How a Texas Family Bet Big on Berkeley and Built a California Success Story

A Unique Journey of a Pilsner from Austria to California

In the early 2000s, Phil Sexton had a moment of clarity while sipping a fresh Trumer Pils in an Austrian inn. The beer’s vibrant yet balanced flavor left him stunned. "The life in the beer was extraordinary," he later recalled. That experience led him to call his friend Carlos Alvarez in Texas, sparking a chain of events that would eventually result in the creation of Trumer Berkeley, one of California's most intriguing breweries.

Trumer Pils is a 400-year-old Austrian beer now brewed in Berkeley. Its creators have no roots in the Bay Area, and it was conceived and funded by an Australian and a Mexican immigrant to Texas, neither of whom had spent much time in California. Despite this, Trumer Berkeley has become one of the few breweries in the state that are actually expanding. The beer itself is celebrated for its crisp and clean taste, which sets it apart from many local pilsners.

Recently, Trumer Pils won its 21st gold medal at the 2025 Australian International Beer Awards, earning the title of "the most awarded pilsner beer in the world." Whether or not it is your favorite, its unique qualities are hard to ignore.

The Visionary Behind the Project

The original Trumer Brauerei is located in Salzburg, where it has been brewing beer for over 400 years. However, it wouldn’t have made its way to the United States without Carlos Alvarez, a beer executive who played a significant role in changing how Americans drink beer long before he started working on the Trumer project.

Born in Mexico in 1950, Alvarez began his career with his father's Corona distributorship in Acapulco. In the late 1970s, he took on the challenge of exporting Mexican beer to the U.S., despite skepticism. His efforts paid off, as he helped establish Corona in the American market. By the 1980s, he was living in Texas and working as a Corona importer. He founded the Gambrinus Company and acquired the struggling Spoetzl Brewery, turning its Shiner Bock into a major craft beer. In 1995, Gambrinus expanded further by purchasing Portland's BridgePort Brewing Company.

By the late 1990s, Alvarez had a string of successes in the craft beer industry and sought new opportunities. He turned to his longtime friend, Phil Sexton, an Australian beer pioneer who opened Matilda Bay Brewing Company in 1983, Australia's first modern craft brewery. Their friendship began when Alvarez was traveling in Australia trying to sell Corona, and Sexton was impressed by Alvarez's charm, including a memorable moment when he serenaded attendees at a beer conference with an impromptu Spanish song.

Finding the Perfect Beer

Alvarez's Gambrinus Company was already running two prominent American craft breweries by the turn of the century, so he decided to bring European beer to the U.S. He trusted Sexton's taste and sent him to Europe to find something special. After drinking a glass of fresh Trumer in Salzburg, Sexton realized it was something unique.

Most beer does not travel well, especially pilsner, which is delicate and vulnerable to damage during shipping. Alvarez realized that importing the beer itself wouldn't be enough; he needed to import the brewery. This decision led to the establishment of Trumer Berkeley.

Building a New Brewery

Trumer has been owned by the same family for eight generations, and convincing them to allow a sister brewery in the U.S. was no small task. According to Sexton, it took "a lot of talking" to convince the Austrians that they would do it properly.

Alvarez chose Berkeley for several reasons: the Bay Area's water is ideal for lager, there was a suitable brewery for sale, and the area seemed receptive to this new idea in beer. Brozovich, the current president and CEO of Gambrinus, noted that the Bay Area's diversity and cultural richness made it an appealing location.

Brewing the Perfect Pilsner

Lars Larson, a German brewer fluent in the language, was selected to recreate the classic European beer in the New World. He traveled to Austria to learn from the original brewers and returned to California to experiment with test batches. The water in Berkeley helped replicate the Austrian flavor, but Larson was nervous about the initial tasting with the Austrian brewmaster and family owners.

The Austrians were impressed, and Trumer Pils hit Bay Area shelves in 2004. Initially, sales were slow, but soon people recognized the unique quality of this lager. A 2006 Oakland Tribune article called it a "primo pilsner" and an "elegant beer."

Expanding and Innovating

Trumer Berkeley has steadily grown its output while selling only one delicious pilsner in an ale-dominated market. For its first two decades, the brewery had no on-site taproom, but in 2023, it unveiled a taproom with a beer garden. This space allows for experimentation with smaller-batch beers, such as a "Northern Lager" made with aromatic American hops.

The brewery plans to release this beer in kegs and cans this summer, making it only the second beer ever packaged by the brewery. With an ambitious goal of brewing 28,000 barrels this year, Trumer Berkeley continues to thrive while other craft breweries face challenges.

"It's pretty satisfying, especially right now when people are struggling," said Larson. "We feel very thankful that we're getting a positive reception. We're seeing a lot of people turning more towards lagers. It's nice to see people are respecting it and enjoying it more."