BELMONT — Three and a half years ago, Kyle Bozicevic opened Ale Arsenal in San Carlos, a craft beer bar that has since developed a reputation for serving high quality brews in the Bay Area. Previously a brewer for Devil’s Canyon Brewery, Bozicevic had also wanted to open his own brewery, but at the time opted for the bar instead.
On Jan. 31, Bozicevic and brewing partner, Tommy Domingo, plan to open the doors of Alpha Acid Brewing — a small brewery in Belmont that Bozicevic started in late 2014 — as a taproom open to the public. The opening of the Alpha Acid taproom will be the culmination of over a year of bootstrapping, experimenting, and succesfully delivering exquisite and unique beers to a growing local following.
(Photo: Sam Molmud)
If the definition of a craft brewer is making small batches with an emphasis on the quality of ingredients, Alpha Acid is taking the definition very seriously. Beers like an oatmeal stout aged on coconut and cacao nibs (Murder She Wroatmeal Stout), a wheat and oat IPA hopped with Equinox, Mosaic, CTZ, Centennial and Citra (Tommy Time), and a tart passion fruit saison (Passionate Lovin’) — have established the brewery with a local following from their time on the taps of local bars like Toronado, City Beer Store, ISO Beers, The Beer Hall and Ale Arsenal.
“We never skimp on the ingredients, and we use a lot of high quality ingredients,” said Bozicevic. “We’re looking at it from a different angle, from not what we just want to brew, but things that we like as craft beer fans. Having a bar open for two years before we started, I really got to get a feel for what I like and what’s popular to customers.”
Since Alpha Acid’s debut batches, beer drinkers responded with an immediate attraction to their brews. Within the first couple batches, local bars were already responding with a desire to carry Alpha Acid’s beer.
(Photo: Sam Molmud)
A brewery with three fermenters, batches of beer go quick, but afford Bozicevic and Domingo the room to explore a variety of combinations due to the rapid turnover from production to consumption.
With their permits secured and five taps ready to pour, Alpha Acid’s first day with an open taproom will be one that local beer fans will not want to miss. The brewery will sell growlers of all their beers on tap, as well as a bottled version of their imperial oatmeal stout — Barrel Constrictor — aged with maple syrup in bourbon barrels. A variety of the same beer with vanilla bean and cacao nibs will also be on draft.
Bozicevic hopes to eventually have up to 25 beers on tap, though he emphasizes they want to make sure they are carefully selecting beers that get brewed and served. In the meantime, local drinkers can savor the freshness of Bozicevic and Domingo’s utterly handmade beer as it becomes available around the Bay Area, and in their new taproom.
The Alpha Acid taproom opens on Sunday, Jan. 31 from 12 to 7 pm. Visit the brewery’s Facebook page for their latest updates.
(Image: Alpha Acid Brewing)
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