Just like in regular competitions, we pilot brew a select group of beer finalists and ask the public to vote for their favorite. Inspire our merry band of super talented brewing comrades (head brewer, the founders, and the Bay Areas best homebrewers) to create new beers.ģ. Use the things that inspire us every day from the Bay Area as the foundation for each new beer we make.Ģ. Our philosophy and process are pretty simple….ġ. Its located in San Francisco, where its been since initial founding in 1896. Oldest Brewery in California: Anchor Brewing is Californias first and oldest running brewery, with roots dating back to the California gold rush. Barebottle brews innovative beers inspired by the San Francisco Bay Area using local ingredients wherever possible, and partners with local homebrewing groups to develop new beers using a competitive method. This number continues to grow each month and should surpass 1000 breweries by the end of 2018. After moving from Ithaca to the Bay Area in 2007, the three began homebrewing, became certified beer judges, and began winning medals at homebrewing competitions. That insight, along with an enduring passion for the craft of beer making, led us to create Barebottle, a San Francisco crowd-inspired craft brewery.īarebottle Brewing Company was co-founded by Lester Koga, Michael Seitz, and Ben Sterling, three friends and former classmates at Cornell Business School in Ithaca, NY. In almost every competition we judged, the award-winning homebrewed beers were more inventive and daring than the majority of commercially available beers on the market. Over many years of entering and judging beer competitions, we noticed a simple, but largely unrecognized insight: some of the best, most innovative beers in America are being brewed by homebrewers.

California breweries by size