Closed: 1992

They made a fantastic Jalapeño beer, along with Dan's special ginseng beers. I don't have any notes from those days, but here's a firsthand account:

Hello, My name is Jason Barkhurst.
I was perusing the web, looking for any information on Dan Holms (brewerextraordinaire, Brown St. Brewery), and I stumbled onto your "this is notthe official site of Brown Street Brewery" page. I also found a post fromyou circa 1991 at what appears to be a University of Michigan message boardfor brewing (Homebrew Digest #691), wherein you spoke of Dan's ginseng and chili beer.
I am a native of Napa California, and was employed at Brown Street Breweryduring one of the two years that it was in business. As the cook, I had thegood fortune to drink many a partial pitcher of HolmBrew, as well as tradein hours from my time card for pint or pitcher of Dan's miraculouscreations. My personal favorite was his Chili Beer. I could drink that stuffforever. I used to get totally tanked and go play music with my buddy (whoworked at Brown St. for a BRIEF period of time) after Brown Street Closed.
Ginseng beer - now that was another thing. I never in my life had a beerthat woke me up and got me feeling swell like the godlike Dan Holms' ginsengbeer. It was amazing. We had "ginseng junkies", two of 'em, that were therealmost every night - no joke. One guy named Corey (a construction worker),and another guy named Dane (PacTel) - these guys would lay down $40-$50 pernight just on ginseng beer. Not to mention the fact that they were wonderfulentertainment and really livened up the conversation at the bar. What awonderful world it was.
The point of this email is to say "thanks" for acknowledging Brown StreetBrewery. It was short-lived but, the time I spent there holds a specialplace in my very soul. Dan Holm made the greatest beer I have ever tasted tothis day, and opened my eyes to a world of possibilities in microbrew andhomebrew. Dan Holm was a gracious and considerate man; rough around theedges, almost annoyed by people sometimes - but a good person and a GREATbrewer.
I last saw Dan during the summer of 1998 when I was in Napa. He was workingat Schramsberg Champagnerie (or whatever you call a champagne facility) asthe Production Manager, I believe. Schramsberg, coincidentally, was theplace he left to go into business at Brown Street.
Again, I would like to extend my personal thanks to you for acknowledging afleeting moment in my life, and in the lives of those that Dan Holm touchedwith his mystical magical brews.

Updated: March 5, 2009