Admiral Maltings shut down its malting floor at 651 West Tower Avenue on October 2, and The Rake, the pub attached to it, has its last day on October 18. That leaves two more weekends to get a table. The bigger change is about what Spirits Alley is. The Point's drinks scene grew up around businesses that made things on site, and Admiral was the clearest example. The operators still standing have already moved much of their energy into events, food partners and reasons to linger. The next long-term tenant of the former winery building on Monarch Street might not pour anything at all.
What Closed Was a Factory With a Bar Attached
The Rake was easy to miss. Scott Piehler wrote in the Alameda Post that he kept running into Alamedans who had never heard of it or assumed it belonged to Almanac next door. The pub was the small public face of a production business. Admiral malted grain for brewers and distillers across Northern California. Its client list included Sierra Nevada, Russian River, Lagunitas, Deschutes, Anderson Valley, Fort Point, Temescal, and Alameda Point's own Faction and Humble Sea.
Over on the East End, the closure lands right in a pint glass. Alameda Brewing at 1716 Park Street makes Let It Lager, one of its core beers, entirely with Admiral malt. General Manager Vincent Phua told the Post the brewery will "need to reassess the recipe and determine how to carry the beer forward without a hyperlocal malt option." Phua also said the brewery expects ingredient prices to rise across the board from its other suppliers.
Almanac founder and CEO Damian Fagan was blunt about the cause: "The economics of manufacturing in the Bay Area have become increasingly difficult over the years."
For anyone who visited, the most concrete loss is the weekly production tour, held Sunday afternoons at 3, which walked visitors through the labor-heavy work of turning grain into malt. It was one of the few spots on the Point where you could watch the raw ingredient being made.
The Neighbors Rebuilt Around the Calendar Years Ago
The city's economic development lead framed the closure as part of a wider shift. Abby Thorne-Lyman, Alameda's Director of Base Reuse and Economic Development, told the Post:
"The beer industry in general is definitely undergoing a transition as people are drinking less, and businesses have had to find creative ways to stay relevant, and we've seen our other Alameda Point breweries (Faction, Humble Sea, and Almanac) pivot with a wide range of events and activities, and more nonalcoholic options for visitors."
The breweries' own websites back her up.
Almanac now calls its 651 W. Tower Ave. space Almanac Adventureland & Brewery. It describes itself as a family entertainment venue with six gathering spaces, sandbox and arcade activities, and a rotating menu that includes nonalcoholic drinks and slushies. Scolari's and Marley G's Pizza serve on site seven days a week, and at least two food partners are always there. Current hours run noon to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, noon to 11 p.m. Friday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday.
Humble Sea, at 2350 Saratoga St. #164, runs on a weekly rhythm. Tuesday is all-day happy hour, trivia starts at 6 p.m. Wednesday, and Thursday brings $6 half-liters of lager. NA beer and soft drinks are always on the menu. The Hearth Beyond the Pie truck parks there five days a week, and dips from Obour Foods and patties from Pleasure Principal round out the food.
Faction, at 2501 Monarch St., is open Wednesday through Sunday with food trucks on each of those days. It also hosts the Alley's biggest October daytime events, both of them markets.
October on the Alley, Date by Date
Most of the reasons to drive out to the Point this month are scheduled events, many of them tied to food or music:
- Friday, October 9, 4 to 7 p.m. St. George Spirits holds a release-day event for its California Umeshu. Later that night, Vinyl Wine Bar & Shop hosts selector JACINTA from 7 to 10 p.m. Reservations for Vinyl's listed events are for wine club members.
- October 9 to 11. Dashe Cellars opens its patio for Fleet Week viewing, and Sazón Latin Kitchen cooks on October 10 and 11. Urban Legend Cellars pairs Blue Angels viewing with Sazón Latin American Kitchen on October 10 and 11.
- Saturday, October 10, noon to 6 p.m. Faction's Fall Market.
- Sunday, October 11, 2 to 5 p.m. DJ Angel at Vinyl.
- Sunday, October 18. The Rake's last day. St. George also runs a whiskey tour and tasting at 2 p.m. that afternoon.
- Saturday, October 24, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Faction's Rock N' Roll Flea Market, which includes a Halloween rock show.
- Sunday, October 25. The Blind Venetians play Urban Legend.
- Saturday, October 31. Urban Legend's summer hours end. Through that date it is open Friday 4 to 7:30 p.m., Saturday noon to 7:30 p.m., and Sunday noon to 5:30 p.m.
- Saturday, November 14. Dashe's 16th Annual Paella Fiesta, with wine, paella, Spanish guitar and flamenco.
If you're planning around food rather than an event, Saltbreaker at 2350 Saratoga St. opens at 5 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. Firebrand Bread at 707 W. Tower Ave. is open daily from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Vinyl, next to Humble Sea at 2350 Saratoga St. #166, keeps its regular hours Tuesday through Sunday and stays open until 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
Where the Making Still Happens
St. George Spirits at 2601 Monarch St. is now the Point's main place to see production up close. Its tasting room and bottle shop are open Wednesday through Friday from 2 to 6 p.m. and weekends from noon to 6 p.m. Tours and tastings can be reserved, and walk-ins are accepted when capacity and staffing allow.
St. George also holds a piece of Admiral's legacy. Head Distiller Dave Smith told the Post that the distillery worked with some of Admiral's very first malted barley in 2017. That grain was brewed at Faction and then distilled and barreled at St. George, and Smith said the plan is to release the whiskey "sometime in early 2027." That bottle will be a three-business Alameda Point product made from an ingredient that is no longer produced on the island.
The two wineries at 1951 Monarch St. also make their wine on site, but you need to plan ahead to visit. Dashe Cellars, in Hangar 25, takes reserved visits in set slots: noon, 2 and 4 p.m. on Fridays and Sundays, and every hour from noon to 4 p.m. on Saturdays. Urban Legend at #300 offers reservations and takes walk-ins when there's room.
The Former Winery Building Down Monarch Street
Building 24 at 2301 Monarch St. housed Rock Wall Wine Company until 2022. Its tasting room's last public day was February 27 of that year. The City spent $2 million on a new roof and other upgrades to the 63,000-square-foot building before it went on the lease market. Complete Coach Works, an employee-owned bus repair company, has been there on a month-to-month lease.
In November 2025, the Alameda Post reported that six companies wanted to lease it. The City had ruled out St. George Spirits, which wanted the space for barrel storage. That left five: Macro Oceans, Paceline Investors, Blue Sky Recycling, The Prep Station, and Complete Coach Works.
By the City Council's September 1, 2026 agenda, the list had changed. The closed session that night named seven negotiating parties for 2301 Monarch Street: American Rail, Apollo Atomics, Bulwark Dynamics, Giga Energy, Marque Ventures Management, MRP Menlo Equities and Paceline Investors. The agenda says "price and terms of lease or sale" were under negotiation. A closed-session agenda names who is at the table. It doesn't pick a winner, and no tenant has been announced. The October 6 council agenda includes a lease for Building 29, not Building 24.
Still, the 2026 list has no winery, distillery or food operator on it, and The Prep Station, which runs an industrial kitchen on Monarch Street, is no longer listed. For the moment, the Alley that remains is the one in the October list above: three breweries running events and food trucks, a distillery with a whiskey on the way, two wineries that take reservations, and a wine bar spinning records. Piehler signed off his column with plans for October 18: "I'll probably see you there to raise a last glass."
Old buildings that get reused well, like the hangars and warehouses on the Point or a Victorian on a side street near Park, keep a place's character long after their first tenant moves on. If you own an older property in Alameda and are thinking about what its next chapter could be, Bonnie Spindler brings more than 30 years of experience with older homes. Book an Appointment to talk it through.
