In Fremont, CA in the East Bay is DasBrew.
50 Campfires caught up with owners Jan Schutze and Priscilla La Rocca to chat about what sets their award winning, German inspired brews apart and their scientific approach to brewing.
50 CAMPFIRES: Tell us a little about your brewery, the types of beers that you brew, and what you feel makes your brewery unique.
DasBrew: DasBrew, Inc. is a small brewery located in a warehouse in Fremont’s East Industrial neighborhood. It was opened in 2010 by Jan Schutze and his wife Priscilla. The beers are brewed in a German- style with an American Finish. The tasty Hefeweizen is much like the Hefeweizen you would find in Germany and the Blonde Ale is a Kolsch style beer like the beers brewed in Cologne, Germany.
What sets DasBrew apart from other breweries is that the grains and yeast are imported from Germany and the beers brewed by hand, so that the primary focus is on brewing high-quality, well-balanced and flavorful beers.
50 CAMPFIRES: What is your most popular/flagship beer? What makes it great?
DasBrew: Our flagship beer, the Mean Monkey Hefeweizen, is a pale, spicy, fruity and refreshing wheat-based ale that features a unique banana and clove yeast character. It has phenolic and estery-fruity aroma, due to the yeast strain, that sets it apart from other beers. Mean Monkey Hefeweizen is very lightly hopped and unfiltered. Hefe (yeast) and weizen (wheat) is the “breakfast beer” of Germany. And, best of all, it’s great to take camping!
50 CAMPFIRES: We love hearing stories about how breweries got their start. What’s the history behind yours?
DasBrew: Jan grew up in Germany and learned how to brew beer from his Grandmother. She brewed beer for Jan’s Grandfather to take to work and drink at lunch. Jan brewed and drank beer most of his life and, as a scientist, tried to perfect the taste of his beer. Brewing in the garage, the batches kept getting larger and at 50 gallons Priscilla said the beer brewing needed to go. So, in 2010, Jan and Priscilla decided to open DasBrew and feature German-style beers. The lively tasting room opened in 2013 and has an old-world charm with 8 delicious hand-crafted beers on tap including 3 taps dedicated to rotating Seasonal and Specialty beers. With the addition of the tasting room, DasBrew has steadily increased in popularity.
50 CAMPFIRES: We love meeting people who share our passion for the outdoors. Tell us a bit about the folks involved with DasBrew, and what they enjoy doing outdoors.
DasBrew: Jan, the Brewmaster, started his working career as a mining geologist and camped in some of the most remote places in the world. Jan and Priscilla love the outdoors and have created an indoor-outdoor feel to the tasting room. Photo 1 is Jan in Grand Junction, Colorado. Photo 2 is Jan at a mine site in Nevada.
Our Head Brewer, Dave Roberts, believes that there’s nothing like bringing good beer and the outdoors together. He loves pairing the catch of the day with beer. His most recent experience was a road trip with his wife Stacey, to Todo Santos BCS, Mexico. After catching plenty of mahi mahi, he returned to camp and began making ceviche, fish tacos, and of course, drinking cold beer! The next morning, he was surfing before the sun peaked over the mountains, and looking forward to his next beer and his next adventure.
Chris La Rocca, DasBrew’s in-house distributor, loves exploring hiking trails and camping in new places as often as he can. His most recent trip was camping in Death Valley on New Year’s with his wife Claudine and two dogs, King and Abby. Below is photo from a backpacking trip that they all took on the Skyline to the Sea Trail in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Beer is Chris’ most important fuel on a backpacking or camping trip.
Marissa Collins, our second Brewer, loves to camp. Here are photos of her annual camping trip with her family in the Eldorado National Forest.
50 CAMPFIRES: Is your beer available in cans?
DasBrew: Unfortunately, the DasBrew beers are not available in cans, but are in 5 and 15 gallon kegs and 32 and 64 ounce growlers. Many people purchase kegs and growlers of our beers and take them on camping trips. We have just purchased bottling equipment and will begin bottling soon.
50 CAMPFIRES: Where can we find your beer?
DasBrew: You can find our beers in our tasting room and several bars and restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area. For an updated list please visit our website at www.dasbrewinc.com.
50 CAMPFIRES: Where can we find your beer?
DasBrew: You can find our beers in our tasting room and several bars and restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area. For an updated list please visit our website at www.dasbrewinc.com.
