Since his soft-opening in February, I’ve corresponded with GreyWolf Brewing owner Chad Adams a few times. I’d planned on visiting sooner, then COVID hit. In the meantime, I was getting rave reviews from various respected sources. This week, I finally managed to stop by and taste the beers for myself. In just four months, Adams already seems to have mastered his system, his recipe upscales, and he’s cranking out a diverse portfolio of beer that’s already rivalling some of the best in the Inland Empire.
GreyWolf is another story of a homebrewer going pro. Adams humbly admits that his first beer was, “a success since it was not infected.” He hit the books, starting with John Palmer’s How to Brew and joined several homebrew clubs. He won first place in his first homebrew competition, a Belgian Tripel, which we’ll discuss shortly. More medals followed.
Originally from Orange County, Adams was lured to the Inland Empire by his wife Cheli. He’d spent his career in sales across multiple industries. He also professes “a knack for building things,” adding, “with some construction work as a pipefitter and plumber in industrial settings, I was set up to build and install a brewery.” He’s also got a knack for growing things. At his half-acre family home, he’s planted over 40 fruit and nut trees and 350 square feet of raised vegetable beds.
A builder, a creator, a multiple-award-winning homebrewer, we already know where this story goes. He’d been looking for a spot for a couple of years, when he heard that Sons of Liberty Ale Works was vacating its 1600-square-foot Norco building and moving to Nashville. On the craft beer map, it’s a great location. Norco sits in a virtual circle of brewery-rich cities (Corona, Rancho Cucamonga, Riverside, Redlands), but had none of its own. “Being a brewery previously, much of the infrastructure was already in place,” added Adams, “The landlord being aware of what a brewery and tasting room actually is, and much of the marketing established, as people remember the location as a brewery, it’s a win-win.”
The building’s infrastructure was a good start, but Sons did take their equipment with them. That wasn’t a problem. It allowed Adams to create his own 5-barrel system. “The equipment is all new and custom, with the exception of my two softly used 10-barrel tanks,” commented Adams, “It allowed me to build the operation to my own specification, versus taking on someone else’s and having to make adjustments to the way I brew.”
The 16 taps show quite a bit of diversity. Prior to opening, Adams told me of his preference for traditional styles, and that the menu would feature a balanced portfolio, “starting with a Kolsch and a Pilsner, through Hazy IPA’s, and up to a Saison, an Imperial Stout and a Belgian Tripel.” As I spoke with him after my last visit, he added “I love just about every beer. I don’t want to be pigeon-holed into being a Belgian brewery or an IPA brewery. I want to be known as one hell of a brewer and offer something for everyone.” Additionally, during our visit, he had a Mexican Lager, a Hefeweizen, a Foreign Extra Stout, an English Brown and several IPA’s. He also spoke of “breaking the mold” and converting consumers to new styles. One example was the Oatmeal Pale. “I use style as a guide to where I start,” he explains, “Too many times a pale ale is too thin or too bitter. I wanted to add body and mouthfeel without the flavor of oatmeal. I set out to make something that I was unable to find in the market.”
It was a solid tasting all around, with everything extremely well-executed. The lagers really shined, especially for a brewery that’s only four months old. I don’t usually go out of my way to sample lagers, but I left the comment that the Norco Lager was competition-worthy. As expected from my pre-visit research, Tartarus Warhammer was the standout. You’d expect a Tripel to stand out anywhere, but I’d be hard-pressed to name a better Tripel in Southern California. It may be a bold move to lead with your Tripel in a haze-crazed world (I can only think of one other local brewery that does it), but it’s as much customer choice as Adams’ personal opinion.
“My best-selling beer is my West Coast IPA,” he comments, “Tartarus Warhammer is a very close second and showing potential to surpass the IPA. It is quickly becoming my flagship beer.” It was also his first original recipe. “I had done a large amount of research into the style. Taking inspiration from those who had been brewing this style for centuries, gave me some insight into how nuanced the style can be.” It’s the same recipe that won him his first homebrew medal back in 2013. “Over the years I had monkeyed with the recipe to try to make it better, but was unable to improve upon the original, which is what I brew today.”
It’s still early days as Adams tweaks his lineup, finding a medium between his strengths and consumer demand. But so far so good, with a mixed portfolio of popular, less-common, and hybrid styles on tap. “My plan is to have between four and eight year-round beers – the West Coast IPA, Red Ale, Brown, Pale, Mexican Lager, and Warhammer, and variants of the Hefeweizen with different locally-sourced fruits.” He also has a couple of Saison’s set for release in the summer and plans to do some kettle sours. With winemaker licenses being afforded to California breweries this year, he’s also planning on doing Mead’s. “I started making meads about three years before making beers, so it’s a perfect for me. The idea is to offer amazing beverages that appeal to as many as possible.”
For now, it’s still a matter of getting to grips with running the brewery, producing beer and selling beer. “I’m usually at the brewery six days a week, between 10 hours and 15 hours a day.” He hopes to hire taproom help at some point, but for now it’s just him and his wife, Cheli. COVID may have been terribly timed, but he’d already had his cans and canner on order. “During the lockdown, we did not actually lose any business days. That is what saved GreyWolf and why we are still here today.”
The early assessment on GreyWolf is resoundingly impressive. Typically, I expect to find a few issues as new brewers iron out their kinks, figuring what works and what doesn’t. Whether you’re about IPA’s, light lagers, or high-ABV Tripel’s and Stout’s, you need to stop by and check GreyWolf out. I’m already putting them high on my list of Inland Empire breweries, and it will be interesting to see how far things can advance moving forward.
GreyWolf Brewing Co (learn more)
1780 Town and Country Drive Suite 101, Norco, CA 92860
Tel: (951) 479-5512
www.greywolfbrewing.com
