Mika Named Head Brewer at Peter B’s Brewpub

May 21, 2021 – The Portola Hotel & Spa has tapped Natalie Mika as head brewer at its Peter B’s Brewpub, which is set to reopen in early summer.

Mika has been brewing beer at the award-winning brewery since 2019. A Monterey County native, Mika is a self-proclaimed lab nerd and has experience work with fermentation science since 2013.

“Natalie was our Assistant Brewer in 2019, brewing along with Justin Rivard and creating the Witbier Triple Berry Threat and Hazy DDH IPA Sequester Necter, in addition to the Peter B’s favorites Legend of Laguna IPA and our Belly Up Blonde Ale. We expect Natalie will be an incredible head brewer as she taps into her creative genius to develop a multitude of craft beers for you all to enjoy,” said Brian Hein, food & beverage Director at the hotel.

A graduate of California Polytechnic University with a degree in Wine and Viticulture, Mika launched her career in the wine industry working for five vintages at Bodega Calle in Argentina, Scheid Vineyards in Greenfield, Ca, VinLink Winery in New Zealand, and The Wine Group in Soledad, Ca.

In addition to crafting Peter B’s signature brews, Mika is interested in creating new fruited Belgian-style beers. “Making a Belgian beer with some Riesling grapes has been something I’ve wanted to do for a long time, and hopefully, I’ll get to do that in the late summer or fall,” she says.

Meantime, for the first time in a year, Jacks Monterey reopened on Wednesday, May 19. “It’s essentially like opening a new restaurant,” says Jackie Olsen, marketing director at the Portola Hotel & Spa.

The popular downtown Monterey restaurant will be open Wednesday to Sunday for breakfast from 6:30am to 10:30am and for dinner from 4-10pm to start. Guests can dine indoors in the atrium, in the bar or on pet-friendly Jacks Terrace, outdoors by the fire pits.

Executive sous chef Carl Ashurst—who has been with the hotel for 43 years—has returned to reopen the restaurant. The menu for both breakfast and dinner showcases local, sustainable ingredients.

It is a scaled-down version of Jacks’ pre-pandemic offerings, but includes plenty of customer favorites like Jacks Famous Chowder and Tempura Calamari. There are sandwiches and pizzas and three heartier entrées, including Flank Steak, Prawn Scampi and Monterey Bay Salmon with hoisin vegetables and vermicelli.

Despite being closed for the past year, Jacks’ wine program once again won the Award for Excellence from Wine Spectator magazine. The restaurant offers at least 90 wines from local producers and winemakers around the world.

The hotel’s Peter B’s Brewpub is also getting ready to reopen. Olsen says the brewery crew has just been called back to work to begin brewing again. It takes four to six weeks for the new batches to be ready and she says they hope to reopen Peter B’s in early summer.