Variety is King at Third Street AleWorks

Conveniently located just a few blocks off Highway 101 in downtown Santa Rosa, Third Street AleWorks has a spacious, welcoming open dining area.

Third Street AleWorks Brewmaster, Randy Gremp. Photo by Joel Williams

By Joel Williams
Published: April, 2008 

Thanks to the friendly wait staff and customers I met there, I found out that it is a popular happy hour hangout; the outdoor Beer Garden is especially inviting on a nice spring day.

Founders Jim Tasley, Todd Hedrick and Chris Hagan opened the AleWorks in 1996 with a vision of a fun, casual environment where patrons could gather to enjoy great beer and food with friends. Twelve years later, it seems clear that they have achieved their goal.

When I visited the AleWorks, there were a whopping ten beers on tap, as well as two cask conditioned ales available. According to Brewmaster Randy Gremp, We shoot for eight to eleven beers on the board at a time. The board he is referring to is the large blackboard that hangs over the bar that lists the current hand-crafted beer selection available. Since the selection of beers available can change daily, they have found that using the board is the best way to keep customers informed as to what’s available that day.

Although the beer list is certainly subject to change, the AleWorks does have a few flagship beers that will almost always be available. Their most popular beer is the spicy Bodega Head IPA, which has a bold hop presence with the familiar flavor of generous amounts of Cascade hops balanced with a high alcohol content of 7.1% ABV.

The Annadel Pale Ale and American Wheat are two of their lighter-style flagships that are also popular standards. The Annadel Pale Ale is more like a milder IPA for those who prefer a less hoppy version of the popular style. This beer was also available in a cask conditioned version which was very interesting to try side-by-side with the carbonated version on tap. The cask-conditioned version—served with no added carbonation and not as cold as the other beers—had a completely different flavor profile which accented the hops and malts that are sometimes masked at colder temperatures.

Also featured were two distinctly different Stouts: Stonefly Oatmeal Stout and Blarney Sisters’ Dry Irish Stout. Stonefly is a heavier version of this style with a rich and full bodied flavor; the Blarney Sisters’ is a lighter style with some roasted, coffee-like flavors served on a nitrogen tap that gives it a smooth creamy finish. The tasty Blarney Sisters’ Dry Irish Stout recently won a Bronze Medal at the 2007 Great American Beer Festival.

The Goat Rock Dopplebock was the big specialty beer offering available, with an ABV of 8.7%. I enjoyed this heavy hitter very much, finding it to be quite sweet and malty with a bit of a nutty flavor. There was also the very nice Prost Pilsner, which is an ale version of the popular lager style. Gremp uses an especially non-distinct American Ale yeast and then ferments the beer like a lager—longer and colder—to achieve the crisp, clean flavor normally associated with lagers.

Gremp started out as a home brewer in the mid-80s. After years of experimenting at home and winning several awards at local competitions, he made the jump from hobby to profession in 1992 when his local brewpub, the Calistoga Inn, was in need of a new brewer. Using a six-pack of his homebrew as a resume, Gremp was hired and spent the next 13 years honing his craft in Calistoga. In 2005, he took over the top brewing position at Third Street AleWorks.

The local Santa Rosa clientele at the AleWorks are very adventurous drinkers and have no problem with strong and flavorful craft beers, which is a brewer’s dream. Gremp wouldn’t have it any other way, and enjoys creating new concoctions for his loyal and exploratory crowd. I suggest that you stop by to see what’s on tap; you will surely have a large variety of styles to choose from.