Tap Handle #335: English Ales - 1066 English Pale Ale

My English Ales tap is in pretty rough shape. The paint job is terrible, it's got stains on it, and it's missing the ferrule. I'm hoping a paint touch up will restore it to a decent appearance. It's a project, but I couldn't pass it up for the price. I think it will look great when it is done. These seem to be pretty hard to come by.

English Ales was founded in 2000 in Marina, California by Peter and Rosemary Blackwell. Peter was a native Brit who wanted to brew authentic English beer in the Monterey area. He started by visiting breweries in England and attempting to convince the owners to license their beer to him. A pub owner directed Peter to Steve Winduss of Hampshire Brewery. Winduss was open to the idea and the Blackwells got started. Originally they wanted to open in Monterey, but the water costs were prohibitive, so they built a genuine English brewpub in Marina, doing most of the construction themselves. They opened in 2000, as a commercial brewery with attached brewpub.

The beginnings were tough. With no advertising, director of sales Jeff Moses drove around with a keg of beer from restaurant to restaurant, letting the owners sample the beer. It paid off, as orders increased and EA ran out of beer, which led to increased production. They now brew 8 year round beers and a few seasonals using authentic English recipes.

1066 English Pale Ale is the brewery's most popular beer. It is a classic English pale ale, light in color yet the strongest of their beers. The result is from European pale malt, balanced with a robust dose of hops. Weighted average on ratebeer.com is 2.96 out of 5.

English Ales Official Website

Source Material
English Ales Website
Monterey County Weekly