A Bay Area brewery that treats beer like wine - then serves it next to a sandbox, an arcade and a 25-foot movie screen. From farm-to-barrel sours to a family destination inside a restored naval hangar.
In 2010, two members of a San Francisco homebrew club decided the Bay Area deserved a beer that tasted like its own backyard. Jesse Friedman, then working in technology and blogging about beer on the side, and Damian Fagan, a graphic designer who put commercial-grade labels on his homebrews, founded Almanac Beer Co. on a simple, Alice Waters-inspired idea: brew farm-to-barrel seasonal ales made with regional fruit, and drink them alongside the region's food.
Almanac's first release said everything about the philosophy. The Summer 2010 Blackberry Ale used four varieties of Sonoma County blackberries, aged 11 months in red wine barrels before blending. The result: 309 cases. Beer, in Almanac's hands, was priced, aged, released in limited runs and consumed like wine.
Fifteen years later, the company does something few craft breweries have managed - it changed what business it was in. Today the Alameda home is branded Almanac Adventureland: a brewery, a 10,000-square-foot astroturf beer garden, and a family entertainment venue that can pull 3,000 visitors on a busy Saturday.
Almanac's customers were once craft-beer enthusiasts hunting the next barrel-aged sour. In the modern Bay Area, that audience is spoiled for choice - hundreds of excellent breweries compete for the same drinkers and the same weekend hours. Standing out on hops and technique alone became a losing game.
So Almanac widened the door instead of narrowing it. Its customers now include families with kids, dog owners, event and private-party bookers, festival-goers and people who simply want somewhere to spend an afternoon. Non-alcoholic slushies sit on the menu next to oak-aged sours; a sandbox sits near the pinball machines.
"In the Bay Area, where there's so much great beer, we need to find things to differentiate and make it fun. Beer is just the starting point."
- Kevin Scoles, Executive VP of SalesThat is what separates Almanac from the taproom next door. Most breweries deepen the beer experience for the enthusiast. Almanac broadened the day for everyone - and let the beer, still made with the same barrel-aging patience, be the reason people trust the rest.
Almanac is a B2C craft brewery and hospitality venue. Revenue arrives from several taps at once: taproom pours, on-site food and beverage, packaged beer distribution, Shopify-powered retail, and - increasingly - private-event bookings, festivals and ticketed entertainment. The Adventureland model turns a single beer purchase into a full-day visit.
That places Almanac in a distinctive corner of a crowded market. It competes with Bay Area breweries like Faction (also at Alameda Point), Fieldwork, Drake's, The Rare Barrel and Russian River - but it also competes with family entertainment venues for the same Saturday afternoon. Few rivals straddle both.
Illustrative revenue mix based on public descriptions of Almanac's operations - relative weighting, not audited figures.
Friedman and Fagan, friends from a homebrew club, launch Almanac in San Francisco with a farm-to-barrel philosophy.
Summer 2010 Blackberry Ale, aged 11 months in wine barrels - just 309 cases.
Everyday four-packs reach a wider audience; wins a Best of the Bay editor's pick.
Farmer's Reserve No. 4 lands on Draft Magazine's Top 25 Beers of 2013.
A retail taproom and year-round beer garden open in San Francisco's Mission District.
A 30,000 sq ft facility and second taproom open in a 1940s naval hangar; co-founder Friedman steps back from operations.
Almanac rebrands its Alameda home, adding arcade, family amenities and approachable cans.
Media crowns Almanac Adventureland one of the Bay Area's most popular family brewery destinations.
Among the first to build a brewery around fruit-forward, oak-aged sours tied to a specific region's harvest.
Farmer's Reserve No. 4 named one of the best beers of 2013 by Draft Magazine.
An SF Bay Guardian editor's pick in 2012, early recognition for a young brewery.
Turned a 1940s redwood building at Alameda Point into a working 30,000 sq ft brewery.
Grew a taproom into a destination handling as many as 2,000 people on site at once.
Executed a rare pivot from enthusiast brand to broad family experience without losing the craft.
Video walkthroughs, taproom tours and product demos - search these curated destinations: