Mad Fritz Brewery and Malthouse -By Appointment

Napa’s Most Interesting Brewery To Open St. Helena Taproom | Eater SF

"Opening a small new taproom in downtown St. Helena at 1282 B Vidovich Lane (just across the street from the Farmstead at Long Meadow Ranch), Mad Fritz offers 11 taps of very, very local beer following a “mushy soft opening” in April. Owners Nile Zacherle and Whitney Fisher, who are deeply rooted in the local wine world, started Mad Fritz in 2012 and by 2014 were malting and in some cases growing their own barley, drying locally grown hops, and brewing in an industrial park just off St. Helena’s main drag. Their terroir-driven philosophy aims to make completely single-origin beers (Zacherle has brewed one each for Mendocino, Napa, and Sonoma) and they practice almost compulsive label transparency: the Mad Fritz Terroir Series Sonoma Ale lists Cascade hops (from Capricopia-Occidental/Green Valley of Russian River), Pinnacle 2 Row Barley (Healdsburg-grown and malted at their malt house next door to the brewery), Kolsch-style yeast, and H20 from Fisher winery (the Sonoma side). The brewery has developed a passionate following through a bottle membership program with about 500 members and a serious waitlist, places some beers in local bars and Napa restaurants, offers tastings by appointment, and intends the new centrally located taproom to be “somewhat hosted and experiential” like a wine tasting, with beer flights, vinyl soundtrack, and the Bruschetteria Food Truck next door for bites." - Caleb Pershan