GET READY ORANGE COUNTY

Many of you have been following along, and if you follow other similar start-ups, it becomes painfully clear that the endeavor of starting a brewery is a squirrelly one. Lawyers, architects, permitting, beer research (an unholy duty we have accepted), and back to more lawyers again. Rinse, repeat.  We appreciate your patience and are grateful for your anticipation.  But we do owe you an update on when you're going get to taste these suds that will undoubtedly blow the barn doors off. So here it is...

THE BEER

If you haven't checked out our beer page, we are happy to share that we will be launching a year round series. We reserve the right to change things as we keep dialing things in, but we hope you like what you are seeing so far. Our approach to beer is focused...and we think our farmhouse hybrids are pretty interesting. In the end, we are making what we love to drink : aromatic, dry, rustic beers that are highly drinkable. Our facility includes a temperature-controlled barrel room and we are going to be working with foeders, so you could say our barrel program is #onfleek. We are pushing the ingredients with the hope of surprising you a bit, and we have a lot of plans for some interesting experimentation. We are working as hard as possible to getting you through the taproom to taste it.

CREW UPDATE : OUR HEAD BREWER

We snatched up Derek Testerman, an experienced Head Brewer to take the helm on our Brewing team. Derek cut his teeth at Iron Hill, one of the best brewpubs back east (an institution of sorts with a gaggle of medals to prove it). He had his hand in some beloved beers and learned from some of the industry's best as he helped open up multiple locations. (Side note : we wish we could attend the Bagby + Barrar event coming up....Bob was one of Derek's mentors). Derek studied at the American Brewers Guild and more recently was Head Brewer in Orange County until coming aboard. We were happy to lock him up a few months back because he's both proven and promising (and looks fantastic in rubber gloves) and we can say that the pilot batches we have been running are ridiculously tasty. Expect some pretty fun beers from this zymurgist sorcerer, because he is adamant about quality and consistency.

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION

We have secured our location in Costa Mesa, CA and have moved in. We received our Conditional Use Permit in the beginning of the year, and are proud to share our address :

We couldn't be happier to be in the SoBeca District, where we share many great neighbors in the food and beverage game. Commissary Lounge is next door, Windsor Homebrew is next door to that, and Barley Forge is across the street from us. South Coast Plaza, John Wayne Airport, The Camp and Lab, Halal Guys, Rooster Cafe, Mesa, Vaca, Seabirds, Anjin, Taco Maria, a handful of excellent ramen and sushi places make this a place we wanted to be.  Our next update will feature more about the design and feel of our facility and tasting room.

TRACTION

The illustrious Greg Nagel, whose keeps his finger on the pulse of the #ocbeer scene over at Orange Coast Magazine (among many places), ran a poll and revealed that his readers / followers were more than chipper to see us opening. Thank you all for the encouragement it brings us.  We pray your thirst is not quenched by the time we have our opening. READ THE ARTICLE >

ON THE HUNT

We were also humbled by the eagerness of Good Beer Hunting to drink our beer, whose collaboration early on helped propel us to where we are today. If you have been living in a cave, their site has some of the most well shot and beautifully told stories in the world of beer. Lots of things to come from this relationship in the future, so if you are not reading the blog yet, please go have your beer epiphany right now. READ ON >

LEFT TO GO...

We are waiting on federal and state permits, while we finish our construction. Our equipment has been ordered and is en route, we are brewing on the pilot to get recipes dialed in, and are inundated with a million decisions about our business. But goddamn it's fun!  We are members of the Brewers Association and the Orange County Brewers Guild (and you should be too). Our team is very grateful to our many friends in the industry who have shared and helped get us this far. Keep following for more info!