Why we're here...

Beer culture is coming of age. At any store, restaurant, bar, or friend's house you can now find at least a few good brews. In fact, there seem to be so many new beers, breweries and bars it's difficult to separate the good, the bad, and the mediocre.

If you're going spend $10 on one beer, what should you buy? If you're going to drive 2 hours to check out a brewery, what's worth your time? If you're going to plan a Friday night, what has a good selection and friendly atmosphere? We're here to help you answer these questions.

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Berryessa Brewing Company’s Chris Miller

Owner/Brewmaster Chris Miller
About 25 minutes west of Sacramento, an award winning, Seattlite Brewmaster has setup shop. He brings a taste that can only come from years of working in Yakima Valley and an experimental nature honed with pragmatism. On the side of a narrow road, among fruit trees, northern California's next great brewer is hard at work.

Chris Miller, brewmaster for the Berryessa Brewing Company, invited me out to one of Northern California’s newest breweries and a sneak peak at it’s future.


Chris, a native of Seattle, Washington landed his first brewery gig in 2004 working for Pacfic Rim Brewing, where he learned the basics and then some. It was the “then some” that landed him at Snipes Mountain Brewery as their brewmaster in 2008. Snipes was located right in the middle of Washington’s Yakima Valley, the famous hop growing region. Given control over recipe development Chris began leaving his own mark.

Chris won bronze with his Coyote Moon British Mild, which he had changed from the original recipe. He also won the Yakima Fresh Hop Ale Festival with his own fresh hop beer, "Harvest". In a state with many established breweries and accomplished brewmasters, this is no fall feat. The Fresh Hop then went on to win Silver at the 2010 World Beer Cup.

With this success, Chris looked to open his own brewery and continue to develop his award winning styles and new ones. In March 2011, Chris left Snipes Mountain and started up the Berryessa Brewing Company. The brewery shares a large, former fruit packing facility with the established Berryessa Gap Vineyards.

Chris will be opening up the tap room in mid-February 2012 at the brewery.

If you have never had the pleasure of driving route 128 through Winters, around Lake Berryessa and down into Napa, it’s a beautiful drive. Orchards and farms line the route until you begin to climb the low mountains to Napa County’s largest lake and Monticello Dam that created it.

Taken far enough, the route will take you into the heart of Napa Valley and past the world renown Culinary Institute of America and right out to the Pacific Ocean. But before all that, in the middle of fruit orchards, on the rim of the Sacramento Valley, in the shadow of the Pacific Range, you will find the Berryessa Brewing Company and brewmaster Chris Miller.

In my conversation and time talking and tasting his creative brews, its easy to see not only the passion, but the creativity and intelligence Chris has for brewing: from discussing the different types of obscure  brettanomyces he is excited to use, to his methodical approach to trying new ingredients.

Chris is your northwesterner; short, scruffy beard; down-to-earth; a good storyteller; and a love for the band Phish.

The brews I’ve tasted in local watering holes and at the brewery, introduce a brewing style that strikes a balance between the new, the experimental and the familiar.

Common Sense, Berryessa’s take on the California Common beer, has the familiar flavors and feel of the common or steam beer (think a fresher Anchor Steam), but the use of Pilsner malts takes the beer in a different yet enjoyable direction.

Nightshade a 5-rye dark ale, has the feel and taste of a porter but with a distinct rye flavor. Chris uses an old technique of dying the beer. He uses dark rye to turn what would a Pislner colored beer, into a dark porter color. He is bourbon barrel-aging some of this, I had a sample and it boosts the flavor up a notch.
Fresh Hop IPA, this IPA has HUGE fruit hop aroma and flavor with a subtle bite and maltiness. If you've had Deschutes Hop Trip, you will love this.

Sunset Over Berryessa Brew Co.
These are great samples of what Chris and Berryessa will bringing to northern California.

Lucca's, the Shack, Dad's Kitchen, Davis Beer Shoppe, Village Bakery and Restaurant (Davis), usually have the Fresh Hop on tap. The Davis Beer Shoppe also has cask nights and the Common on tap.

6 comments:

  1. Just had a taste at the Spanish Fly in Sac. Very impressive brew!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great brews and brewmaster!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Had the five taster flight plus the Cask Double-Tap at the Davis Beer Shoppe on 28FEB for the Cheese & Beer tasting event.

    Everything was spectacular, and the Porter was possibly the best I've ever had.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Came home with a fresh Growler of Pliny from Russian River and put it head to head against a fresh pint of Double Tap, and Double Tap clearly won! So I loaded up a couple of Growlers of DT and took them up to friends in Oregon and let the Hop Snobs give their take.. I believe Holy Sh*t was the response, they couldnt believe it came from Cali! I'm impressed with all of Beryessa's Brews.. I can gaurantee Chris and this Brewery will be one of the big boys in the near future...

    ReplyDelete
  5. Problem: HP Printer not connecting to my laptop.
    I had an issue while connecting my 2 year old HP printer to my brother's laptop that I had borrowed for starting my own business. I used a quick google search to fix the problem but that did not help me.
    I then decided to get professional help to solve my problem. After having received many quotations from various companies, i decided to go ahead with Online Tech Repair (www.onlinetechrepairs.com).
    Reasons I chose them over the others:
    1) They were extremely friendly and patient with me during my initial discussions and responded promptly to my request.
    2) Their prices were extremely reasonable.
    3) They were ready and willing to walk me through the entire process step by step and were on call with me till i got it fixed.
    How did they do it
    1) They first asked me to state my problem clearly and asked me a few questions. This was done to detect any physical connectivity issues with the printer.
    2) After having answered this, they confirmed that the printer and the laptop were functioning correctly.
    3) They then, asked me if they could access my laptop remotely to troubleshoot the problem and fix it. I agreed.
    4) One of the tech support executives accessed my laptop and started troubleshooting.
    5) I sat back and watched as the tech support executive was navigating my laptop to spot the issue. The issue was fixed.
    6) I was told that it was due to an older version of the driver that had been installed.
    My Experience
    I loved the entire friendly conversation that took place with them. They understood my needs clearly and acted upon the solution immediately. Being a technical noob, i sometimes find it difficult to communicate with tech support teams. It was a very different experience with the guys at Online Tech Repairs. You can check out their website www.onlinetechrepairs.com or call them on 1-914-613-3786.
    Would definitely recommend this service to anyone who needs help fixing their computers.
    Thanks a ton guys. Great Job....!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Otr 214427
    INTERNATIONAL CONCEPT OF WORK FROM HOME
    Work from home theory is fast gaining popularity because of the freedom and flexibility that comes with it. Since one is not bound by fixed working hours, they can schedule their work at the time when they feel most productive and convenient to them. Women & Men benefit a lot from this concept of work since they can balance their home and work perfectly. People mostly find that in this situation, their productivity is higher and stress levels lower. Those who like isolation and a tranquil work environment also tend to prefer this way of working. Today, with the kind of communication networks available, millions of people worldwide are considering this option.

    Women & Men who want to be independent but cannot afford to leave their responsibilities at home aside will benefit a lot from this concept of work. It makes it easier to maintain a healthy balance between home and work. The family doesn't get neglected and you can get your work done too. You can thus effectively juggle home responsibilities with your career. Working from home is definitely a viable option but it also needs a lot of hard work and discipline. You have to make a time schedule for yourself and stick to it. There will be a time frame of course for any job you take up and you have to fulfill that project within that time frame.

    There are many things that can be done working from home. A few of them is listed below that will give you a general idea about the benefits of this concept.

    Baby-sitting
    This is the most common and highly preferred job that Women & Men like doing. Since in today's competitive world both the parents have to work they need a secure place to leave behind their children who will take care of them and parents can also relax without being worried all the time. In this job you don't require any degree or qualifications. You only have to know how to take care of children. Parents are happy to pay handsome salary and you can also earn a lot without putting too much of an effort.

    Nursery
    For those who have a garden or an open space at your disposal and are also interested in gardening can go for this method of earning money. If given proper time and efforts nursery business can flourish very well and you will earn handsomely. But just as all jobs establishing it will be a bit difficult but the end results are outstanding.

    Freelance
    Freelance can be in different wings. Either you can be a freelance reporter or a freelance photographer. You can also do designing or be in the advertising field doing project on your own. Being independent and working independently will depend on your field of work and the availability of its worth in the market. If you like doing jewellery designing you can do that at home totally independently. You can also work on freelancing as a marketing executive working from home. know more, email us on workfromhome.otr214427@gmail.com and we will send you information on how you can actually work as a marketing freelancer.


    Internet related work
    This is a very vast field and here sky is the limit. All you need is a computer and Internet facility. Whatever field you are into work at home is perfect match in the software field. You can match your time according to your convenience and complete whatever projects you get. To learn more about how to work from home, contact us today on workfromhome.otr214427@gmail.comand our team will get you started on some excellent work from home projects.


    Diet food
    Since now a days Women & Men are more conscious of the food that they eat hence they prefer to have homemade low cal food and if you can start supplying low cal food to various offices then it will be a very good source of income and not too much of efforts. You can hire a few ladies who will help you out and this can be a good business.

    Thus think over this concept and go ahead. Otr 214427

    ReplyDelete