S ER VIN G TH E S AN D IEGO C RAF T B EE R C OM MU N ITY


First Look: Suds County USA Unreleased documentary chronicles SD beer growth


By Mike Shess F TABLE OF CONTENTS


Plates & Pints - Chef Nate Soroko


Beer and Now - Fall Beers Brews in the News


Q&A with Pat McIlhenney of Alpine


Belgian Beer Ladies


2 4 6


7 8-9


Into the Brew - Oktoberfest 10 The Nameless Beermaid


11


September Craft Beer Event Highlights


Craft Beer Directory and Map


14 15


or over a year, a film crew led by director and producer Sheldon Kaplan quietly made its way through the San Diego brewing industry. Now, the film Suds County USA is in post production and I was among the lucky few to get a sneak peak at the MCA-I Mixer event held late August at Mission Brewery.


Kaplan, a native South African and self-described Hollywood burnout, found himself (and future wife) in San Diego at a friend’s wedding during the mid 90s and hasn’t left since. Opting to work at Seau’s cigar room as a change of pace from the Los Angeles lifestyle, he says his interest in local beer started when he met Skip Virgilio, who was delivering an AleSmith keg to Seau’s back in 1996. With excited eyes, Kaplan describes the luck of timing with his movie. “We started filming at a time of rapid expansion in the local industry,” he explains. “As we got deeper into this, we realized that there was a real chance of losing some of this San Diegan history if someone didn’t start documenting. I felt a strong sense of responsibility.” After months of dedicated research, Kaplan considers himself a his- torian on San Diego Beer. We’ll just have to wait and see. Also by chance, Kaplan met


Mission Brewery owner Dan Selis just as he was picking up the keys for the then-undevel- oped, L St. brewery that opened in spring, 2011. Kaplan saw this as the perfect opportunity to chronicle the evolution of East Village’s first brewery, and we can’t wait to see the time-lapsed photos that document the con- struction.


I had a chance to ask Mike


Mellow, Mission’s Director of Sales and Marketing, and Kaplan one big question at the sneak- preview event. So what’s the essence of a San Diegan craft brewery? “Homebrewers are the key to craft brewing in gen- eral,” according to Mellow. “It’s much easier to be creative and perfect a recipe with five gallon batches.” He continues, “when you homebrew for fun, you can try anything.” Indeed, many professional San Diego brew- ers have ties to local homebrew clubs. For example, AleSmith’s Peter Zien is the former presi- dent of QUAFF; North County Homebrewers Association’s founder Rob Esposito is now helping revive the historic Aztec Brewing Company; and CHUG, a new homebrew club, now fields Derek Freese as brewer at the very new Monkey Paw brewpub in Downtown.


After some discussion, it was time for the presentation to


Festival Failure Organizers of the doomed America’s Finest Beer Festival speak to West Coaster


By Mike Shess


merica’s Finest Beer Festival (AFBF) never was — the three day long music and craft beer celebration was suddenly canceled just one day before its July 22nd start date at Qualcomm Stadium’s practice field with event organizers citing “unfore- seen financial shortfall” as the culprit. Angry ticket holders, a slew of negative press from local media and roughly $100,000 dollars in unpaid advertis- ing fees ($750 of which, our own) prompted West Coaster to investigate. After several failed phone and email attempts to contact the Rancho San Diego Jamul Chamber of Commerce and its then CEO Valerie Harrison, we decided to take a drive out to Jamul and pay the chamber a visit in person. What we found was an eviction notice on the chamber’s door, and just days later


A


Steve Schmidt of the Union-Tribune confirmed that in fact, the cancel- lation of the beer festival led to the chamber’s financial meltdown, and closure.


Continued on Page 12


Sheldon Kaplan talks with craft beer fans at Mission Brewery


begin. Seats were arranged to the East of Mission’s brew- house, between palates of kegs and boxes of Mission beer on one side, and fermentation tanks on the other. A projec- tor was aimed at a screen, and in front of it Sheldon took his place after a brief introduction by MCA-I. In roughly half an hour, Sheldon explained San Diego’s brewing history from the late 1800s to modern times. Then, the dim- ming of the lights announced what we all came for: the first look at Suds.


Continued on Page 12


By Ryan Reschan


Pick Local Hops W


hile most commercial hops come from Washington, Oregon and Idaho, our local climate is defi- nitely suitable for growing hops, as long as the farm isn’t too close to the ocean. In fact, San Diego is warm enough that most variet- ies get a head start on the growing season, and the harvest isn’t likely to last through the end of September. So, if you hurry, you may still have the chance to pick your own hops at one of two local hop farms. Call Phil at Hopportunity Farm in Julian (858-734- 2977) or Eric at Star B Buffalo Ranch and Hop Farm in Ramona (760-789-8155) to inquire about availabilities. Post-season, call up your local homebrew shop to see what varieties of fresh hops they have in stock. Fresh (un-dried) hops are great for home- brewers that want to add flavor and aroma additions later in the boil. To let these “wet” hops take center stage, use a neutral bitter- ing hop like Magnum to get your desired IBUs for the style of beer you’re brewing. To read the rest of this article about fresh hops and tips for homebrewers, visit west- coastersd.com and search “hops”


AFBF’s back cover advertisement in July’s issue of West Coaster


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