United States
Boonville, CA
Anderson Valley
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Anderson Valley Brewing Company, founded in 1987, is one of California's oldest craft breweries, and creator of the Legendary Boonville Beers. Committed to craftsmanship and quality, we carefully brew our world-class ales using only the finest natural ingredients; premium malted and roasted grains, American hops, yeast, and pristine Boonville water straight out of our own unique aquifer. Our tradition of carefully crafting original, full-flavored, high-quality ales has earned numerous medals, a loyal following, and our reputation as one of the world’s finest breweries.
Twice rated as one of the Top Ten Breweries of the Year by the World Beer Championships®, we handcraft our ales in the tradition of our ancestors, in our copper brewing vessels, rescued from the scrapyard and salvaged from two closed German breweries. We use only the purest natural ingredients to create these exceptional brews, and we never heat pasteurize or sterile filter.
Today, as one of the most respected brewers in the craft brewing industry, Anderson Valley Brewing has garnered multiple awards, a loyal following, and grown to regional-brewery status.
In the beginning, Anderson Valley Brewing Company was housed in the lower level of its brewpub, The Buckhorn Saloon. Gleaming stainless steel vats brewed and fermented barley and other specialty grains to create outstanding ales, porters, stouts, and wheat beers. These brews began as a dream of owners Kenneth and Kimberly Allen to create the smoothest tasting ales available anywhere. After extensive investigation into quality brewing, the owners decided how the beers should taste, and proceeded to design most of the processing vats and tanks used in their beer making process. They began making and selling beer in 1987.
When the demand for our award winning ales exceeded the capacity of our 10-barrel brewery below the pub, we built our present 30-barrel facility at the corner of Highways 128 and 253, a mile from the center of Boonville. That was in 1996, and this brewery saw us through a dramatic period of growth, which included the introduction of a 12 ounce bottling line and a production level of 15,000 barrels in 1998, twice the amount brewed in 1997.
Despite the larger space and expanded capacity, the need for an even larger and more efficient brewhouse was evident to the Allens. In 1998, construction began on the Bavarian-style brewhouse you see above, with large windows revealing the gleaming 100- and 85- barrel copper brew kettles within. The kettles, such as they just don't make anymore, were rescued by Ken Allen from defunct German breweries during a trip to Europe in 1995. These are the centerpiece of the state-of-the-art, three-story brewhouse. The new brewhouse went online in August of 2000 (see our map of the new brew house). Tours of Anderson Valley Brewing Company, at 17700 Hwy. 253, Boonville, California. are offered daily (except holidays), at 1:30 pm and 4:00 pm. Please call 707-895-2337 ahead of time, to arrange your tour.
Eventually the surrounding grounds will be developed to include picnic groves and horse pastures, making the brewery and property a major tourist destination in the already attractive Anderson Valley. Wagons, pulled by Belgian Shire horses, will offer rides, to and from downtown Boonville.
The Anderson Valley beers are handcrafted in the tradition of our ancestors. Only the purest natural ingredients are used to create these exceptional brews. Pristine water, rich in bicarbonates and chemical free, is drawn from deep wells on the brewery grounds. Neither artificial preservatives nor flavor destructive pasteurization processes are ever employed in the making of our beer. Select malted grains are milled, then mashed for ninety minutes, to help create the smoothest, fullest flavored brews possible. The grain extract, now called wort, our pristine well water and several varieties of the finest Pacific Northwest hops are then vigorously boiled. Special proprietary yeast is then added at just the right temperature and degree of oxygenation. After about 10 days, the fermented wort is chilled and, four days later, cold filtered in order to remove the haziness from the beer. Throughout our expansion, we have continued to produce beers with the same quality and commitment that has made our brewery famous. And best of all, it's easy to find the Anderson Valley Beers near you!
(Info from: Anderson Valley, 2002)
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