Speakeasy Ales and Lagers
microbrewery in San Francisco, California

Speakeasy Ales & Lagers is a craft brewery that was founded in 1997 by Steve Bruce and Forest Gray in the Hunters Point neighborhood of San Francisco, California, USA. The company brands its beers with references to 1930s prohibition-era mobsters and organized crime. Prohibition Ale (an amber ale), the first beer the company produced, and Big Daddy IPA (an India Pale Ale), are two of the brewery's most popular beers. Speakeasy beer is primarily available in California, but has been distributed to over thirteen U.S. states and internationally. Speakeasy opened a tap room at the brewery in 2013, which is located at 1195 Evans Ave in San Francisco, CA, USA.
On March 10, 2017, Speakeasy announced that it had ceased operations for an indefinite period after struggling financially following a 2015 expansion for which they borrowed money from Union Bank. As a result, the company was placed into court ordered receivership and the brewery owner, Forest Gray, was forced out. Two months later Speakeasy Ales & Lagers was sold to Hunters Point Brewery, a holding company owned by Ces Butner, who is a former beer distributor based in Oakland, CA.
Products
Speakeasy Ales & Lagers has produced a large variety of unique beers and are organized into distinct series.
The Usual Suspects
Prohibition Ale - Gold Medal Winner at the 2013 Great American Beer Festival in the amber/red category
Big Daddy IPA
Double Daddy Imperial IPA
Payback Porter
Metropolis Lager
Scarlett Red Rye Ale
Tallulah Extra Pale Ale
Payback Coffee Porter
Blood Orange Double Daddy Imperial IPA
Session Series
Baby Daddy Session IPA
Pop Gun Pilsner
Suds Session Ale
The Limited Series
Black Hand Chocolate Milk Stout
Vendetta India Pale Ale
Untouchable Pale Ale
Betrayal Imperial Red Ale
Infamous Series
Blind Tiger Imperial IPA
Old Godfather Barleywine
Barrel-aged Old Godfather Barleywine
Scarface Imperial Stout
Barrel-aged Scarface Imperial Stout
Fixed Fight Barrel-aged Old Ale
Syndicate Series: a blend of vintage strong ales aged in bourbon barrels no less than a year
Syndicate Series No. 01
Syndicate Series No. 02
Syndicate Series No. 03
Syndicate Series No.
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