A ‘retirement’ that mixes politics with pints: Lenny Mendonca leads ‘Brews and Views’ at Half Moon Bay Brewing Company

“We do an Alection,” Mendonca said. “We started it in the 2008 election, the presidential election, so we had a McCain ale and an Obama ale, then in 2012 we had an Obama and a Romney ale, and we’ll do one in 2016. It’s been really fun because, now people know this, but the first one we had them labeled separately and we had a TV crew come in and ask people which beer they liked better. Everyone had a really strong opinion; they’d tell you exactly why that one was better, and at the end of it we’d tell them it’s the exact same beer but with different labels. The president (Obama) really loves it.”

Although he grew up in a rural community and had only left the state once for a sixth-grade trip before he set off to study politics and economics at Harvard University, Mendonca’s interest in his community and in politics were budding early on.

“By far the most important influences for me were my grandfather and father, who started farms and were also deeply involved in the community in the Central Valley,” Mendonca said.

His interest continued to blossom at Harvard, where he established the school’s first funded student government and served as student body president. After working in New York for a couple years and then attending business school at Stanford University, he settled down in Half Moon Bay.

“When my oldest daughter was a year old, we moved to the coast and we’ve been here 25 years now,” Mendonca said. “My grandfather used to fish out of this harbor. I’m Portuguese; there’s a big Portuguese Azorean community out here. We also wanted a place that was more rural, but close to everything in the Bay Area. We were deeply committed to public schools and wanted to have our kids go through the public schools and get involved with them and try to help.”

Mendonca, 54, worked at McKinsey & Company, a global consulting firm, until retiring last year. He credits his time there for helping to expand his worldview and think about politics on an interconnected, global level as well as a local level.

“I’ve also gotten much more involved in the local community here, and politics that are rooted here, but trying to understand the broader global context,” Mendonca said.

Home brewing had been a hobby for him for some time, and moving to Half Moon Bay gave him the idea to open his own brewery.

“We wanted a place that we could come to with our friends and our kids and have a good time,” Mendonca said. “From the beginning, it was designed to bring all of the high-quality craft beer, not a place to just drink. We’re very family-friendly.”

The “Alection” isn’t the only political statement made at Half Moon Bay Brewing Company. They also produce a “Not for Sale Ale,” proceeds from which go to combat human trafficking, and hold monthly or bi-monthly Brews and Views events, which returned Sept. 3 after a summer sabbatical. The events are similar to a town hall discussion, but in a relaxed, family-friendly atmosphere.

“When I was growing up, we used to go the Commonwealth Club and I really liked hearing people and speakers,” Mendonca said. “What we wanted to do was have it be more community-oriented, and we have space, so we wanted to see if we could get people interested in coming and talking, and have it not just be a speech, but actually engage with the audience.”

The friendly, informal atmosphere of Brews and Views has proven to be a hit, with speakers jumping at the opportunity and eager to repeat the experience.

After 30 years of frequent travel for McKinsey and Company, Mendonca is happy to have the opportunity to relax at home to pursue his interests since his retirement.

“I took a year to explicitly say no to anything, and my wife and I traveled with the Giants,” Mendonca said. “It was also a chance to recharge a little bit and a good excuse to say no to everybody. I concluded during that time that I did not want to do anything full time, so I’m doing this portfolio of different things that I find interesting. And then I’m writing a book.”

Mendonca describes his upcoming book as a more optimistic view of the United States and an exploration into how to break partisan gridlock and move forward. Despite being “retired,” he continues to run Half Moon Bay Brewing Company and continues to serve as co-chair for the nonprofit political reform group California Forward, as well as chair and founder of FUSEcorps, which partners with civic leaders and entrepreneurial professionals in an effort to address challenges in urban communities. The next Brews with Views event will be held Sept. 17 with ACLU Executive Director Abdi Soltani discussing the marijuana initiative in California. Go to hmbbrewingco.com/events/brews-views for more information on Brews and Views.