News and Photos from the National Homebrewers Conference

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cheesesmith, Doug Constantiner, greg koch, julian brewpub, mitch steele, national homebrewers conference 2011 photos, nhc 2011 photos, peter zien, stone Cherry Chocolate Stout, Stone Japanese Green Tea IPA, tom nickel, travis smith, vince marsaglia

Photos by Chris Hammett
Last weekend’s National Homebrewers Conference brought nearly 2000 homebrewers, professional brewers and other beer lovers to San Diego. The conference included a Pro Brewer’s Night where around forty professional breweries were pouring their beers, Club Night where homebrew clubs from all around the country brought some of their best brews as well as plenty of seminars and panels with subjects ranging from homebrew techniques to topics on going pro and everything in between.

During those seminars a few bits of San Diego beer related news and info were announced.

Peter Zien of AleSmith spoke about cheese making and other food related hobbies. Zien is in the process of opening an artisianal cheese making company to be called CheeseSmith.

A bit more beer related news from Zien was that AleSmith is working on getting label approval for bottles of single origin coffee versions of Speedway Stout. Zien didn’t mention what single origin coffee’s they had in mind, or if this would include bottling the much loved, and previously very-limited draft only Kopi Luwak Speedway Stout, but one can hope.

Doug Constantiner, who is working with Travis Smith (both of whom formerly brewed at The Bruery) to start Societe Brewing Company here in San Diego revealed to NBC San Diego that Societe would be located in Kearney Mesa. No word on the exact location but it will be a nice stop between downtown and some of the breweries farther north. They hope to be open in early to mid 2012.

Tom Nickel of O’Brien’s Pub announced that he is working with Vince Marsaglia of Pizza Port to open a brewpub with BBQ food in Julian, CA. According to Taphunter the land in Julian has already been acquired and General’s American Pub, which Nickel was hoping to open in Scripps Ranch is no longer going to happen.

During his talk on collaborations, Greg Koch of Stone Brewing Co. mentioned a few things about their two upcoming collaborations that are in the fermenters now. He said that they’re currently working on getting fermentation restarted on Stone Cherry Chocolate Stout, this year’s AHA Rally Winner brewed at Stone by Mitch Steele, John Togner of Tröegs Brewing Co. and winning homebrewers Jason Fields and Kevin Sheppard. The yeast apparently didn’t like the addition of the cherries. No release date has been planned but Koch said it will be out “at somepoint in the not too distance future”.

He also mentioned that Stone Japanese Green Tea IPA, a collaboration between Stone’s Mitch Steele, Bryan Baird of founder of Numazu, Japan’s Baird Brewing and Toshi Ishii—former Stone brewer and now founder of Guam’s Ishii Brewing Company should be out in early-mid July.

Societe Brewing Co. – Doug Constantiner, The Anonymous Partner

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Doug Constantiner, douglas Constantiner, societe brewing company, travis smith

Last week Travis Smith left The La Jolla Brew House after only a few months on the job and announced that he would be starting a new brewery in San Diego with a partner that was currently anonymous.

Thanks to a commenter’s tip I’ve confirmed that Smith’s partner in Societe Brewing Co. is Doug Constantiner, who currently brews at The Bruery.

Look for more about Constantiner, Smith and Societe Brewing Company in the February issue of West Coaster.

Societe Brewing Company

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brewery rowe, brookston beer bulletin, claudette mannix, pariah ipa, travis smith

Yesterday I mentioned that Travis Smith has left La Jolla Brew House just a few months after he began brewing there with plans to open a new production brewery in San Diego with an as-of-now anonymous, but experienced brewer, partner. There’s been quite a bit of chatter about Smith, La Jolla Brew House and Societe Brewing Co. In addition to the blog post I put up yesterday, Brewery Rowe and Brookston Beer Bulletin both blogged about Smith.

The full story of happened between Smith and the La Jolla Brew House is unclear. According to Smith he left because the La Jolla Brew House did not honor his employment contract because they stopped buying brewing ingredients. Claudette Mannix owner of the La Jolla Brew House cited a conflict of interest with Smith opening his own brewery for the reason they parted ways. In addition to the above reasons given by each party I’ve heard a few more stories from reputable sources that lead me to believe it wasn’t a pretty break up. So La Jolla Brew House will be hiring a new brewer, they’re already accepting resumes, and Travis Smith is moving forward with Societe Brewing Company.

According to Smith, Societe is actively looking for equipment and space with hopes to start construction this summer and to be brewing in 2012.  Smith tells Brookston Beer Bulletin that they have the money to start, and are working on raising more capital. Smith tells me they’ll be brewing “sour beers and IPAs, but no sour IPAs.”

Smith knows a thing or two about both sour beers and IPAs, not only was Pariah IPA, one of the first beers he brewed at La Jolla Brew House fantastic, he has also spent time brewing at both Russian River Brewing Co. and The Bruery.

While Societe Brewing Company is still a long ways out, the prospect of another brewery in San Diego is promising.

Think you know who Smith’s currently anonymous partner in Societe Brewing Company is? Leave a comment below.

San Diego Beer Events 10/21-10/27

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10-10-10 vertical epic, craft beer with the expert, Crossbreed Blonde Ale, Double Dry Hopped 14th Anniversary Ale, festivus, firkin friday, Fleabite English Pale Ale, great divide fresh hop pale ale, Imperial Russian Belgo Stout, Imperial Russian Stout 10th Anniversary Special Blend, lee chase park 2 park, oak aged yeti, oktoberhess, pariah ipa, park2park, san diego beer events, san diego oktoberfest, sd park 2 park, Sighthound Stout, Smoked Porter with Vanilla Beans, travis smith

Since most beer events happen on the weekends, we thought we would post weekly beer event roundups on Thursdays. But we’re not just focusing on the weekends, listings will highlight beer events throughout the week. Make sure to see the full calendar below or click over to our Events page to see more beer events.

Got an event coming up you would like to see listed? Email us at events@sandiegobeerblog.com

Thursday, Oct 21:

Great Divide Brewing Co. night at Toronado – Five beers from Great Divide including their limited release Fresh Hop Pale Ale and Oak Aged Yeti (not to be confused with Espresso Oak Aged Yeti)

Friday, Oct 22:

Celebration of Change at La Jolla Brew House – La Jolla Brewhouse has hired a new brewmaster, Travis Smith previously with The Bruery and Russian River Brewing Company and is putting a focus back on beer. They’ll be sampling the new house brews, Sighthound Stout, Fleabite English Pale Ale, Crossbreed Blonde Ale and Pariah IPA.

Firkin Friday with Stone Brewing Co. at Hamilton’s Tavern – They’ll have the new 10-10-10 Vertical Epic on cask as well as Double Dry Hopped 14th Anniversary Ale, Imperial Russian Stout 10th Anniversary Special Blend, Imperial Russian Belgo Stout and Smoked Porter with Vanilla Beans on draft.

Saturday, Oct 23:

OktoberHess at Hess Brewing Co. – They’ll have German food and plenty of great beer including their German style Alt Bier, Festivus.

Craft Beer with the Expert – Park2Park Shuttle will pick you up at one of their designated stops and take you to Blind Lady Ale House for a guided beer tasting with Blind Lady co-owner and Automatic Brewing Co. brewer Lee Chase. Pizza will be served and then it’s back on the bus to Home Brews and Gardens for a homebrew demonstration.

Sunday, Oct 24:

The O’Brien’s Pub Wet Hop Festival has been going on all weekend and Tom Nickel of O’Brien’s expects most if not all of the kegged beers to still be on tap when they open Sunday morning. Throughout the weekend they’ll have over 15 different wet hopped beers on tap.

Monday, Oct 25:

Toronado Local Pint Night – Every Monday night is local night at Toronado. All San Diego County beers are just $3.

Tuesday, Oct 26 and Wednesday Oct 27

We couldn’t find any notable beer events, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any happening. If you know of anything going on, email us at events@sandiegobeerblog.com

Ballast Point Brewing Co. 14th Anniversary Festival

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7 grain saison, cocao nib black marlin porter, fathom india pale lager, Fathom IPL, habanero sculpin ipa, pariah ipa, san salvador saison, schooner wet hop ale, sculpin ipa, Sour Wench, travis smith, velvet merlin

San Salvador Saison in the Ballast Point 14th Anniversary Taster Glass

The Ballast Point Brewing Company 14th Anniversary party this past Saturday was a big hit. Held at Liberty Station in Point Loma and only $20 for 10 tasters it was quite the deal. Ballast Point had at least 40 beers on tap and there were plenty of guest breweries on hand as well. The festival was pretty full but not overly crowded and the only real complaint I heard all day was the lack of water. There were no water stations as far as I could tell and not even any drinking fountains inside the festival. (Sure, some people were complaining about the lines for the bathrooms, but it’s a beer festival, a bathroom line should be expected).

Below are some notes on the beers we tasted as well as a few pictures from the event.

• Ballast Point San Salvador Saison – Brewed using local ingredients (including pine nuts, agave, elder flower, white sage, manzanita berries, curacao and local sage honey) and described by Ballast Point as tasting like the San Diego countryside, this was the beer I was most looking forward to. It smelled and tasted of sage but wasn’t over powering. It was fairly malty and it was obvious there were more exotic ingredients than just the sage but I couldn’t identify anything else. Not much of this beer was made, but I’m hoping it will show up either at one of the Ballast Point tasting rooms or a bar or restaurant again before it’s gone.
• Ballast Point Habanero Sculpin IPA – Ballast Point’s extremely popular Sculpin IPA with a bit of a habanero kick. This was another one I was looking forward to. I was at the Ballast Point tasting room about five years ago and tried a sample of what they were simply calling “Habanero beer” at the time. I don’t remember all the details, but it certainly wasn’t Sculpin with Habanero. Habanero Sculpin was hoppy, with hardly any habanero flavor coming through over all those hops, but it had a nice spicy aftertaste. Not too much heat came through, just enough to let you know it’s there. I probably wouldn’t take a pint of this over a pint of regular Sculpin, but it’s a nice little variation.
• Ballast Point Sour Wench 2010 – I had never had this before so I decided to go with the 2010 instead of the 2009 which they also had on tap so I could see how it was fresh. It smelled a bit like Parmesan cheese but tasted like blackberries, sweet and tart.
• Ballast Point Cocao Nib Black Marlin Porter – It’s been a while since I’ve had Black Marlin Porter, so I  can’t compare this to the regular version but this one both smelled and tasted strongly of chocolate. The four ounce taster was good, but I’m not sure I could drink a full pint of it.
• The Bruery 7 Grain Saison – A fairly straight forward saison. Good earthy yeast smell and maybe even some cereal malts. A good representation of the style.
  

  La Jolla Brewhouse's new brewer Travis Smith

• Ballast Point Fathom India Pale Lager on cask – Hoppy but not over the top. It’s enjoyable but I wouldn’t see myself drinking this over Sculpin if both were available.
• Ballast Point Schooner Wet Hop Ale – I was a bit disappointed in this one. Maybe it’s because I tried it right after Fathom, but it seemed far less hoppy than I expected and I didn’t get many of the fresh hop flavors that typically stand out in wet hopped beers. I’m hoping to try this one again soon with a clean palate.
• La Jolla Brewhouse Pariah IPA – A good standard IPA. It’s not over the top with the hops, but has plenty of flavor. This is one of the new beers from La Jolla Brewhouse’s new Brew Master Travis Smith. I’m looking forward to try more of this and his other beers soon.
• Firestone Walker Velvet Merlin on cask – This beer is partially aged in bourbon barrels, but I didn’t get much of that in the small taster I had (I’ll be sampling more soon though!). It was rich and creamy, oatmeal and chocolate stood out.

Mike and Ryan from West Coaster were on hand volunteering, click on their names to read each of their takes on the festival, pouring two of the most popular casks there.