Turlock-area dairy farm seeks to add microbrewery

The area’s next microbrewery could launch from a dairy farm west of town, supplied in part by hops and wheat grown on site.

The Stanislaus County Planning Commission on Thursday will consider a proposal by the Lucas Dairy to brew beer in a milking parlor that has not been used since 1978. Milk production would continue elsewhere on the farm, on Fulkerth Road four miles west of Turlock.

Applicant Thomas Lucas could not be reached for comment on the project, known as Blaker 40 Brewing.

A planning staff report says the 1,944-square-foot site would produce 20 gallons of beer per week for commercial sale.

“Inside the main room of the former milking parlor, there is space for grain storage and a hand mill for use on the hops and wheat before the brewing process,” the report says. “After the brewing process, beer will be placed in fermentation chests before it is filled into kegs and stored in the existing cold storage room.”

The brewery would not have a taproom for customers, but that could happen eventually at another location.

Turlock has two beer producers — Dust Bowl Brewing Co., which is expanding at a new site just west of Highway 99, and Sandude Brewing Co., near the freeway at the south end of the city.

They are tiny compared with Turlock’s dairy, turkey and other industries, but an economic development plan last year said it has the potential to become “Boutique Beer City.”

Blaker 40 Brewing plans to grow all of its hops and half of its wheat on the farm, the staff report says. Wheat is among the feed crops at dairy farms in the area, but U.S. breweries get most of their hops from the Pacific Northwest.

The staff recommends approval of the brewery, which it said would not detract from the agricultural character of the area. The commission’s decision would be final unless it is appealed to the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors.

This story was originally published April 1, 2015 at 5:59 PM with the headline "Turlock-area dairy farm seeks to add microbrewery."