BrewView: Dust Bowl Celebrates 10 Years
By Bill Coffey
Mother’s Day, 2009, Dust Bowl brewed their first ten barrels of flagship Hops of Wrath. Fast forward ten years and they are poised to break the 15,000 barrel annual production mark with their 60 barrel brewhouse Growing from a strong local valley presence, the company now distributes from Los Angeles to the Oregon border, Reno, Tahoe, and select areas in Oklahoma and Vermont. I had the pleasure to speak with Brewmaster Don Oliver about the current state of the industry and Dust Bowl’s future plans.
MV Everyone is familiar with your flagship. What new products are you currently making?
Don: We have over twenty beers. Hazies are big now, so we are producing quite a lot of those. We also released a Lo Cal lager, under 100 calories.
MV: Any hints, if you can tell us, about future releases?
Don: I can see us doing another West Coast IPA, more Tropical, and more single and double hazies.
MV: New projects? Equipment upgrades?
Don: We started up our canning line about 2 months ago and our taproom is opening in Monterey.
MV: What changes have you seen in the industry since Dust Bowl’s inception? What do you foresee in the future?
Don: Hop availability. You know that we bought our first hops from you. It’s a problem again. In the future, I see a lot more hazies and a lot more beer varieties, fewer flagships.
MV: Other than the obvious factor of quality, what are some of the reasons for your continued success?
Don: Consistency. We spent a lot of money on our lab. Proper packaging and combining the packaging with our story.
MV: Thanks. Great seeing you again. Congratulations.
Dust Bowl is a family owned, local business that was started by Brett Tate and later joined by Brett Honore. The imagery and storyline of their products is a homage to Brett Tate’s family’s Depression-era history and John Steinbeck’s novel The Grapes of Wrath. The original location at 200 W Main, Turlock, is open at 11:00 am every day except Monday (Closed). The production facility on 3000 Fulkerth, Turlock is also open at 11:00 am, daily. Both facilities serve pub style food and a variety of quality beers and wines. These locations are both family friendly. The new facility, Dust Bowl Tap Depot in Monterey has 24 taps, including 22 of their award-winning products and food trucks on site. Please support your local brewery and, when in the Monterey area, give their new location a try.
