The addition of the Castroville and its multifaceted will complement ASB’s existing four spots and their distinctive identities.
March 3, 2026—Castroville is not without its claims to fame, most notably its real-deal-field cred as the Artichoke Capital of the World, and the Giant Artichoke sculpture that first appeared roadside in 1963 (15 years after Marilyn Monroe was named Honorary Artichoke Queen).
Castroville: Now so much more than artichokes. (Photo: MCA)
Now the dusty and incorporated town of about 7,000 can celebrate a big, new, shiny landmark with the announcement award-winning Alvarado Street Brewery—ranked #4 best small brewery in the country by Craft Beer & Brewing—is adding its biggest facility yet.
The combination production brewery-tasting room-beer garden property sits at 11440 Commercial Parkway, on the edge of ag fields.
Its addition provides the town with a celebrated destination and will also allow the ASB team to scale up brewing capacity dramatically. Completion is predicted for later this year.
ASB spokesperson Brock Bill sums up the development succinctly: “It’s a gamechanger.”
Construction is well underway in Castroville on the new production “legacy” brewery. So is a tweak toward lower ABV and non-alcoholic options, including NA beers and a full-time house root beer which debuted at last year’s Oktoberfest Monterey.
Alvarado Street Brewery currently operates its original flagship in downtown Monterey, where the revelations include a semi-secret draft beer; its Alvarado Street Brewery Taproom (the former Alvarado on Main) in Oldtown Salinas; its bistro-brewery in Carmel Plaza; its current primary production space on Dayton Street on the industrial side of Salinas; and a field-side cantina at Cardinale Stadium in Seaside.
Each property enjoys its own identity within the wider brand. Carmel-by-the-Sea’s location, for instance, focuses on German-style lagers done with skills co-owner and head brewer J.C. Hill evolved over extended training in Munich.
Monterey, by comparison, leans more experimental IPA in what it’s known for, while both spots continue to impress with their food programs.
Sleek design has been an ASB strength since it converted a dilapidated theater in downtown Monterey, and later a mothballed bank in Oldtown (above). Castroville represents the first outpost built from scratch. (Photo: Mark C. Anderson)
The Castroville spot will take over the canning line and major production duties from the Dayton Street space, which will remain open but do less brewing.
“This is a scale up,” Bill says, noting the Commercial Parkway development will be customized from the ground up, and debuting by the end of the year (tap handles crossed). “We’ll be able to get beer in more California places. We’re lucky to have the demand we do.”
The project has been in the works since August 2025 and heralds the next chapter for the locally owned brewery-restaurant group.
Over the past decade, the Dayton Street facility has produced more than 6,000 large scale batches of beer and just over 15,000 barrels in the last year alone.
Hill says capacity was the main ingredient in breaking ground in Castroville.
The Castroville facility provides the potential to produce up to approximately 45,000 barrels annually, though J.C. Hill stresses there is no rush to scale. “We built for 3x [current capacity] and possibly a little more,” he says. “That gives us the runway for slow, steady growth over the next 20 years—which is ideal for any business.”
“We reached a crossroads back in 2024 and had to decide which direction to take the production side of the business,” Hill says. “We were running out of room. With operational costs rising, it was important for us to invest in efficiency and create space for steady, long-term growth.”
Hill acquired a five-vessel, 50-barrel German brewhouse at auction—a system that will significantly improve efficiency while elevating quality and consistency. The new Castroville site is projected to launch later in the year, at which point primary brewing operations will transition from Salinas to the new facility.
If you count ASB’s clever shipping container cantina at CSUMB and Monterey Bay Football Club’s Cardinale Stadium, the brewery is working on its sixth outpost, and biggest yet. (Photo: Mark C. Anderson)
Bill adds the strategic location and synergy with next door shipping and building partners furnish additional benefits.
“We needed to build our own legacy brewery, and found a good area and good neighbors,” he says. “It will allow us to create the very best product we can going down the line.”
More at asb.beer.
Another angle on the sizable new home base for ASB, which will allow more room for experimental beers, a tasting room on-site, where customers can view the German brewhaus in action and a dedicated, utility-equipped space is being built to host food trucks, with the goal of seven-day-a-week service.
Mark C. Anderson serves as EMB’s managing editor, swims at municipal pools and rides Amtrak’s Coast Starlight. He’s also accessible via [email protected].
Comments are closed.