The Ceres Chamber of Commerce hosted a mixer Thursday evening designed to acquaint members with Ceres’ newest craft brewey, tucked away in a cul-de-sac of an industrial park west of Highway 99.
A handful of parched members and others gathered around picnic tables set in the spacious building of Five Eyes Brewing at 1920 Foundry Court, as Yeli Atkins pulled the tap on draft beers manufactured in tanks just feet away.
The business came about in November 2021 after home brewers Steve Verver and Alan Atkins – who have day jobs as union sheet metal workers – decided to go bigger after about a decade of perfecting their beer making abilities.
Because of limitations of time and size of tanks – they are about half the size of the tanks at Blaker Brewing, another Ceres company – Five Eye has only produced two cans which you won’t find in local stores. That means to enjoy their product you’ll have to show up at their tap room or enjoy their beer at a number of restaurants where it’s served, including El Jardine and Slides Restaurant, both in Manteca, Skewer’s, Tresetti’s and Rancho Fresco, all in downtown Modesto; and WhichCraft Taproom in Gustine.
Five Eyes’ two runs in cans were for an American IPA and a white lager similar to a Coors Light.
“We have ‘candom’ but we weren’t able to sell them as quickly as we would have liked to so we didn’t get a lot of representation in stores,” said Nic Padilla, the sales and marketing manager. “That part is expensive. We don’t come from a lot of money. These two guys are hardworking blue collar guys so we’re making money as we go.”
Padilla said the company has seen steady growth but summer is bringing about the normal slowdown due to summer vacations.
Ceres was a logical place and “good location” to set up since Verver lives in Gustine, Atkins in Turlock and both work in Modesto, said Padilla. The two mechanically skilled owners remodeled an empty shell to create a warehouse taproom where folks can wind down, enjoy beer with company and take advantage of frequent mobile food vendors parked outside Friday and Saturday evenings. The owners even personally installed the tanks and lines used in beer production as well as created a large cooler from about 100 panels.
“They had to lay it all out and kind of put it together like a puzzle,” said Padilla. “There wasn’t an instruction booklet to make it so they had to put it together by hand.”
The craft beers produced by Five Eye include on IPA, a couple of lagers, seltzers (even a lavender blended seltzer for Skewer’s), a porter and Belgium ales.
“We try to brew something for everybody while not failing to suit the masses,” said Verver.
The owners and Padilla all have day jobs and are coming to a crossroads, to either keep things the same or step up the brewery at the sacrifice of jobs.
“We’re kind of doing this as a hobby and part-time but we’re at the point where we need to start making a few changes, bring in more staff,” said Padilla. “I can only sell so much. They can only brew so much beer.”
“What we can produce and what we are producing, because of demand, are two different things,” noted Alan Atkins. “We can produce somewhere around a thousand gallons a month, maybe a little bit more.”
“To push the volumes he’s mentioning,” added Verver, “that would mean quitting our day jobs so you have to make the sale before you grow.”
“We’ll make a jump but we at least gotta see how far we’re jumping,” said Atkins.
The company continues to promote its brand by attending various community events and festivals, such as Ceres Concerts in the Park and the Los Banos Tomato Festival.
“Events like that are going to help us with a little bit more money under our belts so we can do another round of canning.”
The business is pretty laid back so folks are welcome to bring in their own food if they wish but there’s also a hot dog machine as an option if a food truck and/or food choices aren’t available.
“We’ve had people DoorDash pizzas and Taco Bell and stuff.”
The tap room is closed Mondays and Wednesdays but open Sundays, 1 p.m. to 8 p.m.; Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.; Fridays, 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.; and Saturdays, 1 p.m. to 10 p.m.
The business may be reached at (209) 531-9783. For more information visit https://www.restaurantji.com/ca/ceres/five-eye-brewing-/
