Strong Family Ties Bind Upstart Indian Valley Brewing Co.

MARIN COUNTY, CA – The family tale behind Novato’s newest brewery is fuzzy and warm in addition to being sudsy and cool.

Although you can underline and boldface the “micro” portion of the word microbrewery to describe Indian Valley Brewing Company, its roots come from a macro-family.

Founders Joe and Matt Tachis come from a Larkspur family of 14 – that’s mom, dad and 12 kids. Joe, 54, and Matt, 49, have six brothers and four sisters, all of whom live in Northern California and many in the North Bay. Joe and Matt started Indian Valley Brewing mostly just to provide homebrewed refreshment at family gatherings, but it’s gotten out of hand in a good way. They hope to reach 200 barrels in their first year of operation, classifying Indian Valley as a nanobrewery.

“In 2012 we decided we’d start getting the eight brothers and Dad together once a month, and we figured we ought to make our own beer,” Matt said as he watched his son Trever, 22, handle some chores with a friend at their small brewhouse in Bel Marin Keys. “It’s a family of tradesmen, and we know how to make things. We figured we could make our own beer from equipment we could build ourselves.”

Indian Valley, named partly because both brothers leave near that region of Novato, made its first big splash at the San Francisco International Beer Festival on April 8. Stationed next to Carneros Brewery of Sonoma and New Bohemia of Santa Cruz, the brothers had a chance to gather insightful feedback from sippers who knew nothing about their operation. Matt, Joe and their family teammates poured their IPA, pale ale and blonde ale wheat beer at a festival attended by about 3,000 people.

“It was a blast and it turned out quite well,” Matt said. “I don’t know if it was our beer or our two nieces who were serving it – they were pretty popular. In the first hour, you’re talking to people who are really interested in craft beer, and that’s probably the best feedback you’re going to get. We got good reviews from them.”

The Tachis family built its taste for beer back in the 1950s when patriarch Tom Tachis, a proud Marine who served in combat during World War II and Korean War, came back from Korea and took a sales job at the Hamm’s brewery in San Francisco as he started his brood with his wife, Rita.

The young boys grew up hearing the Hamm’s jingles about “The Beer Refreshing” and “The Land of Sky Blue Waters” and laughing at that clumsy black-and-white bear in the TV commercials. Later, Tom worked for a Budweiser distributor in San Jose and the now-closed Avenel Imports of Mill Valley. He was one of the first to bring Kronenbourg beer from France and Cooper’s from Australia into the U.S. market – the latter when Crocodile Dundee popularized all things Oz.

“Drinking beer was a family thing for us,” Matt said. “When I got to be of age, Anchor Steam was really the one that helped me realize that there were flavors and styles beyond the big ones. That’s still an influential beer for me today.”

While Joe is the chief brewer for the time being, Matt sees himself as a scrubmaster, making sure cleanliness prevails in the brewing process. They’re bringing in help in the form of Shawn Cochran, co-owner of nearby J&M Brewing Supplies, located just off Nave Drive about 500 yards away as the crow flies from the Tachis’ brewing HQ.

“He’s going to split time between us and J&M,” Joe said. “He’s really knowledgeable and talented. Those guys have been great to deal with since we started. Sometimes homebrew supply stores places like that make you feel intimidated, especially when you’re first starting up as homebrewers, but I was never afraid to ask them anything.”

The brothers believed there was an open invitation to start a brewery in Novato because only Moylan’s Brewery & Restaurant existed in Novato at the time. This was prior to the short reign of Baeltane Brewing, a respected boutique operation that operated on Bel Marin Keys Boulevard for a few years before closing in summer 2016.

With a target of 200 barrels in Year 1, Indian Valley is truly a nano operation. (Nearby, Moylan’s makes about 4,200 barrels per year, with each barrel at 31 gallons). The brewery is 700 square feet, just behind Joe’s electrical contracting business. It’s a delightful tangle of hoses, brackets, buckets and stainless steel aluminum tanks. The mash tun emits the inviting smell of the mash, boiled grains that are begging for a shower of hops and a teasing of yeast. Joe, Matt and Matt’s son Trever are getting messy making a batch on Tuesday evening, enjoying a few foamy sips for quality control purposes.

They have three 3-barrel fermenters and one 2-barrel fermenter. The two small mash tuns – which looks like a typical chili pots, only bigger – are capable of making a batch of 90 gallons. Two brite tanks are in a walk-in refrigerator that used previously had a long and useful life at La Toscana restaurant in San Rafael, where Joe’s company did some work.

Indian Valley, which technically started brewing experimental batches in 2016, won’t be a destination spot for a while. Although Joe and Matt would love to roll out the red carpet and invite in thirsty beer geeks, Indian Valley is based in a roll-up garage in a Bel Marin Keys industrial cluster and isn’t prepped for a taproom frenzy. Right now, it’s purely a brewery with no public tasting capability. The idea is to secure contracts with bars and restaurants to gather some business momentum.

At the start, the Tachises said they’ll focus on six styles: blonde alewheat, light lager, dark lager, pale ale, IPA and scotch ale.

“We’re completely open to other styles,” Joe said.

“We want to make what people like to drink,” Matt said.

“We’re going to focus on making good beer first and then branch out with the distribution and marketing when we’re ready,” Joe said. “Gradually we’re hoping for substantial growth.”

Meantime, Joe continues to operate his electrical contracting business called BEI, and Matt is still working as an insurance adjuster.

Tom Tachis, now widowed and 92, does have a role for his sons. He’s serving as an enthusiastic consultant as they boys venture out to build themselves a reputation for flavorful brews. “We love having him around,” Matt said. “I think he’s really happy to see this happening.”

“I am,” Tom said. “I’m very proud of them. In my mind, their beers are outstanding and they’re very professional at it. In my working life I was mostly a beer man, but I did not learn the ins and outs of handcrafted beer. But, by golly, they did.”

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You can follow Indian Valley Brewing on Facebook, Instagram and www.indianvalleybrewing.com.

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