The 65th Monterey Jazz Festival is underway, and Seaside’s Other Brother Beer Company is one of the festival’s official beer partners — a new milestone in the company’s quick rise in local popularity.Founder and operations manager Michael Nevares and his friends Kevin Brown and Evan Lowey, founded the brewery in October 2019, five months before the first pandemic shutdown. “Well at that point it was too late. It was a scary time. We definitely were caught flat-footed. We were a little naïve about just all the things that go into a business and then having the rug pulled out from under us,” Nevares said. “But I never thought about giving up.”Nevares’ professional background is far from anything business related. Prior to opening his own brewery, Nevares served in the U.S. Air Force as a Russian Linguist for almost a decade.”I just started homebrewing and caught the bug. And like every homebrewer I decided that I wanted to open a brewery, and I managed to pull it off with some talented friends,” Nevares said. With help of Brown, a former San Diego brewmaster, and Lower, an olive oil business owner, Nevares created a menu of 13 craft beers. “We wanted to have a place where we wanted to hang out and where we could operate a community,” Nevares said. “It’s a place where we can come together and improve their lives a little bit around high quality products that we’re passionate about and excited to share.” While the beer and hip, modern environment is definitely a draw for customers, Other Brother’s integration with local businesses seems to be as well. In the back of the Seaside brewery is a 400 square foot kitchen space, the home to Ad Astra Bread Company, founded by pastry chef and founder of Monterey’s popular ice cream shop Revival, Ron Mendoza. “They were already building this place and they needed a food service. And I was like, ‘Hey, you know, maybe I’ll consult or whatever.’ And then Michael brought up the idea of renting out this space to build out a kitchen of my own,” Mendoza said.As Other Brother’s popularity grew, Mendoza says, so did Ad Astra’s. “We were making like 30 or 40 loaves a day. And then you see we’re making now like 300,” Mendoza said. “I think right now we’ve got like 30 different restaurants on the peninsula and some grocery stores that we sell bread to.” Now, Ad Astra has plans to move into a permanent home on Alvarado Street in Monterey. Over the past three years, Other Brother has partnered with multiple businesses without a traditional storefront to provide special, limited-time-only menu items like oysters, dumplings and pizza. And to add to the community-feel, the brewery has also hosted local musicians, skateboard video premieres and quarterly markets for small arts and crafts vendors. “I think people respond to our values and what we’re about and what we’re demonstrating,” Nevares said. “I like to think just being food fans and being willing to talk to people is how we got here.”Other Brother Beer Company has its sights set on expanding its business, with a possible second location in Santa Cruz.
The 65th Monterey Jazz Festival is underway, and Seaside’s Other Brother Beer Company is one of the festival’s official beer partners — a new milestone in the company’s quick rise in local popularity.
Founder and operations manager Michael Nevares and his friends Kevin Brown and Evan Lowey, founded the brewery in October 2019, five months before the first pandemic shutdown.
“Well at that point it was too late. It was a scary time. We definitely were caught flat-footed. We were a little naïve about just all the things that go into a business and then having the rug pulled out from under us,” Nevares said. “But I never thought about giving up.”
Nevares’ professional background is far from anything business related.
Prior to opening his own brewery, Nevares served in the U.S. Air Force as a Russian Linguist for almost a decade.
“I just started homebrewing and caught the bug. And like every homebrewer I decided that I wanted to open a brewery, and I managed to pull it off with some talented friends,” Nevares said.
With help of Brown, a former San Diego brewmaster, and Lower, an olive oil business owner, Nevares created a menu of 13 craft beers.
“We wanted to have a place where we wanted to hang out and where we could operate a community,” Nevares said. “It’s a place where we can come together and improve their lives a little bit around high quality products that we’re passionate about and excited to share.”
While the beer and hip, modern environment is definitely a draw for customers, Other Brother’s integration with local businesses seems to be as well.
In the back of the Seaside brewery is a 400 square foot kitchen space, the home to Ad Astra Bread Company, founded by pastry chef and founder of Monterey’s popular ice cream shop Revival, Ron Mendoza.
“They were already building this place and they needed a food service. And I was like, ‘Hey, you know, maybe I’ll consult or whatever.’ And then Michael brought up the idea of renting out this space to build out a kitchen of my own,” Mendoza said.
As Other Brother’s popularity grew, Mendoza says, so did Ad Astra’s.
“We were making like 30 or 40 loaves a day. And then you see we’re making now like 300,” Mendoza said. “I think right now we’ve got like 30 different restaurants on the peninsula and some grocery stores that we sell bread to.”
Now, Ad Astra has plans to move into a permanent home on Alvarado Street in Monterey.
Over the past three years, Other Brother has partnered with multiple businesses without a traditional storefront to provide special, limited-time-only menu items like oysters, dumplings and pizza. And to add to the community-feel, the brewery has also hosted local musicians, skateboard video premieres and quarterly markets for small arts and crafts vendors.
“I think people respond to our values and what we’re about and what we’re demonstrating,” Nevares said. “I like to think just being food fans and being willing to talk to people is how we got here.”
Other Brother Beer Company has its sights set on expanding its business, with a possible second location in Santa Cruz.
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