BREWS IN THE NEWS August’s Top Headlines via westcoastersd.com, facebook.com/westcoastersd, and twitter.com/westcoastersd


The first annual San Diego beer confer- ence, properly called Beer-Con, was a great success at The Handlery in Mission Valley on August 27th. Organized by Tap Hunter and Beer For Thought, Beer-Con gathered craft beer industry members with curious craft beer drinkers in a highly-educational, yet relaxed atmosphere consisting of two separate speak- ing tracks and various topics. Highlights of


ment in 2010). The craft beer industry, which currently provides an estimated 100,000 jobs for the U.S. economy, continues to grow at an astounding rate; 725 breweries are listed in the planning stages as of 6/30/11 – 336 more than a year ago. “There is a growing interest in establishing new breweries,” noted Paul Gatza, director of the Brewers Association. “It seems like every day we are hearing about a brewery in planning. Will they all make it? No, but many will if they produce high-qual- ity, interesting craft beers and can get them to market through self-distribution and beer wholesalers and beer retailers.”


On August 23rd Green Flash Brewing A live outdoor homebrew session at Beer-Con


the day included a thought-provoking keynote speech from Anat Baron, director of the documentary Beer Wars, some great food and beer pairing advice from “Dr.” Bill of Stone Brewing Co., a live homebrew session from Home Brews & Gardens, and of course, the Tap Haven beer garden. Search “Beer-Con” on westcoastersd.com to read more.


In awesome nationwide craft beer news,


the Brewers Association, the trade associa- tion representing the majority of U.S. brewing companies, reported strong mid-year growth for American craft brewers – defined as small, independent, and traditional. Volume of craft brewed beer sold grew 14 percent for the first six months of 2011, compared to 9 percent growth in the first half of 2010. Dollar sales since January were up 15 percent as well (ex- cluding those brewers who left the craft seg-


Green Flash brewmaster Chuck Silva (2nd from left) gives SDBG members a brewery tour


least the next sixteen months, so our retailers can continue to grow their Green Flash busi- ness,” said Mike Hinkley, founder and CEO.


BrewFest Encinitas, a first-time beer festival by the Encinitas Coastal Rotary Club, went off without a hitch on August 13th. Despite growing concerns with first time festivals in San Diego, the meticulous plan-


Co. announced the freezing of wholesale prices of their beer in CA through the end of 2012. “We will hold prices constant for at


ning and dedicated volunteer staff behind the 12-brewery, 2-food truck, 500-attendee event raised raised more than $5000 for local chari- ties. For a complete review, visit westcoast-


Monkey Paw Pub & Brewery opened in


the East Village to a packed house on August 23rd. The fourth of the “Blair bars” (Ham- ilton’s Tavern, Small Bar and Bar Eleven), Monkey Paw will soon feature 3-4 house- brewed beers by Derek Freese, president of local homebrew club CHUG, for a total of 30 taps. To read our post on the first hour of Monkey Paw, visit westcoastersd.com and search “Monkey Paw”.


Action at BrewFest Encinitas


ersd.com and search “BrewFest Encinitas”. Local brewing companies Manzanita and


Coronado both announced big expansion plans in August. Manzanita will be moving just two-tenths of a mile down the road and expects the first keg to be tapped by Christ- mas. Coronado’s new 30-barrel brew house off Morena Blvd. will begin supplementing the peninsular brewpub’s 10-barrel system by the spring of 2012. Search “Manzanita” and “Coronado” on westcoastersd.com to read more.


Although it was first reported that Aztec


Brewing Company would be moving into the old Green Flash facility in Vista, news broke on their Facebook page on August 11th that an unnamed brewery would be using the space instead. Aztec held their soft opening on August 27th at the location they originally planned on setting up shop: 2330 La Mirada Drive in Vista. For coverage of the soft opening, visit westcoastersd.com and search “Aztec”.


WEEKLY WEBSITE POSTS @ westcoastersd.com


In addition to the breaking news and beer commentary you’ve come to expect from the West Coaster website, three days out of every week will now have a theme-dedicated post. If you’d like all of our web posts simply delivered to your email inbox (we won’t spam you, promise!), enter your email address in the “subscribe” box on the right sidebar of westcoastersd.com’s homepage.


Monday Brewery Spotlight Every Monday we now spotlight a local brewery that’s making news. Brewery Spotlight #1, posted on August 8th, was Lightning Brewery, who had just released their fall seasonals Electrostatic Ale and Ionizer Lager. Then we spotlighted Stone Brewing Co., who celebrated their 15th Anniversary with a new beer release and several events around town the week of the 15th. Coronado Brewing Company, fresh off the announcement of their expansion plans, was Brewery Spotlight #3 on August 22nd. Monday August 29th we featured Aztec Brewing Company after their August 27th soft opening. So who will we talk about each Monday in September? You’ll have to log on to westcoastersd.com to find out!


Weekly Wednesday Event Post Every Wednesday we cherry-pick the best of the best from our constantly-updated online event calendar (westcoastersd.com/event-calendar) to guide you in the right beer direction over the course of the next week.


The Friday Five We are kicking off a new weekly web series starting Friday, September 2nd. Every Friday we will ask a local craft beer industry member 5 questions. Here’s a list of the people we’ll be interviewing in September. Got a question for them? Send it to ryan@westcoastersd.com. Want to be featured in The Friday Five? Just ask! •Sept 2 nd •Sept 9 th •Sept 16 th •Sept 23 rd •Sept 30 th


– 5Q with Melani Gordon of TapHunter.com re: Beer-Con, SDBW 2011 – 5Q with Jeff Gordon of TapHunter.com re: Updates to the SDBW website – 5Q with Ivan Derezin of Churchill’s Pub & Grille re: Churchill’s Sour Fest, GABF – 5Q with Peter Zien of AleSmith re: New bottling line, GABF


– 5Q with Jay Porter of The Linkery/El Take It Easy re: North & South Park’s monthly “30th on 30th” event 6- Monkey Paw, opening night


Two SD beer bars, Stadium Sports Bar & Restaurant in Encinitas and Shakespeare Pub & Grille in Mission Hills, both kicked off their cask program in the same week with Firestone Walker’s award-winning Pale 31. WC staff writer/Firestone Walker brewer Sam Tierney was on hand at Stadium to answer cu- rious beer drinkers’ questions about Firestone Walker beer.


Beer, food and sports @ Stadium


WC PRINT/ONLINE DIRECTORIES


West Coaster is always searching for craft beer-centric locations to distribute our free rag. Below is a listing of the locations that are currently in our online directory (westcoastersd.com/directory), but are still yet to be added into the next update of our print directory. If you know of a spot that’s not in this list or in our directory on page 15, please let us know by emailing directory@westcoastersd.com. We are trying to build a comprehensive list of all the craft beer locations in town, and we need your help!


Beer Bars & Restaurants w/ Craft Beer Beaumont’s Eatery – Bird Rock, 5662 La Jolla Blvd., 858-459-0474, beaumontseatery.com


Bergie’s Pub – Old Town, 2244 San Diego Ave., 619-501-3337, bergiespub.com


Bareback Grill – Pacific Beach, 4640 Mission Blvd., 858-274-7117 / Downtown, 624 E St., 619-237-9990, barebackgrill.com


Craft & Commerce – Little Italy, 675 W. Beech St., 619-269-2202, craft-commerce.com


Leroy’s Kitchen + Lounge – Coronado, 1015 Orange Avenue, 619-437-6087, leroysluckylounge.com Little Piggy’s Bar-B-Q – Coronado, 1201 First St., 619-522-0217, nadolife.com/lilpiggys OB Noodle House – Ocean Beach, 2218 Cable Street, 619-450-6868, obnoodlehouse.com Oggi’s Pizza – Santee, 9828 Mission Gorge Rd., 619-449-6441, oggis.com PCH Sports Bar & Grill – Oceanside, 1835 S. Coast Highway, 760-721-3955, pchsportsbarandgrill.com Phileas Foggs Bar & Restaurant – Poway, 11385 Poway Rd # 100, 858-486-4442, phileasfoggs.com R-Gang Eatery – Hillcrest, 3683 5th Ave., 619- 677-2845, rgangeatery.com Shakespeare Pub & Grille – Mission Hills, 3701 India St., 619-299-0230, shakespearepub.com The Bailey BBQ – Julian, 2307 Main St., 760- 765-3757, baileybbq.com The Field – Downtown, 544 5th Ave., 619-232- 9840, thefield.com The Pearl Hotel – Point Loma, 1410 Rosecrans


St., 619-226-6100, thepearlsd.com The Range Kitchen & Cocktails – Hillcrest, 1263 University Ave., 619-269-1222, therangesd.com The Ruby Room – Hillcrest, 1271 University Ave., 619-299-7372, rubyroomsd.com Searsucker – Downtown, 611 5th Ave., 619-233- 7327, searsucker.com Village Pizzeria – Coronado, 1206 Orange Ave., 619-522-0449, nadolife.com/villagepizzeria


Home Brew Supply All About Brewing – El Cajon, 700 North Johnson Ave. Suite G, 619-447-2739, allaboutbrewing. com


Bottle Shops Fuller Liquor – Loma Portal, 3896 Rosecrans St., 619-296-KEGS, kegguys.com/beer Keg N Bottle – SDSU, 6060 El Cajon Blvd., 619- 265-0482 / Clairemont, 3566 Mt. Acadia Blvd., 858-278-8955 / Lemon Grove, 1827 Lemon Grove Ave., 619-463-7172, kegnbottle.com Palm Springs Liquor – La Mesa, 4301 Palm Ave., 619-698-6887, palmspringsliquorlamesa.com


Texas Wine and Spirits – Carlsbad, 945 Carlsbad Village Dr., 760-729-1836, texaswinespirits.com The Boulevard Wine & Spirits – City Heights, 4245 El Cajon Blvd., 619-281-0551


Brewpubs Monkey Paw Pub & Brewery – East Village, 805 16th St., 619-358-9901


Breweries Aztec Brewing Company/Seven Nations – Vista, 2330 La Mirada Dr. Suite 300, aztecbrewery.com


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