SLO LIFE Magazine AugSep 2021

| BREW
Spiritual
Awakening
BY BRANT MYERS | PHOTOGRAPHY BY TODD MEANEY
entered the parking lot of Central Coast Brewing’s Higuera Street location and immediately took a right, heading away from the
brewery. That’s unlike me to walk away from a cold beer, but this time it was for good reason. I was heading into the doors of KROBĀR
Craft Distillery to chat with the Kro half—Steve Kroener. He was excitedly talking to his latest hire, a chef that will provide upscale fare
that pairs with their superior spirits and cocktails. He meets me in their tasting room and immediately starts to line up small Glencairn
Itasting glasses with five popular offerings, four gin variants, and their golden rum. So far, this meeting is off to a great start.
92 | SLO LIFE MAGAZINE | AUG/SEP 2021
No sooner was I admiring the smells and colors of the liquid offerings on their
wooden tasting paddle, I was invited into the back of the building. Kroener led
our photographer, Todd Meaney, and me into the operations center. There we
were flanked by barrels, stills, flavor experiments, and brewing equipment. I felt at
home in what was very similar to a brewery, but the cleanest one I’ve ever seen. If
you’re not familiar with distilling, every spirit needs a base to be turned into the
final product. As such, KROBĀR brews their own wort because malt whiskey
needs malt. Wort is the crucial liquid extracted from the mashing process during
the brewing process. It contains the necessary sugars that will be fermented by
the brewing yeast to produce alcohol. Kroener opens up a large stainless steel
barrel and we smell the cloyingly sweet liquid. The aroma is amazing and I remind
myself not to stick my hands into everything, having learned the lessons of
Augustus Gloop.
Kroener leads us over to a barrel with its head removed and invites to view the
triple charred walls and take a whiff of the lingering aromas. I breath deep and
almost pass out from the delicious fumes. It was
intense but it should be. Barrels not only provide
the characteristic brown color and oak tannin flavors
we expect of our whiskeys but provide a critical
function in the distilling process. The charcoal and
wood grain act as a filter by drawing out impurities
and leaving flavor and aroma. The expanding and
contracting of the wood is an active process that
can take years to achieve the desired final product.
I ask him about the differences between working
in their Paso Robles location at Grey Wolf Winery
and that of their new San Luis Obispo location.
He shares the major temperature fluctuations in
Paso with hot days and cold nights accelerates the
process by moving the wood more and more often,
a characteristic that’s not shared with the more mild
climate found in SLO. >>
BRANT MYERS is a beer
industry veteran and
founder of SLO BIIIG, a
hospitality consulting firm.