Now whenever there is a conversation about the craft beer scene and some of its famous breweries here in the Bay Area, a lot of different breweries come to mind. Some may say Russian River, others Hen House, or even Anchor Brewing. For me, growing up on the Peninsula, there is only one brewery that comes to mind and that is Devil’s Canyon Brewing in San Carlos.
It’s always amazing to see breweries continue business for a while and Devil’s Canyon is one of those breweries where they have been in business for twenty years now. Owner and founder, Chris Garrett, who you’ll get to know more about as you listen to the episode, is a New Mexico transplant and part of a multi-generational farming family. Knowledge of grain runs deep with him and more so an appreciation of old-world beers which he would enjoy when he was younger, which would all come together when he started homebrewing in college at Menlo College in Menlo Park.
What is amazing about Chris is that not only is he an incredible brewer, but he is an incredible businessman. You can learn about the business model of Devil’s Canyon Brewing by simply reading its motto, “Sustainably Handcrafted”. As you’ll learn by listening in the episode, this motto and business model stems from Chris’s early years working on the farm and reusing or recycling materials in order to progress the business. You can see it in the taproom itself where almost all of the wood is from former structures, donated barrels, and repurposed metal for the bar tops.
Devil’s Canyon Brewing is actually the first local craft beer I was introduced to when I started to get into craft beer. I had my first Full Boar up at the King’s Mountain Art Fair, and after that, I was hooked! So to say that this episode is special to me is an understatement because not only do we get to hear the great tale of how this Bay Area Institution started but we get to learn from and hear the expansive knowledge of one of the Bay Area Craft Beer Scene Godfathers.
Cheers \m/,
Joe Hawk