Crafting beer and community: Los Altos resident teams with friend to open ShaKa Brewing

“I think it’s always been a little bit of a romantic notion or something to open a brewery one day, and I didn’t have enough drive on my own to say, ‘Let’s make this become a reality,’ said Townsend, who has lived in Los Altos 27 years. “But then I met Shawn at Google, and I think he had the same kind of dream.”

When Shawn Ellis was asked if Townsend was a good worker to have on his team at Google, he replied with a smile, “Good enough.”

Ellis is the other half of ShaKa Brewing. Literally. “Sha” is for Shawn, and “Ka” is for Karl.

“We both thought it was kind of cutesy and probably not something that we could keep, but it stuck with us,” Townsend said of their brewery’s name.

It was more than the cutesy name that stuck. In fact, the beers offered in ShaKa’s taproom are the original recipes the pair created when they hosted homebrewing parties. Before ShaKa Brewing existed, Ellis and Townsend would each create two beer recipes, gather their friends and have them vote on the better recipe.

“We were, like, ‘Do they like the beers or do they like free beer?’” Townsend said. “But a lot of people said, ‘This beer is really good,’ … so we decided to go pro.”

The winning recipes from their homebrew parties are now four of ShaKa’s mainstay beers. Ellis’s winning lager became the Sunnyvale Pale Lager, and Townsend’s IPA became the Alani Juicy IPA.

Which beer is Townsend’s favorite?

“People ask that question at the bar a lot,” he said. “And I always give my answer: That’s like asking you which one of my kids is my favorite. And then I normally say ‘Austin’ or ‘Sierra’ right after that, just for fun.”

Fun on tap

Fun is one of the reasons Townsend and Ellis love running ShaKa Brewing – they have the opportunity to interact with customers and build community. 

“I think of this as an extended living room for people to hang out, just enjoy their time and enjoy the beer,” Ellis said. “It’s a relaxed, fun environment, and we’re really proud to play the part of being the local community’s brewery.”

The taproom, open 4-9 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, is a family-friendly, dog-friendly hangout spot designed by Ellis’ wife, Rika Ellis, that often has food trucks parked outside. The space intentionally has no TVs or Wi-Fi, instead encouraging conversation and community building.

But the taproom, opened last December, wasn’t always a feature of ShaKa Brewing. In December 2020, ShaKa was only selling beer cans via curbside pickup out of a smaller warehouse. In summer 2021, customers wanted an option to drink beer at the warehouse.

“People started bringing their camp chairs, and they loved it because it was kind of cool, and there was nothing like that around here,” Ellis said.

Last December, Ellis and Townsend moved ShaKa into a larger warehouse with an official taproom. Still working full-time jobs in the tech industry, the business partners look forward to expanding ShaKa’s taproom with live music and local art.

“We are proud to be this community’s local brewery,” Ellis said.

ShaKa Brewing’s taproom is located at 170 N. Wolfe Road, Unit 220. For more information, visit shakabrewing.com.

To watch how ShaKa Brewing makes their beer, visit our YouTube channel @latcmedia.