The History of Beer and Craft Beer in California
The History of Beer and Craft Beer in California: From Gold Rush Lagers to Lodi's Brewery Scene
A deep dive into California's brewing heritage, terroir-driven craft beer, and the four breweries shaping downtown Lodi
Summary
California isn't just America's wine country — it's the birthplace of the nation's first truly indigenous beer style, the cradle of the modern craft beer revolution, and increasingly, a frontier for terroir-driven brewing that mirrors its world-class viticulture. From the Gold Rush–era invention of steam beer to Sierra Nevada's estate hop yards, from Russian River's legendary double IPAs to Lodi's four distinctive downtown breweries, this is the full story of how California made American beer what it is today.
The California Common: America's Origin Beer
California's beer story begins in the Gold Rush era. Around 1851, German immigrant brewers arriving in San Francisco faced a critical problem: they had lager yeast but no ice or refrigeration to ferment it at the cold temperatures lager requires. Their improvisation — fermenting lager yeast at warmer ale temperatures — produced a hybrid style unlike anything brewed in Europe. The result was steam beer, a distinctly American invention born of necessity.
The name "steam" likely came from the visible steam rising off rooftop coolships — large, shallow trays where hot wort was exposed to San Francisco's cool Pacific breezes for rapid cooling. By the late 1800s, dozens of small steam beer breweries dotted the city. Most didn't survive Prohibition. Anchor Brewing Company alone carried the torch, and when Fritz Maytag purchased the struggling brewery in the 1960s, he revived the traditional process and released the first modern batch in 1971. Maytag trademarked "Anchor Steam" in 1981, forcing all other breweries to call the style California Common — the name recognized by the Beer Judge Certification Program today.
The California Common remains a foundational craft beer style: medium-bodied, amber-hued, with a toasty malt backbone and the woody, minty character of Northern Brewer hops.
California as the Craft Beer Crucible
California didn't just invent one style — it ignited the entire American craft beer movement. Key pioneers include:
- Fritz Maytag (Anchor Brewing, San Francisco) — revived steam beer and proved small-batch brewing was commercially viable in the 1970s.
- Ken Grossman (Sierra Nevada Brewing, Chico) — launched in 1980 and released Sierra Nevada Pale Ale in 1981, popularizing the citrusy, piney Cascade hop character that became the DNA of American craft beer.
- Vinnie Cilurzo (Russian River Brewing, Santa Rosa) — created Pliny the Elder, arguably the most influential double IPA ever brewed, and pioneered sour beer programs on the West Coast.
These innovators established California's dominant style signatures: the West Coast IPA (aggressively hopped, dry, bitter, with citrus and pine notes), Hazy IPAs (juicy, tropical, and turbid), and barrel-aged stouts often aged in bourbon or wine barrels.
California Terroir: Hops, Malt, and Sense of Place
The Sacramento Valley Hop Revival
California was once a major hop-growing region. The first commercial hop yards were established in the Sierra Nevada foothills in the early 1850s, and by the late 19th century, Sacramento, El Dorado, and Placer counties were major production centers. The industry eventually migrated to the Pacific Northwest, where processing infrastructure consolidated.
A revival is now underway. Rohit Nayyar, who runs RoCo Taproom in West Sacramento, began growing hops near Yuba City around 2014 with encouragement from New Glory Craft Brewery's Julien Lux. They grow non-proprietary varieties — Cascade, CTZ, Chinook, Magnum, California Cluster, and Centennial — and now supply close to 80 Northern California breweries. The California Hop Cooperative encompasses five growers cultivating hops across 30 acres with both commercial varieties and experimental trial blocks.
Sierra Nevada Brewing planted its own 10-acre certified organic hop yard in Chico and released its first Estate Harvest IPA in 2008, using estate-grown Cascade and Triple Pearl hops alongside barley from its own 100-acre organic farm. San Francisco's ThirstyBear Brewing created a Locavore Ale using barley from Eatwell Farm in Dixon and hops from Hops-Meister near Clearlake — and when grain shipping costs proved prohibitive, founder Ron Silberstein established California's first craft malting facility.
Fresh Hop Season in San Joaquin County
August harvest in the Central Valley kicks off fresh hop (wet hop) beer season — one of the most anticipated windows on the craft beer calendar. Fresh hop beers use whole cone hop flowers picked and brewed within hours, rather than the dried, pelletized hops used year-round. The result is a fleeting, ephemeral flavor profile: grassy, green, intensely aromatic, and impossible to replicate outside the harvest window. Central Valley breweries like Angry Horse Brewing lean into their partnerships with local farms to produce estate-character brews.
Terroir in Beer
The concept of terroir — that a product expresses the specific soil, climate, and geography where its ingredients are grown — is gaining traction in brewing. California's Mediterranean climate, with hot dry summers and mild winters, produces hops with different resin and oil profiles than the same varieties grown in Washington's Yakima Valley. Estate breweries like Sierra Nevada are proving that California-grown Cascade hops and two-row barley yield beers with a distinct regional fingerprint.
The Wine-Beer Crossover
In a state defined by its vineyards, the convergence of wine and beer was inevitable. This crossover takes several forms:
- Barrel aging: California breweries routinely age stouts, barleywines, and sour beers in retired wine barrels (Zinfandel, Cabernet, Chardonnay), absorbing tannins, fruit character, and oak complexity.
- Wine yeast in beer: Some brewers use wine yeast strains (like Lachancea thermotolerans) for primary or sequential fermentation, producing lactic acid and fruity esters without traditional kettle souring.
- Grape-beer hybrids: Co-fermented beverages blending grape must with wort are an emerging category, blurring the line between wine and beer.
- Shared estate ingredients: Wineries-turned-breweries use the same land, water, and even wild yeast cultures for both wine and beer production, as exemplified by Lodi's own Dancing Fox.
Beers Unique to California
| Style | Origin | What Makes It Californian |
|---|---|---|
| California Common / Steam Beer | San Francisco, 1850s | Lager yeast fermented warm — born from Gold Rush necessity |
| West Coast IPA | San Diego / NorCal, 1980s–90s | Aggressively hopped, dry, clear, with citrus/pine Cascade character |
| Estate Harvest Ales | Chico / NorCal, 2000s | 100% California-grown ingredients expressing local terroir |
| Fresh / Wet Hop Beers | Sacramento Valley, seasonal | Brewed within hours of hop harvest; uniquely ephemeral |
| Wine Barrel-Aged Stouts | Statewide | Aged in Zinfandel, Cab, or Chardonnay barrels from California vineyards |
Northern California and San Joaquin County: Breweries of Note
The region stretching from Sacramento through the Delta and into the San Joaquin Valley has become a legitimate craft beer corridor. The story starts more than 170 years ago — in 1849, a brewery opened at Sutter's Fort in Sacramento to serve Gold Rush miners, making the Sacramento Valley one of the oldest continuous brewing regions in the American West.
Sierra Nevada Brewing Company — Chico
Sierra Nevada is the cornerstone of American craft beer. Founded in 1980 by Ken Grossman in Chico, California, it sits in the fertile Sacramento Valley in the shadow of its namesake mountain range. Grossman started as a homebrewer, built much of his original brewing equipment by hand, and released Sierra Nevada Pale Ale in 1981 — the beer that defined the American pale ale style and made Cascade hops a household name.
What sets Sierra Nevada apart is its commitment to estate agriculture and sustainability. The brewery began growing its own hops and barley in 2005 and now maintains 10 acres of hops, 100 acres of barley and rotational crops, and two acres of garden — all certified organic by Oregon Tilth. Their annual Chico Estate Harvest Ale is brewed exclusively with organic wet hops and barley grown on brewery grounds, making it one of the purest expressions of California beer terroir in existence.
The sustainability operation is staggering: Sierra Nevada converts used cooking oil into biodiesel for delivery trucks, produces ethanol from discarded yeast, sells spent grain to local ranchers, runs its own water treatment plant, and owns one mile of railway for grain transport — each rail car replacing four semi-trailers. Sierra Nevada is the largest buyer of organic hops in the United States.
In 2018, when the devastating Camp Fire struck nearby Paradise, Grossman organized Resilience IPA — a collaborative brew where he donated the recipe and called on over 1,400 breweries nationwide to brew the same beer, with all proceeds going to Camp Fire relief.
Russian River Brewing Company — Santa Rosa
Russian River is arguably the most influential craft brewery of the 21st century. It was originally founded by Korbel Champagne Cellars in Guerneville before Korbel sold the operation to brewmaster Vinnie Cilurzo and his wife Natalie in 2002.
Cilurzo is credited with inventing the Double India Pale Ale style during his earlier tenure at Blind Pig Brewing Company in Temecula. At Russian River, he channeled that innovation into Pliny the Elder, a double IPA that became one of the most revered beers in the world. The beer's name references the Roman naturalist who wrote about Lupus Salictarius — an early botanical reference to hops (Humulus lupulus) — connecting ancient history to modern hop obsession.
Beyond IPAs, Russian River pioneered American wild ale and sour beer programs on the West Coast, producing Belgian-inspired farmhouse ales, barrel-aged sours, and spontaneously fermented beers. Operating in the heart of Sonoma wine country, Russian River sits at the epicenter of the wine-beer crossover, benefiting from ready access to wine barrels and a culture that already understands fermentation, terroir, and patience.
New Glory Craft Brewery — Sacramento
New Glory was founded in Sacramento in 2012 by Julien Lux, a French-born brewer whose journey from France to California mirrors the immigrant spirit that has always driven American brewing.
The early years were a struggle. Lux initially played it safe with five standard beers, but both he and his customers grew bored. His pivotal decision was to throw caution aside:
That pivot unleashed a torrent of creativity — Tropical Wheat IPAs, Key Lime Gose, Ginger Peach Saison, Cucumber Lemon Pilsner — that made New Glory one of Sacramento's most daring breweries. Lux also played a critical role in California's hop revival, encouraging hop farmer Rohit Nayyar to begin growing near Yuba City around 2014.
Knee Deep Brewing Co. — Auburn
Knee Deep is a family-run microbrewery born in the summer of 2010, when it began contract brewing at a small brewery in South Lake Tahoe, selling kegs exclusively into the Northern Nevada market. By 2011, they leased the former Beermann's Brewery in Lincoln, CA, and began brewing in-house. They relocated to their current home in Auburn — a 37,000-square-foot facility equipped with a 40-barrel brewhouse, a 10-barrel pilot system, and multiple 120-barrel fermenters. Their beers have received numerous awards at local, regional, national, and international competitions.
Jackrabbit Brewing Company — West Sacramento
Jackrabbit is the ultimate bootstrap brewery story. Started in 2013 by four friends — Chris Powell, Scott Powell, Ed Edsten, and Kevin Hull — the brewery was built on a shoestring in an industrial corner of West Sacramento. Unable to afford professional brewing equipment, the founders bought old dairy equipment off Craigslist and taught themselves to weld, customizing tanks and fermenters piece by piece, paycheck to paycheck.
What distinguishes Jackrabbit stylistically is their Belgian-inspired approach in a region dominated by IPAs. Their flagship is a Saison brewed with a particular strain of Belgian yeast that's more than 500 years old.
Angry Horse Brewing — Montebello (with San Joaquin Valley Roots)
Angry Horse Brewing was launched in 2016 by the "Desert Brothers" who opened their first taproom in March 2017 in Montebello. Their connection to the San Joaquin Valley runs through hops. Angry Horse partners with Thomsen Hop Farm in Tracy, California — a third-generation family farm that planted 9 hop varieties across 16 acres beginning in 2020. In 2023, Angry Horse made the six-hour drive to Thomsen for harvest, cutting bines at dawn, hand-feeding them into a Wolf Harvester, and hauling 55 pounds of freshly dried hops back to brew their first-ever wet hop beer.
El Dorado Brewing Company — San Joaquin County's Lost Giant
Historic Profile
No history of San Joaquin County beer is complete without El Dorado Brewing Company. Founded in 1853 by brothers Peter and Daniel Rothenbush, the brewery was one of San Joaquin County's very first industries, born directly from Gold Rush demand.
El Dorado gained prominence producing Steam Beer — the same California Common style born of necessity. Their flagship "Valley Brew" became legendary, winning awards at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis, the 1905 California State Fair, and the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition. When Prohibition struck in 1919, they pivoted to "Special Valley" near beer (under 0.5% alcohol), which won 12 gold medals. After repeal in 1933, they resumed full brewing and celebrated their 100th anniversary in 1953 before finally closing in October 1955, unable to compete with national macro-breweries.
Lodi's Four Craft Breweries
Downtown Lodi has emerged as the San Joaquin Valley's craft beer destination, with four active breweries concentrated in a town world-famous for wine. What makes the scene distinctive is that these breweries don't fight Lodi's viticultural identity — they embrace it, weaving wine culture into their brewing DNA.
Lodi Beer Company
Established in 2004 at 105 S School St, Lodi Beer Company is the granddaddy of Lodi's craft beer scene and one of the earliest brewpubs in San Joaquin County. Founded by Roger and Sam Rehmke, it occupies the heart of downtown Lodi and pairs house-brewed beers with a diverse comfort-food menu in an "old-fashioned tavern setting." Head brewer Bill Wood came aboard with prior experience from Elk Grove Brewery.
Beyond beer, Lodi Beer Company has evolved into a full-service restaurant: flame-broiled steaks and ribs, New Orleans Cajun burgers, fresh house salads, ahi tuna poke, deep-fried mac & cheese, and their signature Cheese Loaf appetizer. They also maintain a full bar and an impressive wine list. With over 20 years in operation and nearly 1,500 Yelp reviews, Lodi Beer Company proved that a wine town could sustain a serious beer culture.
IDOL Beer Works
Located at 100 S Sacramento St in downtown Lodi, IDOL Beer Works has become a community anchor known for bold flavors, creative small-batch brewing, and an extraordinarily robust events calendar. The brewery features a spacious outdoor patio, beer garden, and tasting room, with rotating food trucks, live music, and local events making it a gathering place beyond just beer.
Their lineup spans award-winning IPAs, sour beers, crisp lagers, and seasonal specialties. The Scottish heritage of the ownership runs deep: their annual Hogmanay Scottish New Year Party (now in its 9th year) features bagpipers, Scottish food, live music, and their Scottish Ale on nitro. That same spirit fuels their Scottish Highland Festival and Anniversary Party, which celebrated 8½ years in business in March 2026 with pipe band competitions, Scottish dancers, vendors, kids' activities, and pints of their Scottish Highland Ale, "The Bruce."
Upcoming IDOL Beer Works Events
- Every TuesdayBINGO Night — Buy a pint, get a BINGO card. Free and family-friendly.
- 1st & 3rd FriCountry Dance Night — Line dancing led by Rhonda and crew from DWR. Free and family-friendly.
- 2nd Wed / MoOpen Mic Night — Local musicians share their talents.
- Last FridayFinal Friday Taproom Trivia — Teams of up to 6 compete across 3 rounds of 10 questions.
- Apr 3Family Night benefiting Tokay High Senior Grad Night — Live music from Public 1 House Band with students from Tokay and Lodi High, plus games, prizes, and SQZ food truck donating 20% of proceeds.
- Apr 11Horizon Point live in the beer garden — 7:00 PM. Also coincides with Lodi Art Hop at Veterans Park (10 AM–2 PM), presented in partnership with the Lodi Arts Foundation.
- May 10Country Music / Rockabilly Concert — Geoffrey Miller & the Rockin' Rousers, Marty Robins Ghost, and Mam Coon in the beer garden. $10 cover.
- May 24SIRSY LIVE! — The dynamic rock-and-soul duo from upstate New York makes their 7th appearance at IDOL. Free, all ages.
- May 30Blues on the Patio — An Art and Music Salon presented by the Lodi Arts Foundation, 6:00–8:00 PM.
- May 31Concours de Corvette Car Show — Corvettes of Lodi fills the parking lot with vintage to new Corvettes. Awards at 1:30 PM. Free.
- Jun 21Punk Rock Concert & Flea Market — 8+ bands from across California and 10 vendors. $15 at the door.
- Jun 22Dog Adoption Event with Lodi Animal Services, 12–3 PM. Free.
- Aug 8Art Hop Night Market at IDOL Beer Works — Evening edition of the Lodi Art Hop with 10+ local artists, live music, craft beer, and burgers. 5:00–9:00 PM.
Five Window Beer Company
A family-owned brewery at 9 W Locust St in downtown Lodi, Five Window Beer Co. offers a rotating selection of craft beers alongside wood-fired pizza from their own oven. Their beer list reveals a commitment to stylistic range: Irish Dry Stout, Cream Ale, Belgian White, Rusty Red Ale, West Coast Juice (a hoppy IPA), Hazy IPAs like Wango Mango, and inventive one-offs like "Gabagool" and "Butchers Choice Citra Smash."
Five Window has gained attention for its zero seed oil commitment — an innovative health-conscious stance unusual in brewing — applying the same philosophy to both their beer ingredients and their food menu. The SF Chronicle highlighted them as part of a "new crop of Lodi brewers" bringing serious craft credentials to wine country. Five Window has also emerged as Lodi's premier live music venue for craft beer, hosting a packed calendar of concerts in their beer garden.
Upcoming Five Window Beer Co. Events
- Apr 17Camo Cali — Live in the beer garden, 7:00–10:00 PM.
- Apr 25Tribal Seeds with Amp Melo, The Perarez Band, and Dub Souljah — Doors at 4:30 PM, music until 11:00 PM. A major all-ages reggae event and one of Lodi's biggest concert nights of the spring.
- May 2Elijah Scott LIVE! — Early bird tickets sold out; general admission at $40.
- May 23Mike Jones & The Ying Yang Twins — Doors at 5:00 PM, show runs until 11:00 PM. A headlining hip-hop event in the beer garden.
- Jul 18Good 'Ol Boyz featuring Tribal Seeds, Amp Melo, The Perarez Band, and Dub Souljah in the beer garden, 7:00–10:00 PM.
Side Hustle Brew Co.
At 2441 S Stockton St, Side Hustle Brew Co. is a small-batch, locally owned craft brewery that celebrates creativity, craftsmanship, and local pride with bold flavors and inventive recipes. The brewery grew out of what was originally a side project for Riaza Wines — hence the name — but has since evolved into a dedicated, standalone craft beer operation.
Owner Rick Taylor runs a deliberately small brewhouse where everything is done by hand:
The current tap list ranges from a Kölsch-Style Ale (5.1% ABV) and Juicy Session (3.8%) to a Black Lager (5.1%), Juicy Pale (5.6%), a Blood Orange Seltzer, and a non-alcoholic Hop Water called "Safety Round" for designated drivers. Their White Stout — a pale-colored beer brewed with stout-like flavors of coffee, chocolate, and vanilla — exemplifies their willingness to defy style conventions.
Distribution has expanded beyond the taproom — Side Hustle beers are now on tap at West Oak Nosh, Brew House Coffee (two Lodi locations), Maison Lodi, Lodi Cyclery, King's Card Room and Fired Pizza in Stockton, and The Rake in Alameda.
The Chef Series
A Culinary Collaboration at Side Hustle Brew Co.
Side Hustle's most distinctive community offering is "The Chef Series" — recurring special dining events that pair local culinary talent with SHBC beers. The concept brings together a small group of guests for a four-course tasting menu where each course is prepared by a different local chef and paired with a carefully selected Side Hustle beer, all in a fun, laid-back environment.
The first Chef Series of 2026, scheduled for Wednesday, April 8, features Chef Fidel Carrillo of Pizza Party 209, who will serve a four-course tasting menu with each course paired with a favorite SHBC beer. The events are ticketed, intimate affairs — the kind of experience that elevates a craft brewery into a culinary destination.
Why Lodi Matters
Lodi's four breweries form a coherent ecosystem that reflects the town's agricultural identity. From Side Hustle's Chef Series dinners and small-batch ethos, to Five Window's zero seed oil philosophy and burgeoning live music venue, to IDOL's Scottish heritage celebrations and deep community events calendar, to Lodi Beer Company's two-decade legacy — each brewery has carved a distinct identity while contributing to a collective whole.
The annual Lodi Beer Fest & State BBQ Championship — featuring tastings from up to 50 breweries alongside a Kansas City BBQ Society-sanctioned competition — brings it all together in a single event.
In a state that invented both the California Common and the West Coast IPA, and in a county where the El Dorado Brewing Company was winning World's Fair medals 120 years ago, Lodi's brewery scene is writing the next chapter — one where wine country and beer culture are not rivals but collaborators.
References
- All About Beer — Steam Beer: America's Monumental Brew
- BrewHQ — Beer Style Profile: California Common
- Perfect Brew Supply — California Common
- Third Coast Review — The Complete Chicago Beer Course: California Common
- Alcohol Professor — California Common
- OpenTap — Craft Beer History: California
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- Angry Horse Brewing — Hop Harvest 2023
- Inside Sacramento — Hop Harvest
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- Asian Beer Network — Brewing Beer with Wine Yeast
- On Tap Journal — Grape-Beer Hybrids
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- The Railyards — Celebrating Sacramento's Craft Beer Scene
- Sierra Nevada — Estate Brews
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- Sierra Nevada Blog — Pouring from the Garden
- Explore Butte County — Brewing Innovation
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- Russian River Brewing — Pliny the Elder
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- Redwood Distribution — Knee Deep Brewing Co.
- Knee Deep Brewing — Our Story
- Jackrabbit Brewing — Our Roots
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- Visit Lodi — Art Hop Night Market at IDOL
- Shazam — Horizon Point at IDOL
- Spotify — IDOL Beer Works Concert
- Visit Lodi — Blues on the Patio at IDOL
- Lodi Arts — Blues on the Patio 2026
- Visit Lodi — Live Music at Five Window
- Tower Park Resort — Best Wineries and Breweries in Lodi
- Untappd — Five Window Beer Co.
- Legends of Beer — Five Window Beer Co.
- SF Chronicle — Beer in Wine Country: New Crop of Lodi Brewers
- Visit Lodi — Camo Cali at Five Window
- Shazam — Tribal Seeds at Five Window
- Bandsintown — Dub Souljah at Five Window
- Eventbrite — Tribal Seeds at Five Window Beer Co.
- Instagram — Elijah Scott at Five Window
- Spotify — Five Window Concert
- Shazam — Mike Jones & Ying Yang Twins at Five Window
- Visit Lodi — Mike Jones & Ying Yang Twins at Five Window
- Shazam — Good 'Ol Boyz at Five Window
- Eventbrite — Good 'Ol Boyz at Five Window
- Side Hustle Brew Co. — Official Site
- Yelp — Side Hustle Brew Co.
- Side Hustle — The Chef Series
- Instagram — Chef Series Announcement
- Facebook — Side Hustle Chef Series 2026
- Instagram — Side Hustle Distribution Update
- Yelp — The Dancing Fox Winery and Brewery
- Lodi Wine — Dancing Fox
- Grape Festival — Lodi Beer Fest & State BBQ Championship