The Case for Custom Craft Brewing
Last week, we explored how some of the most interesting beers in the Bay Area right now are adjunct lagers. After decades spent chasing the biggest and the boldest, many of our breweries are becoming fascinated with restrained, crisp lager styles that craft brewers once decried as "fizzy yellow beer."
One of the beers we highlighted was Fort Point's Ganada, a Korean-style lager brewed in collaboration with San Ho Won and designed specifically to complement the restaurant's cuisine. More than just a collaboration beer, Ganada represents a larger shift taking place in craft brewing.
For much of craft beer's rise, breweries built their reputations on assertive styles: hop-forward IPAs, rich imperial stouts, and high-octane Belgian-inspired ales. Those beers helped establish craft beer as a compelling alternative to industrial brewing, but they weren't always what chefs wanted alongside delicately composed dishes.
As a result, restaurants often found themselves choosing between local craft beer and culinary compatibility.
Today, that choice has become unnecessary.
As Bay Area brewers continue refining their approach to light lagers and other food-friendly styles, they are unlocking a previously overlooked opportunity: custom-built beers designed for specific restaurants, cuisines, retailers, and cultural experiences.
You Can Call it "Custom Craft Brewing"
These aren't simply collaboration beers. They're purpose-built brews.
A beer for a particular community.
A beer for a particular cuisine.
A beer for a particular menu.
A beer for a particular gathering or setting.
You will see this trend popping up across the country, and some of the most compelling examples can be found right here in the Bay Area.
A Beer Built for Burmese Cuisine
Perhaps no local brewery has embraced this idea to greater acclaim than Alameda Brewing in its long-running partnership with Burma Superstar.
"Burma Ale" is a hop-free "gruit" ale, brewed with orange, chamomile, and lemongrass, specifically designed to complement the restaurant's distinctive flavors.
Creating a beer capable of standing alongside one of the world's most complex and aromatic cuisines required far more than simply adding a few culinary ingredients.
"It took us six different test batches to get this recipe perfect," says Alameda Brewing Head Brewer Justin Green. "The beer requires 65 total pounds of different tea ingredients, including 20 pounds of dried chamomile flowers."
The effort has been rewarded.
After earning a Silver Medal at the World Beer Cup in 2025, Burma Ale added another accolade just last month, taking Gold in the Herb & Spice Beer category at the California State Fair.
Two Opportunities to Experience Custom Craft Brewing This Weekend
The beauty of this trend is that it isn't theoretical. In fact, there are two golden opportunities to experience it firsthand this coming weekend:
Temescal Brewing Celebrates Ten Years
On Saturday, Temescal Brewing celebrates its tenth anniversary.
Among the featured beers will be one of the brewery's most beloved collaborations: Raspberry Kölsch, brewed with Bay Area independent grocery institution Bi-Rite.
Built on a crisp, refreshing Kölsch base and loaded with real raspberries that Bi-Rite helped the brewery source, the beer has become a recurring favorite precisely because it reflects the identity of both collaborators. It is bright, approachable, seasonal, and deeply rooted in the Bay Area's farm-to-table / field-to-faucet food and drink culture.
Like many successful custom beers, it has evolved from a one-off collaboration into an anticipated annual tradition.
A Buckwheat Beer for Multipla
On Sunday, the conversation continues in West Oakland at Multipla, a celebration of Japanese art, craftsmanship, food, music, and culture hosted at O2 Artisans Aggregate.
The event will feature the debut of a very special beer, tentatively titled "Soba Bīru," a collaboration between West Oakland neighbors Brix Factory Brewing and Soba Ichi and their longtime friends at Japan's Far Cry Brewing.
The concept sounds deceptively simple. Soba noodles are made from buckwheat. Why not make a buckwheat beer? The challenge was ensuring the buckwheat remained the star.
"Originally the plan was to brew it as a Hefeweizen," says Brix Factory founder and brewer John Gillooly. "I shot that down, as I thought the ester and phenol character of the Hefe yeast would be the dominant flavor. It seemed that the important thing to do was highlight the buckwheat."
The resulting beer is intentionally restrained: six-row barley, malted buckwheat, buckwheat honey, and even handmade soba noodles supplied by Soba Ichi. Hops were used sparingly and a subtle kölsch yeast was selected to allow the soba to take center stage.
In many ways, the beer embodies the same philosophy driving the broader movement toward Custom Craft Brewing. The goal isn't bigger flavor. The goal is the right flavor.
For Original Pattern brewer Tucker Bush, who has collaborated repeatedly with Far Cry Brewing over the years, the project ultimately represents more than just recipe design.
"Through our shared passion for creating and coming together, crafting a beer allows us to transcend language barriers and culture," he says. "We share music, stories, and tons of laughter, almost always with a beer in hand."
That sentiment feels particularly appropriate for Multipla, an event built around the Japanese concept of craftsmanship as an expression not merely of skill, but of spirit.
The beer is not simply something to drink while attending the event. Its creation embodies the spirit of cross-cultural exchange and a fusion that hints at an unseen depth by highlighting what is vital in each constituent part.
Towards a More Community-Focused Beer Future
Back when we were making the case for Bay Area restaurants to embrace local beer more than a decade ago, the idea felt aspirational. Today, whether it's a gruit designed for Burmese cuisine, a raspberry ale brewed alongside a beloved Bay Area grocer, a buckwheat beer created to accompany a Japanese cultural exhibition, our an ale inspired by a local ube loaf, these projects point to a future in which breweries become more deeply woven into the communities around them.
For years, craft beer's greatest strength was our ability to make beers that large breweries wouldn't.
Perhaps one of our next great opportunities will be making beers that only a particular brewery, in a particular place, embedded within a particular community, could create.
🍻 Upcoming Events Featuring Our Member Breweries
🎉 Public Events This Week!
Friday, 6/5—"Smoke On The Grätzer" Release Party at Hop Oast!
(San Francisco, CA)
Come enjoy the release of Hop Oast's Smoked Wheat Ale! This 100% oak-smoked beer style originated in the 15th century in Poland!
More Info –> Oak-Smoked Beer In San Francisco!
Saturday, 6/6—12th Annual Pints For Paws!
(Berkeley, CA)
Benefiting the Berkeley Humane Society and voted the Best Fundraising Event in the East Bay year after year, this community event celebrates shelter animals and the people who love them!
More Info –> 12th Annual Pints For Paws Benefit!
Saturday, 6/6—Ten Years Deep: 10 Anniversary Celebration at Temescal Brewing!
(Oakland, CA)
Temescal Brewing will celebrate a decade of deliciousness with special collaboration releases and limited-edition swag!
More Info –> Temescal Brewing's 10th Anniversary Celebration!
Saturday, 6/6—12th Anniversary Celebration with Shrimp'n' Ain't Easy at Clandestine Brewing!
(San Jose, CA| 1PM-8PM))
Special beer releases and delicious food to celebrate another year of Clandestine beer!
More Info –> Clandestine Brewing's 12th Anniversary Celebration!
Sunday, 6/7—MULTIPLA: Japanese artisan craft exhibition
(Oakland, CA)
Artisans of all sorts join together for an afternoon of food, drink and music
More Info –> MULTIPLA is West Oakland!
📅 Save the Dates
Saturday, 6/13—PRIDE: Queer Magic Dance Party at Temescal Brewing!
(Oakland, CA | 4PM-10PM)
A special Pride edition of Queer Magic—a queer daytime dance party where joy, connection, and astrology align. Featuring DJs, vendors, food, & tasty beer!
Tickets & More Info –> Queer Magic Pride Celebration in Oakland!
Saturday, 6/13—Rock 'n' Beer Stroll!
(Alameda, CA | 1PM-5PM)
Sip and stroll your way through our historic downtown Alameda tasting local beers!
Tickets & More Info –> 5th Annual Alameda Rock 'n' Roll Beer Stroll!
Sunday, 6/14—Pride Party & Tie-Dye Workshop at Original Pattern!
(Oakland, CA | Noon-4PM)
A Hands on tie-dye and bleach-dye workshop. Purchase your shirt in advance to participate. Come enjoy a cold brew, live music & let your creative juices flow!
Advance Purchase & More Info –> Tie-Dyed Pride Celebration in Oakland!
Tuesday, 6/16—Sugoi Brewing and Breakthrough Sushi Pairing at The Rake!
(Alameda, CA | 6:30PM-10:30PM)
Join Kaz Matsune from Breakthrough Sushi, and Boris Chen of Sugoi Brewing at The Rake at Admiral Maltings for a four course pairing dinner!
Advance Purchase & More Info –> Beer and Sushi in Alameda!
Saturday, 6/20—"Clash Of The Cuisines" at Old Caz!
(Rohnert Park, CA)
Sonoma County's Annual Food Truck Throwdown!
More Info –> Clash Of the Cuisines 2026!