Pop the Top on ConFab Brewing
Welcome to Contributing Factor Brewing, a small, home-brew operation located in Oakley, California, approximately 45 miles east of San Francisco. After some 20 years away from home brewing — and getting heavily involved in craft beer in the meantime — I decided to jump back in and brew my own beer. My first few attempts, back in the mid-1990s, didn’t come off as well as I’d hoped, but I felt this time would be different. Thankfully, after five batches, it’s been some great, drinkable beer shared with friends and co-workers.
Why Contributing Factor? You’d think a name would be the easy part. Let me tell you, it isn’t. I racked my brain for weeks trying to come up with one. Finally, I settled on Contributing Factor, and here’s why: at my job, whenever there’s an incident and a violation has been committed, I’m usually the one fingered as the “contributing factor.” It’s become a bit of a running joke at work — I even have a coffee mug that says the same thing.
Expectations, now that I’m a year in? I don’t know. So far it’s just been enjoyable to pull out the equipment and brew a batch of beer. I’ve had five brew days so far, the last of which was my best to date — Nuno’s Bearded Stout, an all-grain kit brewed in the vein of North Coast’s Old Rasputin Imperial Stout.