Shady Oak Barrel House

About Us:

After brewing at home for more than 16 years, I realized brewing just needed to be a way of life for me. My extensive brewing experience at home, the awards I had received over the years, the beers I designed for other breweries, and my obsession for fermenting anything I could, caught up with me. After a stint in the wine industry, working with barrels, blending, and utterly fascinated with the scientific realm of things, all the experience transferred into my brewing.  Once I fully realized the possibilities and complexities of what could be achieved with wild yeast and barrel aging, I started writing the business plan.

 

My main focus will be on beers made with the wild yeast, Brettanomyces, as well as other bacteria that are used to bring acidity to a beer.  The aromatics from these beers create a delightful earthy and funky bouquet, that no traditional yeast ever could.  Most of these will demand a long maturation process in wood barrels, to create a complex sour beer.  The majority of production is packaged in bottles where it undergoes another fermentation to create another layer of complexity.  Other offerings will utilize unique hop varietals, and even include the natural bounty of fruits and herbs from Sonoma County.  These are the beers that I cannot get enough of, and thus will be making an ever changing lineup of different offerings.

 

Shady Oak will be making the beers I have been fascinated with.  With this fascination, obsession and dedication have followed.  It is currently a one-person show: I am the brewer, the cellarman, the marketing, the sales, the accountant, the lab tech, and the custodian of the whole operation.  Much of my time is spent rebuilding barrels, brewing, and growing my own sour cultures in my home lab.  And lots of cleaning.  With my limited time and resources, the direction of the brewery does not have a tasting room as of yet.  Look for a bottle at your local craft bottle shop