Alvarado Street provides two different beers that ward off seasonal chill.

It would seem implausible that a somber-toned beer could bring solace on a damp and dreary day. Yet there is something warm and welcoming in a hearty Scotch ale.

A friendly swell of maple syrup, the cozy comfort of coffee with vanilla cream, wisps of pipe tobacco, rye bread baking in the oven. As you sip Great Bustard from Alvarado Street Brewery, these sensations cradle your palate. There’s a glow that comes from the rich, dark beer, as if from a hearth – burnished, with reassuring notions of caramel and toasted nuts. That the ale packs a 14.6-percent alcohol belt is obvious, not for any burn in the flavor, but from the size of the glass. The folks at Alvarado Street wisely limit this to an 8-ounce pour. Great Bustard, however, is no beast. A year of aging in used cognac and bourbon barrels has mellowed its temper. The beer is a wee heavy, a dark Scotch ale J.C. Hill and his team worked in collaboration with Kyle Harrop of Oceanside’s Horus Aged Ales to produce this beer.

Of course, the blow landed by such a high alcohol content may not suit all tastes. No matter. Alvarado Street also pours Tmavé Pivo, a Czech-style dark lager. Hill is being literal here; tmavé pivo translates as “dark beer” – a creamy, even-keeled style hard to find even in the Czech Republic. It offers the savor of medium roast coffee, smooth chocolate malt and notes of charred grain, without overpowering bitterness – at 5.1 percent.

ALVARADO STREET BREWERY, 426 Alvarado St., Monterey. 655-2337. Locations in Carmel (293-8621) and Salinas (356-0219; 800-3332), asb.beer.