Anyone know anything about this new brewery in San Ramon? Found it at BevMo yesterday but have yet to try to the beer. I am curious who or what is behind it, however - their price point is very low and their website is strangely bland and corporate. It seems they have a legit local brewer -- Mike Johannsen, who says he has a background with Firestone Walker and attended Cal Poly SLO. But the rest of the team is weirdly sketchy and corporate-sounding. Their "Chief Sales Officer" is listed on at least one investor website as Michael Hall, who, at least according to one site, is currently a regional sales manager for Pabst. The whole thing does not feel like a typical brew startup, though what local press and Yelp chatter there is implies that it is. Website: http://www.schubrosbrewery.com/home.html A modestly informative investor site: https://gust.com/c/schubros_brewery_llc
I've had their Diablo Dark stout. Decent but nothing to write home about. I was under the impression it was a local startup brewery, that website seems a bit odd though. I don't drink them regularly anyways though, much better stuff coming out of Dust Bowl Brewing IMO
I had their Nico (rye wheat beer I think) and it was terrible. It tasted like a very bad home brew with a metallic taste. I've been weary to try their other stuff.
I'm surprised that you guys did not like the Schubros beers. I think the Schubros beer is rather good, especially when compared to the Livermore and Pleasanton breweries, it clearly is the best nearby. Why does it matter how they organize their business? I would think the quality of the beer is what matters.
Clearly a laughable statement. The staff at Schubros are great, but there is a reason why you don't see their beers a lot at beer bars and restaurants in the Pleasanton/Dublin/Livermore area....quality.
I've been meaning to get over to the east bay and check out some of the new breweries popping up (Faction, Linden St (now has a tasting room with shitty hours), Elevation 66, JP Das Brew, and Eight Bridges). As for them being the best in the Livermore/Pleasanton area, I think Altamont has a lot of potential, but I do agree that I shuldn't care about their business structure if the beer is good. Maybe I'll run over there after DIPA fest (as in BART over to Pleasanton and make my brother drive).
Their IPA is quite possibly the worst beer I tried in 2013 (out of something like 1600). The bartender & Barclay's in Oakland was refusing to sell pints unless people had already tried it -- too many complaints. Altamont is light years better, but not exactly close to San Ramon; likewise for Creek Monkey (Martinez) and Ale Industries (Concord, well... until yesterday I guess).
I do care how they organize their business if only because I am curious if this is some kind of front for Pabst or some bigger operator, like Miller. If the connection with Pabst and one of the executives is current, that suggests an interesting and noteworthy new strategy for Macro brewers to enter the craft market, a new level of stealth. If, however, the guy is just a former Pabst exec and this is simply a bunch of guys getting together to start a new independent brewery, like 1,000 others in the pipeline around the country, then the only question is quality.
These guys are coming to a beerfest in my area. They will have aalbeke and 680 IPA with them. curious what to expect.
