Empourium Brewing Company officially opened in the Berkeley neighborhood in March ready to serve you a plethora of easy sipping brews. Co-Owners Sarah and Greg Fetzer began brewing in their garage and their dream of opening a neighborhood micro-brewery and taproom have come true. Now we get to taste the results. Greg says their goal is to make beers for every person and every palate so you can count on variety, but there is also something else to their beers.

“We want people to hang out and stay awhile so we specialize in easy-drinking, session beers,” Greg says. “You won’t see over 6% [ABV] here.”

A perfect example of that is the 4.1% ABV Back to the F’n Basics American table beer. What is an American Table Beer you ask? Greg says it’s based on traditional easy-drinking German table beers, but made with American hops including Magnum and Hüll Melon. It has a hop flavor with a low ABV to keep the suds flowing all afternoon.

Continuing the sessionable theme, the brewery has Bang-a-Rang, a Bruit IPA that is only 5.5% ABV. With its light golden color and tangy taste, this Brut is full of flavor with a lower alcohol than the 7% average for these dry IPAs.

Peace, Love, and Pale Ale, which is also the brewery’s t-shirt slogan, has a hint of citrus scent with tastes of lime and hops at 5.2% ABV. Getting litter higher on the scale, Krusher is a cream ale with peaches and vanilla that clocks in at 5.5% ABV. Another higher alcohol beer is Getting’ Schwifty saison. Made with pilsner, flake wheat, flakes oats, and two types of hops, it looks, smells, and tastes like a full on hefeweizen. Tastes delicious, but not a typical saison.

The most surprising beer of the bunch is the Conditions of My Parole coffee blonde. This beer hits the mark in both lightness and flavor, everything you want in a 5.1% ABV session beer. This brew smells and tastes exactly like cold brew coffee, which made this java fan very happy. The beer is available on nitro for extra frothy smoothness.

In the coming weeks this ten barrel brew house will fill up their 12 taps with more beers including Wolf Moon, a chocolate stout at 5.5% ABV and Blackberry Smoke, a blackberry kettle sour that is only 4.3% ABV. The brewery will host food trucks on site, but there are also all the delicious restaurants on Tennyson to order take out from. The taproom has large windows for natural light, a colorful wall mural by Drew Button, and a dog-friendly patio.

Empourium Brewery Company is located at 4385 W. 42nd Avenue. Taproom is open from 2-9 PM Monday through Thursday and from 12-10 PM Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.