Fresno’s booze boom: New bars and breweries, plus update on downtown’s rooftop bar
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How does a Meyer lemon and turmeric beer sound? Or maybe a coffee Manhattan cocktail?
Fresno’s bar and beer scene is a seeing a little flurry of new businesses, and they’re bringing some diverse new drink options.
New bars in Tower and downtown have opened, and new breweries are coming to Clovis and northwest Fresno.
A rooftop cocktail bar in downtown Fresno is still in the works. In the meantime, the owners have taken over an existing bar on weekends to serve their creative and traditional cocktails.
Regular readers of The Fresno Bee’s Food & Drink page already know that big-name brewery BarrelHouse Brewing Co. is planning to open a taproom somewhere in Fresno (though they’re still keeping the exact location a secret).
Fig Garden Village is getting an Out of the Barrel Taproom, a second location of a small craft beer taproom of the same name in Campbell.
Although beer pub and restaurant HoP PK has closed for good in downtown Fresno, a slew of local breweries are heading to Fresno and Clovis. They include MachineHead Brewing Co., Rocky Hill Brewing, Procreations Brewing and South of Shaw Brewing Co.
Modernist cocktail bar plans to open this winter on Fulton Street near Tioga-Sequoia Brewing Co., and next door will be a craft beer taproom by the owner of 411 Broadway Ales & Spirits. And a speakeasy, McQueens End of the Line, is in the very early stages of opening in an old house on Van Ness Avenue in downtown Fresno.
But as for the newest of the newbies? Here’s what’s happening now.
ISH Brewing
The latest microbrewery in Clovis opened Friday, Nov. 15.
ISH Brewing is at 2700 Clovis Ave., in the same shopping center as Valley Rod & Gun and Grill Masters BBQ.
It can fit about 100 people, with plenty of seating. Six beers will be on tap at its opening, including its stout and IPA. There’s a cornhole game and an indoor horseshoes game that uses big round washers instead of horseshoes, though there are still sandpits.
The brewery’s name is a reference to the owners’ way of thinking outside the box when it comes to brewing.
For instance, instead of an IPA, they have a beer that’s IPA-ish. It’s made with a different grain than IPAs are typically made with and in a different way, said Jody Hayes, who owns the brewery with husband Rodney, and Kevin and Kathy Draughon.
The name ISH Brewing was hatched during a camping trip, with a group of guys sitting around a fire doing what beer dudes do – drinking.
One said, “I’m kinda drunkish, and somebody said, ‘Well, we should eat because I’m kinda hungryish,’” Hayes said. The conversation continued down that road for a while and the end result was the brewery’s name.
Like most microbreweries, this one doesn’t serve food. But customers are welcome to bring in outside food, including from nearby Grill Masters BBQ.
The brewery’s regular hours are from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, from noon to 10 p.m. on Saturdays, and from noon to 9 p.m. on Sundays.
Quail State
Quail State announced plans back in March to open what will likely be the city’s first rooftop cocktail bar, atop the roof of the ballroom at the Pacific Southwest Building on Fulton Street.
The bar is still in the works, though taking longer than expected as it goes through the permitting process. They are hoping to open at the end of the year or early next year, said Josh Islas-Wolf, who owns the business with wife Hayley.
In the meantime, you can try their cocktails on a regular basis. As of last week, Quail State started taking over the cantina at Los Panchos Mexican Restaurant on weekends.
That’s the restaurant on Fulton and Tulare streets whose bar was remodeled last summer and its historic facade uncovered. Now, from 7 p.m. to midnight on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, Quail State bartenders are working behind the bar serving up their own menu of cocktails.
The arrangement started after the Quail State folks noticed Los Panchos’ bar was closing somewhat early, mostly because the tired business owners had worked all day and wanted to spend time with their families, said Josh Islas-Wolf.
It’s a change from Los Panchos’ Mexican-inspired cocktails, he said.
“Our cocktails differ because we’re pulling inspiration from Old World cocktails and modern American classics,” he said.
You can get a Oaxaca old-fashioned made with mezcal and Mexican mole bitters, or that coffee Manhattan made with rye, fortified wine and amaro liqueur infused with coffee. There’s modern drinks, too, like the “Aloe you a lot,” made with tequila and violet, aloe and lemon flavors.
The partnership lets Quail State play with Los Panchos’ collection of more than 100 tequilas and mezcals.
They will continue the residency at Los Panchos even after the rooftop bar opens, Islas-Wolf said.
“Their menu is going to be different from Quail State’s, so there’s going to be incentive for people to go visit both bars,” he said.
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Amalgamation Brewing
Two of the couples behind Rocket Dog Brats & Brew have partnered with family to open a brewery and tap room in northwest Fresno.
Amalgamation Brewing Co. is scheduled to open in December. The 5,000-square-foot brewery will be at 6585 N. Santa Fe Ave., which is near Herndon and Milburn avenues, south of the GB3 gym.
Expect some unusual beers, like a turmeric and Meyer lemon saison, a tamarind chutney IPA and a Szechuan peppercorn and lotus root stout.
The owners hope to use the spices and flavors of the international cuisines present in the Valley in their beers.
That combining of flavors led to the name Amalgamation, which refers to the process of merging or uniting things.
The head brewer is Stephen Koch, who partners in the brewery with wife Becky.
His sister Sarah Lisitsin, one of the people behind Rocket Dog, said Koch is a longtime hobbyist brewer who works at a Modesto winery and is a “culinary nerd” who got her into craft beer.
The brewery also plans to have guest beers on tap from breweries only in Fresno and Clovis.
Fresbrew
The newest bar in the Tower District is Fresbrew. Regular readers may have seen Joshua Tehee’s story about the skate-themed bar, which opened last week.
It’s a craft beer bar at 810 E. Olive Ave., an evolution of the former Shredworthy skateboard shop.
Fresbrew carries local beers and others from breweries around the state. Owner Nick Jones hopes to work with local breweries to create exclusive short-run beers for the bar.
The business is also something of a museum. The walls are covered in Fresno memorabilia like photos of Fresno landmarks like the old Fresno Courthouse.
Fresbrew is open 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, and from 5 p.m. to midnight Fridays and Saturdays.
Nineteen Hundred
This little bar in downtown Fresno opened in late September. Nineteen Hundred is in the former Club Brazil, at 1900 Tulare St., right next to Chukchansi Park. You walk down an alley to get to the bar’s entrance in the back of the building.
Inside is a dark bar with lots of brick walls and leather seats. It’s got an old-school vibe with modern touches.
For now, it’s open on Friday and Saturday nights, according to its Facebook page.
559 Beer in Fresno
Clovis brewery 559 Beer has partnered with Joe’s Steakhouse to make the downtown Fresno restaurant its official tasting room.
That means you can always find 559 Beers on tap there, with at least six on tap right now. That includes its bourbon barrel ale and its hazy IPA.
It will also be a stop on the Downtown Fresno Ale Trail and host beer dinners pouring 559 beer.
The rest of Joe’s continues as normal, with the restaurant serving up steaks and sandwiches.
The brewery is continuing to run the restaurant serving its beer in the old hotel at 356 Pollasky Ave. in Old Town Clovis. It also has a location in Shaver Lake called 559 Beer Shaver Point.
Bethany Clough: (559) 441-6431, @BethanyClough
This story was originally published November 14, 2019 at 10:39 AM.
