Craft breweries aren’t just downtown. One opened in north Fresno, and it serves food
Craft beer breweries are flocking to the brewery district in downtown Fresno. But one new brewery decided to go its own direction – north.
Amalgamation Brewing Co. opened during the holiday hubbub in late December serving locally made beer and food made on site in northwest Fresno.
It’s near Herndon and Milburn avenues, just south of the shopping center that’s home to Save Mart. At 6585 N. Santa Fe Ave., it’s next door to All Creatures Veterinary.
There’s a lot going on behind the scenes here: A connection to popular eatery Rocket Dog Gourmet Brats & Brew, and a brewer who brings a strong culinary nerdiness to the business (at least that’s what his sister calls it).
But first, the basics.
The beer
Amalgamation is rotating through its own beers as they get brewed on site.
Coming soon is a Meyer lemon and ginger saison, a sour peach IPA, a hazy raspberry IPA and a “big dessert stout” (that’s not its name, that’s just what the brewer calls it).
There’s 24 taps in all, with two dedicated to wine. In addition to Amalgamation’s beers, you’ll also find brews from nearby breweries like House of Pendragon in Clovis, and Full Circle Brewing Co. and Incinerati Brewing Co. in Fresno. Beers from other breweries on the central coast and Central Valley are also available.
“We have so many great brews here,” said brewer Stephen Koch.
He spent eight years as a bottling room mechanic at Gallo in Modesto. Wine making rubbed off him and he picked up some skills. He’s applying the skills he learned there to making beer, which have a lot more in common than you might think, he said.
“Once it gets in the tank, it’s very, very similar,” he said.
Expect to see more creative beers from Amalgamation. The brewery got its name because it wants to combine the flavors and the cuisines of Fresno’s ethnicities.
You don’t have to be 21 to get in the door. Amalgamation serves kombucha (a fermented tea) and coffee for non beer drinkers.
The food
It’s not a full-scale restaurant, but has a limited kitchen and a simple “choose your own adventure” style menu.
Customers pick their protein (chicken, pulled pork, beef brisket or vegetarian black beans), then pick their sauce (southwestern, tandoori, Korean bulgogi or barbecue). Then they choose the vehicle that will take that goodness into their mouths – taco shells, nachos or sliders.
The people behind Amalgamation know something about food. It’s owned by the two couples who own Rocket Dog, the restaurant with locations in Fresno and Clovis.
Sarah and Kevin Lisitsin, and Bethany and Gary Hsia own Amalgamation. Sarah’s brother, is the brewer, Koch. He and wife and Becky Koch are founding members of Amalgamation.
Koch’s culinary nerdiness in wine and beer also applies to food. Koch is taking a page from the molecular gastronomy playbook when it comes to the food on the menu.
For example, he added sodium citrate to the nacho cheese. Essentially a salt, it changes the texture of the melted nacho cheese so it doesn’t seize up or form a skin like your nacho cheese in your school lunch did.
“It keeps the proteins of the cheese from collapsing,” he said. “It keeps it smooth.”
Other breweries
Downtown Fresno and the brewery district centered around Fulton Street are home to largest concentration of breweries in town. That includes Tioga-Sequoia Brewing, Zack’s Brewing Co. and several more on the way, including a craft beer tasting room by 411 Broadway Ales & Spirits and another 101-year-old building being renovated that would hold multiple microbreweries.
However, the beer scene is slowly creeping into north Fresno.
Pine & Palm Brewing is on West Bedford Avenue near Ingram Avenue. Sequoia Brewing Co. and Tap & Cellar both serve craft beer in north Fresno.
And BarrelHouse Brewing Co., based in Paso Robles, plans to open a taproom in River Park.
Amalgamation isn’t getting a lot of customers who are hardcore craft beer nerds so far, but more people from the neighborhood who don’t feel like driving downtown for craft beer.
“We really want to be a place for the neighborhood to congregate,” Koch said.
Details: Amalgamation is at 6585 N. Santa Fe Ave. The brewery will be open from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, from 2 p.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays, from noon to 11 p.m. Saturdays and noon to 9 p.m. Sundays.
This story was originally published February 19, 2020 at 10:17 AM.
