The story of Oblivion Brewing begins in Walnut Creek, CA. Darin Butschy started homebrewing in high school, and like most brewers, was immediately hooked. In 1987, at the age of 17, he was washing kegs at Devil Mountain Brewing Company. There, he apprenticed under Brewmaster Jim DeBoer (now at Samuel Adams), learning the craft of production brewing. In 1989 Darin became the head brewer at SLO Brew in San Louis Obispo, CA, under the tutelage of Dr. Michael Hoffman. Wanting to know more, Darin started attending California Polytechnic State University to study chemistry while working at the brewery. Eventually, SLO Brew evolved into Firestone Walker, and Darin worked at Firestone for another year and half. He completed his degree in chemistry in 1994, packed his bags, and moved to Bend, OR.
