It is every brewery owner’s choice of how, when or if to increase production, add tanks, bottle or can.  


We get asked all the time; “When are you expanding?” or “When are you going to bottle or can your beer?”

Tempting and exciting as it may be, we have decided to invest money in the ambience of the brewery’s property.  Our goal is to provide a wilderness nook for you to relax, and enjoy a beer.


We want to focus first and foremost on high quality small batch beer.  Batches that Rich can solely oversee from start to finish.  Because, we know that once Rich starts walking away from the process, the beer will suffer.   It’s not to say others can’t brew beer like Rich can, it’s to say that others don’t have the vested interest that Rich has. 

We are striving to create a unique ambience her at the Lair.  That outdoor relaxing feeling that invites you to stay as long as you want.  Bring a Picnic, play a round of disc golf, corn-hole, cribbage or just stare at the trees.

We hope that you will tell your friends about The Brewing Lair

All that said, I wrote a funny poem about the brewery industry 

   
Everyone’s doing it.

Bigger! add another tank

Bigger! get more money from the bank

Bigger! who cares if the beer is dank

Quick everyone’s doing it, add another tank

 

Put it in a bottle put it in can

Everyone’s doing it; call the can van

 

Jockey for position on the store shelves

Into the recycle bin the bottle delves

 

10 barrel system, way to small

100 barrel system, sell it in the mall?

another special ale comes out this fall

don’t worry if it’s good, jack-up the alcohol

 

10 barrel system, we work around the clock

to fill 100 barrel fermenter we just added to our flock

10 barrel system sell it to budwise…

now can’t be sued over a word, font-style & size

 

CollaBEERrate, brew a beer that’s down

Get back to our roots, a watering hole in every small town

Beer that’s truly local, special and unique

Brewed by our own awesome beer geek


 

While supplies last, Solo Hop Session IPA 
t-shirts.  As shown in picture - Men's are on the left with the black mountain logo on the backside and front showing.  Women's crop sleeve is on the right with back showing, front is the same as the men's front.  

They are $20 at the brewery and $25 shipped anywhere in the US.  Fill out the form below if you would like to purchase one.


The three Solo Hop Session IPA's are:
Citra Solo - Red backpacker logo
Simcoe Solo - Yellow Rock Climber logo 
Columbus Solo - Orange Lake Canoeing logo.  Logo's are grouped together with our Brewing Lair Logo up top in lichen and encompassed in the park sign/PCT sign shape. 

May 5th, Rich (left) collaborated with John Eagan (middle) from Mission Brewery, Lee Chase (Right) from Automatic Brewing Company and Tom Garcia (not shown :-( from Off Beat Brewing to create the Armada Saison brewed with San Diego oranges and Plumas County juniper berries.

August 8th, John Eagan, Dan Selis and Sarah Selis (owners of Mission Brewery) will be joining us at The Brewing Lair to duplicate the Armada Saison which we have named The Lair Mission Saison #2 aka Wonder Bread Wilderness Project.  Because the Lair is in the wilderness and Mission is in the old Wonder Bread plant in downtown San Diego.

HERE'S THE SKINNY

CHEERS! WE ARE SUPER EXCITED THAT YOU ARE INTERESTED IN JOINING US.

The Brewing Lair will be hosting a Home Brew Celebration & Competition on June 1st starting at 2:00

Rich will be brewing up the base wort for all home brewers interested in registering for the competition.  With the hard part done, all home brewers will need to do is boil up the wort, add hops, yeast, and any other special ingredients, then bring it back to share.  WE MUST HAVE A MINIMUM OF 30 HOME BREWERS (taking 5-7 gallons each) FOR OUR BREWING SYSTEM TO FIRE UP.  SPREAD THE WORD.  Register and pay $15 For 5-7 gallons of wort. (see form below)

WORT PICK-UP DATE: 27TH APRIL 2013 BETWEEN 2-4:30

NOW...For all you wanting to enjoy a great variety of home brews!  Please join us for the CELEBRATION & COMPETITION: 1ST JUNE, 2013 beginning at 2:00

TASTING TICKETS 2/$1 available the day of the celebration
FOOD WILL ALSO BE AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE

Music & Free raffle prizes 

MORE HOME BREW INFO:
For all home brewers interested in picking up wort and competing for the goods please register below or call us. We will then send you an email with all the nitty-gritty details; including the malt bill and hops we have available at wholesale prices should you need any hops.

THE GOODS FOR THE WINNERS:
Two Home Brew Winners take home 1.) Ingredients to brew a 5 gallon batch of brew 2.) A Cornelius Keg with hose fittings for carbonating and serving home brew 3.) A Stainless Steel Growler from The Brewing Lair.

For many many years people have been drinking lagers in the 4-5% alc/vol. range.  Then along came the micro brewery craze and delicious high profile ales were born.  With the complexity of flavors also came higher alcohol contents.  

Today in the craft brewery realm we are seeing the rebirth of session ales.  These ales are brewed with the idea of enjoying a few with friends engaging in conversation.

The Brewing Lair has brewed up 2 session ales, our first; ODD JOB - a hoppy brown ale weighing in at 5% alc/vol.

Our newest brew to join the session team is SIERRA BUTTES SESSION BLACK - a nutty, chocolatee black-ish ale weighing in at 4.8% alc/vol.

Believe it or not these session ales are tricky to brew. It's much easier to brew a higher alcohol beer where off flavors can be masked. A session ale should have flavor, body and character but with a lower alcohol content.

Look for more session ales to hit the market and try them out, mornings just might be a better experience. Cheers!

May 18th 
The Brewing Lair is pairing up with the Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship to build, install and enjoy our new Disc Golf course.  Please join us at the brewery, here are the details:

1)  It’s a 5-hour workday, and it will cost you $25 dollars. 100% of your hard earned and donated money will go to the Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship 

2)  For your hard work and $25 donation you will receive, 2 pints of beer, and a hearty lunch plus a gift certificate for one growlita of beer.

Some of the tasks include:

• Digging postholes, filling with cement, installing disc golf baskets
  
• Clearing pads for the tees 
  
• Tree trimming, limb removal, brush stacking
  
• Light trail building
  
• Posting Signs
  

It's recommended that you bring work gloves, sunglasses and or safety glasses, water bottle, and work boots.

Start Time/work time 10:00-3:00 
It will be much appreciated if you arrive at 9:30ish to get all geared-up and informed about your tasks for the day

Late Lunch & Beer Time 3:30-? 
Lunch will be catered by Pangaea Cafe & Pub, Taco Bar with all the fixings plus Rice & Beans, eat taco after taco until your belly's content.

A few months back I sent out a short notice informing those on the email list & FaceBook that brewing forward all our batches would be gluten reduced.  

If you are interested continue reading, as I thought I would blog out a more
in-depth notice.

First and foremost our beers are GLUTEN REDUCED and not gluten free. There are two classes of “gluten-free” beers, one using the traditional beer ingredient barley and reducing the gluten levels using enzymes, and the other using grains with zero gluten, usually sorghum.   Brews from The Brewing Lair fall into the first category; a barley-based gluten-reduced beer produced in the normal way with the addition of Brewers Clarex ™.  The Brewers Clarex ™ was developed to reduce chill haze by breaking down proteins, and also has the salubrious effect of eliminating glutens to levels well below what is considered gluten-free by international standards.

On average craft beers contain between 90-135 ppm gluten, with reports of 3-10 ppm after using Brewers Clarex ™.  Test results of The Brewing Lair’s Ambush IPA revealed 40 ppm in the control beer and <10 ppm in the beer fermented with Brewers Clarex ™.  Currently and brewing forward all of our beers will be fermented with Brewers Clarex ™.

With only about one percent of the world’s population suffering from celiac disease (zero gluten tolerance) and seven to ten percent of the population reporting they feel better on a gluten free diet, why would we bother?  Because in my opinion that 7-10% is ridiculously low due to the simple fact that most people do not wish to, or feel the need to, give the gluten-free diet a try.   No worries! Our beers taste the same regardless of if we did or didn’t choose the Brewers Clarex ™ addition to the fermentation tank.  

We encourage you to do some blind tastings with these new gluten-free/reduced beers that are hitting the market.  And don’t forget to include The Brewing Liar’s beers in the mix. We now offer 32 oz growlitas ( small growler) for your tasting enjoyment.  Perhaps we need to schedule a gluten-reduced blind tasting night at the brewery?  Who’s interested?  Give a call or drop us an email.        Cheers & Hoppyness 

Cold, crisp, bright and lingering; this years winter or Stake Out coffee porter? At the moment I'm enjoying them both, great skiing and a great winter brew.   

If you are looking for some fun adventures and feel like supporting local ventures here are a few events to consider.

19th January 
Nakoma Lodge is hosting an evening fundraiser to benefit SIERRA BUTTES TRAIL STEWARDSHIP. Snow Fest will bring together music, auctions, food and great local craft beer. Join us for a fun time in supporting the local network of trails in our area. Learn more and buy tickets online. 

24th January
The Brewing Lair joins 775 Gastro Pub for a beer pairing dinner. If you have yet to stop in at 775 Gastro Pub you are in for a treat. These folks know how to offer up an amazing menu and one of the best beer selections I’ve ever seen. Call and reserve your spot 775.828.0775. To kick off the night, Rich filled a firkin with Stake Out and added vanilla beans and habaneros. Looking forward to tasting that concoction. Check 'em out on the web.

2nd February
Quincy’s very first GROUNDHOG FEVER FESTIVAL - chili, donuts & BEER oh my! Check 'em out on Facebook.

26th February 
The Brewing Lair joins CAMPO for a beer pairing dinner.  Located on the Truckee River in Reno, CAMPO hit the Reno streets with a plethora of flavors and classy comfort.  I heard a rumor that Harrah's Casino has $25 rooms…hint hint, no DD necessary we can all have fun. Call (775) 737-9555 for reservations.

23rd February - March 2nd 
The Brewing Lair will be posting-up in a few spots along side other craft breweries during Sacramento Beer Week. Learn more on their website sacramentobeerweek.com

We started off as Under Cover Ale Works because of our hidden in nature locality. Were changing our name but keeping the theme and location. 

Now you'll find us as:

Getting into a lawsuit is not our idea of fun. We would rather be HIKING and ENJOYING where we live, and REMEMBERING why we live here.  

When a cease and desist letter for the word “undercover” arrived we decided
to take the path of least resistance and change our name.

Combining the hidden nature of the brewery with hiking in the Lost Sierra we’ve decided on the name The Brewing Lair.

noun
a wild animal's resting place, esp. one that is well hidden.

• a secret or private place in which a person seeks concealment or seclusion.
  

ORIGIN Old English leger [resting place, bed,] of Germanic origin; related to 
Dutch leger ‘bed, camp’ and German Lager ‘storehouse,’