As the man with the long wooden paddle slowly stirs the brew that is bubbling in the copper and steel cauldron, a group of his friends wait patiently nearby. It is for this golden liquid that each man has traveled far and contributed to its cost. This potion will set them free, make them giddy and maybe even help them to meet a few women. It's not Love Potion No. 9 that draws these men, but rather a mixture of malted barley, yeast, water and hops spilling out of carmel-brown bottles with the label "Bob's Brew."
Brew City is a "personal brewery" in San Francisco that allows customers to brew their own beer. Open since last December it is, according to the owners, one of only 15 in the United States. Depending on the beer, the cost of six cases (13.5 gallons) of beer will cost a customer $85-$120. "We guarantee everything," says Richard Dieterich, who co-owns the brewery along with Scott Schadlich and Clark Omholt. "If you don't like the beer for any reason, then you donÕt pay for it." Customers, with the help of Brew City's staff, get to pick out their beerÕs flavor and label (they can also use their own design), as well as grind the grain and add the hops. Two weeks later, after the mixture has fermented for one week and been refrigerated for another, customers return to finish the process and bottle their batch. At this point, the beer has also been filtered, carbonated and is ready to drink.
The owners, all in their early 30s, got the idea from the personal breweries in Canada (where Dieterich says there are more than 300) and decided to try the idea here. Located at 2198 Filbert St., one block from the bustling bar district known as the "Bermuda Triangle," the brewery attracts customers from its neighborhood as well as those living outside the city.
"I had such a great time, I want to open one in Sacramento," says customer Tim Munson who lives in Sacramento and manages a health club. "It's a really good deal," adds Munson as he loads a case of his beer onto a dolly, "because they supply all the equipment and ingredients."
The brewing and bottling of the beer, which is by appointment only, takes place in one room that divides both processes with a 30-foot counter. Rock music streams from ceiling speakers and bounces off the bare floor. One half of the room houses the ingredients and tools necessary for the more than 40 recipes, which include dark and light beer as well as specialty beers like "Pete's Wicked Ale." Resting on the counter are the stainless steel mixing bowls and scales needed to weigh the grain. The grain mill with its crank handle sits nearby waiting for a strong arm to husk the barley. The 20-gallon copper and steel cookers are also on this side of the room, outfitted with timers that let the cook know when the batch has become brew.
"This stuff stinks!" says John Schaver, a bookkeeper from San Francisco, as he looks into the cooker that contains what will become his wheat beer. "And the brewer's wort [a grain extract] looks like a long brown slug."
The other half of the room is where the labeling, bottling and sampling of the product occurs. Seated on wooden bar stools, customers fill the bottles with their "recipe" then cap it with a lever that crimps the tin around the bottle. At this point, customers may also sample their beer.
"This is probably the most boring part of the process," says Victor Bartolotta, as he squashes a cap onto a bottle. "The fun part is actually picking out the recipe and making the beer." Bartolotta, a computer programmer from San Francisco, says that although he often brews beer at home, he finds that Brew City has a lot to offer. "They do the dirty work for you here. The dishes, the cleanup-all the stuff I don't want to do. When I brew at home it's messy. I set off the smoke alarm last time."
Customers of Brew City must be at least 2l years old, and according to Dieterich, theyÕve had customers as old as 70. Phyllis Harlick, a travel agent from San Francisco, brought a group of her friends who range in age from 51 to 66. "It's a birthday party for a friend of ours," says Harlick. "She likes beer, so we thought sheÕd like this." "The whole process looked very mysterious at first, but we ended up learning a lot about how beer is made," she says.
"We're having a good time," says Steve Kariker, a computer systems consultant from San Francisco who came with three friends, "but at the moment I'm a little bored." He adds as he labels a bottle, "It's like, can't I pay somebody 20 bucks to do this for me?"
"No, you can't," responds his friend Brian Chalmers, laughing. "That would be called 'going to the corner store.'"
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