Beer in the Bay: Moonraker to up production and Admiral Maltings' The Rake sets an opening date

Admiral Maltings co-founders Dave McLean (l to r), Ron Silberstein and Curtis Davenport stand for a portrait at Admiral Maltings on Monday, June 26, 2017 in Alameda, Calif. Admiral Maltings co-founders Dave McLean (l to r), Ron Silberstein and Curtis Davenport stand for a portrait at Admiral Maltings on Monday, June 26, 2017 in Alameda, Calif. Photo: Lea Suzuki, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Lea Suzuki, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close Beer in the Bay: Moonraker to up production and Admiral Maltings' The Rake sets an opening date 1 / 5 Back to Gallery

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Admiral Maltings, the artisan malt house established by Magnolia's Dave McLean, ThirstyBear's Ron Silberstein, and Curtis Davenport in Alameda, will this month open a new internal bar called The Rake. The new taproom will offer 20 beers on draft and — being a McLean joint — two cask-conditioned ales, all of which will have been made using Admiral's malts. It's ok to come hungry; they'll also serve "rustic, honest pub food." The official opening date is slated for January 26.

Almanac is now offering crowlers in their San Francisco taproom. Per an Instagram post, guests can fill them with any IPA, fresh beer, or barrel-aged sour.

Auburn's Moonraker Brewing — whose IPAs are a rather hot commodity in San Francisco — has announced some good news: It's expanding. "Moonraker currently produces 2,500 barrels annually," reads a new report from the Sacramento Business Journal. "With the new facility, it will add 4,800 more barrels as a first-year number that's expected to increase, according to (co-owner Karen) Powell." With the expansion, they'll begin making "barrel-aged sours and barrel-aged stouts" as well.

For the first time, Seven Stills will release a beer at the same time they'll be releasing a whiskey distilled from it. The beer behind it all is a porter called Fluxuate.

Pliny the Younger is fermenting away for the 2018 release. Russian River's release date for the storied triple IPA falls on Friday, February 2 and lasts for two weeks.

Alyssa Pereira is an SFGATE staff writer. Email her at apereira@sfchronicle.com or find her on Twitter at @alyspereira.

