LOCAL
envisioned Bang the Drum as a restaurant.
breweries on the Central Coast,” Fleming
have the expensive, automated systems the
licensing, they found it easier to open a
beers, those one-offs, those things that are
This is in contrast to a brewery down the
But after looking into permits and
brewery. A Small Craft Brewer license
allows Bang the Drum to brew and serve beer on their property without any extra paperwork or licensing.
“It was almost like a loophole we could
easily jump through and start producing
beer, manufacturing beer and selling beer
said. “But it allows us to do those random very unique that you’re not going to find
road from Bang the Drum, Tap It Brewing,
I’m not afraid of taking a risk. That’s the
Tap It is an example of a grassroots
anywhere else. And you know, honestly,
biggest thing, we are so small that we can
take risks, and it’s not going to hurt you all that much if it doesn’t turn out right.”
Bang the Drum only has the capacity to
from one facility without having to get
make three barrels at a time, with each
Bang the Drum represents the more
gallons. It takes 14 man-hours to make
extra licenses,” Fleming said.
creative and adventurous side of the craft brewing scene. Its beers include flavors
bigger brewers can afford.
batch of beer equaling two barrels, or 62 a batch because Bang the Drum doesn’t
which has the capacity to brew 22 barrels. brewery that expanded rapidly after opening in 2010.
“There was a major learning curve
associated with moving into a production brewery from our home brewing roots,”
said Katelyn Egger, marketing, events and
tasting room manager at Tap It. “We expect to double production for 2016.”
such as chipotle peppers, Canadian honey, coffee and maple syrup. Fleming cites
Dogfish Head in Rhode Island as a major
influence and credited them to opening up the doors for more creative brewing styles. “We tend to do a lot of things that are
off the wall, not your average beer, not
your average pale ale or IPA,” Fleming said. “We usually do a lot of locally
sourced additives as much as possible to
the unique beers that we do. We try to do things that are hard to find or not as common.”
Bang the Drum is small, but this allows
them to be more adventurous with the brewing process, Fleming explained.
“We are probably one of the smallest agcircle 25