Loomis Basin Brewing Co

My appreciation for a good brew was established during my extended service time in the late 70’s in Bitburg, West Germany. After returning to California when my service time ended, I discovered that I had become that dreaded “beer snob”. I could no longer tolerate drinking the Americanized version of beer, and the frustration of standing in front of the beer section at the market got the better of me.

In 1990 my wife, hoping to put a stop to the complaining gave me a home brew kit for a Christmas present, and suggested that I make my own beer. After the first batch boiled over on my wife’s new commercial oven, I was quickly sent to the backyard to figure out how to brew outside in the elements. Some friends and I designed a sweet 55 gallon all-grain system, and after successfully brewing hundreds of batches of beer, I started to consider taking my back yard hobby to the next level. With encouragement from family and friends, I took a leave from my job in 1997 and enrolled in the American Brewers Guild Apprentice program.