Cancel

Open app

Search

Steel Bonnet

4.6 (85 reviews)
ModerateBreweries
Open • 12:00 pm - 9:00 PM

Steel Bonnet Photos

You might also consider

More like Steel Bonnet

Recommended Reviews - Steel Bonnet

Your trust is our priority, so businesses can't pay to alter or remove their reviews. Learn more about reviews.
Yelp app icon
Browse more easily on the app
Review Feed Illustration

Reviews With Photos

a van parked in front of a building
Darren E.

A wonderful, small family owned operation that's been here 7 years. They have an ongoing selection of British, Scotch and Irish beer styles, as opposed to huge offerings of hoppy IPAs. It's a nice balance and they have a small outdoor beer garden as well as some inside bar and table seating. Both bathrooms were clean. They're dog friendly. They focus on beer and so they've left the food to a impressive list of rotating food trucks and there's a few restaurants (like a taqueria) in the shopping center parking lot. This is a neat salvation tucked behind the Carl's Jr. and it's easy to find. They appear to have live music some days, but don't open until 3 PM. It's nice they are open everyday and they have excellent service. If I could start my own brewing operation, I'd want it to be this size and not any bigger. The downside is they don't have canned beer for sale outside of single cans made on-demand. I suspect this place could easily sell canned beer to the local markets. The grocer in this same parking lot carries Alvarado Street beer from Monterey, so that's what I'd suggest for them. I like they are continuing to experiment and have prototyping equipment that's not much bigger than my own. They are passionate about making beer and I discovered they also use Admiral Malting. They stay true to the style definitions, so it feels like you're in a small family brewery in Europe. This is a fun place to visit every so often to try all the different stuff they've been working on, that's my plan as the beers I'd planned to try weren't in production, but they had plenty of other good beer.

Cheers!

Great beer! Fantastic service. Cozy vibes. Can't ask for anything more! We had a wonderful evening.

Eddie C.

Stopped by here on a drive to Santa Cruz. We got there just as the opened on a Saturday. I don't typically drink beer at noon on a Saturday but I couldn't pass up the chance to visit a brewery I've never been to. The bartender was very welcoming and friendly. The taproom was small but nice. I got a the Black Mayle stout. It was good. I didn't get a feel for the vibe since we were the only people there at opening. If ever in the area again, I'd like to visit again.

Outside
Laurie H.

Very enjoyable afternoon drinking beer in the back garden. Saturday after UCSC spring break, took the teen back to campus and then met the girlies for drinks. Got there first and there were a few locals standing around, more than happy to help guide me to a beer. As I told them, I don't look at any beer under 10%, so that left me with only one option - the Reiver Red. It's a smoke bomb, which is not normally my thing, but hey...you go with the flow when you gotta. I parked myself in the back at a picnic table and waited on the girls. It was taking a minute so I walked back in to see that they were chatting with the bartender because, surprise, surprise, the local Felton gal recognized the bartender from way back at some music spinning place (I lost track but there were records involved I think...and eventually a radio station in Boulder Creek) so that was a fun bit for everyone. They also have a food truck and on this day it was Union Foodie Truck that had tacos and such...including a delicious tofu option that I loved. I'd come back for the vibe, but I want to time it so they are serving a proper stout....which IS my thing.

Playing cards at every table and outside food is ay-okay!
Audrey S.

If you love well-crafted, reasonably priced beer, come here! If you don't love well-crafted, reasonably priced beer... what's your deal? This place is an awesome find in a kinda mundane location. Tucked behind a taqueria and next to a Carl's Junior, it's almost surprising to find such good beer here. Beers tend towards the darker, richer side but there are also one or two lighter beers. I've really enjoyed everything I've tried here. The wee heavy and the stout are two of my favorites. And at $5.50 a pint, it's really reasonable for such good quality. 5, 12, and 20 oz pours also available. There's plenty of seating inside and an outdoor heated patio. I spotted playing cards on every table and a little shelf with some board games. That + the ability to bring outside food makes this the kind of place I could spend a few hours. Also noteworthy: -Lots of parking; the lot for this shopping center is big -I believe doggos are welcome on a leash Well worth a visit. I plan on many more!

Kegs
Zach W.

Great local fresh brewed beer my favorite are the hop the heck, black mayle stout, Paul Hanna coconut stout, Queen Anne and esb brews! Live music on weekends. Food trucks occasionally but mostly friendly helpful staff who enjoy talking about their beers and love they put into each batch they brew. We have a few local breweries in Santa Cruz county and this is one of my favorites you must stop by for a pint to check em out! To be honest I recommend the 20oz size bargain priced great deal even better is how tasty the beer is! Cheers! Zman.

Brown Ale & Old Schillings
Jon S.

While the beers didn't 'wow' me, I really enjoyed my time at this craft brewery in Scotts Valley. It has local gem vibes written all over it--great space, super friendly service, a solid selection of 6-8 beers brewed onsite (windows to the back let you see the tanks, brewing process in action), dog-friendly too! We stopped by after a day in the redwoods and lunch in the area, and tried four beers total. 12 oz pours of Oatmeal Stout & Cream Ale then small pour tasters of their Brown Ale & Old Schillings (a scotch ale, I believe). My fav was the Cream Ale, which was full of flavor but also light and crisp. Our bill was like $15 for everything, sooo kinda hard to beat that! Excited to return again in the future and see what's brewing.

Good diverse selection. Love English Rose and the Beer Creek Brown.
Matt M.

My wife brought me to the Santa Cruz area for a fun beer filled birthday weekend. Steel Bonnet was our first stop and was definitely the best. Their beers were all unique and vastly different. They offer English style Ales which are not hopped up and very low carbonation Visited a couple breweries in Santa Cruz after and the other breweries IPAs were lack luster and similar in taste. We liked Steel Bonnet so much we hit them up again on the return trip home.

12oz Oatmeal Stout ($4.50)
Siobhan S.

On our way out of the area my hubs and I decided to make a quick stop for a round or two at Steel Bonnet after it popped up on our nearby search of craft beer. The beer lineup was solid, I liked that they focused on more malt forward styles which is always a nice departure (imho) to the hop heavy rotation at most breweries. What really wowed me was the prices, $4.50/12oz, $5.50/16oz or $6.50/20oz which is super affordable, you can really get your buzz on and not break the bank like you would at a lot of breweries in the Bay Area where a 10-12oz pour will run you $8. Also a win for Steel Bonnet in my book is the fact that they are dog friendly!

The Sassenach Sunset

See all

3 months ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

7 months ago

Helpful 1
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0
Photo of Danh N.
80
173
165

1 year ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 1
Love this 0
Oh no 0
Photo of Tim S.
0
19
0

2 years ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 1
Oh no 0

1 year ago

Helpful 1
Thanks 1
Love this 1
Oh no 0

3 years ago

Helpful 2
Thanks 0
Love this 2
Oh no 0

1 year ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

11 months ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0
Photo of Eddie C.
2
463
660

2 years ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

2 years ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

7 years ago

Helpful 1
Thanks 0
Love this 2
Oh no 0
Photo of A H.
13
71
38

4 years ago

Helpful 3
Thanks 0
Love this 1
Oh no 1

6 years ago

Helpful 2
Thanks 0
Love this 3
Oh no 0

2 years ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

8 years ago

Helpful 2
Thanks 0
Love this 4
Oh no 0

6 years ago

Helpful 1
Thanks 0
Love this 1
Oh no 0

3 years ago

Great hidden gem! Good beer, good ambiance, happy to go back.

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

5 years ago

Helpful 2
Thanks 0
Love this 1
Oh no 0
Photo of Alex K.
0
86
14

3 years ago

Helpful 1
Thanks 0
Love this 1
Oh no 0
Photo of Jon S.
2408
881
2487

7 years ago

Helpful 20
Thanks 0
Love this 18
Oh no 0
Photo of Matt M.
0
62
25

7 years ago

Helpful 1
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

7 years ago

Helpful 1
Thanks 0
Love this 1
Oh no 0
Photo of Mark F.
151
574
5439

10 years ago

Helpful 3
Thanks 0
Love this 3
Oh no 0

4 years ago

Great craft beer and an excellent price! Go get some!

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

8 years ago

Helpful 23
Thanks 0
Love this 21
Oh no 0
Photo of Mike G.
132
1485
2896

9 years ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

9 years ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

8 years ago

Helpful 1
Thanks 0
Love this 1
Oh no 0
Photo of Anne M.
15
12
20

10 years ago

Helpful 2
Thanks 0
Love this 1
Oh no 0

10 years ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

9 years ago

Helpful 1
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0
Photo of Dylan N.
116
23
0

6 years ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 2
Oh no 0
Photo of Kim H.
0
28
4

9 years ago

Helpful 2
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0
Photo of Ray S.
0
14
0

5 years ago

Helpful 1
Thanks 0
Love this 1
Oh no 0
Photo of John H.
0
34
40

8 years ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0
Photo of Abby D.
37
21
9

7 years ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0
Photo of Lori B.
1
35
11

7 years ago

Decent beer. Friendly server. Hidden in the back of a strip mall. We went into the market and bought a sandwich to eat there.

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

9 years ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0
Photo of Luke M.
90
30
29

10 years ago

Helpful 2
Thanks 0
Love this 2
Oh no 0
Photo of Martin S.
132
36
16

8 years ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 2
Oh no 0

Page 1 of 3

Ask the Community - Steel Bonnet

You might also consider

Verify this business for free

People searched for Breweries 3,322 times last month within 10 miles of this business.

Verify this business

Balefire Brewing Company - 7/21/25 FYI. Interior.

Balefire Brewing Company

4.8(28 reviews)
6.8 mi

Love Balefire! Great beer with a welcoming vibe from the staff and patrons…read more Spacious inside / outside seating area, easy parking and high quality, rotating food trucks. Fun place to grab a pint!

Cut and pasted from their website: "Historically, a…read more"balefire" signified a gathering place for the community. Quality/Quantity - Another great find! Just left Discretion Brewing, see other review, and was not satisfied, so we came here. Sampled a few beers to start to confirm what I wanted. So I got my usual Red - Moped Irish Red Ale; so refreshing and with good flavors. Angus Double IPA - Against my better judgement, I finished my night with this. But that made my dinner better when we got to Shadowbrook, as I was so relaxed when I got there; see other reviews. Oh, ending up having the munchies so I also got a $1 bag of chips, lol. If you are following, you KNOW that my favorite breweries are ones where we can bring our own food, where they focus solely on making GREAT beer! Atmosphere - Decent size location, both indoor and outdoor seating. Events and food trucks, see website. Or my photo. Open 7 days a week, hours vary; see website. Wifi. Service - Cal is so professional and passionate about his job and beer! I believe he worked here for over 10 years. We had many different discussions on all the different beers they offer. I even eavesdropped on his beer conversations with the other patrons. Price - $18 + tip. Cost for good beer. Owner Comment - Congrats on your success since 2023. Our local friends also recommended you, but that was after we already discovered you.

Photos
Balefire Brewing Company - 7/21/25 FYI. Exterior.

7/21/25 FYI. Exterior.

Balefire Brewing Company - A great beer

A great beer

Balefire Brewing Company - 7/21/25 FYI.

See all

7/21/25 FYI.

Sante Adairius Rustic Ales - ZAA ZAA! Nomnomnom

Sante Adairius Rustic Ales

4.4(135 reviews)
5.5 mi
•$$

Bomb. If you want plain jane please go elsewhere. Well, you might still find your thang here. But,…read moretheir house Saison? It's a perfect clone of Dupont but actually fresh out of the keg? And therefore better (unless you be chillin in Belgium). That is not a compliment to be taken lightly. First American Saison that I actually want to fill up my growler with and don't care about the cost. That good. Pizza... I'm always sus about detroit style (allot of places precook the bread and therefore you are eating pizza toast). And for 28 bucks for a roni, I'd be a bit pissed. BUT. I actually dont know if they are doing that and franky don't care because I could not detect it (and I can usually tell being that I'm a bread baker). That being said, the bread is bomb as hell quite enjoyable. Even cold. So. It's worth the price. Or go spend the same or considerably more on some GIANT boring pizza somewhere else so you can eat leftovers for the rest of the week (or be in horrible pain from overeating). Your call. But worth it. Must try spot. House Saison. Done son #1.

To finish out our trip, we stopped at Sante Adairius in Santa Cruz. We had been to the Oakland…read morelocation, but this was on the way (and had, as Brookies called it, Unauthentic Detroit Style Pizza). We enjoyed some pours and some pizza while we did a little bit of work. For food: Brookies is banging. We started with the Sourdough Pretzel. It had a nice color to hit, unique shape, and was served with House Beer Cheese and Mustard. But for the main show we got the Pepperoni with Red Sauce, Mozzarella, Brick Cheese, and Parmigiano. We added Jalapeno and Hot Honey to make it banging. For beers, lots of small pours. Final Thoughts: A Blend of Bourbon Barrel Aged Barleywines. Beauty Sleep: A Saison Oak Aged with Raspberries. Saison Bernice: The OG. A Farmhouse Ale with multiple yeast additions including Brettanomyces. Absolutely perfect. Fallen Bough: A blend of Barrel Aged Belgian Blondes. Mizunara Beyond Forever: I gave in and got the Private Press beer. It was a Rye Barrel Aged Stout with Vanilla and conditioned on Mizunara. New Brighten: A West Coast IPA hopped with Simcoe, NZ Cascade, and Chinook. Animal Dance Party: A Hazy IPA hopped with Citra, Nelson Sauvin, and Galaxy Hops. Gretchen: A perfectly brewed Marzen. _____

Photos
Sante Adairius Rustic Ales - Bridges and tunnels oatmeal stout

Bridges and tunnels oatmeal stout

Sante Adairius Rustic Ales - Mushroom and Nettle pizza! So good!

Mushroom and Nettle pizza! So good!

Sante Adairius Rustic Ales

See all

Humble Sea Tavern - OG

Humble Sea Tavern

3.9(30 reviews)
3.7 mi

Amazing food. The fried capers in the Caesar alone changed my life--I now fry capers at home like…read moreI'm on a mission. Service is next-level friendly (they're basically homies), and everything comes out quick without cutting corners. I somehow remember everyone's name... except Alex? (Is it Alex? Sorry, man. I'll get it eventually.) The ambiance is like your favorite slightly-chaotic dive bar--mounted animal heads and all--but way cleaner. No shade Monty. The music swings from emo to Shania Twain and somehow always works. There's solid outdoor seating if inside isn't your vibe. I've learned how to play Mario Kart on their little TV, discovered I don't hate Cats, and even squeezed in some laptop time (WiFi's a little iffy, but there are spots nearby if you need it). Honestly, this place is kind of epic--and it's because of the staff and guests are SC beasties and beauties

Sea for Yourself…read more Eponymously named bar featuring the beers of the namesake that shares a space with bakery/eatery (Emerald Duck, which has a separate Yelp page, fwiw) and is located in the historic Cremer House (remember this now). The Good: * Friendly bartenders * Large shared parking lot with Wild Roots * Beers are as fresh as it gets, as they're brewed just a few miles away in Santa Cruz. * Full bar with liquor, if you're not here for the beer. * Food at the Emerald Duck is fantastic. Definitely come hungry. * Large dog-friendly outdoor seating The Meh: * I don't know why, but I'm just not a huge fan of Humble Sea's Hazys. They're always just a little bit off for me, but with that said, I'm a picky b¡tch when it comes to Hazys. So take it fwiw. The Ugly: * We tried visiting here once before but got scared off by the signage in the parking lot that states something to the effect of "Parking for Wild Roots Market and the Cremer House." Well, we had no idea what the "Cremer House" was, so we got scared of getting towed and dipped out. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Conclusion: Beer and burgers. 'Nuff said...

Photos
Humble Sea Tavern - This place is a vibe

This place is a vibe

Humble Sea Tavern - Wedge salad

Wedge salad

Humble Sea Tavern - Socks & Sandals DDH Foggy IPA with Citra, Centennial, Simcoe & Chinook 6.6%ABV ($9)

See all

Socks & Sandals DDH Foggy IPA with Citra, Centennial, Simcoe & Chinook 6.6%ABV ($9)

Steel Bonnet - breweries - Updated May 2026

Loading...
Loading...
Loading...