Heretic Brewing is named Best Brewery in Daily Republic’s Readers’ Choice 2019

What began as a home brewing kit and a hobby for Jamil Zainasheff over a decade ago has morphed into one of the most popular beer brands in our region. On any given afternoon or early evening, when you walk into Heretic Brewing Company on Horizon Drive, you will find the tasting room – or “Confessional,” as it is known – full of people of all ages and backgrounds. Whether it is twenty-somethings, service members, families, or co-workers gathering after the day is done, Heretic is the kind of place where everyone feels they belong.

There’s no better evidence to that than Fairfield Daily Republic readers selecting Heretic Brewing as its 2019 Readers’ Choice Best Brewery.  Anheuser-Busch, The Brass Tap and Fuddruckers were the runners-up in the category. 

“We are very honored,” Liz Zainasheff said of the survey results. “Fairfield has been just great to us. From the day we located here, we have been very happy.”

 

Below is the article from the Daily Republic: 

By Daily Republic Staff

Heretic Brewing Company’s appreciation of its customers and its promise when it comes to its beer is a simple statement it prints on every menu.

“You have many choices where you spend your hard-earned dollars and we appreciate that you choose to spend them here,” the statement says.

“Our family wants you to know that great craft beer is hand-made and served by passionate people who work very hard at a very physical job. It’s isn’t simple or easy to do, but we do it by choice.”

That philosophy and the great beer that comes from it is appreciated by the Daily Republic’s readers who again named Heretic the best brewery in the DR’s Readers’ Choice survey.

“We are very honored,” Liz Zainasheff said of the survey results. “Fairfield has been just great to us. From the day we located here, we have been very happy.”

Zainasheff also expressed Heretic’s appreciation for the Travis Air Force Base community “and we enjoy supporting them.”

Their community support goes beyond the local. Heretic joined several hundred other breweries last year to brew and sell a beer to raise funds for Camp Fire relief.

They also go to about 30 brew fests a year and the money from that is donated to community causes, according to Zainasheff.

In the seven years since they opened, Heretic has grown from a small tap room with an occasional food truck to a much larger tap room with a full service kitchen.

There are plans to grow even further this year when Heretic starts up its distillery and opens a tasting room.

The core of Heretic, of course, is making good beer.

“It is everything,” Zainasheff said. “We are total beer geeks.”

Add great service on top of that and you get a following that loves Heretic’s range of different styles, from sours and IPAs to brown ales and porters, that can be found on the daily menus.

Their names also raise a few eyebrows, such as Evil Twin, Bitter Truth, Mouth Circus, Torment, Juicier Than Thou, Dead Santa and Twig & Berries, a name best not explained in polite company.

Of the two dozen beers on the daily menu, eight are available year-round and the others are seasonals that are swapped out every four weeks.

“We have a list of names that come from all kinds of inspiration,” Zainasheff said. “Our kids think of them (the beer named Shifty Bob) and our customers think of them.”

And it’s far more than just a name. Heretic’s master brewers are exacting in what their customers get to drink.

“If it is not right, we don’t release the batch,” Zainasheff said.

Runners-up: Anheuser-Busch, The Brass Tap, Fuddruckers

In Fairfield: 1052 Horizon Drive, Suite B

Phone: 389-4573

Website: www.hereticbrewing.com

Hours: 3 to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, noon to 9 p.m. Friday through Sunday