Brewery Twenty Five builds a following

A new brewery came to mind when we started thinking about St. Patrick’s Day stories. Brewery Twenty Five is a young business where the beer comes out in small batches, when it’s ready. So you’ll have to extend your St. Patrick’s Day festivities out to Friday, if you want to celebrate with its beer. 

Owner, Sean Fitzharris told BenitoLink that the treat they’ll be delivering at noon on Friday to The Running Rooster in Hollister is an apricot-wheat beer called “Fuzzy Jules.” It is perfectly suited for San Benito County, land of the best apricots on Earth. Fitzharris described it as “An easy-drinking wheat beer that is light in color and body…perfect for the warmer weather.  We added many pounds of real apricot fruit to create a secondary fermentation. This creates a gentle wheat beer with just a hint of apricot flavor in the finish. A very drinkable, mildly fruity ale.”

This local brewery does not serve on its small farmstead between Hollister and San Juan Bautista, where the beer is produced, but they do sell at a few places in the county. I was lucky enough to taste one of their beers at Vertigo, in San Juan Bautista, recently.

I was introduced to their “Many Moons” stout, which was described to me as a beer with coffee in it. I wasn’t taken by the sound of that, but the flavor… A smooth dark beer, the perfect hint of coffee and hiding way underneath that, a deep chocolate flavor. Such a surprise and treat. Sean said another batch of “Many Moons” will be coming out in the next week or so. 

Sean and Fran Fitzharris are local brewers who just started selling their beer in the county last May. BenitoLink talked to owner Sean Fitzharris this week and he explained how it all started. “When we first met, Fran was a devoted craft beer drinker and she introduced me to craft beer. Whenever we traveled, we would plan our trips around visiting breweries and beer bars.”

Sean decided to give brewing a try.”I grew up  with a family that enjoyed cooking, so naturally I wanted to understand the ingredients that created the flavors, colors and textures in the beers we were enjoying, which lead us to start home brewing,” he said. Their interest has continued to grow and now Brewery Twenty Five beer can be found at Running Rooster in Hollister and Bear’s Hideaway and Vertigo in San Juan Bautista. 

At this point, the best way to keep up with deliveries is by following the Brewery Twenty Five Facebook page. 

If you are still wearing your leprechaun hat Friday, you might pay homage to Ireland with one of Brewery Twenty Five’s “Fuzzy Jules.”