Van Houten Brewing Company at Nanobrewery Fest Recap

The Breweries of Tomorrow Nanobrewery Festival at Social Kitchen was nothing short of amazing. We wanted to post a few of our photos and share a bit about our experience. The line was insane - we heard from a few folks that had been at the Russian River Pliny the Younger release, that this line was way longer.


Johnny brought his California Common (6.8% ABV) as well as a Belgian Golden (4.5% ABV). There are some great strong brews out there, but we're also part of a movement for lower alcohol craft beers you can have more than one (or two) of. Johnny had a nice chat with Joe Tucker, of Ratebeer.com about session beers - which the Session Beer Project also blogged about.



Brian, of Bayareacraftbeer.com is at left, and Social Kitchen's brewer, Rich is behind the bar on the right. These two were the main organizers and did a steller job. Brian posted some fabulous photos and a nice article, Little Breweries Draw Big Crowd.



Here are a few of the fabulous folks from fellow breweries we met. Above is Antony and Caroline Field from Bosworth Brewing and Alan Altha from Beltane Brewing.


Above - bay area nanobrewers from Bosworth Brewing, Beltane Brewing, Pacific Brew Labs , Petaluma Hills Brewing and 510 Brewing gather before the event begins. Elizabeth Street Brewery and Local Brewing Co. were also in the house.

Brian of bayareacraftbeer.com put together a nice collage of the logos of all the nanobreweries involved. He is awesome.

We were pretty thrilled to get the positive feedback at the event and just as satisfying was meeting a group of colleagues and peers to share ideas with. We all have a lot to learn from each other.

There are other good write-ups at bayareacraftbeer.com and yetanotherbeershow.com

Next step for the Van Houtens is the Craft Brewers Conference next month in San Francisco!

Thanks again to Brians of AllOverBeer.com and www.bayareacraftbeer.com and our friends at Social Kitchen & Brewery for their work!

Find us on twitter at vanhoutenbrewco
Find us on facebook at www.facebook.com/vanhoutenbrewing
Contact us at vanhoutenbrewing(at)gmail(dot)com

Van Houten Brewing Co's First Public Pour

During to a few fortunate run-ins with Richard of Elizabeth Street Brewery at City Beer and Mill Valley Beer Works, we were invited to pour at his annual Super Bowl party. We felt honored to pour alongside Elizabeth Street Brewery and Pacific Brewing Laboratory.


Johnny brought his Northern English Brown Ale and his California Common and folks seemed to really enjoy. It is good to get good feedback from lots of people you don't know. Our banner also got its first use, and a christening of beer spills from happy homebrew drinkers.


The people who have gathered around the phenomenon that is Elizabeth Street Brewing is amazing. Neighbors who donated chairs for the day. Friendly strangers who read about Richard on the internet or twitter. Old friends and colleagues from the beer world and every sort of connection. The folks at Smoke BBQ SF donated ribs, and the potluck delicacies were nearly endless.

And the place is amazing. Richard's clever wife Alyson set up a "While you were out" home installation reality tv show extravaganza a few years back and they came and set up a mini home pub - the home brewers dream.


Alyson made this beer bottle mosaic window, which is awesome.


It was definitely a highlight of the year for us - but we suspect the SF Beerweek Nanobrewery Festival at the Social Kitchen will also be pretty fabulous. Hope to see folks on Sunday at the Social Kitchen.

Breweries of Tomorrow Nanobrewery Festival

February 13 from 5:00 pm - 9:00 pm

at the Social Kitchen and Brewery, 1326 9th Ave. San Francisco, CA 94122

Admission: $15 for keepsake glass, 2 SKB drafts, and lots of nanobrews. SKB's food will be available for purchase, too, should you get munchy. (more info)

Join SKB and AllOverBeer.com to try the beers of and toast the brewers looking to quit their day jobs, such as Elizabeth St. Brewery, Van Houten Brewing Co., Local Brewing Co., Pacific Brew Labs, Bosworth Brewery, Beltane Brewing, Petaluma Hills, 510 Brewing, and others.

Thanks to Brians of AllOverBeer.com and www.bayareacraftbeer.com and our friends at Social Kitchen & Brewery for their work!

Find us on twitter at vanhoutenbrewco
Find us on facebook at www.facebook.com/vanhoutenbrewing
Contact us at vanhoutenbrewing(at)gmail(dot)com