Those not living in or frequenting inland North County might not be as familiar with the Booze Brothers Brewing brand, but beer enthusiasts in and around Vista are keyed in on this five-year-old company’s tremendous growth and popularity. Founded in 2013 by brothers Donny and Dave Firth, it started in a single business-park suite. Each year, the Firths took over a next-door suite until they had the entire building, which is now divided into a large, patio-equipped tasting room, with two spaces dedicated to production and the last converted into a stylish private-event space dubbed the Wood Shed. On top of that, Booze Brothers has secured a building across the street with high ceilings where it eventually hopes to move large-scale production. That may include products from an offshoot brand called Owl Farm Unique Fermentations.
Owl Farm is a project that has been in the works for the past two years. The goal of the new brand is to offer a constantly rotating line of fermented beverages that are less traditional than the beers sold under the Booze Brothers handle; concoctions that blur the lines between ales, lagers, cider, mead, wine and cocktails. Thorough explanation of just what that means is provided by Owl Farm’s initial offerings, the most straightforward of which is Peachy Monkey, a 6.4% alcohol-by-volume (ABV) peach ale fermented using Brettanomyces. It will hit shelves along with Gin Gose, a 4.5% ABV kettle sour brewed with juniper berries, coriander, lemon peel and dill that’s loosely based on a spiced German Gose ale, and built to be a refreshing, beery take on its namesake spirit. Last up is Blackberry Cruiser, a 5.6% ABV, mildly tart ale brewed with blackberries, lemon, oolong tea and honey.
Owl Farm beers will be available on-tap and in four-packs of 16-ounce cans at Booze Brothers’ tasting room and retail accounts. When asked about the decision to hit the market with niche, more outlandish beer styles when the India pale ale (IPA) is king, Booze Brothers manager Kris Anacleto speaks of a desire to reach demographics ranging from craft connoisseurs to newcomers who appreciate non-hoppy styles of beer. He also describes the challenges of calling on a new account and leading with an IPA in a county stocked with more than 130 brewing companies, the majority of which offer quality IPAs. There is only so much tap and shelf space to go around and bringing something unique to customers is attractive to the Booze Brothers crew. So, too, is the ability to continually come out with new beverages, a benefit given beer-drinkers’ growing obsession with shiny new things
To give Owl Farm its own identity, management is consulting with artist Clay Halling. Anacleto spied Halling’s work on a skateboard a few years ago and reached out to the Phoenix, Arizona-based artist to see if he would be interested in holding a show at Booze Brothers. Halling accepted the offer and stayed in touch. Though original, Owl Farm’s whimsical artwork isn’t too much of a departure from that of Ben Horton, who handles all of the branding and packaging art for the Booze Brothers brand. His bottle and can adornments have received greater visibility of late, as Booze Brothers expands its self-distributed network into Orange and Los Angeles counties with greater frequency. Owl Farm beers will find their way to market via those same channels, beginning February 9.