Sam Zermeño was up until recently the R&D brewer for Great Notion Brewing, but he got his start at Black Market Brewing in Temecula, CA where he won a GABF gold medal for his hazy IPA. Zermeño is perhaps best known as the single person behind Brujos Brewing, an underground gorilla brewing project that collaborates with breweries across the country on one-off beer releases that are mostly sold via an exclusive and hush-hush club for those that follow their instagram.

More recently Brujos Brewing has worked with Great Notion to release their first officially legit beers commercially made in Oregon and sold via retail, and now Zermeño has joined Living Haus Beer where he will continue the brand building in his signature darkly mysterious way. Last year, Brujos released a series of increasingly intense hazy IPA’s of varying strength, but anyone familiar with the brand knows their mystical elixirs are known to be in the black magic of stouts that pull you into their dark inky abyss.

It’s hard to imagine a local brewer as skilled in the dark arts as Sam, so in recognition of February Stout Month we asked him what his favorite stouts ever are. His top 5 represent a mix of old money and new school beers.

1. Guinness Irish Dry Stout by Guinness

I hadn’t gone back to it for many years. I initially wasn’t a big fan of it to be honest. I love how well balanced and easy drinking this beer is and how much I’ve grown to appreciate the style. - Sam Zermeño

2. The End of All Things by Great Notion x Bottle Logic

When it comes to big barrel aged pastry stouts, this one was exceptional to me. All of the flavors worked together really well. - Sam Zermeño

3. Blessed by Anchorage Brewing

This was one of the best stouts I’ve tried to date. The balance of roast and sweet was incredible. The barrels used for aging this beer lended some incredible complexities to it. Just amazing. - Sam Zermeño

4. Joyous Almonds by Moksa

I usually don’t drink much of any one bottle of adjuncted or high abv stouts. This one was different. I kept going back to it until the bottle was gone. Amazing beer. - Sam Zermeño

5. RYE BBA Finality by Brujos

This has probably been my favorite of all the stouts I’ve brewed myself. It was a tiny homebrew batch that I aged in a rye bourbon barrel. I wish I kept some of it for myself. Haha. - Sam Zermeño

On Saturday, March 18th, 2023 from 12-6pm Living Haus is hosting a Brujos showcase of decadent stout collaborations made with their friends and colleagues around the west coast. The event will also mark the first canned Brujos beer of 2023 (which will also be available on draft for the evening) and some rad new merch just for the occasion.