S ERV I NG TH E S AN D IEGO C RAF T B EE R C OM MU N ITY


Laura suggested a version with vanilla beans. Head Brewer Mitch Steele agreed to give it a try.


TABLE OF CONTENTS Letter from the Editor


SD Brews in the News Into the Brew


2 3 4


Laura Ulrich, Pink Boots Society So Cal Organizer, @ Iron Fist for the group’s January 26th meeting


Ladies of Local Beer 6 & 7 Beer and Now Guest Tap


8 9


The Nameless Beermaid 10 Directory


11


Jill of All Trades I


By Jeff Hammett


f you’ve ever enjoyed a glass of Stone Smoked Porter with Vanilla Beans, you have Laura Ulrich to thank. Prior to the opening of The Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens, Laura tasted a Real Beer Float (Stone Smoked Porter w/ vanilla ice cream). It was at that moment


that the idea for the smokey vanilla Stone brew came to be. She loved what the vanilla ice cream added to the beer but isn’t a big fan of sweets. At the time, the Escondido brewery had already been making Stone Smoked Porter with Chipotle Peppers, so in the same vein


By Brandon Hernández


n the beginning there was Arsalun Tafazoli.


An ambitious twenty-something inspired by exceptional gastro-focused public houses and izakayas unearthed dur- ing his world travels, Arsalun became ob- sessed with the idea of constructing such a sanctuary in the heart of his hometown of San Diego.


And like most young entrepreneurs, he was doing it, for the most part, all by himself. That included the not-nearly-as- easy-as-it-sounds duty of jockeying for position to reel in the best and rarest beers the craft beer industry has to offer. Yet, a vicious cycle marked by excessive stress and exhaustion during the Neighborhood’s touch-and-go first year soon made it clear to Arsalun that, as much as he cared and wanted to have a hand in the most important component of his business—the beer—he needed to hand those reins over to someone who could take on that monstrous responsibil- ity on a full-time basis.


Enter a job with perhaps the coolest title in the history of gainful employ- ment—Beer Director. “I’m a dork about beer. I used to do a lot of homebrewing and was part of a community of people that were really into craft beer. And since I moved to San Diego I’ve been really into the culture, checking out beer bars and breweries,” says Sarah Gunther, the passionate beero- phile who now holds this lofty position. Nowadays, her visits to breweries


After some experimentation with how many vanilla beans were needed to give it just the right amount of flavor, a new beer was born. Laura stressed that actual vanilla beans, instead of adjuncts, be used because the lack of artificial flavors or extracts is “one of the reasons I enjoy working for Stone.” Laura origi- nally wanted to add vanilla to the Stone Smoked Porter because she didn’t like the smoke, but with time she’s come to appreciate it more. She also told us that over time they’ve reduced the amount of vanilla to better balance the smokiness in the beer.


Laura got her start in craft beer in Fort Collins, Colorado where she worked on the bottling line at Odell Brewing Company. After about a year and a half she took a job on the bottling line at Stone and moved to San Diego, sight unseen. She worked her way up through the brewhouse to her current position of Brewery Trainer. In this posi- tion, she maintains the brewery training program and standard operating proce- dures. In her words: “I make sure every- body is doing what they’re supposed to do correctly.”


Laura is a prominent member of the Pink Boots Society, an international


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Your Friendly Neighborhood Beer Director I


and crafty bars and restaurants are more business than pleasure; reconnaissance missions of sorts. But while she readily admits that quality control (i.e.—sampling a large volume of beers from around the world) is her favorite part of the job, there’s a lot more to it than that. “I choose everything that’s put on tap, do all of the bottle ordering, get events together, educate the staff and make sure we’re representing these great products properly,” says Sarah, who per- forms those duties for both Neighborhood and Arsalun’s recently-erected, similarly- structured Craft and Commerce in Little Italy. “It’s important that we put the proper voice behind the beers that these brewers put so much time into.” It’s Sarah’s respect for the artisans crafting the wares Neighborhood deals in that drives her to go the extra mile on a daily basis. That enthusiasm, matched with her immense level of self-confidence, prompted Arsalun to hand her the taps and the Beer Director position (which was originally held by Lee Chase before he moved on to establish Automatic Brewing Co. and Normal Heights’ Blind Lady Ale House).


“She takes an enormous amount of pride in what she does,” says Arsalun. “That’s great to see in her position.” “I’m honored and humbled and totally challenged to make sure I am keep- ing up to par with what Neighborhood represents and making sure we have what the beer people want,” says Sarah. When


Sarah Gunther, Beer Director @ Neighborhood


selecting liquid assets to stock up on, she focuses primarily on balance, mak- ing sure there’s something available for everyone. “We have all sorts of different people who come here. Some don’t want the hoppiest imperial IPA or the maltiest barrel-aged Belgian beer. We try to have something for everyone while main- taining standards for quality across the board.”


Those standards extend beyond Continued on Page 5

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