About Us

Anderson Valley Brewing Company was founded on December 26th, 1987 in the town of Boonville, CA.  In the beginning, we brewed out of a modest 10-barrel brewhouse located in the lower level of our original brewpub, The Buckhorn Saloon. Gleaming stainless steel vats brewed and fermented barley and other specialty grains to create outstanding ales, porters, stouts, and wheat beers that gained a cult following among fans of the growing craft beer movement. At the time, we were one of only 20 craft breweries in the country and have long been considered one of the pioneers of the craft beer industry.

By 1996, the demand for our award winning ales exceeded the capacity of our 10-barrel brewery, so we started construction on a 30-barrel facility at the corner of Highways 128 and 253, just one mile down the road from the Buckhorn Saloon. By expanding our capacity and introducing a 12 ounce bottling line, we were able to double our production level to 15,000 barrels in a little over a year. Before we knew it, our growth had once again outpaced our space and capacity, so in 1998 construction began on our current three-story Bavarian-style brewhouse. The centerpieces of the brewhouse are the gleaming 100- and 85- barrel copper brew kettles rescued from two defunct German breweries during a trip to Europe in 1995. The new brewhouse went online in August of 2000.

Since then, we have been hand-crafting authentic ales and lagers with balance and complexity and a passion for sustainable brewing practices.  We’ve also expanded our barrel-aging program to include a variety of sour beers as well as establishing an exclusive partnership with Wild Turkey® Bourbon, which has brought about our Barl Series of bourbon barrel-aged beers.