Where did it all start?
Finding decent craft beer in the Fresno area used to not be an easy feat but was resolved with the opening of Butterfield’s Brewing in 1989. The first brewers were Kevin Cox and Dale James, both experienced homebrewers. Butterfield’s was an instant hit for craft beer aficionados, including Tom Pope, who was a member of the Maltose Falcons in the Los Angeles area prior to moving to Fresno in 1976. Tom convinced Kevin and Dale to post a sign-up sheet on the bar to determine if there was any interest in forming a homebrew club in Fresno. Over 40 people immediately responded, the first meeting was held a week later, and the San Joaquin Worthogs Homebrew Club was born. In addition to Kevin, Dale, and Tom, some of the earlier club presidents included Jim Lopes and Charley Baird.
Dale and Kevin were allowed to sell grain and hops to customers and also provided home brewers with vials of yeast. The use of large pure yeast cultures caused a noticeable improvement in the quality of local homebrewers products.
One of the early members, Julian Bencomo, then opened a homebrew supply inside his brother Adrian's liquor store, Mike's Liquors, located at Palm and McKinley. Bencomo's has moved a few times but has served as our homebrew supply store for over 32 years.
Jim Lopes was quite helpful in judging local homebrewers' beer, and his expertise was instrumental in improving the quality of local homebrews. The club learned the importance of sanitation, temperature control, and viable yeast cultures.
The Worthogs assumed responsibility for judging the Fresno Fair Homebrew competition beginning in 1992. They also hosted the West Coast Regionals for the American Homebrew Association competition from 1994-1996. When the event grew to over 700 entries, it proved too big for the club to continue to handle.
The club has grown through the years, changed its name to the Central Valley Worthogs to better reflect our geographical presence, and a few of our original members still attend meetings. The club has several national level BJCP judges, and club members have administered the BJCP exam several times through the years. We continue to positively impact craft brewing in the Fresno area and have given many of our local professional craft brewers their start.
As for Butterfield’s, you now know them as Sequoia Brewing.
What do we do?
Well… We drink beer of course! All joking aside, our club goals are to get people interested in beer! Whether it be learning to appreciate all of the different styles of beer available from commercial breweries all the way to making your own. It’s not just all beer either; we have members who specialize in mead, cider, and other fermentables. We are here to foster a community of people so that we can all become better brewers, and beer tasters. We host 12 meetings a year, as well events in and around the valley, 4 BJCP home brew competitions a year, and our newest addition, Worthog Tap Takeovers!