GUEST TAP Spreading the Good News


Behind the SD Brewers Guild booth at GABF By Sheldon Kaplan


I


had the recent good fortune to attend the Great American Beer Festival in Denver, ensconced for the most part at the San Diego Brewers Guild booth. I was there to show some clips from my soon-to-be-released documentary film on the renaissance of San Diego brewing that touches on almost all current members of The Guild. That weekend I spent eighteen or so cumulative hours – mercifully over four sessions – answer- ing questions about the documentary, but mostly helping to pour some of the great and varied brews from our fair county and pimping the home town as best I could. Fortu- nately, the beers we poured did most of the talking.


Sheldon Kaplan (right) and Rock Bottom brewmaster Marty Mendiola serve up suds and smiles at GABF


So what did I learn during my unofficial, self-appointed San Diego beer ambassadorship? If you’re ever planning on attending GABF, make sure to check out the collective Brewers Guilds pa- vilion area booths first. They’re grouped together in a central area of the exhibition hall and are not as trafficked as many of the individual brewery booths, despite the fact that some of the most sought after beers from the guild’s region are served there. San Diego’s guild booth was patronized by a varied group of craft beer enthusiasts over the course of four sessions. Some of the visitors contemplatively sipped their beer whilst taking notes; others performed numerous and rapid “craft beer shots” (with the standard 1oz tasters) that would make even John “Bluto” Blutarsky weep. Everyone else fit somewhere in between. Given San Diego’s reputation as “Hop Central,” in-the-know booth visitors were on the lookout


for IPAs and Imperial (or Double) IPAs. With the exception of Manzanita’s Chaotic Double IPA and Karl Strauss’ Big Barrel Double IPA – both well-received – they were in for a surprise. What drinkers found was a broader range of beer styles, all quality brews, but none of which were super hoppy. The assortment of excellent and varied beers styles was yet another emphatic reminder of what a diverse brewing mecca San Diego County has become. In addition to serving beers from the usual local stalwarts – AleSmith, Ballast Point, Coronado, Karl Strauss, The Lost Abbey, Pizza Port, Rock Bottom and Stone – it was my privilege to help acquaint people with beers from smaller breweries that are not often found outside the county. Beers from Lightning Brewery (Old Tempest Ale and Electrostatic Ale) and fledgling Manzanita Brewing Co. (Pale Ale, Riverwalk Blonde, Gillespie Brown Ale, Chaotic Double IPA) all went down well, with many asking where they can bought in their prospective areas. And of course, there was the occasional palpable disappointment when people learned that some of these beers are only available in San Diego County. My constant soothing refrain was, “Well, now you have to come and visit,” followed up with a flyer for our 3rd annual San Diego Beer Week. Beers I noticed generating significant interest were Pizza Port Carlsbad’s Coffee Monster Stout, Ballast Point’s Indra Kunindra India-Style Export Stout and a “tweaked” version of Rock Bottom La Jolla’s Moonlight Porter. Interestingly, all of these beers are darker, “flavored” in some way or another and all have a higher ABV than most. Coffee Monster: the name says it all. Looks, smells and tastes like a strong cup of joe that some- one spilled their stout into. Indra Kunindra – with its combination of madras curry, cayenne pepper, cumin, kaffir lime leaf and toasted coconut – surprised a number of palates and elicited comments like, “Wow, this tastes like a meal.” The version of the Moonlight Porter from Rock Bottom that we poured was also “flavored” by a brewing process that involved Ballast Point Rum soaked oak chips, cocoa nibs and cold-brewed coffee. After the unadulterated version won the gold medal in the Robust Porter Category, the booth got a lot more crowded once word got out that a version was available on tap.


It just so happens that this award-winning beer was brewed by San Diego Brewers Guild Presi- dent, Marty Mendiola. Mendiola was at the booth the evening after his win, as he was for all of the sessions. It was fun to be able to point to Marty and say “there’s the brewer” as patrons were “ooh- ing and aahing” over his beer.


A behind-the-scenes view of the action


For those with an academic interest, here’s an alphabetical list of the breweries and their respec- tive beers served at the SD Brewers Guild booth sessions (b -denotes bottle and k - keg). AleSmith - Grand Cru (b), Ballast Point - Pale Ale (b), Calico Amber Ale (b), Wahoo Wheat (b), Black Marlin Porter (b), Indra Kunindra India-Style Export Stout (k), Collaboration – Green Flash / Pizza Port Carlsbad / Stone Highway 78 Scotch Ale (b), Coronado - Imperial Stout (k), Karl Strauss - Oktoberfest (b), Big Barrel Double IPA (b), Lightning - Electrostatic Ale (b), Old Tempest Ale (b), Manzanita - Chaotic Double IPA (b), Gillespie Brown Ale (b), Pale Ale (b), Riverwalk Blonde Ale (b), Pizza Port Carlsbad - Cof- fee Monster (k), Pizza Port San Clemente - Lightweight Lager (k), Pizza Port Solana Beach - The Beav Brown Ale (k), Pizza Port OB - Rhino Chaser Impe- rial Red Ale (k), Rock Bottom La Jolla - Little Angel Belgian Pale (k), Moonlight Porter with rum soaked oak chips, cocoa nibs and cold-brewed coffee (k), Stone - Imperial Russian Stout (b), The Lost Abbey - Serpent Stout (b)


We couldn’t have said it better ourselves! We lend out the Guest Tap column to local industry members with an interesting perspective or story to tell. This month, director and producer of Suds County USA Sheldon Kaplan offers his take on the Great American Beer Festival.


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