When she walked into Mendocino Brewing Co., California\u2019s first brewpub<\/a> licensed to sell its own craft beer made on site, she saw people boiling wort \u2014 the sweet liquid starter for beer \u2014 in 55-gallon drums in the back and knew her days of \u201cwasting my life, standing there counting pills,\u201d were over.<\/p>\n \u201cI said, \u2018This is what I want to do for the rest of my life,\u2019\u201d Groom said. \u201cIt was like when you see stars and stuff in the cartoons.\u201d<\/p>\n In 1990, Groom opened the Lost Coast Brewery in Humboldt County, becoming one of the country\u2019s first female microbrewery owners. Her booze won national awards<\/a>, she was dubbed \u201ccraft beer\u2019s original female gangster\u201d by Hop Culture magazine<\/a> and, for 36 years, her business has thrived.<\/p>\n In addition to Groom\u2019s original downtown Eureka brewery and cafe, Lost Coast Brewery now includes<\/a> a 75,000-square-foot facility that can fill 1,400 kegs per day. <\/p>\n But the brewmaster turns 80 this fall, and she\u2019s got other stuff to do. She put Lost Coast Brewery up for sale.<\/p>\n A tough time for craft breweries Downtown Eureka, pictured Sept. 3, 2022, with Lost Coast Brewery, a yellow, multi-story building, visible in the center.<\/p>\n (Myung J. Chun \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n Craft brewing exploded in the 2010s. But these are tough times for brewers. According to the Brewers Assn., an industry trade group, craft brewery closures outpaced openings in 2025 for the second year in a row amid rising production and labor costs, market saturation and declining alcohol consumption<\/a> by young people.<\/p>\n Last year, California had 939 craft breweries, according to<\/a> the Brewers Assn., down from a high of 987 small beer makers in 2023.<\/p>\n Groom is not expecting a quick sale. She\u2019s hoping for someone much younger to run it. Someone with a bit more energy, though hers is hard to top.<\/p>\n The beginnings of a beer queen<\/p>\n Groom is a jane-of-all-trades farm girl from Stockton. As a teen, she wanted to become a snow skier. She sold Avon makeup door-to-door \u2014 even though she doesn\u2019t wear makeup \u2014 to pay for travel to a ski resort and lessons.<\/p>\n Turns out she didn\u2019t like skiing. Too scary.<\/p>\n So she became a pharmacist. She practiced for 20 years, but it never satisfied her creative side. She bought a blueberry farm in Oregon and built her own cabin by hand. But that was too isolating. She dabbled in furniture making, but that didn\u2019t pay the bills.<\/p>\n Barbara Groom checks a new brewing tank, called a mash can, at her Lost Coast Brewery in Eureka, Calif.<\/p>\n (Provided by Barbara Groom )<\/p>\n After visiting the now-closed Hopland brewery, she spent six years studying brew methods and equipment (many small breweries were then using repurposed dairy equipment) and getting her finances in order.<\/p>\n In the foggy little timber town of Eureka, she bought a century-old building \u2014 a former lodge for the Knights of Pythias, a fraternal organization \u2014 and she opened the doors to Lost Coast Brewery in 1990 along with a female business partner.<\/p>\n Chicken wings and trailblazing<\/p>\n Those first couple years, Groom said, \u201cNo one came in. I could shoot a cannon off in there and not hit anybody.\u201d<\/p>\n Eventually, she heard about \u201cthis guy who was in town living on a boat\u201d who had tended bar in Washington state and talked sort of like a pirate. She found him docked in Humboldt Harbor and hired him as a bar manager.<\/p>\n His advice? Give out free chicken wings to get people in the door to try the beer. Worked like a charm.<\/p>\n What\u2019s next?<\/p>\n Groom said she\u2019s selling because she\u2019s got a lot of adventuring to do<\/a> in retirement. She does travel photography, jetting around the world \u2014 China, Romania, India, Argentina, Norway \u2014 with her cameras and drones. Upcoming trips include Iceland and Azerbaijan.<\/p>\n She never gave much thought to being one of the country\u2019s first female brewpub owners. Except one time, early on, when she went to buy a part for her brewing equipment at a plumbing wholesale business, where an employee told her: The next time you need something, send your husband.<\/p>\n She actually never married. She proudly did everything herself \u2014 and did it well.<\/p>\n \u201cA woman\u2019s wort is never done,\u201d she joked, referencing the beer starter that is pronounced \u201cwert.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI never really worried about being a woman,\u201d she said. \u201cI just did what I wanted to do. If somebody gave me a bad time, I just turned around, walked away, and didn\u2019t care. I wasn\u2019t going to be slowed down.\u201d<\/p>\n Today\u2019s top stories People cross the street at South Indiana Avenue as smoke rises from a fire at a cold storage facility in Boyle Heights on June 17.<\/p>\n (Genaro Molina \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n Astronomical soot pollution after Boyle Heights blazeAir monitors near the Boyle Heights warehouse inferno recorded off\u2011the\u2011charts smoke and fine particles<\/a>, rivaling 2025 wildfire pollution and sending nearby residents to emergency rooms.Despite multiple agencies testing the plume, gaps in monitoring for some toxic gases leave people uncertain about what they inhaled.The battle between a yoga teacher and the city of San DiegoA San Diego yoga instructor has filed a third lawsuit against the city for citing him for teaching public classes<\/a>.At issue is a city ordinance that prohibits most yoga instruction in parks and beaches.Trump\u2019s campaign to reshape how states run electionsTrump has spent months waging an unusually aggressive campaign to reshape how states run elections<\/a>.His administration has hit numerous snags in court, with judges reaffirming that the Constitution gives states \u2014 not the federal government \u2014 authority over elections.What else is going onCommentary and opinionsThis morning\u2019s must-readOther must-readsFor your downtime The Goodie Shop at Stile in DTLA. The design-forward historic hotel recently reopened in June and took over the former Ace Hotel building. <\/p>\n (Scott Strazzante \/ For The Times)<\/p>\n Going outStaying inA question for you: What are the most unique town names in California?<\/p>\n Jean B. writes: For 80+ years I thought that Coalinga, the name of the town where my parents lived when I was born, was a Native American word and wondered what it means in, maybe, Chumash. What it means, I finally found out, is that it was Coaling Station A<\/a> on the local railroad.<\/p>\n James R. writes: Washington, California; Buttonwillow, California; Nancy, California.<\/p>\n Email us at essentialcalifornia@latimes.com<\/a>, and your response might appear in the newsletter this week.<\/p>\n And finally … your photo of the day Local artist known as Ladie One uses spray paint to work on her large mural titled The Transfer of Energy overlooking a parking lot on the side of the Premier Towers building off Spring Street in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n (Gina Ferazzi \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n Today\u2019s great photo is from Times photographer Gina Ferazzi outside a mural in downtown Los Angeles.<\/p>\n Have a great day, from the Essential California team<\/p>\n Hailey Branson-Potts, staff writer How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com<\/a>. Check our top stories<\/a>, topics<\/a> and the latest articles<\/a> on latimes.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was 1983. 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<\/p>\n
Hugo Mart\u00edn, assistant editor, fast break desk
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Andrew Campa, weekend writer
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters<\/p>\n