Buffalo Bill's Brewery

Before 1983, it was illegal for a brewer to sell directly to the consumer. In 1982, Assemblyman Tom Bates wrote California Assembly Bill 3610, which would allow brewers to sell directly to consumers provided food was served. On January 1, 1983, it was signed into law, and the term "brewpub" was officially coined.

Buffalo Bill's was founded in 1983 by Bill Owens, a Guggenheim Fellowship photographer, and in 1994, the brewery was purchased by then brewer Geoff Harries.

Buffalo Bill's is credited with creating the beer styles Amber ale (Buffalo Amber, 1983), Pumpkin ale (1986), and Double IPA (Hearty Ale, 1987). Owens is also credited with creating one of the first craft IPAs in 1987, the Alimony Ale. Slogans for the Alimony Ale included "The Bitterest Beer in America" and "It's Irreconcilably Different". Buffalo Bill's impact on the burgeoning craft beer movement was noted in Playboy magazine: "[Owens has] taken a very ordinary beverage, brewed it in an offbeat manner, and come up with some highly select idiosyncratic beer. How about pumpkin ale made with mashed pumpkins? Or a beer he calls Tasmanian Devil because it's made with Tasmanian hops." Newsweek recognized Owen's efforts towards "legislation that could open the spigots for a nationwide surge of brewpubs and microbreweries."

Buffalo Bill's closed on June 2, 2022, due to rising business costs and the COVID-19 pandemic. The business reopened on August 7, 2023, under new ownership.