One of the best things about this podcast is the fact that I get to go around and discover small hidden gems. Though this brewery, which is the subject of today’s episode, has been on my mind for quite some time. I have a master list of places I want to showcase, and the opportunity has finally arrived to highlight Local Brewing Co!
A few blocks away from Oracle Park in the SoMa District, sits Local Brewing Company, a small brewery and beer bar started by Co-Founders Regan Long and Sarah Fenson who came together when they started home brewing as a hobby. Which back in the early to mid 2000s was the basic backstory to most of the breweries we find today in San Francisco and the surrounding Bay Area. Regan, who is a transplant from Oregon, came to San Francisco to pursue a degree within the science realm. After acquiring degrees in both Physics and Oceanography, Regan started to translate her science background and knowledge into brewing. After a few test batches that were sampled at Dolores park, which probably wasn’t allowed to do, Regan and Sarah started to lay the groundwork and blueprints for Local Brewing Co, which was originally used ironically because they didn’t have a name!
Much like a lot of the businesses in San Francisco, Local Brewing was hit hard during the pandemic and shelter-in-place orders. From the loss of the majority of their clientele, most of which from the office buildings in the surroundings and Giants Fans, Regan and Sarah made the move to canning their products and get them onto the shelves of major stores like Whole Foods and Total Wine & More. But as much as it is a great advertisement for the brewery to be in such stores, it is more beneficial to actually go to the taproom and purchase the beer there. And when you do go to Local Brewing, you are not going to be disappointed with the variety of high-quality brews for just about everybody’s different tastes.
Cheers \m/,
Joe Hawk
