A humble return to roots: Local favorite Humble Sea announces takeover of Cremer House in Felton
Quick Take
Westside staple Humble Sea Brewing announced a tri-county expansion earlier this year. Now, two of those pieces are official: A new operation opens next month in Pacifica and plans for an expansion to Felton are now officially in the works.
Humble Sea, the darling of the Santa Cruz craft beer scene for its kitschy ocean-themed names and imagery, is headed back to its mountain roots.
The historic Cremer House building on Highway 9 in Felton was revealed as the location of Humble Sea’s local expansion this week. It’s expected to open this summer.
Read more details in this Q&A with co-founder Frank Scott Krueger:
Quick Take
Co-founder Frank Scott Krueger says expansion of the four-year-old operation is indeed fun because it makes it easier to...
The Cremer House (pronounced Kramer), formerly home to a taproom and restaurant of the same name launched by Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing’s Emily Thomas, closed down early in the pandemic.
Humble Sea co-founders Scott Krueger, Taylor West and Nick Pavlina all grew up together in the San Lorenzo Valley — and all had scares of varying degrees during the CZU Lightning Complex fire late last year.
Earlier this year, Humble Sea announced plans to expand to three different locations, one within Santa Cruz County, one up the coast in San Mateo County and the other over the hill in Santa Clara County.
Now two of the locations are official, and one will open next month. The former Devil’s Slide Taproom in Pacifica (5560 Pacific Coast Hwy.) is on its way.
The Cremer House is the oldest building in Felton. It was built by Thomas Cremer in 1874 and for many years functioned as the Grand Central Hotel, a restaurant, bar, and boarding house run by Thomas and his wife, Margaret.
Humble Sea has plans for a South Bay location eventually, and even had one in place in Campbell before that deal fell through.
The mountain trio has come a long way since they started brewing out of a tiny one-barrel system in the Ben Lomond garage of Pavlina’s grandma. Humble-ness could be a fleeting trait for an operation on a meteoric rise if it weren’t for their down-to-earth nature.
Take the April Fool’s joke referenced in the Facebook post above, for instance. This was what the Humble Sea gang posted a day earlier.
