The Potter Valley Brewing Group has become a comfortable meeting place for beer enthusiasts in Mendocino County.
The group was created by Elizabeth Harreschou and Dan Harreschou, who both began brewing beer at home in 1998. The couple had picked up the hobby while living in North Carolina after serving in the military. They developed a liking for craft beer and had discovered a store that sold homebrew supplies.
Over time they had collected more brewing supplies and got involved with a homebrew club where they lived. When they moved back to California in 2012, they had made friends who also enjoyed beer and talking about it. They thought it would be fun to start a club. The Potter Valley Brewing Group had its first meeting in September of 2014.
“One of the first club meetings that we put together, we brewed a beer during the meeting and talked about some of the processes and the equipment,” says Dan Harreschou. The group has meetings once a month on every second Sunday depending on holidays. During their meetings, they often facilitate blind tastings and discussions.
Currently, they have around 30 members on their contact list with about six-to-10 consistent members attending the meetings.
Along with creating the home brewing group, the Harreschous had been inspired to pursue their own official brewing company in Potter Valley, Hare in the Forest. The name came from their last name Harreschou, which is the Danish translation for “hare in the forest.” Hare In the Forest Brewing Company had a soft opening in 2017 with beers quietly becoming available in local markets in Ukiah, Redwood Valley and Willits.
The Harreschous often have members come to use some of their equipment to brew their beers.
Recently some of the most popular beers to brew among the club are ales, stouts, pale ales, and brown ales. As far as creating recipes, Dan Harreschou mentions that most people tend to stick to brewing their favorite beers and cloning popular recipes. They do, however, have a member who currently has a ginger-infused lager in the works.
According to the Harreschous, brewing is an art of trial and error. Often a beer will come out different than one would have hoped but is always received well by other members. “If it’s ‘off’ it’s because it didn’t turn out the way that it was intended to, not that it turned out bad but that it just came out as something different,” shares Dan Harreschou. They had a member dislike a beer that came out more bitter than hoped but was still enjoyed by other members. They had gone on to feature the beer in the
Homebrew Festival one of the years that they participated.
The group participated in the Homebrew Festival in 2017. Through the festival, they were able to meet many other brewing groups in Mendocino County and Lake County. In the future the group hopes to start doing tours of breweries, visiting with other brewing groups and putting together collaborative brews for community functions.
“No matter where you live in Mendocino County there is probably a friendly beer gathering of people you could join up with and talk about beer and taste beer without having to go far,” smiles Elizabeth Harreschou.
There are, however, demands of the craft that sometimes discourage people from brewing their beer. To maintain and monitor the correct temperatures, timing and quality of sanitation can be intimidating. According to Elizabeth Harreschou, there have been members who have decided to attend and enjoy the beer that others make because the homebrew process didn’t fit in with their schedule or lifestyle.
“There are no real requirements, just come and have a good time. We’ve had to reiterate that the homebrew club is for everybody, not just for people who brew. But if you want to come and learn something about beer or have questions about trying, we welcome everyone. It’s for all skill levels,” concludes Dan Harreschou.
For more information about the Potter Valley Brewing Group, find the public group on Facebook under “Potter Valley Brewing Group” or contact them by email at hareintheforest@gmail.com.
