The break even beermakers project was founded in 2020 with an aim to bring regional and sustainable ingredients to the forefront of beer, while opening a welcoming space for people to gather in California's smallest incorporated city.
The space and equipment at Break Even Beermakers was designed with an eye towards small-batch flexibility and innovation. Our beers are brewed with deliberateness by a single beermaker on a vintage copper brewhouse, employing both traditional and contemporary techniques. We are advocates for open-fermentation, gentle transfers, long cold-conditioning rests, and natural carbonation.
Making beer in California, we can obtain phenomenal ingredients from our region, and prioritize the abundant quality of Agriculture in the American west. Over 95% of our malt comes from California (through the hard work of our friends at Admiral Maltings), and our hops are sourced solely from purveyors in California (including Amador's own 16 quartz Hop farm), Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. We grow a portion of the hops and fruit that we use in our beer at Banded Family Ranch in Sutter Creek, California, less than five miles from the brewery.
Beer design at Break Even tends towards quaffability and balance. A fair portion of the beers that we make fall at or below 5% abv, as we find this is a sweet spot for ingredient expression and drinkability. (Don't let this scare you away, though - we also make bigger and smaller beers!) We tend to play between styles a lot and try to describe our beers accordingly.
As we attend so closely to sourcing our ingredients, and deliver our liquid with deliberate care from grower to class, we consider ourselves more "beermakers" than brewers.
In addition to our small-batch beer program, we also offer selected wines and ciders onsite, as well as non-alcoholic beverages and our own "Sparklin' Moke" house sparkling water.