Monterey / Marina English Ales Brewery

Bartender Karen serves up a glass of beer to go with fish and chips and the ploughman's lunch (a traditional pub lunch of sharp cheddar, a crusty roll, imported English pickle onions, a Branston pickle, and salad garnish

PubCrawler

English Ales is both a production brewery and a pub. Their ales are seemingly becoming available throughout the San Francisco and Monterey Bay areas. I saw several of them at the Englander Pub in Dublin, and the brewery website lists many more places where their brews can be found.

The pub is small and fairly light and airy. The beer line-up is not small. I found ten selections available when I stopped for lunch last Friday, mostly UK-inspired ales as the brewery name implies. Choices included their flagship EA Pale Ale (formerly “1066”), Dragon Slayer IPA, Monk’s Brown Ale, Borthwick’s Best Bitter, Ramsey’s Fat Lip Ale (a Scottish), Black Prince Porter, Black Hound Stout, plus a lighter golden or cream ale, and a filtered Monterey Bay Wheat. The porter was also available on cask and there was an ESB in the fermenter. I enjoyed the very tasty brown ale and the Scottish ale with my fish and chips, which was a popular menu choice with the lunch patrons that day. Karen was a delightful presence behind the bar. This is a recommended stop just off of Highway 1 north of Monterey.