AB InBev-Owned Brewery Cancels Plans for Oakland Location

A planned Oakland brewery and beer garden from Los Angeles-based Golden Road has hit a dead end. Berkeleyside confirms that the brewery, owned since 2015 by beverage industry Goliath Anheuser-Busch InBev, won’t pursue its proposal for an empty Temescal parking lot (at 320, 322, and 330 40th Street) after all. Instead, the company is shifting its focus to other projects, a representative tells Berkeleyside.

Golden Road’s proposed use of the parking lot behind Clove & Hoof was instantly contentious. “Golden Road saw an overwhelmingly negative response to their ... attempt at bringing a beer garden to the neighborhood,” said Sam Gilbert of Temescal Brewing. Gilbert vehemently opposed the project along with other members of the local beer community.

After Golden Road downsized its original plans, the city of Oakland gave the project the go-ahead last November. But the alterations weren’t enough to appease opponents. “This is a massive company with values and corporate strategies that are a direct threat to the local beer community and what we stand for,” said Gilbert.

While Golden Road is taking a detour around Oakland, other mega-breweries could be on their way to the Bay Area. San Diego’s Ballast Point, which is owned by Constellation Brands, is planning a brewpub in Mission Bay — just blocks away from a forthcoming location of local brewery and distillery Seven Stills. Meanwhile, large but independently owned brewery Modern Times filed for a beer manufacturer license in Oakland a short distance from homegrown Bay Area brewery Drake’s.

• Golden Road’s Temescal beer garden is officially canned [Berkeleyside]