We named Dauenhauer after Florian Dauenhauer, one of the most significant people to ever cross paths with the hop growing industry. Florian lived in Sonoma County for most of his life, and it was at his downtown Santa Rosa shop in 1940 that his greatness was realized. That year, a near hop pickers strike at Florian and his brother Joe’s hopyard prompted Florian to build what became known in the hop industry as simply the Dauenhauer, the first ever hop harvester. Short on funds, the resourceful inventor built the prototype on the frame of a Buick car chassis. The following harvest they picked all of their hops (and their neighbors) with Florian’s new machine. From that point on, the hop industry was changed forever. Florian Dauenhauer is to the hop industry what Ely Whitney was to the cotton trade. All this, right here in Sonoma County. To this day, most of the hop harvesters in the Northwest still have the Dauenhauer Manufacturing Company name plate.

Brewed and bottled to a moderate strength of 6% ABV, Dauenhauer is a copper colored well hopped domesticated wild ale (but not an IPA). Compared to its more delicate sister beer Amasa, Dauenhauer is darker and exhibits more hop character in both the aroma and flavor. It can be consumed now, or aged. The use of Brettanomyces yeast in the bottle conditioning process lends a rustic characteristic to the beer. If aged, many of the unique yeast qualities in the beer will become even more evident.