Lost Coast Brewery

Lore & Background

Lost Coast Brewery was conceived in 1986 when Wendy Pound and Barbara Groom developed the idea for a brewery. They spent three years on research and development, including visits to English and Welsh pubs, home experimentation, and refining their techniques. In 1989, they purchased the Fraternal Order of the Knights of Pythias Pythian Castle and opened the brewery and pub there in 1990. The brewery outgrew the original location and moved to a larger building in Eureka in 1994, where by 2011 they produced 60,000 barrels of beer, making it the 46th largest brewery in the U.S. despite distribution in only 19 states at the time.

In 2012, the U.S. Brewers Association named Lost Coast Brewery one of the top 50 (by volume) craft and overall breweries, listing it as number 38 on their nationwide ranking. Following a decade of nearly 20 percent growth, the brewery employed 80 people and announced a $15 million new free-standing facility on a 9.3-acre site in Eureka, permitting production between 200,000 and 600,000 barrels annually. By 2013, Lost Coast distributed beer to 21 U.S. states and 11 nations.

Lost Coast brews both year-round and seasonal beers. Notable year-round offerings include Great White (an unfiltered Belgian Witbier), Downtown Brown (a lightly hopped dark malt ale that was the brewery's first distributed beer), Alleycat Amber, 8-Ball Stout, and Indica India Pale Ale. Seasonal selections have included Winterbraun, Apricot Wheat, Harvest Wheat, Scotch Ale, and Strawberry Wheat.

Reader's Guide

Lost Coast Brewery's significance lies in its pioneering role as a female-owned brewery in a historically male-dominated industry, and its consistent growth from a small brewpub to a nationally ranked craft brewery. The brewery's products have earned numerous awards: Great White Ale won silver medals at the California State Fair in 2002 and 2003; Downtown Brown won a bronze medal at the Great American Beer Festival in 1993, was voted number one beer in the Time Standard Reader's Choice Awards from 1997 through 2000, won first place at the 2000 West Coast Beer Fest, and received gold medals at the LA County Fair (2002) and California State Fair (2003); Alleycat Amber won both a gold medal and Best in Show at the 1997 California Brewer's Fest and bronze medals at the California State Fair in 1999 and 2002; 8-Ball Stout was a two-time gold medalist at the Los Angeles County Fair in 2004 and 2005 and won silver medals at the California State Fair in 2002 and 2003; Indica India Pale Ale was recognized as one of the World's 'Must Taste Beers' in the 2003 All About Beer Magazine, won gold medals at the Los Angeles County Fair (2004) and Humboldt County Fair (2001, 2003, 2006), and second place at the California State Fair (2012); Raspberry Brown was voted best in California by the United States Beer Tasting Championships in 2003; and Winterbraun placed second in the 1998 World Beer Championship. The Indica India Pale Ale label design caused religious controversy in 2004, leading to a lawsuit that went to the California Supreme Court, which decided the label was protected by free speech; the design was subsequently modified slightly, and the controversy was discussed by the Parliament of India and resulted in dozens of angry complaints.

Did You Know?

• Lost Coast Brewery was founded by Wendy Pound and Barbara Groom in 1989, making it one of only two female-owned breweries in Humboldt County.
• The Indica India Pale Ale label design caused a religious controversy that reached the California Supreme Court, which ruled the label was protected by free speech.
• In 2012, the U.S. Brewers Association ranked Lost Coast Brewery as number 38 among the top 50 craft and overall breweries by volume.