I guess I should back up a little. How did this all start? Well, back in 1994, in the micro brewery, homebrew Mecca of Portland, my Uncle Blake showed me how to make my first batch of Porter in my tiny apartment kitchen, spilling over into the bathtub. I then showed my husband, Chad, a few years later in our tiny kitchen in San Diego, again sterilizing carboys (fermenters) and bottles in our bathtub. Between those two events I had lived with Q and R and learned of his own passion for beer and brewing. When I introduced him to Chad they developed an instant friendship simmered in Oatmeal Stout and slow smoked ribs.

For several years Chad has brewed beer for friends and family, picnics and gatherings. Heck, we served homebrewed beer at our wedding carefully crafted by my Uncle Pat. There is no shortage of beer makers or beer drinkers in this gang. And over the years, Chad’s equipment has grown to a point that we always have his beer on tap, something fermenting in a carboy and the propane burner ready to fire up at any minute. And like the equipment, he has accumulated friends, brewers and drinkers who share in his passion for beer. When you are a home brewer you make bonds with people who have shared the common experience of a caramel wort boiling over in your kitchen.

Along that path Chad was invited to become a part of the recent Santa Cruz phenomena that is Coastline Brewery. As such, he has been united with a couple of guys who are savvy businessmen and visionaries. Their visions include opening a 3000 square foot restaurant in a brand new building in less than six months. Ambitious and frightening at once. Fear of failure, fear of missing out on success - nothing like huge risk to make your head spin and your heart race. So the pressure is on for Chad to bring his brew into the big picture. And our first big lesson? It is ok to believe in your wildest fantasies.

So what is Chad’s fantasy for the brewery? A warehouse space in the Sash Mill or Swift Street Courtyard. In the beginning a child brewhouse system from Bavarian Brewery Tech which will one day grow into a Parent Brewhouse with copper fermenters and a bottling plant. Pallets of organic malt, refrigerators full of organic hops and a vat of yeast cells. A cold storage full of kegs and delivery drivers on a regular service. A tasting room with all of their beers on tap. Q as his brewmaster partner and enough demand to employ his friends Tom & Jim and my brother Nick, and maybe one day the whole crew from Harvey West Park! Well, it is a fantasy at this stage…