It’s that time of year again. The Brewers Association, the national trade organization representing American breweries, has released its lists of the top 50 breweries and “craft breweries” in the country, based on barrels of beers sold during calendar year 2015. Four breweries from San Diego County are included in the “craft brewery” list.

Once again, Stone Brewing is tops on the list, but the Escondido-based company slipped from ninth to tenth in the standings…one notch above Miramar-based Ballast Point Brewing and Spirits, which rose a full 20 points from its 2014 position. But wait…after being sold for $1 billion to Constellation Brands late last year, Ballast Point no longer qualifies as a “craft brewer” by the BA’s standards (*). But they are on the list based on the decision to include companies that met the BA’s criteria for all or part of 2015.

Mira Mesa-based Green Flash Brewing Company rose from 48 to 41 this year, while San Diego’s oldest continuously operating brewing operation, Karl Strauss Brewing Company, came in at 46 (down a notch from 45 in 2014). On the list of U.S. breweries, which does not consider businesses’ “craft” nature, Stone placed 15, Ballast Point came in at 17 and Green Flash edged in at 49. All three operations figure to produce far more beer in 2016 once additional brewing facilities and equipment come on-board.

Stone is looking to a third-quarter debut of breweries in both Richmond, Virginia and Berlin, Germany, while Ballast Point recently upped its production capabilities in a big way by adding a 300-barrel brewhouse and securing space in Long Beach for a barrel facility that will give birth to sours. Meanwhile, Green Flash is still hard at work on finishing construction of its East Coast brewery in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

• BA Craft Brewer definition—Small: Annual production of 6 million barrels of beer or less (approximately 3 percent of U.S. annual sales). Beer production is attributed to the rules of alternating proprietorships. Independent: Less than 25 percent of the craft brewery is owned or controlled (or equivalent economic interest) by an alcoholic beverage industry member that is not itself a craft brewer. Traditional: A brewer that has a majority of its total beverage alcohol volume in beers whose flavor derives from traditional or innovative brewing ingredients and their fermentation. Flavored malt beverages (FMBs) are not considered beers.

This is the second of a four-part series assessing the most hopeful of San Diego’s in-progress brewery projects. Last week, I looked at upcoming businesses in North County. Today is all about the western expanses of the region. Additionally, I’m taking a look back at how some other brewery-owned venues I thought had promise actually turned out over the past three years.

Mikkeller Brewing San Diego, Miramar: Uber beer geeks are excited to see what outlandish gypsy brewer Mikkel Borg Bjergso does with this brick-and-mortar (a creative partnership with AleSmith Brewing Company owner Peter Zien) and they’ll find out on April 16, when the tasting room opens to the public with a beer-festival featuring standout locals and some of Bjergso’s far-flung friends. Fans who remember when the business housed AleSmith’s original tasting room won’t recognize the joint…or the beers.

Amplified Ale Works, Miramar: The quality of this Pacific Beach-based brewpub’s beers has gained it a nice following, but there’s nothing quite so disappointing as driving there only to find the nano-kebabery is out of house-beer. Opening a production operation in one of H.G. Fenton’s ready-to-brew Brewery Igniter suites in the heart of “Beeramar” should fix that and allow this business to get to the next level and bring beers like Electrocution IPA to an inland clientele.

OB Brewery, Ocean Beach: It’s been years in the making, but the skeleton of this three-story brewery, bar and restaurant at the end of Newport Avenue looks darn good. OB’s in the midst of a massive influx of brewery tasting rooms (Culture Brewing Company and Mike Hess Brewing Company with Belching Beaver Brewery and two small Kearny Mesa ops on the way), but a new brewery hasn’t touched down since Pizza Port set up shop in 2010. The time is right for this project, so long as the beer is of good quality.

Past Promising Projects: West

2013: Benchmark Brewing Company (Grantville; Grade—A; to-style “beer-flavored beer” and a delightful sampling space); Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens—Liberty Station (Point Loma; Grade—A; the best Stone beers are coming from this beautiful brewpub’s 10-barrel system); Modern Times Beer (Lomaland; Grade—B; beers don’t wow, but are defect-free, biggest points earned for tasting-room and can décor); Saint Archer Brewery (Miramar; Grade—C; they figured out how to make good beer just in time to sell out, but never figured out how to develop heart or soul)

2014: AleSmith Brewing Company (Miramar; Grade—A; from 20,000SF to 105,500SF with no quality collapse and county’s largest tasting room), Bitter Brothers Brewing Company (Bay Ho; Grade—B; brewing by-committee an interesting MO, but initial beers are solid); Duck Foot Brewing Company (Miramar; Grade—B; went beyond all-gluten-free angle to just-plain-good beer, gluten or no)

Duck Foot The Looker California Blonde Ale

From the Beer Writer: In the vast world of beer styles, there are some that come across as vague and underappreciated. One of those is the humble but nearly ubiquitous blonde ale. In a county where hoppy brews rule, somehow this is the only type of blonde that doesn’t tend to turn too many heads. But good blonde ales should, and Duck Foot The Looker California Blonde Ale is one of the good ones. Easy-drinking with enough body to be substantial, it comes on with a touch of honey-like sweetness plus a touch of pink Bubble Yum that seems appropriate for a beer with a cheery grinning young lass as the focal point of its bottle-art. More people will be able to get a taste of it now that it’s being packaged in 22-ounce glass. A good time to get a taste of this 5.6% alcohol-by-volume crowd-pleaser will be at Duck Foot Brewing Company’s Miramar tasting room, tomorrow (April 16) from 6 to 10 p.m. during a party celebrating the debut of this and two other bottled beers dubbed “22 Oz to Freedom.” It, like this beer, is bound to be sublime.

From the Brewer: “Duck Foot beer is in bottles for the first time ever! We’ve managed to wrap some glass around some of our finest malty and hoppy concoctions just so our fans can have something to drink when they’re not actually visiting us (though why anyone would ever want to leave our tasting room, we’re not sure). It’s the same delicious beer that we’ve been brewing since we opened last year, but we’ve decided to give each beer a fun new name. Our Cali Blonde Ale is now called The Looker and incorporates the artwork that can be seen (by some of us) in the women’s restroom in our tasting room. The Chocolate Hazelnut Porter is now ChocoNut Lust and uses the ‘Punks’ artwork which can be seen in the bathroom alcove. And finally, the West Coast-style IPA is now called The Contender, and uses the robot-boxer imagery seen on our big wall. So we’re as excited about the bottle artwork as we are about the beer itself, and we hope everyone else is, too, as we embark on a new phase in Duck Foot history.”—Brett Goldstock, Head Brewer, Duck Foot Brewing Co.

This weekend, long-awaited international collaborative project Mikkeller Brewing San Diego opened its doors. The place was mobbed, both by everyday customers stopping in for a taste of the numerous beers in the tasting room, and next-level beer geeks assembling in the lot behind the brewery for a beer-festival that included various local interests as well as hard-to-get beers from cult-favorite brewing companies outside San Diego. When the dust cleared, I was left with a sated palate, a bunch of notes and some photos to share with West Coaster readers. Before we get started, skeptics, haters and trolls will be glad to know that I’m leaving my opinions on beer aroma, flavor and quality out of this. It’s only right. While I do not work for Mikkeller Brewing San Diego, I do work for AleSmith Brewing Company, the founder and CEO of which also has a substantial ownership stake in MBSD. So, I’ll share the basics so you know what to expect going in. But I’ll also share a bit of insight from behind this operation, because there are some fun little items that I’m sure San Diego beer enthusiasts will be interested in.

For those who somehow haven’t heard the story of how Mikkeller SD (as we affectionately refer to it) came to be, here’s the basics. After 19 years of brewing in a small, off-the-beaten-path set of business suites on Cabot Drive in Miramar, AleSmith owner Peter Zien signed on the dotted-line for a 105,500-square-foot facility two blocks away on Empire Street (which the City of San Diego later renamed AleSmith Court). That left Zien to decide what to do with AleSmith’s original facility. A number of companies (even those many craft-beer fans would politely refer to as “unsavory”) came knocking, but instead of entertaining the highest-bidder, Zien pursued an idea based on a nearly decade-old friendship with Danish gypsy-brewer Mikkel Borg Bjergso.

Prior to starting the business he would dub Mikkeller, Bjergso reached out to Zien as a homebrewer to a pro and asked for tips on integrating coffee into an oatmeal stout that, after this question was answered, would go on to be Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast. That beer made a name for Mikkeller, which has since gone on to become an international force worldwide…despite the fact Bjergso has never had a brewery to call his own. Looking to hand over his spot, turnkey-style, he reached out to Bjergso to see if he had any interest in a brick-and-mortar. The answer is yes and the rest is 15 months of history that consists solely of the duo and the recently assembled Mikkeller SD staff working hard to bring this project to life.

Though installed in the same spot as AleSmith’s former tasting room, Mikkeller’s recognizably quirky artistic stamp is all over the place. The floors have been painted turquoise, a mural featuring two very basic (and very flexible), iconic illustrated characters takes up the west wall of the sampling space with additional print art adorning the walls. AleSmith’s curved orange wall has been replaced with contemporary wooden slats that, when matched with modern light-fixtures, are a bit reminiscent of some of MIkkeller’s bars and bottle-shops, of which there are more than a dozen sprinkled across the globe. Best of all, the smallish space has been added to, care of the conversion of some of AleSmith’s former office-space into an overflow seating area just off the main entrance.

The opening-weekend tap-list consisted of 18 beers. It was important to the team at Mikkeller SD to offer a wide array of beers and styles, but I can say from witnessing what into it that it wasn’t easy. Delayed licensing and permitting alone made for a tough row to hoe, but we’re talking 18 beers here. That’s more than many breweries have to offer after having been open for months. And then one must consider the process of getting these beers dialed in to where Bjergso, who spent the majority of his time 10,000 kilometers away in Denmark but came up with base ideas and recipes for the Mikkeller SD beers, was comfortable with them. Beers would be brewed, fermented, then shipped to Denmark. Three of those initial beers—an American pale ale, India pale ale and porter—went through several iterations and were on at AleSmith’s current tap-room over a span of several months. They took a great deal of time and consideration, leaving a mere 15 beers to be brewed before last weekend’s opening—about six weeks down the road.

This is where the story gets pretty cool and the “creative-partnership” between AleSmith and Mikkeller that this new business is labeled became just that. Zien, who has been instrumental in early recipe-refinement (nobody knows the brewery like the man who built it and worked it up from the day’s when it was comprised solely of dairy equipment), pulled out some homebrew recipes and methodologies. Members of AleSmith’s brewing team collaboratively assisted, most notably on Mikkeller SD’s first bottled beer, an English-style old ale dubbed Ny Verden. Other beers that made it in time for the opening were a Belgian-style blonde ale, saison, trippel and dark strong ale, several more IPAs (including a Brettanomyces-spiked offering that I really enjoyed FWIW), a Berliner weisse, a pilsner (and a version of that beer with blood orange), an imperial stout and numerous members of the Beer Geek family of coffee beers.

Overseeing all of this work and brewing all of these beers (with the help of his crew, of course) was head brewer Bill Batten. After well over a decade with AleSmith, he knows the Cabot Drive system like the back of his hand, so when Mikkeller SD was set to become a reality, both he and Zien knew it made sense for this industrious and adventurous brewer to transfer himself, and with him a ton of history and knowhow, to the new business. While I can’t get too opinionated here, I can share that we at AleSmith are extremely proud of Batten, who went as far as roasting some of the coffee for the Beer Geek beers at his own residence. He is the glue that held together a rapidly developing project with the eyes of beer-obsessed people all over the planet.

And the fact he got by with a little help from his friends just makes the story all that much more San Diego in nature. Such camaraderie and willingness to do whatever it takes to make great beer is what this culture is all about, and it’s a big reason why Bjergso was excited to plunk down his first full-time brewery in America’s Finest City. Kudos to a good decision, cheers to a local beer landmark staying that way via a new identity, and props to the beer-lovers who have made and continue to make San Diego the very special place that it is.

In this continuing, four-part series attempting to predict the most exciting upcoming brewery projects in San Diego County, I’m offering my most educated guesses as to what businesses figure to be of higher-quality once open, and looking at my track record in assessing the futures of such businesses over the past three-plus years. Last week, I tackled North County, followed by the Western portions of SD. Today is all about San Diego’s more southerly expanses.

North Park Beer Co., North Park: This operation has been on the list for the entire time I’ve been tracking this sort of thing, but finally…finally…it looks to be very close to actually opening. The former MMA gym this long-anticipated brewery and tasting room calls home is almost completely converted, much to the elation of the denizens of its namesake community. Once open, look for the coveted Hop Fu IPA and, eventually, some barrel-aged treats from the cellar.

Thr3e Punk Ales Brewing Company, Chula Vista: This punk-rock themed business has been producing beers through a unique rotating-proprietorship agreement with Santee’s Butchers Brewing Company, but recently took over a two-story (three if you count the basement) spot right on Chula Vista’s main drag. It’ll be the municipality’s first downtown brewery and with as much support as they’re providing these punks, the place should turn out quite nice.

Brewery Igniter, North Park: Developer H.G. Fenton built its initial “Brewery Igniter” complex (a pair of ready-to-use brewery/tasting room suites) in Miramar, the success of which has them constructing a trio of similar but larger spots on El Cajon Boulevard. Only one tenant is official so far, Pariah Brewing Company, but this is a fiscally sound model that should appeal to numerous aspiring brewery owners, offering reason for optimism.

Past Promising Projects: North

2013: Ballast Point Tasting Room & Kitchen (Little Italy; Grade—A; at the time, the most beers of any of the former craft-brewery’s venues), Mike Hess Brewing Company – North Park (North Park; Grade—B; a uniquely appealing tasting room with views of the brewery below), Birifficio Calabria (North Park; Grade: N/A; Caffe Calabria’s nano never came to fruition)

2014: South Park Brewing Company (South Park; Grade—A; straightforward, award-winning beer out of the gate); Half Door Brewing Company (East Village; Grade—B; started slow, but a great addition to the Petco Park area)

2015: ChuckAlek Independent Brewers – North Park (North Park; Grade: N/A; opens tomorrow!)

In closing out my bi-annual preview of upcoming brewer-owned businesses showing the most potential, I’m focusing on the East County. Problem is, the list hasn’t changed since the last time I previewed the expansive east in September 2015. Back then, La Mesa’s long-delayed (and suddenly controversial) Depot Springs Beer Company, the future Santee headquarters of Karl Strauss Brewing Company and Lakeside’s first brewery-to-be Knox Corners Brewing Company appeared to have the best legs…and they still do. So, instead of rehashing those, I’m sharing three honorable-mentions from the west, since that is the region with the most exciting projects going on right now.

Barrel Rescue Brewing Company, Kearny Mesa: It’ll be really tiny with extremely sporadic releases of super-small-batch offerings, but with barrels “rescued” from becoming garden planters and plans for some very interesting beers, this figures to be a really cool operation. And big-time bonus points go to the owners for carrying the rescue theme through to local canines due to their mutual love of supporting adoption organizations focused on the preservation of at-risk dogs.

Thunderhawk Alements, Miramar: Sure, the sign outside the building slates its delivery date as…2015. Despite thinking that was a bit too wishful, this figures to be a quality addition to the local brewing scene that will play nicely with cross-street neighbors 2kids Brewing Company and Pacific Brewing Company. Having tried Thunderhawk’s coffee pale ale awhile back, I can attest to its standout character and hope the rest of their beers are in line with that tasty sneak-preview.

Fighter Town Brewing Company, Sorrento Valley: People don’t really talk a lot about La Jolla Brewing Company, the founders of which are behind this contract-brewing project. But there is a buzz around this work-in-progress facility, which could bring beers of notable brewing operations from other parts of the country—or other countries entirely. If the right folks sign a contract, this could turn into something really intriguing.

Past Promising Projects: East

2013: Nickel Beer Company (Julian; Grade—A; a variety of quality beers provides way more than pie and snow in SD’s getaway town)

Thank God for the Internet. Thank God for WordPress. Well…thank God for the Internet, anyway. Were it not for the real-time publishing capabilities of the web, I wouldn’t have been able to turn on a dime and provide you a sneak-peek of Amplified Ale Works’ new Miramar brewery-tasting room facility (9030 Kenamar Drive, Suite 309, Miramar). All necessary governmental agency red-tape was finally sliced through yesterday, allowing the business to open at 3 p.m. TODAY.

Fans of Amplified’s live-music thematic will appreciate that the almighty Marshall amp is as respected as ever. Future tap-handles will come in the form of Marshall stacks with Amplified’s iconic “A” logo on top, and a giant Marshall amp façade frames the flat-screen beer-board, which features a dozen different offerings, including standards like Electrocution IPA, Electro-Lite session IPA, Bearded Guard Belian-style biere de garde and Sellout light lager. Also on tap is a new American wheat ale called Whammy Bar Wheat, which will debut right along with the new spot, and Centerpointe, a 4% alcohol-by-volume Belgian pale ale brewed collaboratively with next-door neighbors, Pure Project Brewing. And head brewer Cy Henley is now brewing with newly-hired director of brewery operations and Rip Current Brewing Company alum, Jeff Campbell.

Amplified and Pure Project’s facilities are mirror-images of each other, separated only by their interior design. Such is the concept behind H.G. Fenton’s Brewery Igniter model, which leases ready-to-brew spaces equipped with brewhouses, cellars, cold-storage and customizable tasting rooms. Amplified further brings in its musical devotion with guitar-shaped taster-flight holders, vintage concert posters, black-and-white photos of rock-and-roll acts, and a projector that will play live music performances as well as the occasional Padres game (or Chargers for as long as we have them).

The primary reason Amplified ownership invested in the Brewery Igniter space was to up the amount of beer it has to sell at its Pacific Beach brewpub and increase the amount of beer it can distribute to outside accounts. Fortunately, the Amplified put plenty of thought into this space as an outlet for reaching people and providing comfort as well as a taste of a taste of its beers. There is plenty of seating along the bar and each wall, plus a long, high-table in the center of the room. It’s more seating than I’d have thought the space would afford. See for yourself starting this afternoon!

Amplified Ale Work’s Miramar tasting room will be open Monday-Thursday from 3 to 9 p.m., Friday-Saturday from noon to 10 p.m. and Sundays from noon to 8 p.m. An official grand-opening event is planned for May 13.

Mike Hess Brewing’s Grapefruit Solis IPA (photo courtesy Mike Hess Brewing)

From the Beer Writer: Fruited beers are en vogue…again. In past iterations of this trend, which comes and goes, gaining more and more traction each time around, fruits have mostly appeared in lighter-bodied, lower-alcohol beers-styles such as blonde ales, wits and assorted lagers. Darker beers such as porters and stouts also get their fair share of fruiting, mostly with berries. This time around, it’s all about the IPA. (But seriously, when isn’t it all about the IPA?) IPAs packed with hops exhibiting citrus and tropical fruit flavors are being further amplified in those respects by actual citrus and tropical fruits. This week’s featured beer, Mike Hess Grapefruit Solis IPA, started off with grapefruit picked in a backyard. Such was the popularity of this beer at Mike Hess Brewing Company‘s trio of tasting bars, a domestic plot will no longer suffice. So, the grapefruits are sourced then processed at the North Park production brewery, which on days when the brew crew are zesting away, smells more like an orchard than a manufacturing site. All that aroma and flavor come through in the finished product, a fresh batch of which recently made it back out onto the market.

From the Brewer: “Seven years ago, Mike Hess was trying to convince his mother to try an IPA over her preferred stout. In an effort to persuade her, he suggested thinking of an IPA as carbonated grapefruit juice, and lo and behold, she is now an IPA enthusiast. Fast-forward to the summer of 2015 when Mike was solicited by a local business to create a specialty craft beer and it dawned on him he could create a grapefruit IPA using his flagship Solis recipe and adding fresh grapefruit from the backyard of his home in La Mesa. After picking hundreds of grapefruits from his tree with his children, Mike and his family hand-zested and squeezed the grapefruit to add to Solis #46. After perfecting the recipe, Grapefruit Solis was added to Mike Hess Brewing’s menu as a flagship beer using a combination of Nugget, Cascade and Citra hops with two-row, melanoidin and Vienna malts. Grapefruit Solis takes the best out of a traditional San Diego IPA and combines it with a well-rounded flavor profile brought out by the citrus in the grapefruit. This recipe is the perfect example of fruit-infused beer. We pack our hop-back with grapefruit zest just before fermentation and then, prior to packaging, we add in a dose of real grapefruit juice, doubling down for flavor-town. Light in color and dry in taste, this beer has a subtle malt component and a clean yeast profile. It’s like getting sacked in the face with a bag of grapefruit.”—Jason Stockberger, Head Brewer, Mike Hess Brewing Company

From the Bottle: Grapefruit Solis kicks it up a notch by taking our awesome San Diego style IPA and pumping it full of citrusy grapefruit goodness. No artificial flavors either—we’re talking real fruit. The hops are carefully selected to play off the zestiness, and the malt is subtle in the background. The result is dry, crisp and deliciously refreshing.

Edit: This post has been shortened to focus on The Beer of the Week.

There are certain, seemingly nonsensical brewery names that challenge patrons to derive any meaning from them. But with upcoming project, Longship Brewery (10320 Camino Santa Fe, Suite C, Mira Mesa), what you hear is what you’ll get. Owner, brewer and jestingly self-proclaimed “captain” Dan Jachimowicz’s corner-suite tasting room is being outfitted to resemble—you guessed it—a long ship. A Viking vessel, to be exact.

A pair of communal bench-style tables will run down the middle of the high-ceilinged, hall-like room, flanked by rows of beer-filled oak barrels and wall-mounted shields. Further driving home the Nordic nautical theme will be a large Viking mural directly over the bar and a tall piece of thematic art near the entrance. The 750-square-foot room will have capacity for 49 indentured rowers…err, visitors, who will benefit from such modern innovations as purse-hooks, various games, electrical outlets and complimentary WiFi.

Longship’s entire space is 4,450-square-feet with a 10-barrel brewhouse (plus a 10-gallon pilot-system), three 10-barrel fermenters and a pair of 10-barrel bright tanks. This will allow the company to produce 500 barrels of beer per year (though the conservative estimate for Year One is 200-to-250), but the floor-plan includes room to install additional cellar equipment bringing with it the ability to increase annual barrelage to 1,000. Jachimowicz selected his Mira Mesa site with eventual expansion in mind, and likes that idea of taking over next-door suites as needed.

Longship Brewery owner and brewer Dan Jachimowicz

A UC Irvine graduate whose thesis was on the history and modernization of beer, Jachimowicz’s beer list takes great and varied influence form Europe. An English-style pale ale, mild ale and strong India pale ale (IPA) are in the mix along with a German-style doppelbock and two Belgian numbers—a witbier and IPA. Other beers are in the works, including an American strong ale and beers designed to go in those aforementioned barrels. Long-term, Longship is envisioned as a venture that will grow into a large production brewery and national brand. For now, San Diegans can expect to get their first taste when the business soft-opens next month.

AleSmith Mexican Speedway Stout (photo by Brian Doll)

From the Beer Writer: Speedway Stout, a coffee-imperial stout produced by (my current employer) AleSmith Brewing Company, has long been one of my favorite beers. Since the first time I tasted it roughly a decade ago, I’ve been hooked. I consider it a standard-bearer for all big coffee-laden stouts and, before the Miramar brewery started producing one-offs, I thought it impossible to improve on. I was wrong. For years now, the brewery has used different types of coffee, including the famed kopi luwak variety requiring the availability of a well-regulated Southeast Asian rodent, to add diversity and additional flavor to Speedway Stout. More recently, AleSmith has issued variants of the beer that are culturally and regionally specific. First it was Hawaiian Speedway Stout, which included Ka’u coffee, toasted coconut and vanilla beans. That beer was as sultry as a hula girl, and its success led AleSmith’s brew crew to take on another geographic region and its culinary delights. Enter Mexican Speedway Stout, a blend of fresh and aged imperial stout matured in añejo tequila-soaked oak barrels. Bittersweet chocolate and cinnamon are added to the mix for extra depth and a symbiotic flavor profile that is truly special and worthy of coveting. This beer was produced in very small batches. Bottles of it are currently on-sale online, and the beer will go on-tap exclusively at AleSmith’s Miramar tasting room starting at the Mexican Speedway release party, starting at 11 a.m., tomorrow.

From the Brewer: “The idea for Mexican Speedway Stout came about when we first decided to age our imperial stout in añejo tequila barrels. As the stout aged and the flavors matured, we couldn’t help but think of a champurrado—a classic Mexican beverage that showcases chocolate and cinnamon. So we decided to take this beer one step further as an homage to those flavors. The result is a rich, flavorful, barrel-aged imperial stout that combines cinnamon, Mexican coffee, chocolate and the oaky essence of the tequila barrels in which it was aged. Velvety notes of vanilla and chocolate combine with the spicy flavors of the cinnamon and tequila to create a beer that is as subtly balanced as it is opulent.”—Ryan Crisp, Director of Brewery Operations, AleSmith Brewing Company

From the Bottle: Our Southern California hometown of San Diego has been heavily influenced by our South-of-the-Border neighbors. In many senses, it’s nearly impossible to discern where Mexican culture ends and San Diegans’ begins. So it is with great pride that we endeavored to bring bold flavors and ingredients inspired by our cross-border muses in the form of the latest ambitious variation of our coffee-studded vanguard, Speedway Stout. We started by storing our imperial stout in tequila barrels, then blending it with fresh Speedway infused with a special blend of Mexican coffee beans and fine bittersweet chocolate balanced by warming, earthy cinnamon. The result is a smooth and tantalizing beer that drinks like Mexican hot chocolate and comes across as a brilliant display of hand-crafted cultural fusion.

Disclosure: When not pounding out articles on the local craft-beer scene, you can find me working hard as the Marketing Manager for AleSmith. But know this…I wouldn’t dare tell you this beer was awesome if it wasn’t truly awesome. I hope you enjoy it!

Recently, word trickled to my neck of the social-sphere that long-time Green Flash Brewing Company brewer Joe Liscia had a new gig as the head fermentation specialist for a start-up venture. He’d spent the past five years working for San Diego County’s third-largest craft-brewery (preceded by four years at Oggi’s in Carmel Mountain Ranch and a prior stint helping out Green Flash’s bottling line in 2007), but like many brewers, had dreams of heading his own operation. That opportunity was presented to him in the form of Little Miss Brewing (7949 Stromesa Court, Suite Y, Miramar).

Located a skootch north of Mikkeller Brewing San Diego, AleSmith Brewing Company and Mike Hess Brewing Company’s original nanobrewery, Little Miss has secured a 4,700-square-foot facility. But despite it being somewhere geographically advantageous from a beer-touring perspective, don’t plan on stopping by. This will be a production-only site. Eventually, the familial owners (who own multiple bars), Valerie Fuller, Greg and Jade Malkin, hope to open the brewery to visitors, but their immediate plan is to set up tasting rooms throughout San Diego proper. Those sampling venues are projected to be between 800 and 1,500 square feet and equipped with fun activities (think projector-screen Nintendo, life-size kid’s classics, card and board games).

Liscia plans to begin brewing in five weeks and says a significant portion of his portfolio will be “transitional beers”; the type that non-craft people can get their heads around while developing a taste for something more complex. There will also be an India pale ale (of course) as well as some barrel-aged offerings scheduled for release down the road. These beers will be produced on a 15-barrel steam system and cellared in seven 15-barrel fermenters plus a single 20-barrel tank. Liscia projects Little Miss to produce roughly 1,500 barrels in its first full year, then aim for steady, gradual increases each following year. But the intention with this miss is to stay little (no more than 20 employees).

Many are the beer-geek, Trekkie and sci-fi nut who’ve enjoyed pints in tandem with the outer-space theme at Intergalactic Brewing Company (9715 Carroll Centre Road, #107, Miramar). Enough that owner and brewmaster Alex Van Horne has experienced steady growth and increasing demand for his beers, which hit nearly every style thanks much in part to a rotating “Red Shirt” series of one-and-done brews. Over the past three years, Intergalactic has gone from a single business suite, to back-to-back suites, but even after doubling his footprint, Van Horne needed more space for brewing operations, cold storage and his patrons.

In January, Van Horne leased a second unit within Intergalactic’s business-park home, a 2,600-square-foot space that, aside from a small office, is completely devoted to the customer experience. The cold-box from the original 750-square-foot tasting room was transferred to the new space (along with the original 20-tap setup) and expanded by 20 percent. Situated around that chilled-storage is an L-shaped bar featuring a ripple façade (that will soon be illuminated by LED lighting) and a counter-top decorated with glossed-over shots from the Hubble space telescope.

Posters from sci-fi movies have been posted near the entryway and around the room, which offers a variety of seating, including stools at the bar and around used barrels plus picnic tables near the back of the bar. The space has further been made comfortable by the landlord’s courteous addition of air-conditioning prior to Intergalactic moving in. A separate room that fits up to 25 people can also be rented out for private events. Altogether, the new tasting room can hold roughly 150 people, quite the upgrade from the old space, which only had capacity for 40 and regularly topped out on weekends.

Back at Intergalactic’s original space, brewing has finally begun on beer that is slated for someplace other than the tasting room. Last week, Van Horne and lead brewer Anthony Fusco brewed a full batch of The Cake is a Lie, a coffee cream ale that will all be set aside for distribution. Intergalactic is on-pace to brew between 300 and 350 barrels in 2016, with plans to increase barrelage in 2017 and beyond.

Amplified Ale Works Whammy Bar Wheat

From the Beer Writer: I showed up at Amplified Ale Works’ new brewery-tasting room in Miramar the day after it opened. A hop, skip and a jump from my day-job, I was eager to see what sort of beers I’d have easier access to now that getting a hold of them wouldn’t require a trip out to the company’s original Pacific Beach location. As I perused the board, I was informed of a new offering that had been brewed specifically for the opening of the “Beeramar” space—Amplified Whammy Bar Wheat. I promptly added it to my taster-flight and made it the first of the quartet of samples I swigged. I didn’t expect to be blown away by a wheat beer as the beauty of such styles tends to be in their subtlety and balance. Whammy Bar had plenty of the latter plus nice assertiveness on the palate and a crisp finish. It tasted like, well, beer…and in this age of massive infusion and living outside the box, it was a welcomed change of pace. I thought it was really nice, but wondered if others would appreciate it. The following week, it won a gold medal at the World Beer Cup in the American-style Wheat Beer category. So, I guess that answered my question!

From the Brewers: “As an American wheat ale, Whammy Bar has a light, crisp flavor almost reminiscent of a lager, but the 40% wheat in the malt bill helps build in a nice body that provides a pleasant mouth-feel while still keeping the beer extremely drinkable. It’s the perfect beer for our brewpub patio. Having a larger, dedicated brewing facility outside of the brewpub has made our lives a lot easier. And the use of our newly installed reverse-osmosis system has really helped brewing styles like Whammy Bar Wheat, which call for a clean water-profile.”—Cy Henley, Head Brewer, Amplified Ale Works

Summer is nigh and the temps will soon be high. That’s right…IPA weather! Of course, there’s no reason to wait around to drink hoppy beers, or any beers for that matter. The following are some prime opportunities for doing just that. Check them out, then refer to our master events page for even more good times to be had in the presence of quality craft-beer.

June 4 | Anniversaries: With more than 100 breweries in San Diego County, there’s bound to be some birthday overlap here and there. Split-time or double-up with gluten-free operation Duck Foot Brewing Company as they celebrate their first year in business and Intergalactic Brewing Company, which turns three. They’re both in Miramar, so geography is your friend here! | Duck Foot Brewing Company, 8920 Kenamar Drive, Suite 210, Miramar, 12 p.m.; Intergalactic Brewing Company, 9715 Carroll Centre Road, Suite 107, Miramar, 1 p.m.

June 4 | Brew & Food Festival: So you prefer food to anniversaries. No problem. International culinary superstar Javier Plascencia is gathering a bunch of his taste buds (i.e., really good chefs) to pair their cuisine with more than 200 terrific craft-beers from breweries near and far on San Diego’s downtown bay-front, all in support of San Diego Coastkeeper. | Waterfront Park, Downtown, 1600 Pacific Highway, 2 p.m.

June 10 & 11 | More Anniversaries: What was that thing I was ranting about with birthday-overlap. Two straight weekends equals more identical anniversary dates with dueling celebrations. If you want to hit them all, head to Division 23 Brewing Company‘s one-year annie on Friday, then make it a double on Saturday with Council Brewing Company’s two-year festivities followed by Societe Brewing Company’s four-year battle of the brewers. | Council Brewing Company, 7705 Convoy Court, Kearny Mesa, Times Vary; Societe Brewing Company, 8262 Clairemont Mesa Boulevard, Kearny Mesa, 12 p.m.

June 17 | Tony Gwynn 5.5K: This annual tradition pays homage to the greatest sports-hero in San Diego history while raising money to support the non-profit organization he and his wife founded to help underprivileged locals and youth facing barriers to employment, the Tony and Alicia Gwynn Foundation. Run or walk through Beeramar, then relax with a San Diego Pale Ale .394 (or four). | AleSmith Brewing Company, 9990 AleSmith Court, Miramar, 8 a.m.

June 17-19 | San Diego International Beer Festival: It’s one of the largest international beer-festivals in the country…and you can enjoy it in tandem with the San Diego County Fair. Hundreds of beers, plus food-pairings, educational-seminars and other value-addeds await over a three days and five all-you-can-enjoy sessions. | Del Mar Fairgrounds, 2260 Jimmy Durante Boulevard, Del Mar, Times Vary

Playor Hator Maibock, a collaboration from Division 23 Brewing Company and 32 North Brewing Company

From the Beer Writer: What’s 23 plus 32? I’ve always been horrible at math, so it shouldn’t surprise you that my answer isn’t 55. That’s OK, because the solution to this equation isn’t a number at all. The answer is maibock, because in this case I’m talking about the sum (or product, in this case) of Division 23 Brewing Company and 32 North Brewing Company. Both operations are based in Miramar and each of their head brewers recently put their heads together for a collaboration beer that will debut when Division 23 celebrates its one-year anniversary today starting at 3 p.m. Six-and-a-half percent alcohol-by-volume, it’s light in body, bright with mineral-like expressions of lager yeast and easy to love. Making its name Playor Hator Maibock a tad ironic, but still pretty darn funny. For more on that handle, I’ll defer to one of the individuals responsible for it…

From the Brewer: “This strong, pale lager was brewed to celebrate both the change of seasons and Division 23’s one-year anniversary. It was our first collaboration brew with our friends and neighbors at 32 North Brewing Company. (32 North head brewery) Will Gallaspy and I both share a love for traditional German lagers, so a maibock was a natural choice. This beer is light and easy drinking, with a mellow bitterness and slight honey aroma. We chose to follow the German tradition of naming bocks with the -ator suffix, and so the name Playor Hator was born. It will be available on tap at both of our tasting rooms for a limited time, starting with our two-day anniversary on June 10 and 11, where we’ll be releasing our first barrel-aged beer—a bourbon barrel-aged version of our Night Shift imperial stout—as well as a new barley-wine and our Sour Superintendent Berliner weisse served with a quintet of special syrups such as chipotle, Sichuan-spice and lemongrass.”—Kevin Daugherty, Head Brewer, Division 23 Brewing Company

Today, West Coaster has an announcement to share that is nothing short of groundbreaking. The efforts of a renowned local brewery are about to be realized in a development that is totally without precedent. This could very well establish an entirely new paradigm in the craft brewing industry. But before I get to all that, I’d like to share some of my thoughts on frozen yogurt.

Frozen yogurt (also referenced as “froyo” by the worst sort of people) is a dessert-like substance with two primary modes of distribution: self-service and full-service. The former places the onus on the customer to make a decision on what constitutes a consumable volume of frogurt, while the latter is a despotic regime bent on denying our God-given right to eat ourselves stupid. For the purposes of this article, we’ll pretend we live in a world where such indulgence-based fascism doesn’t exist.

The primary benefit of frogurt isn’t so much the confection itself, but our ability to shape its experience to our whim. Should I desire no more than a tablespoon of eight different flavors, that is precisely what I will dispense. Short of trying to split the frogurt molecule, the possible combinations are virtually limitless. I could even leverage the native swirling apparatus to combine flavors, were I the sort of cretin who didn’t realize that homogenized approach to creativity was the domain of cowards.

These frogurt-based outlooks are applicable in many walks of life, but perhaps none so perfectly as the world of barrel-aged beers. The barrel-aged beers we embrace are not simply birthed by a brief stasis in wooden confines. They represent a mix of variable outputs, refined to achieve an optimal blend of aromas, texture, and flavors. This alchemy is typically the domain of experienced brewmasters, but courtesy of AleSmith Brewing Company’s (9990 AleSmith Court, Miramar) newest endeavor you can now cosplay as one to your heart’s content. Having a beard is strictly optional, but it can’t hurt.

AleSmith Brewing Company’s new Anvil & Stave: A Barrel-Aged Beer Experience

Anvil & Stave: A Barrel-Aged Beer Experience is AleSmith’s new tasting-room-within-a-tasting-room, focusing exclusively on the brewery’s barrel-aged offerings. It is located in the northeast corner of the immense hall, adjacent the forthcoming Tony Gwynn Museum (scheduled to open during Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game festivities, July 8-12). It not only offers a chance to sample barrel-aged beers unavailable to the primary tasting room, but provides a more discreet, serene space to drink yourself into oblivion.

The new room cultivates a speakeasy vibe, were that speakeasy abandoned and only rediscovered after significant overgrowth consumed it. The mossy greens that lace through a façade of reclaimed wood slats establish a very different tone from the glare and buzz of the larger tasting room. I found it very soothing, despite the design implication that it’s been found in some post-apocalyptic scenario.

Not only will you be able to sample three- and six-ounce samples (called “Taste” and “Indulgence” sizes, respectively) of most everything from AleSmith that benefits from barrel-aging, guests will be able to request their own blends of those offerings. Further, there will be a rotating Brewer’s Blend that may include items not represented on tap elsewhere. At the time of this report, the Brewer’s Blend was a mix of AleSmith’s Quad Belgian ale, Port Wine Barrel-Aged Wee Heavy and Barrel-Aged Nut Brown, whose palate of dark fruit and nuts amplified the woody accents rather than the boozy ones.

Many of the logistics of this space (e.g. how many will be allowed in, how guests will be cycled through, how many goats must be sacrificed to be blessed with swift entry, etc.) remain to be determined. What is clear is that the space will be opened to the public on Saturday, June 25 at 11 a.m., aligning with the bottle -release festivities for the 2016 release of Barrel-Aged Speedway Stout as well as a duo of Barrel-Aged Olde Ales from 2014 and 2015.

In May, we met Dan Jachimowicz, homebrewer and Viking enthusiast. At the time, he was hammering away at his bid to enter the professional fermentation ranks, Longship Brewery (10320 Camino Santa Fe, Suite C, Mira Mesa). As of last weekend, that company is now a full-fledged reality accepting all comers, and providing them an assortment of first-draught beers with a side of Nordic history. The latter comes courtesy of a series of round shields lining the tasting-room walls. Produced by a friend of Jachimowicz, they are designed to look as rustic as defensive devices from the Viking era, and will soon be bolstered from aesthetic and historic aspects when swords and axes are added to the mix.

Longship’s inaugural line-up of beers is light on roasted malts but well-suited for the summer season. A witbier is named after an epic clash between the Vikings and Franks (a Germanic tribe from the Rhine region), the Battle of Leuven, and features nice rose-like floral notes followed by orange pithiness in the finish. Golden Torc (torcs are pieces of metal jewelry) is a 7.3% alcohol-by-volume, Belgian-style golden ale with big citrus aromas and a dominating Navel orange flavor-profile and a lasting bitterness on the back-end. An India pale ale dubbed Allfather along with an “American dark ale” called Abomination that’s best described as a milder, less hoppy Arrogant Bastard Ale.

Beers in the hopper include a Vienna-style lager and chocolate stout. They are fermenting away in a cellar that shares space with a shield that’s particularly important to Jachimowicz. Green and white, it is decorated with script that translates to “let the work speak for the craftsman,” and serves as a constant reminder to the young brewer that he can talk about his beer all he wants, but it comes down to what’s in the glass and how that resonates with visitors. And though Odin wasn’t referring to a Belgian witbier when penning the following proverb, it rings true all the same—Wit is needful to him who travels far. Or him who travels to Mira Mesa.

We’ve reached the halfway mark of 2016. Over the past six months, roughly a dozen new breweries have opened (including one that had been producing beer without a tasting room for a couple of years). This seems a good time to assess this field of newcomers and pick out those that are producing the best beer thus far. It’s but one writer’s opinion, so feel free to disagree and share who you think is best in the comment section. And if you haven’t checked any of these places out just yet, they’re definitely worth a visit.

Burning Beard Brewing, El Cajon: At a time when El Cajon needed a suds-savior like never before, this op touched down like a caped superhero, bringing with it a beer list offering great diversity plus quality across styles. The pilsner, pale, IPAs and coffee-stout are standouts but don’t overlook the ESB or Belgian singel. All are made even better when enjoyed in a rockin’ tasting room by a staff that’s as exuberant as the punk power chords pumping out of the sound-system. And they have foudres!

Resident Brewing Company, Downtown: Does this operation’s coconut IPA taste as good as the award-winning batch its brewmaster created as an amateur. Yes, but there’s so much more to this newbie than that. Abutting its parent-business, the Gaslamp’s long-running watering hole, The Local, the brewhouse is pumping out Americanized takes on English styles that are crisp, balanced and refreshing yet big on hop-driven flavors. It’s good to see them starting to trickle to outside accounts.

Pure Project Brewing, Miramar: This One Percent for the Planet operation (1% of profits to go to non-profit organizations) has endeared itself to beer-lovers behind a beautiful earth-and-elemental tasting room motif, friendly service and beers that go down easy while bringing forth lesser-seen adjuncts and flavor combinations (coconut quad or strawberry-vanilla cream ale, anyone?). The majority of the beers are sessionable, making it easy to taste their rotating rainbow of selections.

Bitter Brothers Brewing Co., Bay Ho: They’re the fastest success story of the upstarts, getting signed by Stone Distribution straight out of the gate and selling enough beer that they’re already adding fermentation space. The interest’s name might lead you to believe they are all about hoppy beers (they have some and they’re quite tasty), but theirs is a varied young tap list offering numerous flavor-oddities, and their subtler wheat ales are very enjoyable…and not the least bit bitter.

Mikkeller Brewing San Diego, Miramar: There’s a lot of pressure for a gypsy brewer opening their first brick-and-mortar, especially half-a-world away from their home, but the brew-crew assisting said nomad, Mikkel Borg-Bjergso, has stepped up admirably. Numerous takes on java-rich Beer Geek Breakfast and a Brett IPA have been fab, but most people are still waiting to be wowed by beers exhibiting the ingenuity and whimsy that Bjergso built his reputation on over the past decade.

Mason Ale Works, Oceanside: So the restaurant- and bar-owners behind Urge Gastropub & Whiskey Bank love beer, but what do they know about brewing it? Not enough, so they went out and got an industry veteran who once headed The Lost Abbey‘s production. That key move allowed the brewpub to put out solid beers from the start. Mason has also secured early distribution and its array of hoppy, dark and Belgian-inspired beers are doing well, though they face stiff competition from impressive guest beers on a daily basis.

Last Friday, West Coaster broke the news that Miramar-based Pacific Brewing Company had closed its doors for good. After communicating with both of the company’s founders, Chris Chalmers and Andrew Heino, the shuttering comes after a number of difference between the two ranging from company identity to day-to-day operations to growth and production goals. In the end, those differences and a lack of profitability led to a parting of ways and the decision to shut down.

Both Chalmers and Heino voiced regret and even “heartbreak” over this development. The former has moved on, while the latter has three years remaining on the lease for Pacific Brewing’s Miralani Drive facility. Heino says he is planning on opening a new brewery operation and associated tasting-room, he is not ready to disclose details of that operation.

But visitors to the small business-park Pacific Brewing called home won’t want for beer. 2Kids Brewing Company, a husband-wife venture that opened around the same time as Pacific Brewing, remains as the lone brewery tenant…for now. Protector Brewery, an all-organic brewing operation headed by Navy SEALs, is in the works in the same park, which will also welcome Setting Sun Sake Brewing Company later this year. And right across the street is the long-awaited Thunderhawk Alements, which is facing delays but hopes to begin brewing in a matter of weeks.

“To all our loyal customers and enthusiasts, it is with great regret that we must announce that Pacific Brewing is permanently closing its doors,” says Chalmers. “We have enjoyed some fantastic years due to your patronage and we are thankful to have the honor and pleasure of your company and continued presence with us as we developed our beers as well as our commitment to deliver an outstanding product. We are forever indebted to all of the goodwill, support and appreciation from all who have joined us in the PBC family. Cheers to beers and much thanks from the bottom of our hearts!”

Though small and not widely known just yet, 32 North Brewing Company (8655 Production Avenue, Miramar) is looking to push above its below-the-radar position in the San Diego brewing scene. The company has steadily upped its draft accounts over the past several months and, in May, debuted a satellite tasting-bar inside Liberty Station’s new Moniker General collective. But owner Steve Peterson wasn’t done there. In the past week, he picked up two known industry vets like an NBA GM sifting through the free-agent market.

First came Mike Mellow, a long-time local beer-sales force who recently left his post at North Park’s Fall Brewing Company. A mutual friend reached out to Peterson to tell him of Mellow’s availability. Over a four-day span, the pair hammered out an employment agreement. During those negotiations, Mellow shared with Peterson that Fall’s head brewer, Nick Ceniceros, was on the lookout for new opportunities as well. A meeting was scheduled and now Ceniceros will be in charge of 32 North’s brewing program.

Mellow is a San Diego veteran who held lead sales roles for Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits, Mission Brewery, Saint Archer Brewery and Mike Hess Brewing Company prior to Fall. Prior to Fall, Ceniceros worked as an assistant brewer with Green Flash Brewing Company after getting his start on the bottling line at Ballast Point. He will step onto a brew-deck vacated by former head-brewer Will Gallaspy, who took over for original 32 North brewer John Hunter, who is now with Bay Ho’s Bitter Brothers Brewing Company.

Additional fermentation tanks are currently on order as 32 North poises itself for increased production. Peterson is also readying for the introduction of three beers in 12-ounce cans. Those aluminum receptacles will be filled via a recently purchased in-house canning line.