Oakland United Beerworks, Oakland, Calif., launched its new brand/label. The new brand has evolved from Linden Street Brewery, which originated in 2009. Owner John Karnay, a longtime Oakland resident and businessman and award-winning Brewmaster Shane Aldrich revealed the new brand website, core brews and plans for the future.
“Oakland United Beerworks is born and bred in Oakland,” Karnay said in a statement. “From the beginning, our mission has been to bring Oaklanders — old and new — together with great brews. Oakland has evolved and grown, and so have we. Our new brand and our brews reflect this city’s authentic and eclectic personality.”
Aldrich originally joined Linden Street in 2016. He learned the brewing craft from Tony Lawrence of Boneyard Beer and Tim Gossack of Bell’s Brewing. He’s brewed at some of the Bay Area’s most popular brands, including Lagunitas, Moylan’s, Half Moon Bay Brewing and Marin Brewing Co., where he won the World Beer Cup, the company says.
“Oakland’s diversity, artistry and authenticity inspires me and our recipes,” Aldrich said. “We love this town — and we’re excited about growing an Oakland community of beer drinkers and beer makers.”
Aldrich crafts Oakland United’s brews in small batches with the best ingredients and processes. Oakland United Beerworks currently offers four core beers along with a variety of seasonal ales. The following are the inaugural lineup of core beers:
• Black Lager: A flavorful and surprisingly light tribute to the classic German Schwarzbier with notes of coffee and toast, the company describes.
• Pilsner: The floor-malted German Bohemian Pilsner malt creates a crisp, well-balanced lager that pairs with everything from pizza to pate, it says.
• Common Lager: The original Bay Area Beer, California Common Lagers were invented following the Gold Rush by homesick Germans looking to replicate the lagers of Germany and the East Coast, the company says.
• IPA: The signature Oakland version of the West Coast IPA mixes five different hops into a flavorful, year-round beer that gives off hints of citrus and tropical fruit, it says.
While Oakland United Beerworks builds its new brewery and tasting room on 2nd Street near Jack London Square, it will continue to brew beers in Alameda, Calif. The new brewery and taproom, set to open in late summer, will play host to the Oakland Beer Drinkers Association, launched by Oakland United to introduce beer lovers to Oakland’s best breweries. Oakland United will collaborate with fellow Oakland and East Bay brewmasters to create and test new brews.
