ABOUT VERMIN BREWING
A Short History
Vermin Brewing was founded in 1992 in Chino, California, USA. The small home brewery produced five different beers in its first year. Since then, it has produced many more, each with its own special label.
VB founders and research team members, F.E. Cooperman and R.J. Zimmerman are proud to have combined two wonderful creations, beer and rats, into one wonderful idea: Vermin Brewing.
In April 1993, the VB International Research Team relocated to Munich, Germany. Their purpose was no longer the brewing of beer but rather the sampling of it.
In October 1995, the team transferred to a Dutch headquarters in Weert, The Netherlands, where they continued to collect over 2500 different beer labels and almost 70 different beer glasses.
In 2001, Vermin Brewing began the complex task of relocating its facility, this time to Boulder, Colorado, USA. The new location would provide them ample space, along with unsurpassed fresh mountain air for the mascots and clean clear water for brewing.
A special VB Beer Museum has always been dedicated to the storage and display of various beer and rat paraphenalia including labels, coasters, books, magazines, toys, and other items that have been collected over the years.
Founding rat mascots, Vladimir and Dmitri, provided not only a fine logo, but were also the inspiration of the small team. International mascots, Rijkus and Devret Ries had their paws full with countless tasks, and their memory still provides unending support. Runa, Akele and Tyra increased the fame of Vermin Brewing through R.A.T. tours around the Netherlands. Mascots Wolfram, Graham and Maximillian used their love of grain to make them a valuable asset to the team. Rex, Cooper and Sheridan unfortunately only just passed through, but have been honored as mascots as well.
The WanderRat newsletter was created in November 1994 to inform VB supporters of its activities abroad. It contains beer and rat information as well as the team's travels and adventures. The Reader Spotlight has pictures and information about special WanderRat readers.
Tail, a division of Vermin Brewing, is responsible for a variety of multimedia products. In 1994, it released VB's Home Brewer, a fun MacOS computer game.
