Two friends getting together to have a good time socializing while watching football and brewing. What could be better? In early 1996 the first stove brew was a pale ale which turned out decent enough to drink. This was pretty good for a couple rookies. By the way, the first step in home brewing: Pour yourself a home brew!

For the next year brewing became a monthly event. We mixed up the varieties and had an exceptionally good time giving gift baskets of home brew to friends and family. The more we brewed, the more we bottled. Brewing, bottling, brewing, bottling…..It was becoming apparent that the bottling was going to get old after a while. While patronizing the The Brewmeister for ingredients we were introduced to full grain brewing and kegging. That was it; we put the stove kit on the shelf and decided to invest in a full grain system.

About that time, one of the friends Dad was closing down a manufacturing plant and had to get rid of some excess angle iron. A rack was designed on paper and two months later it was built.  The finishing touches were put on the rack and some draught equipment was installed on the garage fridge.

A few brews into it, we decided to come up with a name for our so-called “brewing company”. We figured that fun could turn into opportunity at some point! Living in Old Town Folsom, there was much history to draw from. One night while brewing we heard a lockdown bell ring from the prison, Lockdown Brewing Company slid off of someone’s tongue.  Being Johnny Cash fans, we became the “Home of the Folsom Prison Brews”. 

The brewing continued on with many varieties: Scotch, Red, Brown, Pilsner, Wheat, Stout. The favorite was the oatmeal stout, Breakout Stout. Of course, the wives needed their favorite, blueberry ale, thus we named it B.B. Blueberry. Those in "The Know" don't have to ask.