The Ol' Factory

Go to the Ol’ Factory Café. If there is one thing you take from this, go to the Ol’ Factory Café. The OFC is the newest, best out-of-the-way locals joint Monterey has hosted since Morgan’s Coffee and Tea saw the back of its founder (incidentally, his best side). No surprise, then, to find Morgan here and up to his old tricks.

Coffee and tea rule the daytime at the OFC. Verve Coffee Roasters of Santa Cruz sends out a constant stream of organic, fair trade beans who chose to be there, guaranteeing that what you see lining the shelves is always less than ten days old, and at the peak of their flavor. Dependable blends and a rotating selection of estate varietals and auction lots are always ready, fresh, and if there’s a roast you prost the most they’ll happily grind it out for you while you watch, and brew it at the drip bar. Most days you’ll find that gangly guru of the grouphead, the crown-prince of crema, tall, tattooed Matt Talley behind the coffee bar, slinging latte art for the masses and dispensing Arabica wisdom. You will not get a better latte between San Fran and Santa Barbara. Tip him.

They bake their own scones, muffins, Morning Glory bread, apple pie, cookies, and granola. They serve breakfast, they serve lunch, they serve dinner. But the remarkable thing is that they do pretty much all of it with pretty much all local and organic ingredients, and manage to keep it affordable enough for students from CSUMB, MIIS, MPC, NPS, DLI, um… MBARI! wait… well, you get the idea. Entrees stay under $10 (unless you want steak and frites, weighing in at a totally reasonable $14). This exemplifies Morgan, Matt, and their team’s dedication to sustainability. Low VOC paints, the bamboo bar, non-toxic cleaners, counters made of pressed waste paper – no signs pointing it out, no one with their nose in the air, and most of all, no one asking you to pay for it. This place is affordable by any standard; they don’t charge a premium for their beliefs.

After dark the OFC really comes into its own. Most nights something is up: Game Night on Mondays, Wii Wednesday, Thursday is the Grate Sand Sity Spelling Bee – one of the area’s best homegrown events, and live music on the weekends. It is a cozy pleasure when you take the turn off of Del Monte onto Contra Costa (by Ichi Riki), knowing that when you reach that first stop sign the Ol’ Factory will be glowing merrily from under its tin eaves. For the evening, at least, you bless the small-town atmosphere that usually seems to hem you in.

But the shining circlet floating above these evenings is their totally unexpected beer selection. Let me tell you, whoever came up with this menu really knew his stuff, and was probably really good looking too. Of the twelve taps, there are four that keep the regulars coming back:

• The Konig Pils is one of the beer world’s greats. The Pilsner style has been trodden on, over, and down since the end of Prohibition and the rise of the American brewing giants, who watered it down with fillers like rice and corn to make it the tasteless fizz we know today. Konig, on the other hand, is constrained by the German Beer Purity Law to use only barley malt, yeast, hops, and water. Light bready notes, tight carbonation, and substantial hopping (by European standards) make it a light and refreshing but remarkably full-flavored brew that will change the way you look at America’s favorite style.

• North Coast’s Red Seal Ale is a quintessential California Amber Ale. The remarkable hop varieties of the West Coast meet North Coast’s proprietary yeast strain and solid malt roast to produce a robust but balanced beer that will satisfy any Sierra Nevada fan. Red Seal’s distinctive funkiness separates it from the crowd of competing Ambers. Day or night, winter or summer, Red Seal can be sipped slowly or greedily gulped – it will do you right.

• Erdinger Weisse-Dunkel, or Dark Wheat, is an unusual style to find on tap in the States. Smooth like a wheat, it has surprisingly roasty flavors most Americans associate with porters and stouts. Traditional German wheat beer yeast produces a characteristic scent of bananas and cloves, which blends in your nose with the caramelized malts – when was the last time you drank a beer that smells distinctly of the legendary dessert of Bourbon Street, the Bananas Foster?

• Green Flash is a relative newcomer on the California microbrew scene, and has only been available in Monterey County for about a year. These brewers from outside San Diego are enjoying remarkable success, due in no small part to their India Pale Ale. West Coast beer drinkers are inundated with IPAs taking advantage of our region’s endemic hop varieties, but few – none, in my opinion – have the balance of Green Flash. A nose of pine, spruce tips, and grapefruit belies the potency of the hopping, and indeed this beer has remarkable bitterness, but the malts backing them up are confident, and keep the bitterness from stripping your throat by the end of your first pint. But beware your second – this beer’s got bite!

The other taps rotate with a remarkable selection of brews representing all kinds of regions, styles, and seasons. When I was in the bar, doing ahem research for this article, I was privileged to enjoy one of my absolute favorite beers in the world on tap for the first time.

Delirium Tremens is a classic Belgian Strong Golden Ale (a distinction shared with Duvel) that, from the bottle, sports bright carbonation and a beautiful floral nose indicative of its Belgian heritage. I was suspicious of the relatively flat head on my draft DT, usually so pillowy and voluminous, and its seemingly deeper golden hue – more golden hay than the usual pale sunlight – but the first trip down the palate allayed my fears. Floral and light citrus flavors that the bottle only hints at are brought into full relief from the keg, and the lower carbonation makes it remarkably smooth in a way I previously could only have imagined.

The 35-or-so bottle menu ranges from the Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout to the Boon Oude Kriek Cherry Lambic (if you think this is going to be sweet, go and try it, I dare you), Fuller’s 1845 to Hitachino’s Red Rice Ale (lactic sweetness and a nose of green Spanish olives), from Allagash’s bourbon-barrel brewed Curieux to the Samichlaus (14% ABV, served with Dagoba 73% Organic Dark Chocolate – lookout, ladies). A beer lover’s dream destination, a novice’s Aedificum, the bar at the Ol’ Factory Café is something for which Monterey has been waiting.

A quiet morning cup of West African and a Man Scone (I’m not telling – go see for yourself) over the New York Times. Sipping Silver Tips / Simple salad, small sandwich / Ensemble, Solo – a lunchtime haiku. Slouched in front of the fireplace, Notes from the Underground and a steaming hot mug of Unibroue’s Quelque Chose Cherry Ale while the rain drumrolls daytime's dirge.

Go to the Ol’ Factory Café.