Maps

Hi! Below are some maps that I made with the "My Maps" tool in Google Maps.*Contact Lotus at [email protected] with questions or suggestions.

I also make maps for local exploration and trips, here's an example of one made for a trip to Iceland. (The details in the pins/locations are spare because I scrubbed it when I duplicated it from the original.)

* I am conflicted about using Google Maps: it works well on mobile and desktop but I find Google/Alphabet Inc to be problematic in many ways. If you have suggestions for alternatives please reach out to me!

California natural vino ferments map

Key and notes for map seen here.

Contact Lotus at [email protected] with questions or suggestions.I am not associated with any winery or related company.

Key
The wineries are separated into three categories: those with publicly available tasting rooms, places that have tasting rooms that are open to the public but only available by appointment, and those without tasting rooms.Why and what
In general, I am not a wine drinker but I do have an interest in fermentation and specifically spontaneous (aka wild, natural) fermentation. I created this map out to see who is making spontaneously fermented vino in California. This is less about drawing a distinction between types of wine ("natural" or not) but finding people doing fun stuff with yeast.Some wineries, on the map, only do spontaneous fermentation, while others have only a wine or two that employ this technique.It is perhaps odd to have places on a map that you cannot visit, i.e. the red pins on the map, but they are there as a launching point to learn more about them.Sources
For finding wineries, I did general internet searches, looked through databases such as Raisin, and looked at topical event listings.For some information, e.g. addresses, I used the California ABC (Alcoholic Beverage Control) website, found here.

If you're interested in beer, see my California Beer Map found here. It is not just spontaneous or wild brewers, but all breweries registered in the state - plus cider, perry, makgeolli, and other ferments.

California beer map key and notes

Key and notes for map seen here.

Contact Lotus at [email protected] with questions or suggestions.I am not associated with any brewery or related company.

Color and Icon Key

• Black beer stein: "Small Beer Manufacturer" <60k barrels/year, license 23.
• Gray beer stein: "Beer Manufacturer" >60k barrels/year, license 1.
• Brown beer stein: License 75 (Brewpub-Restaurant) and Satellite taprooms and other licenses. (see notes.)
• Blue wineglass: non-malt and non-vinifera ferments, mostly cider and sake, license 2 "Winegrower".

California ABC (Alcoholic Beverage Control) license types are here

Key to location (pin) notes

• edit map: information provided to ABC doesn't always match that in the real world. Some examples: (1) the location doesn't drop at the correct spot in Google Maps. (2) the name or location provided to ABC doesn't match that used by the business. This is an flag to check name or location before visiting. See the notes in the entry for details.
• multiple ABC registrations: examples (1) a single brewery has multiple brewing licenses at different locations (2) a brewery has a satellite taproom that doesn't have a brewing license, these locations will appear on another layer, e.g. brewpub or Other (3) the business has both a taproom and a production only facility, in which case the production facility will not appear on the map (4) they are moving locations and the old one is still registered. If you see an entry flagged with an but there's only one location on the map, that's likely because I removed the other location since it is only for production, an office, or similar. I have tried to capture at least one location for each company, while also removing locations that aren't open to the public.
• shared facility: it's relatively common for businesses to share space or equipment, in which case pins/flags might overlap with another place.
• production only: left on the map for reference and learning more. You might be able to visit by special appointment. If they don't have an "m" (for multiple location) these listings do not have another taproom location.The information here, and on the map, is based on my research, it shouldn't be taken as fact. For example, I might note that a brewery doesn't have another location because I didn't see it, but it might; or a brewery might be brewing for other companies and it's just not obvious to an outsider. This is for fun and exploration.

Below is a screen shot of the whole map and one of it zoomed in on the Fresno area.

Process Notes

The primary information source for is the California ABC (Alcoholic Beverage Control), found here. In the map, each layer represents a different license type, e.g. "Small Beer Manufacturer (lic 23)" refers to all businesses with a license 23, which is "fewer than 60,000 barrels per year". For more information on each license type, see here.The map does not include all breweries with a license, I have gone through each licensee and removed those which appeared to be inactive or closed (at the time).

Rough outline of the process
1. I export the information from the California ABC here, to a csv.
2. I then clean up the information in Excel. In early versions this was just to make the addresses readable and other general edits. However, I have now started to add information, like notes and URL. See Key.
3. Upload into Google Maps.The "Satellite taprooms and other licenses" layer is much more ad-hoc, since it captures places that are not Brewing nor Winegrowing licensees.The non-vino ferments layer requires the most cleanup. The raw data from ABC for "Winegrower" (license 2) is well over six thousand registrations. The first round of cleanup with this was mostly just using formulas to search for terms such as "cider" and "farm". Further cleanup was to incorporate other sources and further refining of the list. This results in about one hundred licensees that aren't (only) vino-only (i.e. grapes), some places make wine and another ferments.

General Notes

• The objective of this map is exploration. An example of how this might be reflected in the map: where a brewery lists two locations and one is not open to the public, I've removed the listing that isn't open to the public - sometimes these appeared to be home addresses or were just the unit next door. However, if there is only one listing and it isn't open to the public, I've left it, as a starting place to learn more about the brewery.
• Click on the down arrow, in each layer, to expand the list and see the business names alphabetically.
• Before visiting, verify status. Visiting might not be an option or status might have changed. As a note, during the import into Google Maps, some data doesn't translate accurately and I've tried to note or capture this when possible (this usually happens when the address given to the ABC doesn't match what Google Maps likes as a format).
• There will at times be a lag between breweries closing and their permits expiring, or their permits being granted and their being open to the public.
• The number in the layer titles refers to the California ABC license. For more information on each license type, see here.
• The Satellite taprooms and other licenses layer captures a few types of establishments. One of the most common is when a brewery has a non-brewing taproom, license information is listed within the map pin.
• The map does not include most pub-chains (e.g. BJ's that seem like brewpubs but don't brew on site), but the BJ's that have brewing licenses are on the map. This is mainly because I don't care about visiting a BJ's but want to stay honest about their brewing locations.
• Many brewpubs licensees don't appear to be actively brewing, or just brewing a single beer and serve many guest beers. They often look like nice options for a beer, but not necessarily if you're looking for a wide selection of house made beer.
• Cider, sake,mead, and rice fermentation producers are classified as "Winegrower" by the California ABC.
• Kombucha has been removed from the Small Beer Manufacturer (license 23) list and a separate layer created for it. (Because I don't think of kombucha as beer.)
• I can't find a satisfactory answer as to why the California ABC considers makgeolli to be wine but kombucha to be beer. (Aside from kombucha, it seems that almost all non-beer ferments are considered wine, e.g. cider, perry, mead, and rice ferments.) If you know the reasoning please let me know.
• For my map of wineries doing spontaneous (aka wild, natural) fermentation in California, please see here.

If you're interested in natural wine producers in California, see my other map here. You can also see the key for that map here - also linked in the map info.