New year, who dis? We’re back from a great holiday break with an exciting preview for you guys!
We were lucky enough to get to hang out in the extremely soon to be open Ale Tales Taproom in East Village! This awesome new bottle shop/craft beer bar/restaurant will open at 1520 J Street any day now!
We had a blast getting 2020 started with the opportunity to see and feel this new killer #indiebeer spot early. You guys are going to really dig hanging out here soon; whether you want a pint from the 50+ taps (all installed by TapCraft, where our studio is!), a bottle to drink onsite or take home, or a bite to eat, Ale Tales has you covered. Add to that, they are 1/2 mile from PetCo Park!
Jump right into the first show of 2020 and thank you for being listeners, we truly appreciate it!
If you are not aware of the difficult situation one of our favorite breweries south of the border is facing, Insurgente, please check out Beth Demmon’s article in SD Magazine. Here’s a few excerpts to give you an idea of the complexity of the situation:
“October 5, 2019, officials from the city and Baja California’s new controlling party, the National Regeneration Movement (MORENA), shuttered the tasting room and halted production of the brewhouse, citing a lack of numerous operating permits, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.”
“Ivan Morales, co-founder of Insurgente with his brother Damian, disputes this. “We have all the required permits, although they’re accusing us of not having them.””
Insurgente has turned to their supporters for help, many have began using the hashtag #freeinsurgente to show their support for the difficult situation. There was a recent event at Machete to support Insurgente and Esthela (with Beth) was able to sit down with Ivan Morales. At the time of this discussion, Insurgente had obtained permission to reopen, unfortunately, that only lasted 2 or 3 days, and they have since been closed again.
Insurgente, in response to the most recent closing posted this:
It is evident that we are being subjected to harassment by the municipal authorities and [Mayor] Arturo González Cruz, who does not tire of seeking excuses to close us, the company said on Twitter.
Jaime Bonilla, Governor of Baja CA, who has been accused of making this situation personal due to his brother living across the street from the brewery, is not backing down, he gave the following statements in an LA Times article by Wendy Fry:
“Like I don’t have anything else to do as governor of the state than to worry about this brewery,” said Bonilla. “No one respects the laws in Tijuana. They don’t seem to understand this is a new government and they can no longer get away with whatever they want like they have for the past 30 years.”
“Read my lips. They are not going to be opening the brewery there,” said Bonilla, definitively.”
We are hopeful our friends at Insurgente find a way to navigate the complex governmental situation and reopen soon; we’ll certainly keep you up to date. They are facing a situation that is only made more dire by the history of inconsistent and corrupt governmental members and institutions in Mexico. To that end, I want to remind you, when this recording was made, Insurgente was brewing beer and about to reopen their tasting room.
They start the show with a rundown of how the food drive started at the party, for the record, the effort runs through the end of the year. You can take food to Societe or you can donate directly to the San Diego Food Bank here.
Then they jump into a segment with patron of the show, Roger! It’s always fun when we can get one of our friends of the show on the show. Backed up with James from The Rabbit Hole to discus their awesomeness. A significant amount of Paul Segura love is thrown in there for good measure!
This will also be our last show of the year. We are going to take a few weeks off to enjoy the holiday season and time with our families. We want to thank everyone that listens for their support and hope we brought you a significant amount of education/entertainment this year. If you haven’t heard me say it directly lately, thank you, Thank You, THANK YOU! This show would not be possible without you. We’re sending you wishes for happy holidays and a magnificent New Year!
Have you ever even thought about how all the tiny breweries get their products in those perfect pint cans (other sizes too)? Well, Mobile West Canning is the answer for many of your favorite #SDBeer breweries!
Before we dive in with MWC, we have 2 awesome members of Pinks Boots on to discuss their hop blend for next year’s Pink Boots Collaboration Brew Day. Hit this link to get your hops reserved (you don’t have to pay for them yet) so that you’re ready!
Then we dive into all things Mobile West Canning, you’ll be surprised at all the options they can offer and the different products they package! They also now offer cans and sleeving as well!
We had a terrific time hanging out with everyone for this Show and I hope it translates to your ears!
There are several craft focused entities in San Diego that garner significant credit for being part of the early spark that lead to the Capital of Craft moniker being placed on our city, Obrien’s Pub is one of those places and we were honored to sit down with Tyson and Kristina Blake. Supporting the local beer industry since ’94, Obrien’s is currently celebrating their 25th anniversary and we were lucky to get to try a few of the collaboration beers they did to honor the occasion.
Tyson way overdid and planned a secret 3 course pairing meal for us to enjoy on The Show! We were understandably excited by the proposition and massively satiated by the meal before the night concluded.
Strap in, this is a long one; luckily we record digitally because we would have had to change a few tapes, back in the day!
PS: Another reminder to come out the #SDBeer Holiday party on December 7th at Societe Brewing!
One of the newer hot beds of indie beer in San Diego is happening in a neighborhood we call East Village. This neighborhood runs along the east border of downtown, from city College to the water, encompasses Petco Park, and is defined on the north and east sides by the 5. Duck Foot graciously offered to be the hosts of a multi-entity episode! We gathered friends from Duck Foot, Melvin, Resident (technically not East village but whatevs), Amplified, and opening in the famed Monkey Paw location, Bottle Rocket Bar and Grill!
Get ready for a romp around this small but vibrant area of downtown the likes of which your ears have never seen (is that even a thing?). We had a ton of fun making this show and I hope it comes through the space portal to you properly!
The #SDBeer Holiday food Drive is in full swing, please consider taking in some food to one of the more than 30 collections locations available to you. You can also donate funds directly the the San Diego Food Bank, they can provide an astonishing 5 meals for every $1 donated.
The first pop up event to support the #SDBeer Holiday Food Drive went down last Wednesday evening at My Yard Live. 9 representatives from SD Beer joined us for a friendly beer trivia contest for the entertainment of those that showed up to support the food drive, now in its 6th year.
A massive thank you goes out to Quiz Show Mania for providing the amazing game show system that we got to use!
As you visit breweries over the next few weeks, please take in some food to donate or donate a few dollars towards our effort to help those less fortunate than ourselves.
San Diego Beer Week has ended its 10 day run but that doesn’t mean the fruits of #SDBW are all gone. Esthela, with our original producer, David Martin, went Home to talk about our collaboration beer, Home of Indie, The Homebrewer/Home Brew Co., homebrewing, and friendship. George, Founder/Owner, Jacob, Head Brewer, and Liquor Store Mike join us for a live show during the release party for Home of Indie! It was incredible that we got to do another version last year’s SDBW collab with Jacob. I feel like we have a tradition going now! It’s a single malt and single hop, West Coast IPA, using Pure Idaho Malt and Nelson. The beer turned out great and will be around for a while, so get to the source and try it!
If you’re not totally beer weeked out, our first #SDBeer Holiday Food Drive benefit happens on Wed, November 13th at My Yard Live at 7pm. Nine brewery representatives will compete in a few rounds of beer trivia for glory (and your entertainment) in an effort to encourage you to bring out food for the SD Food Bank. Come have some fun, and if you can’t make it, hit up one of the other 30+ locations where you can drop off food to help those less fortunate in our city!
It’s the launch of the #SDBeer Holiday Food Drive and it’s bigger and better than ever before! We have 34 participating locations this year! Societe Brewing, as the founder of the drive, now in its 6th year, is the central hub and main collection location!
The SD Food Bank is incredibly efficient with monetary donations, for each $1 donated they are able to produce 5 meals to feed people. If you would prefer to donate, directly to them, please click the big button below!
The #SDBeer Holiday Food Drive runs from November 9th-December 31st. Click here for a map of all the satellite locations that may be more convenient for you, available to you through December 6th (after that all donations need to go to Societe Brewing) to bring in some of the San Diego Food Bank’s wish list, they are:
Tuna in Water, Low-Sodium Canned Beans, Low-Sugar Whole Grain Cereal, Brown & Wild Rice, Unsalted Almonds, Low-Sodium & Low-Fat Canned Soup, Flax Seeds, No Sugar Added Peanut Butter, Canned Fruit in Water or Juice, Low-Sodium & No Salt Added Canned Vegetables, and Low & Non-fat Powdered Milk
Come out for the #SDBeer Holiday Celebration in your best, ugly holiday sweater/costume for a chance to win a bunch of prizes, while helping those that need it most, on Saturday, December 7th! Overall, over the 5 year history of this food drive, 56,237 lbs of food has been donated, that’s a staggering number.
Our goal this year is 15,000 lbs and it’s going to take all the help we can get from the #SDBeer industry and community to get there!
Societe Brewing is also offering some great incentives to encourage you to be generous, early and often:
With any food donation (From Most Needed List)
$1 off First Full Pour (upon same visit / The day you donate)
With a 25lb food donation (From Most Needed List)
$2 off Full Pours (upon same visit / The day you donate)
$1 off 1L Crowler or Growler Fill (upon same visit / The day you donate)
$2 off 2L Growler Fill (upon same visit / The day you donate)
15% off Societe merchandise In-House Purchase only (upon same visit / The day you donate)
At first glance, we were welcomed into an unassuming room, the walls lined with full wine racks, a table and some chairs awaiting us, but soon we realized this was a unique space. Belching Beaver’s Tavern & Grill in Vista is built is what used to be a bank. In renovating the building, they made the wise decision to keep the bank vault, door included. They also used the safe deposit boxes as the conference style table.
This is one of the coolest places we’ve ever recorded a Show! We were joined by Heather Franchini, Production Coordinator, and Thomas Peters, Head Brewer at the Tavern. We have a great discussion about their repeated Alpha King success, SDBW, and all things Belching Beaver.
We throw in some of our favorite San Diego Beer week events, beer news, and a ton of laughter as the icing on this cake for your ears. Have a listen and then go kick beer weeks butt!
