends at 20 Victor Square in Scotts Valley; steelbon.net.
Know a local brewery or brewpub that’s knocking it out of the park but isn’t getting the recognition they deserve? Drop me a line at [email protected] and tell me why you love them.