Who makes our beer, and how they make it

Meet Head Brewer Christian A. Kazakoff, learn about our brewery and brewing philosophy and check out our list of distinguished alumni.

Christian A. Kazakoff, Head Brewer

Hometown: Pacifica, Calif.

Brewing Autobiography

When I first walked into Triple Rock Brewery and Alehouse in November 1995 I had no idea that in 2002 I would be the Head Brewer. Before Triple Rock and I got to know each other, I toured the world for four years via the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln. "The Pig" as it became affectionately known took me to the Persian Gulf twice, Somalia, and many other ports throughout the Indian and Pacific oceans. My first taste of Real Ale came from a brief visit to Perth, Australia. My hat goes off to the Fremantle and Swan breweries. Australia had the best beer I had ever tasted at the time and I would have been floored if there had been beer like that back here in the States. The only American beer I knew about were the major brands that still dominate the brewing market.

A couple of years later I was honorably discharged and immediately started working as a line chef in Half Moon Bay. I had also enrolled at City College of San Francisco in the Hospitality program. After about eight months my future wife and I moved to Berkeley. I made the torturous commute to Half Moon Bay for about a month all the while going to school full time and job searching in the East Bay. I do not ever remember being so busy as I was that month.

Now we are back to that fateful day in November of 1995. It was raining and I was just finished with my last interview of the day, which did not go very well, at a famous restaurant in the Gourmet Ghetto. A fresh pint of beer sounded like the right thing to have before going home. I stepped into Triple Rock wet, weary and thinking about an unknown future. I bellied up to the bar and drank a pint of "Diana's Bitter". Triple Rock made a good first impression. The place was just so comfortable and the beer was excellent, it reminded of my time in Australia. After some conversation with the bartender I learned that there was an opening in the kitchen for a line chef. I handed in my resume and was hired on the spot. Over the next year and a half I worked the line, bartended, and home brewed. I started to really appreciate beer and decided to change my career from being a chef to a brewer. In 1997 there was a vacancy in the brewery and I jumped at the chance to brew professionally. I enrolled in the Hospitality program at C.C.S.F. with the intensions of becoming a chef and I graduated as an Assistant Brewer. After completing a five-week intensive brewing science and engineering course, I became the Head Brewer in April of 1999 and have not looked back.

My personal brewing philosophy is to never compromise quality for efficiency. I do not care if a particular style of beer is too difficult to brew or if it takes too long to mature. The reward is a finished product that the patrons, staff, and myself enjoy.

Bradley Robbins, Brewer

Hometown: Indianapolis, IN  

Brewing Autobiography

I've been brewing for about two and a half years now at Triple Rock and feel pretty lucky to be in the position that I'm in. First, I arrived in California in June of 1996 and spent a short time in Berkeley before moving to Santa Cruz for about two years. While in Santa Cruz, I worked as a morning kitchen manager at a local café about two blocks from the ocean, which being from the Midwest, was pretty wonderful. But, life by the water does tend to get a little slow, so I decided to move on back to the Bay Area to get a little more established.

A friend in Santa Cruz recommended checking out a brewpub right in downtown Berkeley, saying they might need someone in the kitchen. So, I walked in, applied, checked back in a couple of days, and got the job. After about two years of working in the kitchen, I moved on up to bar backing and daytime bartending. Working all three positions was a nice mix in my schedule and I really began to fall in love with Triple Rock.

Being from Indiana, I was not really raised in a "beer culture", as many Northern Californians have been, and was not knowledgeable about the beer brewing process at all. Then one day, everything changed. I was getting pretty burnt out working in the kitchen and was thinking about quitting and starting something new altogether. Well, that something new came right to me. It so happened that the Assistant Brewer position was opening up and, I was asked if I wanted the position and learn how to make some beer. I gave it some thought (it didn't take that long), and decided that being an Assistant Brewer in one of Northern California's best and oldest brewpubs would be a good thing to try out.

So, after brewing for the last two and a half years, I've enjoyed it so much, learned even more, met a lot of great people, and never had this much fun coming to work everyday. As I look to the future, I hope to keep on brewin' the best beer I possibly can and taste as much product as possible!

Brewing Alumni

Reid and John take pride the great number of brewers at Triple Rock that have gone on to fame as brewmasters at other craft brewing companies, or on to fortune by opening their very own brewery.

A partial list:

Rick Warner - Brewmaster - Meadow Micro-Brewery, Dublin, Ireland
Roger Lind - Owner/Brewmaster - Lind Brewing Co., San Leandro, CA (Now Drakes Brewing Co.)
Rob LoBreglio - Brewmaster - Great Dane Brewing Co., Madison Wis.
Teri Fahrendorf - Brewmaster - Steelhead Breweries, Eugene, OR
Pete Leavitt - Brewmaster - Stone Coast Breweries, Portland, Maine
Sandy Savage - Owner/Brewmaster - North Fork Brewery, near Mt. Baker, WA
Chris Sheahan - Brewer - Chelsea Piers Brewery, New York, New York
Matt Cohen - Owner/Brewmaster - Ten Taps Brewing Co., Burlington, Vermont
Sean Donnelly - Co-Owner - Pende Oreille Brewing, Sandpoint, Idaho (Closed)
Shaun O'Sullivan - Co-Owner/Brewmaster - 21st Amendment Brewing Co., San Francisco, CA
Scott Meyer - Co-Owner/Brewmaster - Outer Banks Brewing Co., Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina

If you know the brewing whereabouts of any other former Triple Rock brewers, let us know! Send e-mail to info@triplerock.com.