Half Moon Bay Brewing Company has chosen to open its first offsite taproom and bottle shop in downtown Berkeley. Called Pacific Standard, the spot will serve up craft beers in the space formerly occupied by wine bar La Botella Republic, at 2055 Center St. (at Shattuck). La Botella closed in March, two years after it opened.
Pacific Standard will offer 15 to 20 local and regional beers on tap, around half of which will be sourced from the onsite brewery at Half Moon Bay Brewing Company. The taproom, which will also serve snacks, should be open by the summer.
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“Half Moon wanted to be in the East Bay as there’s lots of excitement here around beer, and Berkeley is at the forefront of craft beer,” said Joel DiGiorgio of Farm League Design & Management, who is working with the brewery to open the taproom. “They have respect for the ‘old guards’ of Berkeley, Triple Rock and Jupiter, and are honored and humbled to be in the same town,” he said.
Under the direction of brewmaster James Costa since 2013, Half Moon Bay Brewing Company has introduced a number of beers to the Bay Area since it launched 16 years ago, including the Full Swing IPA and California’s first beer made using recycled water.
In addition to craft beers, the taproom will offer a rotating assortment of ciders and Northern California wines, according to a press release put out by the brewery, and the bottle shop will sell growlers.
Federico Godinez, the executive chef at Half Moon Bay Brewing Company, which has a restaurant as well as taproom at its Half Moon Bay location, is devising a small food menu for Pacific Standard. It is likely to include locally sourced charcuterie, cheeses, olives, pickles and perhaps hot paninis, according to DiGiorgio.
“We’re excited to expand our footprint beyond Half Moon Bay and introduce a new community to our extensive selection of top-quality, hand-crafted beers, and feature brews made by other West Coast breweries,” said Nate Rey, Half Moon Bay Brewing Company’s general manager, in the release. “At Pacific Standard, we want our guests to experience the very best elements of the Coastside in an urban, casual environment.”
The design of the new taproom will not deviate too much from the Botella décor.”Fortunately, we have taken over a space that was already beautifully designed,” said DiGiorgio. “The bones are so strong.” The brewery is going to install a dramatic new custom-fabricated draft system with a tap armature, however, which DiGiorgio says will be built to go over the bar and over patrons’ heads, and uses the same metallic elements that are used in breweries.
The name of the new taproom was inspired by the fact that the craft-beer movement is now going strong in communities along the whole Pacific, according to DiGiorgio — from Baja California up to Alaska. It’s also a play on Pacific Standard Time — “when people abbreviate the name they may just say PST,” he said.
Pacific Standard by Half Moon Bay Brewing Company is set to open in Summer 2016 at 2055 Center St. in Berkeley. The taproom will be open seven days a week. Check for updates at pacificstandardtaproom.com.
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