The Hess Brewing Odyssey

The Great Nanobrewery List: From CA to MA.

2012-01-04T09:09:00.000-08:00

II have been looking into nanobreweries throughout the United States. I am actually surprised at the number of nanobreweries popping up all over. I don't even think there is a true definition* for a nanobrewery (although the TTB does address their existence). If you have any further information regarding the following breweries and/or want to write up your own info email me. Cheers.

Current Count: 82 in Operation - 50 in Planning.

Updates to the List: (as of January 4th, 2012)
To the Operational List:
Ancient Lakes Brewing Co. - from Quincy, Washington

Angry Cedar Brewing Co. - from Nashville, Indiana.

Big Woods Brewing Co. - from Nashville, Indiana.

Hank is Wiser Brewery - from Cheney, Kansas.

New Boswell Brewing Co. - from Richmond, Virginia.

Lost River Brewing Co. - from Wardensville, West Virginia.

M.T. Head Brewing Co. - from Graham, Washington.

Two Rivers Brewing Co. - from Easton, Pennsylvania.

WnR Brewing - from San Diego, California.

To the Planning List:
Short Snout Brewing Co. - Milwaulkie, Oregon.

Old Redwood Brewing Co. - from Windsor, California.

Operating Nanobreweries:

Ambacht Brewing - from Hillsboro, Oregon
Meaning "Handmade" in Dutch this nanobrewery makes small batch beers that are all primed with honey! Tom Kramer is the brewer and is looking into a bigger system alreay.

Automatic Brewing Co. - from San Diego, California
Lee Chase of Blind Lady Ale House (and many other great breweries) fame has started a brewery in the back of BLAH and is brewing on a 2 Hectoliter custom fabricated brewhouse! Sex Panther indeed.

Backstreet Restaurant and Brewery - from Guayabitos, Mexico
They brew on a 20 gallon More Beer Tippy Sculpture. Viva la MexiNano!

Baranof Island Brewing Co - from Sitka, Alaska.
Brewing up in Alaska on a 1.75 BBL system, this operation is run by Rick and Suzan.

Barrier Brewing Co. - from Oceanside, New York

Barrier Brewing Co. is a 1bbl brewery located in Oceanside, NY.

Bat Creek Brewery - from Bowling Green, Missouri
Bat Creek Brewery was established in late 2008. It is owned by Jeremy Gilbert and Ryan and Heather Daffron. Their humble operation is run out of a machine shed. They have five year round brews on a smaller than one barrel brew system.

Battenkill Brewing Co. - from Poulsbo, Washington.
The “Battenkill” barn that houses our brewery in Poulsbo, Washington is reminiscent of the Yankee Style barns that have been built throughout the Battenkill Valley and is the perfect size for either a small craft brewery or dairy milking house. We chose the brewery!

Beaver Brewing Co - from Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania.
They are an artisan NANO-brewery. Beaver Brewing Company has a 1.5 Barrel system that ensures that every beer is hand crafted. Every batch is tested before it is bottled.

Beetje Brewery - from Portland, Oregon.
Beetje (\'bea-cha'\) is a Flemish word that roughly translates to "little", or "little bit". This brewery will live up to that notion for the foreseeable future.

Beer Engine - from Danville, Kentucky

They brew lots of small batch beers available for growler fills or tastes at the brewery.

Bier Brewery - from Indianapolis, Indiana.

Run by Darren, they have already implemented a sour program! That is rad.

Black Husky Brewing - from Eagle River, Wisconsin
They brew seven types of beer on a Brutus system. That's about all I can garner from their website.

BlackRocks Brewery - from Marquette, Michigan

This location is built inside of an old four square house. They don't serve food but have lots of great small batch beer on hand.

Blind Bat Brewery - from Long Island, New York
Started on a 10 gallon kettle system and has recently upgraded to a 3 barrel brew kettle. It is run by Paul Dlugokencky.

Blind Pig Co. - from Champaign, Illinois

Brewing starts in the SW corner, with the 62 gallon English style single infusion brewhouse. From there the 'wort' is pumped to the fermenters, either in the NW corner or in the back room, where it spends several weeks.

Boxcar Brewing Company - from West Chester, Pennsylvania.
Founded in 2008 by cousins, Jason Kohser and Jamie Robinson. Boxcar began selling its Original Ale to local bars and restaurants in April of this year. The brewery was officially announced in May. It is owned and operated by Chester County residents Jason Kohser and Jamie Robinson and their wives, Kristen and Kymberly respectively.

Breakside Brewing Co. - from Portland, Oregon.
Breakside Brewery is the invention of Scott Lawrence and Tony Petraglia. Some mutual friends introduced the two after learning they both had a desire to leave their corporate jobs in order to pursue their dream of opening a brew pub. With limited knowledge, they jumped in head first and committed their minimal financial resources and made it happen.

Brewer's Union - from Oakridge, Oregon.
The Brewers Union Local 180 brewery has been adapted from the equipment belonging to the former Hawks Brewing Co. out of Roseburg. It features a propane-fired 3 US BBL.

Brimstone Brewing Co. - from Ridgeway, Ontario, Canada.
Jason and Rod run this 0.5BBL brewery out of the Great White North.

Cave Mountain Brewing Co - from Windham, New York

Located in a ski town they have a nice restaurant with great deals and great nanobrewed beers.

Chappel Brewing Co - from Mariposa, California
Chappell Brewery is a small one man operation created with the help of some friends. For now I only sell tasters and bottles out of the Tasting Room Shop.

Cocoa Beach Brewing - from Cocoa Beach, Florida.
A Family owned and operated brewery and pub. They brew on a 1.5 BBL system with three 1.5 BBL stainless steel fermentors.

Cooper's Cave Ales - from Glen Falls, New York
Not only to they make handcrafted ales but they make gourmet soda and ice cream as well!

Copper Kettle Brewing Co - from Millmont, Pennsylvania
They produce around 50 BBLs per year, or at least hope to.

Corcoran Brewing Co. - from Waterford, Virginia.
They brew on a 1/2 BBL system.

Craft Brewing Co - from Lake Elsinore, California
Four home brewers have opened a great looking nanobrewery and appear to be brewing on a pair of brutus-style systems.

Cutter's Brewing Co. - from Bloomington, Indiana.

A small brewery run by two longtime friends. They bottle three beers: Monon Wheat, Half Court IPA and Lost River Summer Ale.

Dads N Dudes Breweria - from Aurora, Colorado.
They are brewing twice a day, seven days a week on their Brew Magic sculpture in the back of a pizza shop!

Dirty Bucket Brewing - from Woodinville, Washington.

A small brewery run by Steve, Sharon and Chris Acord that will be specializing in 4 standards and a rotating array of seasonal beers.

Draai Laag Brewing Co. - from Millvale, Pennsylvania.

Dunbar Brewing - from Santa Margarita, CA
Chris Chambers brews traditional Irish, Scottish and English Ales. He has a pub attached to the brewery where you can drink other beers as well.

Enegren Brewing Co - from Moorpark, California

A crew of nanobrewing captains: Chris & Matt Enegren and Joe Nascenzi. They brew on a 3 BBL system in Moorpark. Stop by and grab a pint or three!

Epic Ales Brewing - from Seattle, Washington
Located in SoDo ran by Cody Morris inside of a location previously used as a salon. He brews 1 barrel at a time.

Foggy Noggin Brewing - Bothell, Washington

Jim is brewing on a 1/2 barrel custom system.

Good Natured Brewing - from Hamilton, New York.

GNB is a nanobrewery located in Hamilton, NY. We handcraft fine-quality ales made from local hops and other fresh ingredients.

Great South Bay Brewery - from Bay Shore, New York
Rick and Greg run this nano out of Bay Shore.

Healdsburg Beer Co - from Healdsburg, California

My main man, Kevin McGee! There is more than enough wine in Healdsburg, just trying to level the playing field.

Idle Hands Craft Ales - from Boston, Massachusetts.

A Boston-based nanobrewery specializing in handcrafted, Belgian inspired ale.

Keg and Barrel Brew Pub - from Hattiesburg, Mississippi
Not only did they land on Draft Magazine's 150 best beer bars list they brew their own beer. Currently brewing on a homemade "Brutus Ten" with 30 gallon kettles all in a 120 square foot brewing area. They have two rotating taps for 26 brews yearly. The owner is John Neal and the brewer is Sam Sorrells.

Keuka Brewing Co. - from Hammondsport, New York
Operated by Linda and Richard Musso. It is the first Microbrewery on this breathtaking lake and the only microbrewery on the Keuka Lake wine trail. Surrounded by some of New York State’s best wineries, Keuka Brewing offers an alternate world-class epicurean experience for wary wine drinkers and beer connoisseurs alike.

Lawsons Finest Liquids - from Warren, Vermont

Sean Lawson runs this one barrel brew system. Sean won a bronze medal at the World Beer Cup this year for his Maple Trippel.

Lefty's Brewing Company - from Bernardston, Massachusetts.
They brew on a two barrel vessel and have 16 barrels worth of fermentation space.

Listermanns Brewing Co. - from Cincinnati, Ohio

Appears to be a online homebrew shop that brews small batch beer as well.

Manchester Brewing - from Concord, New Hampshire

Brewmaster Kevin Bloom. They haven't updated their website since November 2009 so I am unaware if they are still operating, but let's assume they are...

Mattingly Brewing Co. - from St. Louis, Missouri
Not sure what size system they brew on, but apparently they are a nano brew pub.

Maine Beer Co. - from Portland, Maine
Maine Beer Company is a very small micro brewery located in Portland, Maine. They don’t concentrate on any particular style of beer and donate 1% of their sales to environmentally friendly non-profits.

Milkman Brewing - from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.

A small operation made of beer lovers brought together by Chris Momberger. They are united by a common drive to make unique and intriguing beer, using hard work, the finest ingredients, and an insatiable curiosity.

Mt. Carmel Brewing Co - from Cincinnati, Ohio

Mike Dewey and his wife run this brewery... though their website is a bit hard to follow, I've been told they are in fact a nanobrewery.

Mt. Tabor Brewing - from Mt. Tabor, Oregon

Ran by Eric Surface and Brian Maher in the heart of the Montavilla business district he provides single barrel handcrafted ales to local restaurants.

Mother Earth Brew Co. - from Vista, California

Kamron and Daniel run this AWESOME home brew supply store and nanobrewery. They are currently on a 1.5 BBL system and make some tremendous beers. They also contract two of their beers from a local brewery.

Mr. Grumpy Pants Brewing Co. - from Ouray, Colorado.
They brew on a single barrel brew house. Good luck pronouncing their name!

Naked City Brewing - from Seattle, Washington

Don and Don run this three barrel DME system brewing exclusively for their Naked City Tap House.

Natian Brewing Co - from Portland, Oregon
Ian McGuinness and Natalia Laird are operating on a 1.3 BBL system while learning the ropes of the beer business.

NW Peaks Brewing - from Seattle, Washington
NW Peaks Brewery is a” nano-brewery” located in Ballard. They make less than one barrel of beer per batch. Instead of having a few flagship beers available at all times, we release two new beers each month.

Oak Hills Brewing Co. - from Hisperia, California.
A tiny brewer located in Hisperia, California.

On The Tracks Brewing Co. - from Carlsbad, California.
A small family run brewery in Norther San Diego. Greg and Nicole are currently on a 1/2 BBL brew house.

Oyster House Brewing Co - from Asheville, North Carolina
They run on a 1/2 bbl Sabco Brew Magic system.

Parish Brewing Co. - from Lafayette, Louisiana.
Parish Brewing Co. was founded by Andrew Godley, an enterprising engineer who found beer fascinating. In college at LSU he drank a lot of it. Once a responsible adult, he decided to learn how to brew it. This curiousity turned into a passion, which turned into extra fine beer - thus Parish Brewing Co. was born!

Piney River Brewing Co - from Bucyrus, Missouri

Joleen and Brian Durham are renovating a 70 year-old barn in the Ozarks to house their nanobrewing facility. They are currently brewing on a 10 gallon Sabco Brew System.

Plan B Brewing - from Smithers, B.C. Canada
Mark Gillis and Glen Ingram run this nanobrewery out of the great white north. A strange brew indeed.

Red Jacket Brewing Co. - from Calumet, Michigan
They brew on a 1/2 BBL SABCO brewing system at their restaurant.

Rising Tide Brewing Co. - from Portland, Maine

Nathan Sanborn is a 90 gallon brewing operation out in Portland. They are distributing beer in 22 oz bottles throughout Southern Maine

Roth Brewing Company - from Raleigh, North Carolina.
Apparently they are very small. Hard to get any solid info from their site.

Shipyard Emporium - from Orlando, Florida.

This is a small brew pub that is run in conjunction with Shipyard Brewing out of Portland Maine.

Slippery Pig Brewing Co. - from Poulsbo, Washington.
From what I can gather this is a small brewery in a residential area.

Steffan's Aldergrove Brewery - Tulalip, Washington

This guy is brewing on a 1/3 barrel system (re: 10 gallons), but he brews five days a week to make up for it. That reminds me of Dogfish Heads early days.

Squam Brewing - from Holderness, New Hampshire.

Squam Brewery is a small, one barrel craft brewery operated out of a barn in Holderness, NH. They brew in a 55 gallon BoilerMaker kettle which They've retrofitted with two 5000 watt electric heating elements. They ferment in 42 gallon stainless conicals (Blichmann Fermenators). They sell their beer exclusively in 22 ounce bottles to stores in the Lakes Region.

Three Barrel Brewing Co. - from Del Norte, Colorado
As their name would imply they are brewing on a three barrel system.

Twisted Vine Brewing - from Des Moines, Iowa

The unpretentious little 1 barrel operation is tucked within the beautiful Madison County Winery located
in the picturesque hills and valleys of south central Iowa.

Valholl Brewing Co. - from Poulsbo, Washington.
Looks like they are brewing on a Sabco Brew Magic Sculpture.

Vertigo Brewing - from Hillsboro, Oregon

Brewing on a one barrel system in a warehouse. Both are named Michael. That is eerily similar to our nanobrewery operation.

Washingtonian's Brewing Co - from Washington, DC
Cabot Boyd brews a Belgian Tripple in the heart of DC.

White Birch Brewing - from Hookset, New Hampshire

Bill Herlicka runs this one barrel brewery. Each batch is bottle conditioned and aged at the brewery.

Wild Wolf Brewing - from Nellysford, Virginia

Wit's End Brewing - from Denver, Colorado

An impossibly small Denver nanobrewery in planning fueled by dreams and inspired by the limitless potential of craft beer.

Wolf Hills Brewing - from Abingdon, Virginia

A one barrel brew system fermenting six barrels a week. You can stop by and fill up a growler if you like.

Woody's Nanobrewery - from Reno, Nevada
Pat Wlodarczyk runs this small neighborhood nano recalling a time when brewing was done by a community or family.

Worst Brewing - from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
They are based out of South Philadelphia and brews very exclusive batches of specialty beers. It was started when three friends decided it might be fun to take some interesting twists on various beer styles and realized they weren't the only fools who would drink it.

Worth Brewing Co - from Northwood, Iowa

Brew on a 10 gallon Sabco system and fermenting in a 27 gallon conical.

Nanobreweries that give their beer away because they are awesome like that:

Elizabeth Street Brewing - from San Francisco, California

SlumBrew - from Somerville, Massachusetts

Planning a Nanobrewery:
510 Brewing - from Fremont, California
Looks like they are just getting into the game up in Fremont.

BarnHouse Brewery - from Lucketts, Virginia.

Baying Hound Ale Works. - from Rockville, Maryland
Intend on brewing about 80 BBLs per year but looking to expand.

Beltane Brewing - from Novato, California

Alan Artha is looking to have his nano up and running by mid-2011. Good luck!

Black Acre Brewing Co - from Indianapolis, Indiana.
A small batch artisan brewery and tap room starting up in downtown Indianapolis with a focus on unique, specialty beers along with a few traditional favorites.

Black Heart Brewery - from Binghamton, NewYork.
They will be brewing on a 10 gallon brutus type system.

Black Shirt Brewing Co - from Centennial, Colorado.
They are going to be making small batch beer that is everything a beer should be. Plus they are awesome!

Brickyard Brewing - from Strasburg, Ohio
They will be producing 1 barrel batches for sale in 1/6th bbl, 1/2 gallon and 22 oz bombers.

Bucks County Brewing Co. - from Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
They are looking for funds to get their dream started. "Crowd-funding"

Cape May Brewery - from Rio Grande, New Jersey.
Ryan and Chris will be opening up Cape May in April of 2011!

Cardinal Brewing Co - from Nashville, Tennessee
A small backyard brewery located in East Nashville. Hoping to move out of the brew shed and become Nashville's first official nanobrewery.

Chattahoochee Brewing Co - from Phoenix City, Alabama
Planning on re-establishing a historical brewery in Russell County Alabama. For now I think he is brewing small batches.

Chino Valley Brewery - from Ontario, California.
This nano will be opening up in the near future in the Inland Empire. They definitely need more craft brews out there.

Clara St. Brewing - from San Francisco, California

Bioengineering researcher turned home brewer turned nanobrewery? Huzzah!

Community Beer Works - from Buffalo, New York
A group of seven guys working on the brewery. Our 1.5bbl brewhouse is being made as we speak now, we have a location and hope to file with the TTB by early January and, if things go well, be serving by the end of the year. We're also looking to take the 'community' part of our name seriously, using local ingredients and partnering with grassroots organizations when possible.

Cosmic Frog Brewing Company - from Buffalo, New York.
Planning a brewery in the greater Buffalo area. It looks like they have secured a location!

Country Boy Brewing - from Lexington, Kentucky.
They will be a 1.5BBL nanobrewery and tap room.

Fountainhead Brewing Co - from Kansas City, Missouri

The founders/brewers, Andy Robinson and Michael Ojo, have been steadily creating new and classic beers with the hope of one day opening a microbrewery and taking beer-making to a higher level.

Gilligan's Brewing Co - Seattle, Washington

Currently a closed nanobrewery, but they are looking for a new location up in Seattle in the near future.

Hellbender Brewery - from Columbia, Missouri.
Jarrett Crader and his partner have been brewing together for a year and a half and are getting ready to launch a Kickstarter project to attain initial funding.

Hibbleton Brewing Co. - Northern Kentucky.
Still in the planning stages. Just started a website.

Hop Yard Brewing Co - from Indiana, Pennsylvania.

They grow their own hops for their small batch brew system.

Little Giant Brewery from Anna Maria, Florida
Michael Wagner is starting a tiny brewery in Florida. There can never be too many Michael's in the brewing industry.

LouBrew - from Louisville, Kentucky

A couple of homebrewers trying to start up a nano in Louisville.

Mellody Brewing Co. - from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Plans to operate as a 2 bbl brewery creating custom beers in draft form, with delivery via firkins or pins in a ‘real ale’ format. Core real ale offerings would include a Belgian Single or Patersbier, a Rye Brown Ale and a Maple Porter.

Naked Brewing Co - from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1.5 BBL system, located in Northeast Philadelphia, has passed its first hurdle and been approved by the TTB. PA state liquor control board is next on the list. Looking to distribute to local bars by late January 2012.

The New Republic Brewing from College Station, Texas
Two friends starting a nano brewery with hopes of growing into a large production brewery down in Texas. I wonder if a nanobrewery is bigger in Texas...

No Where Brewing Co - from North Shore, Massachusetts.

They will be producing a number of artisanal hand-crafter beers for north Mass.

Old Hangtown Beer Works - from Placerville, California
They do not have a website, but Michael Frenn appeared on an episode of the Brewing Network to talk about his plans.

Petaluma Hills Brewing - from Petaluma, California.
Just getting into the planning phase. Keep an eye out!

Plan 9 Brewing - Las Vegas, Nevada

A two barrel system run by Steve Howe, he will be hopefully open by September 2010.

Pipeworks Brewing - from Chicago, Illinois

The partners in crime are currently overseas (I think?) working at a belgian brewery with aspirations to open a brewery in Chicago in the near-ish future. I'm not really sure if they are going to be nano or micro-sized.

Reformation Brewing - from Atlanta, Georgia.
They will be brewing on a 1-2 BBL system in a state with a three tier law. That'll make things a little tricky for them.

Rueben's Brews - from Seattle, Washington
We will be brewing our award winning ales on a 3 BBL system available only through our taproom, aiming for a mid 2012 launch in Seattle.

Rocky Point Artisan Brewers - from Long Island, New York
Three home brewers with one dream. Respect.

Santiam Brewing Co. - from Salem, Oregon.
They will be brewing on a 3 BBL system build by Stout Kettles

Short Snout Brewing Co. - Milwaulkie, Oregon.
Going to be a small brewery in the suburbs of Portland Oregon. Pug lovers too!

St. Benjamin Brewing Co - from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

A small brewery from the place which is always sunny.

Throwback Brewing Co - from North Hampton, New Hampshire.

They will be attempting to create beers in the pre-prohibition style.

Trillium Brewing - from Brookline, Massachusetts

Really dedicated homebrewer who operates a great blog and has aspirations to get into the brewing world soon.

Two Kilts Brewing - from Beaverton, Oregon
They have not updated their site in a while, I hope the dream is still alive!

Two Trees Brewing Co - from Ventura, California

A small homebrewer based in Ventura, CA that has big dreams. My goal is to sell some of my handcrafted beer to local bars and restaurants. Ventura NEEDS some local breweries.

Urban Jungle Brewing - from San Diego, California.

A collection of home brewers working to get a new nanobrewery option going in San Diego!

Valiant Brewing Co - from Lake Forrest, California.
Valiant Brewing Company is a small craft brewery planned for Orange County, California, in the Lake Forest/Mission Viejo area.

VanHouten Brewing - from Marin, California
Johnny and Creek Van Houten, a husband and wife team, are the mainstays of the operation. Johnny's dad, Tom serves as consultant and works with Johnny to perfect recipes. Between the two of them, they have almost 20 years of homebrewing experience.

Previously a Nanobrewery: Once a nano, always a nano in my opinion!

Breaker Brewing Co - from Plains, Pennsylvania

They have five year-rounds and two seasonal brews. They have now moved on to a 4 barrel system... hardly a micro but outside of my criteria. Good luck and keep on trucking!

Heater | Allen - from McMinnville, Oregon.
Rick Allen started on a tiny system and has worked his way up to a full scale brewery. Inspirational? Yes.

Schooner Exact - from Seattle, Washington

Started as a nano but have recently expanded to a 10 barrel brew system.

Seven Brides Brewing - from Silverton, Oregon

This company is named after the founder's seven combined daughters. Since they are eventually going to have to pay for seven weddings they figure they need to make at least enough money off this project to fund them. Now they have a 16 bbl brewing system.

Two Beers Brewing - from Seattle, Washington
They moved up to a 7 bbl system. Still they have an awesome website and are really nice guys.

*I'm going to define it as any brewing system 3 barrels or less.

SDBW Super FAC 2011

2011-11-07T13:35:00.001-08:00

One final beer week event:

We've had a hell of a week here at Hess. Last year, we did two events: New Brewer's at Pizza Port OB and a Phil's BBQ Event. What a difference a year makes: This year we'll have participated in one total tap takeover, two pint nights & two brewmaster's dinners, tapped three casks, poured four kegs at Guild Fest and had our first beer poured at Stone. In all, our little nano-brewery put out some 13 barrels of beer for beer week. Not bad considering that in our first quarter of existence we only made 14 barrels in total!

Join us for a great time this Friday the 11th as we close out SD Beer Week 2011 with our November FAC. We'll have 11 beers up, including fresh batches of Intrepidus (off the taps since August!!) and Amplus Acerba, our 11.3% San Diego Pale Ale.

56 Hope providing the Reggae tunes starts at 5:30, Ranchwood the awesome food (if you haven't tried it yet, come hungry, you will not be disappointed) will be here around 4.

Cheers to Beer Week and cheers to you! See you Friday.

2nd Annual OktoberHess

2011-09-26T11:11:00.000-07:00

Oktober 15th, Saturday, Noon until 6 p.

Hard to believe, but true! It is time already for our 2nd Annual OktoberHess Festival.

We are bringing back our Festivüs Düsseldorf Altbier: The darker and hoppier rival of the Kölsch. A top fermented ale with lager-eqsue characteristics caused by the low temperature fermentation of the region. This is a “Sticke” variation which means it has a more complex flavor profile and a higher alcohol content, our is 6.8%.

We are also bringing out a new beer, we will be brewing up a batch of Scotch Ale: This is a full bodied, rich, and malty ale. To increase the wort gravity, carmelized sweetness and Maillard reaction, we boiled down the first 15 gallons of mash running to less than 7 in a secondary boil vessel (AKA Rhino's Keggle). This should be an ideal beer to sip as San Diego cools down from a scorching 72 degrees to a chilly 68 degrees.

We will also be having traditional Oktoberfest bites: Bratwurst, Giant Pretzles, Frankfurters with Sauerkraut and Mustard from our buddies at Ranchwood All Natural BBQ.

Ranchwood.

We are currently on the lookout for a traditional Oompah Band. If anyone has any leads let us know!

Wanted: Traditional Oompah Band.

FAC6 Poster.

2011-09-14T16:44:00.000-07:00

FAC to fight MS.

2011-09-07T09:09:00.000-07:00

At the next Friday Afternoon Club we will be donating $1 of every pint served to fight Multiple Sclerosis.

Meet Ian. He is a retired, disabled U.S. Navy veteran who lost the use of his legs after being diagnosed with a mysterious muscular disorder.

He also happens to be 30 years old, the father of a 3 year-old boy, a tattoo artist, a poster artist, a DJ and a Poli-Sci major at UCSD. His disability hasn't slowed him down in the least. He is an avid hand-cyclist and his drive, determination, attitude and enthusiasm is an inspiration to everyone who knows him. He hails from Minneapolis, Minn. and has been a San Diego resident for the past 11 years. His mother, who has been a pillar of hope and strength to him during the last 9 years of this mysterious illness, was recently diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis after suffering what was thought to be a brain aneurysm. Ian has decided to show his mother the same kind of love and support she has shown him by helping fight her disease by taking part in the two-day Bike to Finish MS Bay to Bay Ride on October 22 and 23, 2011. He is now raising money through donations and sponsorships and will ride 150 miles in her name on his hand-cycle from Irvine to San Diego.

We are trying to get Ian's name and his cause out to a wider base of supporters by helping to sponsor him. And this year he will not ride alone, since several friends and family have signed up to ride with him. The Quichrbichn jerseys are great and if you want to buy one, contact us directly.

This year, any shirt sold from now until the race is over, means proceeds to Ian's cause.

Make sure you come support him during the race. Look for more details to come regarding the course, the shirts and where we'll be. Don't forget to check out our facebook page for the latest info.

Anno Unum: Our 1st Anniversary.

2011-08-08T13:11:00.000-07:00

It's been one year in the making and we're finally ready to release our first packaged beer, and we think it was worth the wait.

Anno Unum is our latest creation, an Imperial IPA fermented with a Belgian yeast strain, hopped with distinctly US hops (Chinook and Falconer's Flight) and, in a throwback to tradition of IPAs from yesteryear, it is oaked.

It is also delicious and at 9.2%, it lacks for little.

We packaged this beauty in a 750 mL bottle, capped it and waxed the top, and just to make it special, each label is individually numbered, 001 through 200.

Digital Mock Up.

That's right, there are just 200 of these. So how do you get one?

Click on this Link!

Bottles go on sale WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 10th, at High Noon. $25 each, limit two per person.

We are also having a little party on Saturday, August 13th from 12:00-6:00 PM.

More information available here.

Anno Unum Poster

2011-07-28T11:11:00.000-07:00

One with the Beer.

2011-07-12T17:05:00.000-07:00

Friday, July 22nd 4pm until 8 pm

F.A.C. = Friday Afternoon Club

Summer is well underway and FAC is warming up! We again invite all our friends, fans and friends of fans for an afternoon of live entertainment, killer barbecue and terrific craft beer at FAC5. Never a cover. Always a blast.

The July edition of FAC features:

The Barnacles : Back at Hess for some jammin' tunes.

Some serious gnoshing from our friends at Rotisserie Affair.

And as always Hess Brew! We should have a fresh batch of Jucundus, our Honey Orange Wheat up, as well as your favorites PLUS will be releasing our Robust Porter (name TBD) in two varieties: One is straight up Robust Porter. The Second is a Coffee & Tea Collective beaned version with ample amounts of freshly roasted organic Bolivian coffee beans.

Click Here or on the flyer below for a large version, print it out and pass out to your friends!

New to this event will be the introduction of tables, chairs and shade! Feel free to bring your own however.

Finally, we would be remiss to not address the other line - that for the bathroom, so look for a PortaJohn to be set up on site to help alleviate the need...

As usual, bring your Hess Brewing honest-pint pub glass and a chair to relax in if you’d like to sit outside our venue.

One final note: we continue to look for bands - so singer-songwriters, indie bands, blues dudes - if you are looking for a venue, or if your friend's band is looking for a venue, look no further - we'd love to feature you here at Hess Brewing! Send an email to mike@hessbrewing.com if you're interested!

FAC5 – It's July. Time to get to Hess!

AB 1014 (Fletcher) - Drink Local!

2011-07-11T12:21:00.000-07:00

As anyone following our blog can recall, a while back we hit a HUGE snag in opening up Hess Brewing when we tried to get approval from the local health department... AND you may remember the health department realizing they had never regulated a brewery's tasting room in San Diego's long and storied history of brewing. After they realized their mistake they decided to finally "regulate" a number of local breweries; this created a quite the brouhaha.

Thanks to support (and righteous fury) from local breweries and local beer drinkers, the San Diego Department of Environmental Health (DEH) decided to call up the California Department of Health who proceeded to tell them they did NEED to regulate breweries since they were similar to wineries. It was at their discretion. The San Diego DEH backed off and the brewing world in San Diego has been peaceful ever since.

Unfortunately for our brothers and sisters up north, that is, every other county other than San Diego, they still have to conform to some very unnecessary and expensive rules. Check out Enegren Brewing's blog to see what other counties still demand.

Fortunately after our go-round with the DEH we decided to contact our local rep, Nathan Fletcher, and see if he couldn't do something about the great divide between wineries and breweries in terms of Department of Health language.

From Nathan Fletcher's Office:

The bill will be headed to the governor next week, and we want to ensure that he understands how important this bill is to the industry. AB 1014 removes the requirement that brewery tasting rooms comply with the same requirements as restaurants (industrial sinks and plumbing, raised appliances, special paint, etc) when only beer and snacks are served. Wineries received this exemption some time ago, but breweries were not included. The bill exempts beer tasting rooms from those food facility regulations, instead creating a requirement that glasses are cleaned between uses (the bill’s sponsor, the California Small Brewers Association, agreed to take that amendment at the recommendation of Senate Health Committee)

To help support this effort feel free to copy the following quote just fill in the date and your name and mail it to:

State Capitol, Suite 1173,

Sacramento, CA 95814

ASAP!

DATE

Legislative Affairs

Governor Edmund G. Brown

State Capitol, Suite 1173

Sacramento, CA 95814

Re: AB 1014 (Fletcher) – Request for Signature

Dear Governor Brown,

On behalf of California Craft Beer Drinkers, I write to express our strong support for your signature on Assembly Bill 1014, which would greatly improve the regulatory oversight of craft brewery tasting rooms.

I would appreciate this important effort from the legislature to align beer tasting safety regulations with those for wine tasting. Current law requires breweries to expend significant resources to be compliant with regulations written for restaurants and food preparation facilities, regulations that have no relation to the health and safety of customers in a tasting room. Assembly Bill 1014 aligns beer tasting regulations with those for wine tasting, improving customer safety while lowering costs for local breweries.

This bill will greatly help my local breweries and California’s burgeoning microbrewery industry continue to provide great products, jobs, and tourism opportunities across the state. I, as a local consumer, strongly support these legislative efforts and urge a signature for Assembly Bill 1014.

Sincerely,

NAME

Comic Con

2011-07-11T10:01:00.000-07:00

I just had to showcase our sweet Comic-Con flyer.

F.A.C. #4

2011-06-06T21:48:00.000-07:00

Friday, June 24th, 4-8PM

FAC is Friday Afternoon Club

June gloom? June schmoon. It's never gloomy here at Hess, especially when the craft beer is flowing, you're getting your groove on with Andrew Fodor and the Psydewinders (back by popular demand!) and your belly is full of delish BBQ nachos and pulled BBQ sandwiches.

Our monthly event, FAC, we again invite all our friends, fans and friends of fans for an afternoon of live entertainment, killer barbeque and terrific craft beer at FAC4.

Heck ya, that's a slide guitar...

Like all previous FACs, we continue to fine-tune the process of putting a delicious beverage in your hand. So, enter the return of the TICKET BOOTH, where you can buy tickets outside, and exchange them for beer on the inside. For those of you who were there at OktoberHess, you'll recall we used this back then and it worked well. No money will be exchanged inside the brewery, just tickets and beer.

In addition to Delta Blues and Barbeque, we also are stoked to announce the much anticipated re-boot of Jucundus, our refreshing honey orange wheat ale. 5.25% never tasted so yummy.

Finally, we would be remiss to not address the "other" line - that for the bathroom, so look for a PortaJohn to be set up on site to help "alleviate" the need...

BBQ - it's not just for breakfast anymore...

Meat lovers and vegetarians alike, take note: Tony and his crew are back with some of San Diego’s best BBQ and they will be serving up some vegetarian-friendly chow as well. Ranchwood will feature their world famous BBQ parfait, barbeque nachos, tri-tip and other assorted great eats.

As usual, bring your Hess Brewing honest-pint pub glass and a chair to relax in if you’d like to sit outside our venue.

Print this out and post at work! Invite your friends!!

One final note: we continue to look for bands - so singer-songwriters, indie bands, blues dudes - if you are looking for a venue, or if your friend's band is looking for a venue, look no further - we'd love to feature you here at Hess Brewing! Send me an email at mike@hessbrewing.com if you're interested!

FAC4 – Just say NO to June Gloom and Yes to Hess at Hess Brewing.

F.A.C. #3

2011-05-18T00:16:00.000-07:00

Friday, May 20, 4-8PM

Mark your calendars – FAC3 is this week!

Come out to Hess Brewing this Friday to celebrate Craft Beer Week. While you're there, sign our GIANT Declaration of Beer Independence!

I do declare....

Our monthly event, we again invite all our friends, fans and friends of fans for an afternoon of live entertainment, killer barbeque and terrific craft beer at FAC3.

For our third FAC, we've made even more improvements as the evolution continues! For starters, we’re sliding the band to the right, now starting at 5 pm to make sure they stay late (till 8!) so you can all enjoy the tunes longer. Big thanks to The Barnacles!

Second, we’re featuring several new beers, including a special release (just one keg) of Lucidus, our collaboration beer brewed with homebrewer Kelsey McNair for the AHA convention in town next month. This is a 4.5% ABV session German Rye Pilsner.

Also up will be Trinitas, our Belgian Strong Pale, clocking in at a smooth 10.10%. Spiced with three mystery kettle additions, the straw-colored ale is estery and yummy and oh, so Belgian-y.

Finally, our Glen Falconer tribute beer, Venator, a hoppy Imperial Red, with four kettle hop additions and dry hopped with Faconer’s Flight hops, a proprietary Pacific Northwest hop blend. 9% ABV and using an imperial IPA hop schedule.

COME HUNGRY!

Tony and his crew are back with some of San Diego’s best BBQ. Ranchwood will feature their world famous BBQ parfait, tri-tip and other assorted great eats.

As usual, bring your Hess Brewing honest-pint pub glass and a chair to relax in if you’d like to sit outside our venue.

One final note: we continue to look for bands - so singer-songwriters, indie bands, blues dudes - if you are looking for a venue, look no further - we'd love to feature you here at Hess Brewing! Send me an email at mike@hessbrewing.com if you're interested!

FAC3 – celebrate Craft Beer Week and unwind after a hard week at Hess Brewing.