Qualla: Anderson Valley Brewing Company

Anderson Valley Brewing Company: Introduction

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Missvain, CC BY 4.0. If a beer label reads "Hop Ottin'," you are holding a bottle from a brewery that speaks a language most Americans have never heard. Boontling is a folk argot invented in the late nineteenth century by residents of Boonville, California -- a tiny Anderson Valley town so isolated that its people created their own vocabulary for amusement and privacy. Anderson Valley Brewing Company has been printing Boontling on its packaging since David Norfleet founded the operation in 1987, brewing ales, porters, and stouts in a 10-barrel system he designed and installed himself in the basement of the Buckhorn Saloon on Boonville's main street. In its first year, the brewery produced about 600 barrels. The language, like the beer, has only gotten more interesting since.

Image: Missvain | CC BY 4.0

Anderson Valley Brewing Company: From Basement to Bavarian Towers

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Missvain, CC BY 4.0. Growth came fast for a brewery located in a valley with no traffic lights. By 1996, demand outstripped the 10-barrel basement operation and Norfleet opened a 30-barrel facility a mile outside town at the intersection of Highways 128 and 253. Two years later, production hit 15,000...

Image: Missvain | CC BY 4.0

Anderson Valley Brewing Company: The Boontling Tap List

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Missvain, CC BY 4.0. The brewery's core lineup carries names that double as a Boontling primer. Boont Amber Ale takes its prefix from the local shorthand for Boonville. Hop Ottin' IPA, added in the mid-1990s, borrows a term meaning "working hard" -- appropriate for an aggressively hopped India Pale A...

Image: Missvain | CC BY 4.0

Anderson Valley Brewing Company: Solar-Powered Suds

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Missvain, CC BY 4.0. In 2005, Anderson Valley Brewing installed an $860,000 photovoltaic solar array on its 28-acre property, becoming what it claims as the world's first solar-powered brewery. The array generates a peak of 125 kilowatts, supplying roughly half the brewery's electrical needs. The env...

Image: Missvain | CC BY 4.0

Anderson Valley Brewing Company: The Beer Park and the Festival

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Missvain, CC BY 4.0. The Buckhorn Saloon was sold in 2004, replaced by the brewery's own tasting room and outdoor gathering space known as the Beer Park. Twenty beers pour from the taps, many of them exclusive to this location. An 18-hole disc golf course weaves through the property, threading past p...

Image: Missvain | CC BY 4.0

Anderson Valley Brewing Company: Changing Hands, Keeping Character

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Missvain, CC BY 4.0. Ownership has shifted three times since Norfleet's era, each transition bringing new stewardship while preserving the brewery's identity. In April 2010, industry veteran Trey White -- formerly executive vice president of United States Beverage -- purchased the company with two si...

Image: Missvain | CC BY 4.0