Alvarado Street Brewery’s transition to a new facility means a lower-alcohol facelift for its lager.

For years, the craft beer market gravitated toward hoppy IPAs and other high-alcohol styles. But for the population of beer drinkers who prefer something easier to drink, the pendulum has slowly been swinging back to lagers.

It’s swinging even faster at Alvarado Street Brewery, where Monterey Beer is its second most-popular (after Mai Tai “tropical IPA,” which has a 6.5-percent ABV). At 4.5-percent ABV, Monterey Beer is a refreshing, unobtrusive lager. “It’s a very approachable style,” says Brock Bill, ASB’s director of marketing (pictured above).

But as ASB transitions production to its new hub in Castroville, the team saw an opportunity to make it even more approachable. Design director Keith Soergel wanted a cleaner look for the vintage can design and the team wanted a modest tweak that would enable them to market the beer as a light lager, taking it from 4.5- to 4.2-percent ABV “to align with the Modelos of the world,” Bill says.

Lab tests verified by FDA were required to put “light” on the label. The first batches are now brewing in tanks in Castroville, to be released soon. (The early version was guest-brewed in San Jose by Gordon Biersch Brewery.)

Modestly lower alcohol might keep the party going longer. As Bill says, “Monterey Beer is one of our favorite beers to brew, and one of our favorite beers to drink.”

ALVARADO STREET BREWERY has three locations in Monterey, Salinas and Carmel; its Castroville brewery will open soon on a date TBD. asb.beer.