SD Beer History Continued from Page 7. Timeline below by West Coaster


1982 – 2011


Nearly 30 years have come and gone since that law passed, and much has changed. The first of four locations, Pizza Port Solana Beach opened in 1987 but did not begin brewing until 1992. Karl Strauss’ Old Columbia became the first brewpub in San Diego when its doors opened that same year; Callahan’s Pub & Brewery in Mira Mesa also opened in 1989. The 90s then saw a wave of businesses open, including Ballast Point’s Home Brew Mart (1992), San Diego Brewing Company (1993), AleSmith Brewing Company (1995), Coronado Brewing Company (1996), Stone Brewing Company (1996), and Rock Bottom La Jolla (1998), just to name a few. Mission Brewery was re-estab- lished in 2007 in Chula Vista. And in just the last year (starting with some of the first WC webposts), business has boomed:


October 16, 2010 Ballast Point celebrated its 14th Anniversary Beer Festival at Liberty Station. WC founders volunteered to pour, and were not-so-randomly assigned to casks of Sculpin IPA and Fathom IPL— two of the day’s hottest tickets at tent A.


November 5-14, 2010 San Diego Beer Week Vol. 2 hit the streets. The capstone events, the Guild Festival and Chefs Celebration Beer Garden, went off without a hitch.


November 10, 2010 Ingrid’s 1 in 8, a Green Flash/Ballast Point collaboration beer benefitting breast cancer research and inspired by Ingrid Qua debuted at her bar, The High Dive. Qua would later be named the 2011 Honorary Breast Cancer Survivor by Susan G. Komen for the Cure.


December 17, 2010 Brewers Chuck Silva, Jeff Bagby and Mitch Steele combined to brew Green Flash / Pizza Port Carlsbad / Stone Highway 78 Scotch Ale, named after the 18 mile stretch of highway be- tween the three brewing operations. Collabora- tion is the name of the game in San Diego.


February 2, 2011


Karl Strauss turned 22 and rolled out the red carpet for a PB brewery party.


April 6, 2011


The soft opening of Mission Brewery’s new downtown location a block from PETCO Park coincided with opening day of the San Diego Padres baseball season.


July 21, 2011 America’s Finest Beer Festival, touted as a three-day (Jul. 22-24) concert and beer bo- nanza, was unexpectedly cancelled less than 24 hours before showtime. West Coaster had an exclusive interview with the organizers – see the September issue.


August 27, 2011 The newly-revived Aztec Brewing Company held its soft opening in Vista. Read more about Aztec on page 2.


October 1, 2011


May 18, 2011 With the help of a chartered bus to transport members of the media, Stone Brewing Co. announced its $26.2 million expansion plans, including a hotel, a new production facility, a brewery/restaurant in Liberty Station and more. Search “No Stone Unturned” on west- coastersd.com to read on.


San Diego brewers won a record 20 med- als and two Brewery and Brewer of the Year awards at the 2011 Great American Beer Festival in Denver.


October 19, 2011


El Cajon Brewing Company hosted a soft opening with four house-brewed beers.


-17 May 24, 2011


The assets of recently closed Firehouse Brew- ing Co. were sold at auction for a total of around $400,000. The brand filed for chapter 7 the same year, and no word yet on its revival.


June 1, 2011


San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders spoke at Green Flash’s newly-opened Mira Mesa loca- tion and declared June “Craft Beer Month” in San Diego. Mayor Sanders is famously quoted as saying, “If you’re 21 or over and enjoy good beer, it’s your civic duty to support local breweries.”


June 10, 2011 “San Diego Beer Weekend,” a special event series promoting San Diego Beer Week, kicked off with Beer Hall at The Lodge at Torrey Pines. Eight local breweries and eight local chefs paired up for small plate tastings, with proceeds going to the San Diego Brewers Guild. Treasure Chest Belgian Pale Ale, a Green Flash beer benefitting breast cancer research, was released on the same day.


June 16-18, 2011 The 33rd Annual American Homebrewers As- sociation National Homebrewers Conference posted record-breaking attendance numbers its first time in San Diego. Local organizers worked for years in order to give conference- goers an outstanding experience with pre-con- ference events, a smartphone application and more. Read all about it in our West Coaster’s July issue.


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