Owner Brett Tate, brewmaster Don Oliver and c0-owner Brett Honore in Dust Bowl Brewing Company’s current brewhouse.
By NORA HESTON TARTE
Business Journal writer
TURLOCK – Beer is a large part of Dust Bowl Company owner Brett Tate’s life, and with the addition of a 30,000 square-foot production facility in Turlock, it’s about to become an even bigger part – literally.
The $10 million project will offer something new for Turlock residents, taking the town’s craft beer culture one step further. The new facility will be located west of Highway 99, on the corner of Fulkerth road and Dianne Drive. It will benefit from freeway exposure that the current downtown facility, located at 200 W. Main St., doesn’t have, said Maryn Pitt, assistant to the Turlock city manager for Housing and Economic Development.
Tate, who co-owns Dust Bowl Brewing Company with Brett Honore, said the facility will be more of a destination than their downtown brewery. It will give outsiders a reason to visit the city and experience Turlock in a way they couldn’t have before. “(It’s) just something to be proud of, a place where people can gather socially in a safe environment,” Tate said. Expansion became inevitable. Dust Bowl’s taproom, opened in 2011, was pulling in more customers than it could handle.
“Well, you know, demand has overridden the capacity a couple of different times at the location we’re at currently and have been at since the beginning,” Tate said. “We just thought it was time to look at a new venue.”
A massive 40 x 20-foot window spanning the whole tasting room will allow patrons to look into the brew house. Another a 20 x 20-foot window gives a peek into the packaging hall. The design will allow customers to sip local craft beer while watching beer being made.
“You’ll be totally immersed as a consumer in the whole brand of Dust Bowl and the beer culture,” Tate said.
In addition to a tasting room, which will also provide light fare, the facility will offer tours and private events.
“We want people to know what we’re doing and how the process works,” Tate said.
Tate admits the model isn’t anything new. In fact, it’s one that exists in many areas, but it is new to Turlock and he hopes it will bring more culture to the area.
“It’s not that we don’t have it, it’s just that we’re adding to it,” he said.
Staying in Turlock was never a question for Tate.
“Turlock is my hometown. It’s where I’ve grown up. It’s where my father’s family decided to settle. It was going to be here,” he explained.
More space also equals more beer for Tate and Honore. They offer 12 beers at a time at their downtown location and have produced more than 50 different brews since 2009, but the new facility will allow for at least 20 beers at a time as well as a variety of packaged yearround and seasonal beers, Tate said.
Pitt said Turlock has seen an uptick in its craft beer offerings with local breweries, an annual brewfest as well as local restaurants that put nearby microbreweries on their menu.
“Turlock has responded to craft beer like I never thought they would,” Tate said.
Dust Bowl is rooted in family. Every aspect from the name to the location is indicative of Tate’s past. The story is one we’ve all heard, Tate said. It’s about families moving west in hope of a better life and of laborers coming from the Dust Bowl during the Great Depression. It’s most famously depicted in the book and movie, The Grapes of Wrath, so it isn’t a coincidence that the brewery’s most popular beer, the first one brewed on Mother’s Day in 2009 – is aptly named Hops of Wrath.
“It could have been my family portrayed in the movie,” Tate said. According to Tate, the ultimate goal is to make Dust Bowl a nationally recognized, top-of-the line regional brewery. Doors are scheduled to open in November 2015 after breaking ground in March 2015, a timeline that is made possible by Turlock’s expedited permitting process.
“Because we did a master plan … it allows all of the projects within that plan area to go through expedited plan review,” Pitt explained. The new process streamlines work related to the environmental reviews required of new buildings, the part of the process that usually takes the most time, Pitt said.
With new projects, this part is mostly completed which allows for a six to eight-week permitting process by the city. Turlock also offers an accelerated construction process. Pitt said she believes this shortened process has encouraged growth within Turlock. Blue Diamond took advantage of the same offering and opened its facility in exactly one year and three days.
“It’s one of the things that we made a determination that sets us apart from other communities,” Pitt said. “We fought to find a way to distinguish ourselves.” There’s still more to come from the local brewery, which plans to keep its original taproom downtown after the new facility opens.
“We haven’t even brewed our best beer yet,” Tate said.
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